Youngsters come to associate ‘Mary Harris Day’ with soccer fun and games, and a message of kindness
October 14, 2020 | By Lisa Scagliotti
It’s been a fall girl’s soccer tradition for more than a decade and since 2016, it’s taken on a new meaning.
Making some adjustments to adhere to COVID-19 public health protocols, this year’s Mary Harris Girl’s Youth Soccer Day took place at Mad River Park in Waitsfield rather than at Harwood Union High School and attendance easily hit 200 youngsters.
The annual event involves a call to all of the girl youth soccer players in the Harwood Union School District from preschoolers to eighth graders. Originally held in late October just after the regular high school fall season ends, it’s been a way for the high school varsity squad to practice with the younger players and have some fun before the state playoffs begin.
But that changed that when five local teens lost their lives in a wrong-way car crash on Interstate 89 on Oct. 8, 2016. Among them was Harwood Union soccer player junior Mary Harris known for her warm smile, friendly disposition and team spirit. Her coach and teammates at the time decided to dedicate the annual event to celebrate the younger girl soccer players in the district in Mary’s honor. They’ve since moved the event closer to the anniversary of the accident when all of the Harwood teams make a point to remember the students lost. T-shirts produced each year carry the motto “Love Like Mary” that the girls high school teams have also adopted.
This year given restrictions on public gatherings, the event was held over several hours on Sunday morning and early afternoon, Oct. 4. Players were divided by age to arrive at designated times and they split into groups led by the high school varsity and junior varsity players. From pint-sized 4-year-olds with their new t-shirts nearly reaching their knees to next year’s eighth-grade recruits, each group spent 90 minutes on warmups, drills and scrimmages that featured lots of encouragement, laughs, and some candy at the end.
Also on hand were Dan and Liz Harris, parents to Mary, along with daughter Eloise. They took in the scene taking photos and setting up a table with a collection of colorful rocks hand-painted with a heart on one side and Mary’s former jersey number 21 on the back. Liz Harris said she and friend Stephanie Vasseur decorated 215 of them. She laid them out on a bright blue tablecloth under the park pavilion and each young player got to choose one before they went home.
Only a handful of rocks remained at the end as Coach Vasseur ticked off group sizes from the event, realizing that approximately 200 or so youngsters had taken part.
While it’s a highlight to hold the special practice at Harwood to give the young players a chance to experience playing on the high school fields, Vasseur declared this year’s games spread across four fields at Mad River Park a success.
“This is why we did this,” said Mike Nucci, volunteer and chair of Mad River Valley Recreation District which purchased Mad River Park in 2017 with support from the local communities, grants and fundraising. “We want the community to use it and come together here and feel connected.”
The park also has its own memorial to Harris and her friends who died in the car crash -- Cyrus Zschau, Eli Brookens, Janie Cozzi and Liam Hale. The pavilion and five benches near it were dedicated to the five teens. A beam inside the structure bears their first names and each bench has a message connected with one of them.
The Mary Harris bench quotes Mary in her own words: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”