Five Year Anniversary -- A Salute to the Original Wanderers

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The First Wanderers at the First of Many

Seaside Classic Visits

The Club is on the cusp of a significant milestone in 2008-- the five year anniversary of the Center of Excellence teams. It all began with in the Fall of 2003 at the old Soccer Dojo facility in the old Best Ford dealership in downtown Nashua. Steve Hetherington brought a group of eleven U-14 girls together from a number of different town clubs to train and play more intensively.The girls first wore their trademark sky blue and black uniforms and played their first games together in session 1 at Rising Stars and in the Rising Stars 2003 Christmas tournament. From these modest beginnings, Steve's original girls developed to the point that they made two consecutive state cup finals appearances and competed in high level tournaments across the Northeast and eastern Canada.

These girls have always been a happy bunch that, despite their occasional loopiness, showed a real commitment to raising the level of their game from town travel play to premier play. They trained three and four times a week each summer and sacrificed many a nice summer weekend to travel to garden spots like Poughkeepsie, NY and Guilford, CT all in an effort to make a big leap forward in their play. Together, with the help of Steve Hetherington, the girls showed that they had pulled it off when, in their first state cup run, they went to the finals and only there succumbed to Seacoast in a 1-0 loss that was marked by end to end action and wide open play. Never again would the girls walk on the field with everyone asking, "who are they and where did they come from?"

This Spring will be the last run out in club soccer for many of the original Wanderers. Of last year's U-17 team, 10 are high school seniors and U-18 players. Hopefully, they will come together one last time as U-18 players to play together the game they first fell in love with as little girls. Tryouts are in three or four weeks and we will see what we have.

Whatever happens, however, every single COE player -- all 100 of them -- owes the original Wanderers a large debt of thanks. These girls showed us how, through a sense of fun and hard work combined with a love for the game and the undivided attention of a coach like Steve Hetherington, local players' level of play can be elevated considerably. Each group of Wanderers since has reaped the benefits that the original eleven sowed back in 2003.