A tradition continues: Mary Harris Youth Soccer Day is Oct. 1
September 23, 2023 | By Waterbury Roundabout 
Harwood Union High School players run games and drills with young soccer players at the 2022 Mary Harris Youth Soccer Day. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
A tradition continues on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 1, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Mad River Park where young girls soccer players across the Harwood Unified Union School District community are invited to practice with players from the high school girls soccer teams. Along the way, they remember and honor the memory of a former Harwood player, Mary Harris.
The annual gathering has been a tradition in the Harwood girls soccer program for years. The high school teams regularly set aside one training day to invite young players across the district from K-8 grades to join them for fun soccer games and drills.
The practice took on a greater significance starting in 2017 when it was renamed in memory of Mary Harris, a Harwood Union 11th grader and soccer player who lost her life along with four other Mad River Valley teens in a wrong-way car crash on Interstate 89 in October 2016.
Then coach Mike Vasseur dedicated the annual event in her honor and Harris family members have attended in support. Mary’s mom, artist Liz Harris, often shares small gifts with the young players. T-shirts are printed each year with a tribute to Mary and a quotation from an essay she wrote about kindness.
Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Vasseur, who stepped down as coach of the Harwood varsity team earlier this year continues as organizer of the event known for its theme, “Love Like Mary.”
The event takes place at Mad River Park where a pavilion bears the first names of the local teens lost in the 2016 crash: Eli Brookens, Janie Cozzi, Liam Hale, Mary Harris and Cyrus Zschau.
