Mayor Paul Medany and township council with members of Deptford Soccer Association’s 17U boys team, who earned their first national championship in July.
Township council honored the Deptford Soccer Association’s 17U boys team on Nov. 25 for winning the U.S. Youth Soccer (USYS) National Presidents Cup Championship.
The team earned its win in Wichita, Kansas, on July 16 by defeating the SAC Boys 2007 Premier Blue from Columbia, Maryland. The game was scoreless until Deptford secured the championship with 14 penalty kicks, its first Presidents Cup.
The 17U boys had to win state and regional championships before moving on to the national title, meaning they had to outlast teams across the country to win it all. Head coach Luke Tyler described that journey at the council meeting.
“The first process in the goal is to win the New Jersey state championship,” he explained. “So that, for us, is important to us as a club. Then you have to win the Northeast regionals, which is harder when you bring in the Bostons, the Virginias and the Marylands of the area, and then, obviously, the national championship is the winners of all the regionals.
“Luckily, we managed to win a trophy and bring it back to Deptford.”
Attendees of the meeting applauded the players, who were also named citizens of the month by council and received certificates and gift cards. They were also acknowledged by Mayor Paul Medany “for representing Deptford Township at the U.S. Youth Soccer USYS National Presidents Cup Championship.”
Team members posed for a picture with council during a brief pause in the session and some of its members addressed the victory during their remarks.
