PINE ISLAND—They played for some all-out exercise, to meet up with old friends, and to raise funds for the charity of their choice at the Capelli Outdoor Sports Complex at DeBuck’s Sod Farm in Pine Island on a hot and humid day.
The seventh annual Sweitzer Cup on July 30 featured 12 alumni soccer teams—Burke Catholic, Goshen, Pine Bush, Delaware Valley, Middletown, Warwick, Washingtonville, Vernon, Highland, Minisink, Valley Central, and Florida. The tournament honors the memory of Timothy J. Sweitzer, a soccer player who was killed in a car accident during his senior year at John S. Burke Catholic High School in 1996.
Goshen won the tournament in a final match against Pine Bush.
Young Men Give Back
Rory Brady, who played for Burke Catholic and was one of the organizers of the tournament, said it has always been a goal of the tournament to show young men how they can give back.
He said the Delaware Valley team, with an average age of 22, represents the future of the tournament. “It’s really neat to see someone of that age get it way before I did,” Brady said. “So I feel we really accomplished something.”
Delaware Valley’s charity was the George Berkowitz Scholarship Fund, named after a former student who Captain Christian Henry said embodied the community spirit of respect and loyalty.
Burke Catholic played for two charities—the Timothy Sweitzer Memorial Scholarship Fund and AliveAndKickn, which promotes awareness of a genetic mutation that increases the risk for certain cancers.
Burke player Dylan Maycrink recently completed chemotherapy treatment for cancer and inspired the team with his energy. Maycrink is a civilian pilot who flies a Bell 430 helicopter for the New York State Police and a UH-72 Lakota part-time for the New York Army National Guard.
