An annual remembrance: Soccer girls make new memories
October 7, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiLiz Harris talks to the group about Mary and the meaning of the annual soccer day. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Eight years ago, tragic news shattered our community and it still ripples through school corridors, playing fields, ski trails and the hearts of many.
On October 8, 2016, five local teenagers lost their lives in an inexplicable highway crash that forever altered their families; their friends and many more who never met them carry their memories with them still.
Eli Brookens from Waterbury, Janie Cozzi and Liam Hale from Fayston, Mary Harris and Cyrus Zschau from Moretown.
This time of year brings remembrances that are both bittersweet and joyful. On Friday afternoon, one particular remembrance unfolded at Mad River Park.
Now a tradition among the girls youth soccer community, the annual Mary Harris tribute brought together about 150 girls soccer players from brand new pre-k and kindergarten tots to the Harwood Union High School varsity and junior varsity team members.
The practice of combining the JV and varsity squads with the youth soccer players began in the Harwood soccer program long before the 2016 tragedy. It was afterward that the annual exercise was recast as a way to honor Mary Harris, herself a Harwood soccer player.
On Friday, there were new bright blue and pink t-shirts for all with the message, “Girls who play sports become women who lead,” on the front. Colorful signs on wooden posts greeted the young players and their parents dropping them off at the field. Some of the messages:
Girls Lead
She can and she will
Girls soccer rules
You are a woman. That is your superpower.
Play for Mary
The high school players made the signs recently with supplies provided by Moretown artist Liz Harris, mom to Mary, an organizer of the annual soccer event.
Click to enlarge and view the gallery images below.
As the sun headed for the horizon lighting up foliage on the hillsides, the high school players fanned out across the fields to run games and drills with their young players following along divided into age groups. On the sidelines, a large stereo speaker pumped out Noah Kahan tunes while not-so-serious relays and drills of “sharks and fishes” swarmed the fields. Potluck dishes for post-practice waited on tables at the pavilion where the five teens’ names are engraved in a beam overhead and five benches nearby bear their names. Parents stood back chatting, some strolled through snapping photos, taking in the scene.
After an hour or so, practice wound down and the teenage players opened cardboard boxes, gathered up their charges, and launched into chasing games as they tossed handfuls of wrapped candy into the air, the youngsters scrambling and squealing to collect the treats.
But before the players lined up to fill their plates at the potluck tables, they gathered around sitting on the grass as Liz Harris took a few moments to talk about her daughter whose passing occurred before the youngest soccer players before her were even born.
“Ask yourself what it means to be a leader,” Harris began and then asked the group a series of questions.
“Can you hold a door open? Can you say hi to someone who has their head down? Can you tell someone you are proud to be their friend? Can you stand up for a friend or a stranger who has been wronged in some way?”
All eyes were on Mary’s mom who stood before the group in a favorite sweatshirt paint-splattered from working in her studio.
“The power to lead starts with compassion towards others. Leaders help others reach their potential by offering support and encouragement,” she continued. “Leadership means kindness, compassion, putting others first. Mary Harris was a leader through her kindness, her work ethic, her charity, her awareness of people around her.
“Having the opportunity to share her work with you on this beautiful day on the anniversary week of her passing through this world into the next brings me many difficult emotions,” Harris said. “As I navigate through my journey of grief alongside all of you, I am reminded daily of the power of leadership and the power of love you all carry forward in this world. Thank you for joining me. Love like Mary.”
Afterward Harris talked about her hope to take the Mary Harris Soccer Day a step further in the future. Until now, fundraising through shirt sales and a prize raffle has supported the annual event. Harris said she would like to see something broader established that can benefit young people in a spirit she imagines her daughter would embrace.
“Mary was more than a soccer player. Mary was a skier. She was a scholar. She wanted to be a doctor,” Harris said.
A beam inside the Mad River Park picnic shelter bears the names of the five local students lost in the 2016 crash. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Paying it forward
By this time next year, Harris said she hopes the seed of a scholarship program could be taking root to support similar dreams.
Likewise, such efforts have emerged through the work of family and loved ones of the other teens from the 2016 tragedy as well. Today, multiple nonprofit programs are in place to promote the favorite pastimes and experiences of the youngsters as a way to honor their memories and cheer on those who follow their inspiration.
The Eli Brookens Memorial Fund was started to honor Eli’s memory and his love of skiing. It supports Crossett Brook Middle School’s annual Ski & Ride Program with financial assistance for 7th and 8th grade students to help pay for program passes, equipment, clothing, and/or lessons, “so that every kid has the opportunity to fall in love with the sport the way Eli did,” according to its website. For more information, email colleenovelman@gmail.com.
The Janie Chase Cozzi Foundation provides financial support for middle school and high school girls in education, leadership, global awareness, arts and athletics. It promotes mentoring programs and honors the memory of Janie, an avid soccer player, and student attending Kimball Union Academy boarding school in New Hampshire at the time of her death.
The Liam Kenneth Hale Adventure Scholarship was established in the Harwood Unified Union School District in 2019 with Sugarbush Resort. It’s awarded annually on May 9 – Liam’s birthday – to a Harwood 10th grader in memory of Liam, who was a sophomore at the time of his death. The recipient receives a Sugarbush yearlong pass for skiing/riding, golf, mountain biking, lift rides, and access to the resort’s health and recreation center. Contributions may be made to the Liam Kenneth Hale Adventure Scholarship at HUUSD, 340 Mad River Park, Waitsfield, VT 05672.
In memory of Cyrus Zschau, who loved travel and adventure and aspired to travel the world after high school, the nonprofit Launch Into Foreign Travel scholarship program was created to support Harwood students seeking educational travel opportunities. Since 2017, L.I.F.T. has distributed nearly $20,000.