GOSHEN—Rory Brady was studying for college finals that cold winter day when he heard the news. On Dec. 16, 1996, his high school buddy and close friend Tim Sweitzer was killed in a car accident. Brady and others who knew Tim wanted his memory as an outstanding scholar athlete to live on and the Sweitzer Cup was born. The alumni soccer tournament will be held for the sixth go-round on August 1.
This year 16 teams will have a crack at top honors, with squads from Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the mix. A pre-tournament dinner will be held the evening before and an award will be presented to an outstanding coach in honor of the late Tony Cavaliere, who mentored young athletes both on and off the field.
A Young Man’s Life Cut Short
Tim was on his way to work from Pine Bush to a Washingtonville soccer shop when his car skidded. A tractor trailer came around the corner and hit the vehicle. Brady recalls how Tim’s parents took care of their son’s friends. “Following his death, the parents brought us all in.” Brady says he grew up fast. “It was zero to 60 from childhood to adulthood.”
Many missed the popular Burke Catholic High School student. “The athletes liked him, the girls liked him. He managed to walk in every circle.” Brady remembers him as smart, funny, compassionate, and a very good soccer player. “We had a very successful soccer team as far as high school standards.”
A scholarship fund was set up. Eventually the monies that funded the scholarship dried up and it ceased to be presented, according to the Burke High School website.
Brady returned to Goshen and visited his friend’s grave. It had fallen into neglect. He got together with Tim’s friends for a poker tournament to celebrate Tim’s short life and to raise money to beautify his grave site.
After a couple of beers, and a couple of stories being told, the poker talk turned to soccer. “Former teammates began to reminisce about the glory days on the pitch.” Cross town soccer rivals Goshen and Burke wrangled over who was better and laced “up their cleats to settle the score one last time,” according to the school website. Guys from Pine Bush, where Tim was raised, and Washingtonville, where he played on a club team, watched the game and wanted in.
The Tournament Rises to New Heights
By the time the second annual Sweitzer Cup kicked off in August 2011 eight teams from Orange County vied for the Cup. Now it’s a full-fledged tournament. In 2014, as the Sweitzer Cup entered its fifth year, the tournament featured 12 teams, including Vernon High School from New Jersey.
The tournament begins to get serious. Brady says “it went from a beer league to being covered [by the media] as a soccer tournament because there was high-level competition. We had the best of one school’s alumni versus the best of another school.”
Younger players posed a serious threat to the original older players. “I wasn’t even sure that I was going to make my own team,” Brady jokes. “I started this tournament, I'd better get a spot on my team.”
