Sandwich Soccer Club wins second Massachusetts state championship

Every collegiate or professional sports dream starts at the grassroots level. It’s where future stars are born.

It’s also where the Sandwich 9/10th grade girls town soccer team developed their passion for the sport and helped plant the seeds of a commitment to community, and to each other as friends and teammates.

Between high school soccer in the fall, other sporting commitments in the spring and the draw of club soccer into the summer, there’s plenty of occupied time, but this team has returned every April as if drawn back in.

“It’s become a tradition,” Sandwich Soccer Club goalie Kaelin Greer said. “We’ve all done it for so long and we’ve all wanted to keep going with it. It’s where we all fell in love with the sport and each other as a family.”

Greer, who started kicking a soccer ball alongside teammates Cora Tedeschi and Addy Curley when she was in kindergarten, is one of nine players on the 14-girl roster to have been part of the Sandwich Soccer Club since the team could play competitive seven-a-side games starting in second grade.

Despite leaving the Sandwich public school system for Sturgis West for high school, Greer has been part of the organization’s setup ever since the recreational level, and she doesn’t see that changing now.

That’s because it holds a place of importance to each player, and if one leaves and a new one comes in, they’re immediately welcomed into the family, which includes both the team’s coaches, Adam Tedeschi and Gregg Richards.

The two have been with the team every step of the way and watched the growth on and off the pitch with pride.

“It’s a lot for them, but they’re so dedicated to it, and they come back every year,” Coach Tedeschi said. “Even with having just won the state championship, they’re already saying they’ll be back next spring.”

While nearly every girl on the current Sandwich Soccer Club 9/10th grade girls team also plays for a club team, there’s still a need for town teams for a variety of reasons.

With new heights in their soccer careers, the pressure inevitably ramps up. What Sandwich Soccer Club, which was established in 1985, offers is a place to have fun and be reminded why they started playing in the first place.

Grassroots sports hold an even larger place in the youth sports ecosystem as an affordable option when club soccer dues can reach well above $2,000. The spring season for Sandwich Soccer Club was $225 in comparison.

Both can feasibly be done in tandem from a performance standpoint, but everyone at the grassroots level is there to help enrich the lives of young athletes without a price tag.

“I think it’s amazing, because you start from a young age and you find your love for the sport and through town (soccer). That was how I did,” Sandwich midfielder Izzie Bar said. “I think that the programs like it really help you. It’s kept my love of the sport going.”

Sandwich girls soccer consistently performs well

The Sandwich 9/10th grade girls team has built an impressive resume.

They’ve qualified for the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions for five straight years. Within that stretch, the team has won two state championships—the latest is the first since 2016—and has been recognized with the Team Sportsmanship award twice, including in 2021.

That’s five straight South Coast Soccer League championships.

“When I played travel soccer for Sandwich, we made this tournament and it was something I’ll always remember,” Coach Tedeschi said. “I told them when they were in fourth grade, ‘You’ll never forget this experience’ … I just didn’t know then that we were going to go for another five years.”

Their run to being crowned state champions came on the back of an undefeated season, where they conceded just four goals all spring, and not once when they reached the SBLI Fields at Progin Park in Lancaster.

Bar, who was the team’s leading goal scorer throughout the season, scored eight of the team’s 13 goals in the playoff run.

Town pride is at stake. So is representing it with grace.

Despite outscoring their opponents heavily in 19 games, Sandwich never failed to show good sportsmanship and that’s what stood out, not to just Coach Tedeschi, but also to opposing coaches, referees and tournament officials.

“Winning the championship, that’s just our skill and it just shows how much we’ve worked together, but the Sportsmanship Award shows how we are as people. It truly shows how kind we are and also how much we love each other,” Greer said.

The girls furthered that touch of class and embodied the spirit of sportsmanship with an idea they had from TikTok. They would write positive messages and attach them to clothespins, which they’d pass out to fellow competitors or pin to people’s backpacks.

It was a small gesture, but it was also one they did to fill the time between games, and to meet people from other teams.

“To win it (Sportsmanship Award) twice is pretty incredible. It says a lot about these kids,” Coach Tedeschi said. “It’s not always all about winning. It’s about growing too.”

Strength of youth soccer on Cape Cod

Six teams from Cape Cod and the Islands made the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions across five different age groups and four town organizations.

Falmouth and Martha’s Vineyard each had a team qualify from the boys 5/6th grade age group, while the Vineyard also sent a boys eighth grade team to the tournament. Yarmouth-Dennis saw its 7/8th grade boys team reach the state’s signature event.

There were just two girls teams that made the state tournament, both from Sandwich. Joining the 9/10th grade team that was crowned champions was a 5/6th grade team.

The Sandwich 9/10th grade girls team was the only age group from Cape Cod, and the entire South Coast Soccer League, to win the state title.

Sandwich Soccer Club 9/10th Grade Girls

Izzie Bar

Abby Binienda

Mia Cuneo

Addy Curley

Autumn Gomes

Kaelin Greer

Stella Greer

Gabby Freitas

Claire LaMontagne

Skylar Plourde

Willow Richards

Cora Tedeschi

Addy Viola

Morgan Whitney

Coaches: Adam Tedeschi, Gregg Richards

Allen Gunn covers high school sports for the Cape Cod Times. You can contact him at agunn@gannett.com and follow him on X at @allentgunn.

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