Dedham Soccer Honored at Gillette Stadium

As the temperature climbed back in to the nineties for the fourth consecutive day, cars began pulling in to the parking lot of Gillette Stadium early on this Saturday afternoon. 

Tents sprang up as coolers of cold beverages and grills were unloaded from cars. Soccer balls, that's right, soccer balls could be seen dancing across the pavement of the back lots. Groups of boys and girls, clad in matching town/team jerseys began to gather in small groups. This particular Saturday was different from other Summer weekends in Foxboro.

Business was brisk in and around Patriot Place. The “jersey exchange” tent was open with a line of folks looking to swap their #81 Patriots shirts. The NE Revolution was back in town to face the San Jose Earthquakes and there was a post-game fireworks show on schedule as well. 

The main focus of this day however, was the Annual Soccer “Parade of Champions.” Each weekend in the Fall, and again each Spring, hundreds of boys and girls are involved in their towns youth soccer programs.

Owner Robert Kraft founded the NE Revolution back in 1995. The professional soccer club was one of the countries ten original teams. Since this time, the Revs and it's players have been involved in the youth programs throughout the area. Many players are on-hand at the various tournaments held during the year. 

Their goal is to increase involvement in soccer and to recognize those players and teams that have gone above and beyond their expectations. The folks at Gillette Stadium made arrangements for all of the championship teams to be honored at the stadium.

This year, two teams from Dedham were included in those invited to participate in the “on-field” pre-game ceremonies. The Dedham boys U14 Raptors, led by coaches Chris DeMeo and Beth Emery, swept the 32nd Annual Framingham Memorial Day Classic. Under adverse weather conditions – cold, dark and rainy – the boys won four games over two days and were crowned the “champions.” Dedham's other team invited to this event was the girls U11 Falcons. 

This team, under coaches George Cariofiles and Ellen Curran, went undefeated to the finals of the 12th Annual Presidents Day Cup in Medway. There, in spite of the blazing heat, the girls completed a 2-0 victory to also become town “champions.” Both teams had the opportunity to join other local winners, parade around the field at Gillette Stadium and be photographed in front of their parents, friends and family.

Former Red sox captain, Jason Varitek, joined two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Aly Raisman on the sidelines, before she went to the turf to congratulate these true winners. Almost 14,000 fans were on hand to watch as the Revs won their match that day 2-0. This was the first time the team had beaten San Jose since 2009 and the final was goalie Bobby Shuttleworth`s league leading 8th shutout. We`re quite sure that the Revs can thank their fans, and all of the aspiring soccer players, participating in the Parade of Champions, for the positive energy in the air. Congratulations to everyone involved on this wonderful day.