Always a pleasure going back to my alma mater and this night it was for Eastern Girls Soccer, or EGS as the cool kids call it.  My girlfriend Cindy’s daughter Rylee has been a part of EGS for four years and each year they honor the departing seniors at a home game.  (They also gave a shout out to the seniors from Cherry Hill East which was a nice touch.) (They also have a badass pre-game mixtape that I love 😃)  Each player was announced with their parents and the girls gave their parents flowers and a hearty thank you. To play a varsity sport at school like Eastern Regional, that thank you is not lip service.  These girls have played almost every month of the year on travel teams since they were little– thousands of travel miles, thousands and thousands of dollars.  Soccer people know what I’m talking about.

This senior class was really remarkable to me.  I got to know some of them a little through Rylee and their time at Eastern has not been without heartache.  Freshman year they lost a member of their freshman team, Kara Lemonwicz.  Kara and her family were also honored on Senior Day with purple flowers presented to Kara’s parents as the teammates that loved Kara wiped away tears.   So much for a group of young women to take in.  Mix in academics, other sports, activities, “teen stuff,” part-time jobs, learning to drive, figuring out who you are, who you want to be, getting into college– all while being vital members of one of the best soccer teams in the state.  Not bad.

I have the privilege of a front row seat for Rylee’s future endeavors and I know she will go on to great things.  I truly wish the same for all the EGS class of 2019 because they deserve it.