All Competition is Sharp at STOP-DWI Soccer Tournament

By Tom Coddington
The Walton Reporter
3.9.2005

 WALTON – Fifty-seven teams in five divisions took part in the sixth annual Walton Booster Club Indoor Soccer Tournament, under the aegis of the Delaware County STOP-DWI program, and none of them finished with perfect records.

“That shows the competition level. No team went through the competition undefeated or untied,” remarked Skip Carpentier, one of the principle coordinators of the event. He added, “An amazing degree of skill was seen throughout the tournament.”

Sixty teams had been scheduled to compete, but three teams had to withdraw because of the Downsville, girls’ victory that put the team in the State semifinals.

Carpentier noted, “Due to the fact that admission has never been charged for spectators, it has been hard to obtain an attendance figure in the past. This year, a free raffle ticket, with the winner receiving a soccer ball autographed by the professional New York Metro Stars and tickets to the team’s opening game in Giants Stadium, was given to all who entered, and the total exceeded 1000.”

The open division had three teams from New York City, which were all international squads featuring South American and European players. The open division featured an “over – 35” bracket which was won by the Spalholz team from the city.

Team Peletz (captained by South Kortright’s Mike Peletz) won the division in a 1 – 0 thriller against a team of former Walton players.

In the high school boys’ division, the Davenport I team defeated Downsville, 2 – 0, for the championship, with Delhi taking third place with a 1 – 0 win over Davenport II. Delhi’s John Virga won most valuable player honors for the division.

Walton defeated south Kortright, 1 – 0, to win the high school girls’ division, with Schenevus defeating a second SK team, “The Demons,” 1 – 0 for third place. Jessica Laing of SK was the division MVP.

As the high school divisions played in the high school and middle school gyms, younger players competed in the gyms at Townsend Elementary School. The seventh and eighth grade division was won by Delhi, in a thrilling game with Oxford. Two Davenport teams earned third and fourth place.

In the elementary (grades 2 – 6) division, the Walton “Green” team beat Margaretville, 1 – 0 in the championship game and Walton “Red” team, playing without any substitutes, defeated Davenport by the same score for third place. That bracket featured four ties and four 1 – 0 games.

Many local businesses contributed to the tournament, and were listed on sponsor boards at both schools, along with display advertisement in an 11-page program.

“This year’s tournament saw growth and more quality,” stated Carpentier. “Next year, we hope to have a two-day tournament, later in the spring so it will not conflict with the state basketball tournament, so that we can accommodate all.”