WGUM Indoor Soccer Teaches Spirit of Collaboration not Competition

The Junior Division Green and Blue teams were well-past 15 minutes in overtime. They were battling it out for the 2012 Willow Grove United Methodist Church’s () Indoor Soccer League playoff championship.

This final match of the season took place on the evening of March 23 in the .

According to spectators, after the intense match went into over time, penalty kicks became the deciding factor. Twenty-five shots later, the Green team was finally able to claim this year’s championship victory.

However, while the fanfare was well deserved by the winning team, it would seem that everyone in the league truly celebrated what happened after the game.

“You’ll have a louder roar at the end of the game, when the teams are shaking hands, than when a team scores,” Phillip Rees, Junior Red Team coach said. “You may notice the different color shirts on the kids, but we’re all the same family.”

Rees of Upper Moreland has been a coach in the WGUM Indoor Soccer League for the last five years. He said that the league may be best described as an instructional one, catering to youth from grades two to seven.

A League of Their Own

Rees, who is not a WGUM congregation member, said that this league is special because there’s a much stronger focus on coaching and teamwork over competition.

Furthermore, the league welcomes coed players of varying experience, athletic ability, as well as special needs youth.

“Although the games are competitive, we try to deemphasize the intensity of the plays,” Dave Kistner, co-coordinator of the WGUM Indoor Soccer League, said.

Kistner, who is a WGUM congregation member, has volunteered in the league since 2000. He said that there are particular measures taken to ensure fair play during each of the games.  Such measures include allowing each player playing time and the use of a “soft” soccer ball.

He also emphasizes the league's deliberate mix of playing talent found on any given team, from traveling players in other leagues to those who’ve never kicked a soccer ball before.

“There’s a huge difference in skill levels in this league,” Kistner said. “But, the kids get it … It’s really remarkable who helps out.”

Kistner said that the more advanced players often give pointers to the less experienced ones, whether they are on the field or on the sidelines.

As an example of the league’s emphasis on sportsmanship, Kistner recalls several times when a player on an opposing team would get knocked down during a play, only to be helped right back up by a member of that opposing team.   

“I have travel players in this league, who say they love coming here,” Kistner said. “They say there’s no pressure.”

WGUM Church’s Best and Longest-running Outreach

According to Kistner, the league’s season typically lasts from early January until late March, and has been a staple WGUM Church outreach since 1985.

He said that the league averages 75 participants each season, in which the youth are drafted into experience-balanced teams within the league’s age-appropriate Novice (grades two-four) and Junior (grades five – seven) divisions.

While today’s youth participants are not necessarily WGUM members, the league did start out as a youth ministry, nearly 30 years ago by the then church’s pastor.

Back then, game play was held in the WGUM Church basement hall, but soon its youth participants outgrew its surroundings.

According to Kistner, the league was started to offer youth the opportunity for fun and exercise during the winter months, after the outdoor fall soccer season ended.

But, as a church ministry, the league was also started to help instill life-lessons and moral value in youth.

“It’s a way to teach kids not in a classroom setting or sanctuary,” Rev. Cynthia Skripak, WGUM pastor, said. “It’s a unique league. It’s Christan values in a sport.”

According to Skripak, the WGUM Indoor Soccer league outreach ministry has been the church’s longest-running and largest outreach program. And, as such, Skripak explained, the league is certainly welcomed to anyone interested.

“It allows us to reach families with other church affiliations or none at all,” Skripak said, adding that volunteer efforts of both church members and non-church members have helped to preserve and flourish the league.

According to league co-coordinator Annette Montante, the league focuses on a single theme each season, typically revolving around lessons on good sportsmanship. This year’s season was “Kids of Integrity.”

“What is it mean to have integrity the way that God would have want us to have? To stand up about what they think is right.” Montante, a WGUM congregation member, said.

While the league teaches good sportsmanship through its actions, it also does so in words. Prior to each weekly game and practice, Montante said that a brief “devotional” is held, during which a league member addresses specific concepts behind the annual theme.

Based on a particular biblical reference, the devotional, Montante said, provides the foundation of how the youth should act both on the indoor field and off.

“It’s usually a message that involves being nice, and not being so competitive,” Montante said.

“The Kids Get It”

Montante added that her own daughter, who had trouble being picked for sports-related activities while attending the Upper Moreland School District, said that she was allowed to blossom and grow to love sports through her time in the league.

Another example of the lessons being taught in the league happens during the banquet dinner, hosted at the church for everyone associated with the league.

This year’s banquet took place on March 24, and featured awards given to the most improved player, as well as the obligatory MVP award. However, in this league, the most valuable player didn’t necessarily save the most goals or score them.

One such MVP was awarded for always being ready with an encouraging word for teammates.

“I had a lot of fun here, learning about how to treat other people, and all about soccer,” Tim Kistner, son of Dave Kistner and a junior at Upper Moreland High School, said.

Playing in the league as a youth, Kistner returned as a coach for the Novice Red Team, along with head coach Ron Ron Meixsell. Kistner said that he wanted to give back by also volunteering his time and teaching the incoming youth the same lessons he learned.  

“It was fun, because you got to be more friends with them,” Kayla Sword, an student said. “And if you’re playing with your friends, your friends pass to you more.”

Kayla, who was sitting with her family at the Saturday banquet, said that she enjoys playing in the league as much as she does for the travelling team in the Upper Moreland Soccer Club.

“It wasn’t a focus on who was the best, and who was going to win,” Kimberly Sword, Kayla’s mom, said. “You just go out there and have fun.”

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For more information about the Willow Grove United Methodist Church Indoor Soccer League, call 215-659-3232 or e-mail willowg1@verizon.net.