Annual Mary Harris girls soccer training with high school players set for Oct. 4

September 26, 2020  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Harwood Union Girls Varsity Soccer Coach Mike Vasseur explains the drills that the high school players will run with young players at the 2018 Mary Harris Youth Soccer Day. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

As fall sports season kicks off, plans are under way for the annual Mary Harris Girls Youth Soccer Day scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 4, at Mad River Park. 

Led by Harwood Union Varsity Girls Soccer with Coach Mike Vasseur, the annual event invites girl soccer players from preK through eighth grade for a training session with the high school varsity and junior varsity players. 

This year given public health guidance due to COVID-19, the event will be organized to avoid very large groups, Vasseur said. “We will be spreading the times to allow spacing on the field and time for one group to exit before the next group arrives,” he explained. “We will be starting and ending on time so please do everything you can to arrive on time and be ready to go.”

Players do not need to sign up for the event. They should arrive on time for the session for their age group, however. Masks are required. 

 The schedule is: 

• 9-10:15 a.m.: PreK, kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades

• 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: grades 3 through 6

• 12:45-2:15 p.m.: 7th and 8th grades

The annual training has been a highlight of the fall soccer season for young players for many years. Vasseur renamed it in remembrance of Mary Harris, the Harwood Union girls soccer player who lost her life along with four friends in a wrong-way car crash in October 2016.

Participants can purchase a commemorative t-shirt that features a message about kindness written by Harris. “This is an important tradition for our soccer community and this sharing of fun and kindness is needed even more this year,” Vasseur said. 

Youth and adult T-shirt and sweatshirt orders are available online. Short-sleeved shirts are $10; long-sleeved are $15; hoodie sweatshirts are $30. Deadline to order is Oct. 16. The site is lovelikemary.itemorder.com/sale.