On Labor day Sunday, over a thousand people and almost 400 kids attended the TJSL SoccerFest. Soccerfest was the kick-off event for Teaneck Junior Soccer League’s fall season. Nine hundred kids from Teaneck will play on the new turf fields this fall, and Soccerfest was an opportunity to get everyone excited about the upcoming season and show people where they will be playing.
The Teaneck High School Boys and Girls soccer teams provided operational support, working with the kids at the various activities. Games included soccer bowling, hardest shot, small-sided games, soccer tennis, and a dribbling and passing skills challenge. We had soccer tattoos and face painters, and a raffle featuring local merchants and shops including, Gotham Burger, Amarone’s Restaurant, and Modell’s. The first 400 kids received TJSL backpacks, and all kids had a chance to win various other prizes, including soccer balls. The Teaneck Women’s Soccer League (TWSL) and THS Cheerleaders were also on hand to help celebrate.
The event wasn’t only fun and games; several bins of donated food were collected for the Helping Hands Food Pantry.
In addition to being an interactive soccer event, FC Teaneck kicked off the club’s inaugural campaign with a 7-0 win over Bergenfield SC. FC Teaneck is a brand-new travel soccer program run by TJSL. (The FC stands for Football Club, and is modeled after famous soccer clubs from around the world like FC Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, and FC Porto. SC usually refers to a Soccer Club.) Players on FC Teaneck teams play soccer year round in a more competitive environment than recreation league soccer. Of the approximately 900 kids from Teaneck playing soccer this fall, only 10% were selected to play for FC Teaneck.
The FC team is comprised of U8 and U9 players, whose teams will compete in the highly competitive Northern Counties Soccer Association league beginning this fall. FC Teaneck’s U11 teams also played a Blue v. White game on the new Votee Sportsplex fields. FC Teaneck’s seven teams play in the Northern Counties Soccer Association, which is a highly competitive league comprised of the best club teams in the area. This season, FC Teaneck has entered U8 (players under 8 years old), U9, U14, and two U11 Boys teams, and a U9 and U11 Girls team. The club hopes to add players and teams at all age levels when we next hold tryouts in October for our winter season.
Rich Schneider, Director, FC Teaneck told the JLBC, “It was a thrill to see our travel program take off with FC Teaneck’s first match, and we are thankful to Bergenfield SC for helping us commemorate the opening of the new fields with a great match.”
FC Teaneck worked closely with Carl Dietze and the Northern Counties administration to make sure that all Teaneck residents had a chance to participate by allowing flexibility in a schedule that regularly played Boys games on Saturday afternoons. Thanks to the hard work and diligence of league schedule-makers and team coaches, FC Teaneck will be able to play all games on Saturday night after sundown, Sunday mornings, or weekday evenings.
