Union Teams Up to Feed for the Holidays: Union Joins Sixth Annual Toyota Food Drive on Dec. 14

The Philadelphia Union has joined forces with the Tri-State Toyota Dealers for the sixth annual Toyota Tundra Food Drive. 

The Union joins the Phillies, 76ers and Trenton Titans in supporting the month long food drive which concludes on Friday, Dec. 14.

A convoy of over 30 Toyota Tundra pickup trucks is scheduled to arrive at the Philabundance Hunger Relief Center around 10:00 a.m. to unload the nonperishable food items. 

Special guests scheduled to attend this event include the Philly Phanatic, Philadelphia Flyers legend Bob “The Hound” Kelly and select Union players.  In five years this event has collected over 60,000 pounds of nonperishable food for Philabundance. 

Joining efforts like these is part of the Philadelphia Union Foundation’s mission to provide opportunities for children through the power of relationships, offering change in education, community, health and recreation.

Philabundance reduces hunger in the Delaware Valley by providing food access to people in need via partnerships with various organizations and individuals.  They provide a full palate of services through neighborhood distribution programs and a network of close to 500 member agencies in nine counties.  Furthermore, Philabundance serves approximately 65,000 people per week at a cost of 50 cents per meal. 

For more information about Philabundance, visit www.philabundance.org or call (215) 339-0900.

Notre Dame wins BIG EAST Championship: Notre Dame Defeats Georgetown in Double Overtime Thriller

This weekend, PPL Park hosted the 2012 Big East men’s soccer championships. 

No. 7 Notre Dame came out on top winning, 3-2 in double overtime over No. 4 ranked Georgetown in Sunday's final.

PPL Park hosted the event due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy and its impact on Red Bull Arena, who was unavailable to host the event.

The Fighting Irish (16-3-1) took control of action early on in the game, but were unable to beat Georgetown (17-3-1) sophomore goalkeeper Tomas Gomez. Georgetown settled down and play evened out between the sides. In the 39th minute Hoyas senior Andy Riemer opened the scoring after he headed a cross from sophomore Tyler Rudy.

In the second half, Notre Dame senior Ryan Finely equalized when he finished a cross from junior Luke Mishu just inside the penalty area in the 51st minute. The game continued with good chances for both teams until the 82nd minute when senior Jimmy Nealis crossed it to Riemer to put Georgetown up, 2-1. In the 90th minute, Notre Dame sophomore Nick Besler scored via a pass from senior Danny O’Leary to send the game into overtime. The game remained tied until late in the second half of overtime when Notre Dame received a corner. This led to the game winning goal in the 109th minute on when Powers crossed the corner to Finley who put it into the back of the net to win the championship.

To get Sunday's championship match, Notre Dame knocked off top-seeded Connecticut, 1-0 in the nightcap after a goal from junior Alex Priede in the 11th minute secured a berth into the final.Also Friday night Georgetown defeated Marquette (16-3-1) 2-1 in overtime kickstarted by a goal from junior and Philadelphia Union season ticket holder Steve Neumann, who took a cross from Nealis and scored with 23 seconds remaining in the first half to put Georgetown ahead, 1-0.  Marquette tied the game in the 57th minute when junior Adam Lysak worked a perfect one-two ball with junior Bryan Ciesiulka and shot it just inside to penalty area.  The game remained tied until late in the second half of overtime when Georgetown received a corner.  Neumann took the corner, which found Tommy Muller (Senior) who headed it to Big East Rookie of the Year Brandon Allen (Freshman) who put it into the back of the net to give Georgetown the win and a trip to the final on Sunday.

While Marquette came up short in the thriller, Golden Eagles goalkeeper Charlie Lyon still raved the experience.

“To step into an MLS stadium...it's a place were we all want to be someday," Lyon said. It was something special.”

Marquette head coach Louis Bennett added, “It’s a great surface and a great stadium, it was great to have the event such a fantastic facility."

Georgetown’s Steve Neumann said “It was great, I actually have season tickets to the Philadelphia Union so I am used to being around the stadium. It’s just how I imagined it. 

College soccer returns to PPL Park in 2013, when Villanova University hosts 2013 Men’s College Cup on Dec. 13 and Dec. 15.

"We are thrilled to have been selected by the NCAA as the host institution for the 2013 College Cup," stated Villanova director of athletics Vince Nicastro in May. "PPL Park is the finest soccer facility of its kind in the nation and together we have forged a partnership with the leadership of the Philadelphia Union and the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau that will allow us to create a first class experience for the fans attending this outstanding event. This is an exciting opportunity for all of us in the Philadelphia region and we look forward to serving as host."

A Fulfilling Partnership: Union Pair with Independence Blue Cross Foundation to Thwart Childhood Illness

The Philadelphia Union is proud to be joining forces with the Independence Blue Cross Foundation.  During a press conference held at the People for People Charter School in Philadelphia, the Blue Cross Foundation announced the launching of the "Healthy Futures" initiative.  The initiative has three objectives which are “Eat Right”, “Get Fit” and “Stay Well”.  Also joining the Healthy Futures initiative is the Vetri Foundation for Children and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The pilot program for the “Get Fit” objective will focus on children in the fourth grade in southeastern Pennsylvania.  The goal will be to improve awareness of the importance of fitness and physical activity as well as recognize and reward children who have achieved fitness and health goals.  One of the ways the Union plan to help with this initiative will be setting up soccer-related activities and exercise for the students both indoors and outdoors.  The Union will also be going into the classroom to speak to the students about the importance of physical activity at school as well as outside of school.

The “Eat Right” objective will implement an “Eatiquette” program at five local schools over the next two years.  This program has already had success at the People for People Charter School.  This program helps train schools on the preparation of nutritious meals for children in a family dining-style setting.  In addition, the objective will work to improve schools preventive health screening rates, which is aimed at reducing the days children miss school due to diabetes, asthma and unmanaged chronic illnesses

The Union is excited to join efforts like Healthy Futures to help reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.  We aspire to reach more children and help decrease their risks for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, strokes in addition to certain types of cancers and osteoarthritis. 

To learn more about "Healthy Futures," click here.

For Nashua

Nashua, NH - In the nearly 75 year history of Holman Stadium there have been many great teams and great individual games, but tonight will stand out as the first championship celebration in Holman Stadium History.  For the first time ever a championship team won the clinching game here at Holman Stadium.  The 1946 and 1948 Nashua Dodgers won the Governor's Cup in Lynn, Massachusetts.  In 1947 the Nashua Dodgers won the Governor's Cup in Manchester, New Hampshire.  The 2000 Nashua Pride won the Atlantic League Championship in Bridgewater, New Jersey.  In 2007 the Nashua Pride won the CAN-AM League Championship in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Then the 2011 Nashua Silver Knights won the inaugural FCBL Championship in Torrington, Connecticut.  In 2012 the FCBL more than doubled in size and Nashua was not expected to repeat as champions due to the rosters of the other teams in the league.  When the managerial reigns were given to a son of Nashua, BJ Neverett, something special was in the air.  Tonight he was able to bring something even hall of fame manager Walter Alston was not able to do during his career with the Nashua Dodgers.

When Drew Weber, Tim Bawmann and Jon Goode created the Nashua Silver Knights their mission was to provide long-term and sustainable affordable family entertainment for the Greater Nashua community at Historic Holman Stadium through baseball.  While time will tell about the long-term success of the team one thing is certain, they have made a team Nashua can be proud to call their own.  Historic Holman Stadium's first championship celebration comes 39 days before its 75th birthday.  Our fans have been a big part of the team's success this season and it is evident in the Silver Knights home record of 24-4 (.857 winning percentage) this season here in Nashua.  This championship is for all of you fans reading this right now and hopefully some of you were there to experience Historic Holman Stadium's first championship celebration.  We hoped you enjoyed the 2012 FCBL Season as much as we did and we hope to see you next year when the Silver Knights try to become the first Nashua team to three peat since the Dodgers did it in 1946-1948.

A Gate City Great Continues Baseball Legacy at Historic Holman Stadium

Holman Stadium opened on Thursday September 23, 1937; it was paid for by funds from the federal government's Works Progress Administration (WPA) and money bequeathed by a local citizen, Charles Frank Holman.  He believed the stadium should benefit both present and future generations of citizens of the City of Nashua.  Over the years five professional teams have called Holman Stadium home.  This included farm teams for the Brooklyn Dodgers, California Angels and Pittsburgh Pirates.  After the Nashua Pirates departed, two different non-affiliated teams became the tenants at Holman Stadium.  While professional teams have come and gone, the constant has been amateur baseball.

Holman Stadium has been around for 75 years and hosted Rivier College, Nashua High School (North after the split), Bishop Guertin High School, Babe Ruth Leagues, American Legion, AAU Games and numerous other amateur baseball teams.  The newest residents of Holman Stadium are following in this great tradion.  Nashua resident Tim Bawmann, President of the Lowell Spinners (a class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox) and Jon Goode, Vice President of the Lowell Spinners, convinced their boss Drew Weber, owner of the Lowell Spinners, to bring a new team to Nashua’s Holman Stadium.  This led to the creation of the Nashua Silver Knights, a founding member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England (FCBL).  When the new team was announced this group made a commitment to the City of Nashua to showcase local talent.

Growing up in Nashua, Silver Knights manager BJ Neverett watched some of the professional teams come and go over the years.  He remembers his first visit to Holman Stadium was during the 1960s where he watched a local high school baseball team.  When he got older, he played both baseball and football at Holman Stadium for Nashua High School.  “When I played football our locker room is the same one our team will be using this year”.  Once his playing days were over, he became a teacher and coach in the Nashua school district.  He coached the junior varsity baseball team for nine years, and in 1995 he was named the successor to Charlie Mellen as Head Coach of the Nashua High School varsity baseball team.  Nashua High School had won the 1995 New Hampshire State Championship and Mellen was leaving as a champion.

In 2005, Nashua High School was split into two schools and Coach Neverett became Head Coach of Nashua High School South baseball team.  In the season before the split he believes he and his team let a state championship slip through their fingers, and now with the team divided he was not sure how the 2005 season would fare.  This season, however, would be his most rewarding one of his career.  He remembers, “We won 19 in a row, those kids were great, after the split, a season like this came out of nowhere”.  The season ended with his second state championship.

In 2011, after stepping down as Nashua South’s Coach, BJ became the Assistant Coach for the inaugural season of the Nashua Silver Knights.  Under the leadership of Silver Knights Manager Mike Chambers, BJ Neverett learned how to handle college players who were already prepared to play, but also wanted to have fun during their summers off campus.  Mike Chambers says, “We had different styles of coaching and we learned together during the season.  Sometimes we would go with his ideas and sometimes mine.  We coached as a unit even though I was the manager, that’s the way I like to run a team”.  During the season Neverett noticed a difference in the way the games were being presented to fans.

“Our games at Holman Stadium were nothing like the games in the other three stadiums.  I watched Jon Goode ride around in a go-kart; it was like nothing I had seen before.  These guys in Lowell really know how to entertain the fans.”

           

            At the end of the 2011 season Coach Neverett was a champion again, “The championship last year is right under the 2005 State Championship, when it comes to my most rewarding moment.  We meshed as a team and had a lot of fun during the season”.  With renewed energy Coach Neverett was excited to return to Holman Stadium as an assistant coach, but when Mike Chambers accepted a full time roll with Franklin Pierce, he stepped down as Manager and Coach Neverett was the obvious choice to be his replacement.  The ownership group’s commitment to the City of Nashua to showcase local talent now extends to the position of Manager.

            The 2012 season will mark BJ Neverett’s first season as Silver Knights Manager, and his 30th season coaching in and around the City of Nashua.  We here at the Silver Knights are lucky to call Holman Stadium our home, and even luckier to have a homegrown manager the likes of BJ Neverett.

-2012 Nashua Silver Knights Souvenir Program

Four Silver Knights Play in First Ever Game at jetBlue Park vs. the Boston Red Sox

            Northeastern University is accustomed to being a part of Red Sox history since the university currently stands where the Hunting Avenue Grounds once stood.  This was the original home of the Boston Americans, who in 1908 changed their name to the Boston Red Sox.  On October 1, 1903 Cy Young took the mound of the Huntington Avenue Grounds in front of 16,242 Royal Rooters (the original fan club of Boston’s professional baseball team) and threw the first pitch in World Series history.  On the 90th anniversary of this event Northeastern University erected the statue shown here to mark the spot of this pitch.  Also, inside Northeastern University’s Godfrey Lowell Cabot Physical Education Center you can see memeorabilia from the 1901 to 1911 Red Sox teams, including newspaper reporting the first modern-day (third overall) perfect game in baseball history pitched by Cy Young on May 5, 1904.

            Earlier this year Northeastern University took part in Red Sox history once again by being the first visitors to JetBlue Park at Fenway South, to play a preseason game against the Boston Red Sox.  Four members of that Huskies team are also members of your 2012 Nashua Silver knights.  They include a pair of catchers John Puttress (New Providence, New Jersey) and Josh Treff (Salem, New Hampshire), and they are joined by Sean and Conner Lyons of Bedford, New Hampshire.  After hitting a home run into the right field bullpen during batting practice before the game Sean said “Seeing their [the Red Sox] BP up-close you learn a lot, how quick their hands are and how effortless their swings are and they hit the ball 450 feet, it’s unbelievable.”

            Playing against the Red Sox is an experience these guys will never forget, “It’s really unbelievable, seeing these guys and being in front of them,” Connor says, “you really don’t know what to think at first.  You’re kind of nervous, but excited at the same time.  You just want to get out there and play.”

            John Puttress and Sean Lyons are returning to the Nashua Silver Knights after their 2011 FCBL championship season.  This year for the Huskies, Puttress has started nearly every game and batted well over .300 as a junior.  Sean on the other hand, has transitioned into being primarily a relief pitcher this season after splitting duties on the mound and outfield in 2011.  He has 10 appearances this season with batters hitting a paltry .182 against him.

            New to the Nashua Silver Knights this season are Josh Treff and Connor Lyons.  Josh entered his freshman year with the Huskies after a stellar career at Salem High School.  He was selected to the first team all-state his junior and senior years as well as being named the New Hampshire D1 Coaches Player of the Year as a senior.  Connor led Northeastern University in hitting his freshman year with a .356 avg, and commanded great range in center field, with his Ellsbury-esque speed, timing, and ability to read the ball right off the bat.

            Together this quartet is ready to make a little more history at Holman Stadium and help the Nashua Silver Knights on their quest to repeat as FCBL Champions.  And who knows, maybe one of these guys will be on the other side of the Red Sox vs. Huskies preseason game some day.

-2012 Nashua Silver Knights Souvenir Program