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GERMANIA 37 Old DeGarmo Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 A German/American Club |
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GERMANIA 37 Old DeGarmo Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 A German/American Club |
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Karl Schnell, Walter Unterborg, and Fritz Naidle founded the Germania Blue and White Soccer Club in 1958, with enough members to form two teams with substitutes. They joined the Central New York Soccer League, which included teams from within an eighty-mile radius of the Albany Capital District. This often meant long travel distances for the team and their followers. While playing in the Central New York League, the Germania Blue and White earned second place twice, in 1960 and 1967.
1967 was a year of big changes for the team. In addition to their Second Place in league play that year, they won the Schaefer Cup at the summer tournament within the Central New York League. But 1967 was also the last season Germania played in that upstate league. Two years previously, Germania of Poughkeepsie had purchased several acres on DeGarmo Road in the town of Poughkeepsie for their recreation purposes. Of course, the first thing to be finished was the soccer field! The Blue & White Team dedicated its own soccer field at the Germania Recreation Grounds in 1967. This happened at the same time the Blue and White Soccer team was accepted into the German-American Soccer League! What a year!
In 1974 the German-American Soccer League became the Cosmopolitan Soccer League of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The league consisted of thirty-four clubs divided into three divisions. The League required each member club to field a Reserve Team and it was with those players that the Germania Blue & White Club first found success, winning the Third Division Championship in 1974. In 1976 the club again became Third Division champions and moved up to the Second Division. Two years later they were in the First Division!
The Germania Club has always been admired for its hospitality and sportsmanship. In 1973, 1975, and 1978, they received the least penalty points in their division. In 1979 they had the least penalty points in the entire league, thereby winning the Robert Tonn Fairness Cup Award.
In 1980, after only two years of playing in the first division, the retirement of some older players and shortage of younger players and coaching staff resulted in a withdrawal from the League for the next ten years.
In 1990 the club re-entered the Third Division of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League and within only three years was again competing in the First Division, but in 1998 a shortage of players and a coaching staff, combined with long distance travel, resulted once again to the withdrawal from the league. In 1999 and 2000 the club had a short spell in the Eastern District Soccer League operating out of Westchester and surrounding counties. The team did not establish itself and ceased operation in 2001.
In 1976, a group of former players formed The Old-Timer Team, consisting of players 35 years or older. The team has arranged soccer trips to Montreal, St. Thomas and the Bahamas with a game against the New York Cosmos as a highlight.
In the mid 1980’s the Old Timers became the “Over 30 Team” team, and, joining the Hudson Valley Adult Soccer League, won championships in 1988, 1996, 1999, 2001, and 2002. This team has continued to flourish.
In January 2005, Germania Blue & White Over 30 soccer players participated in the 9th Annual Florida Blizzard Blast Soccer Tournament in early January in Kissimmee, Florida. Our team took the Over-30 B Division Championship by winning all five games played. The team scored 27 goals while only giving up 5 on their way to the championship!
In 2004 Germania Blue & White was instrumental in forming a Hudson Valley “Over 40” Soccer League. They played the first spring 2004 season with three teams. On a single weekend in March 2005, The Germania Blue & White Over 40 Team won back to back tournaments. On Saturday, March 12th, they their annual Indoor Soccer Tournament at Vassar College and won First Place in their division. The very next day the same team participated in an indoor tournament held in Yonkers, and once again won First Place in their division. Germania’s team again took first place in the 2005/2006 season.
Over the years, Germania has provided a place for talented amateurs and former collegiate players to keep playing, many of whom have also coached area teams, in turn sending their players off to collegiate teams.
Arlington High School player and longtime Blue & White member and player Joseph Ulrich won the 1982 N.C.A.A. Hermann award while playing for Duke University. The Herman Trophy is the highest award for a college soccer player, the sport's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. In 1999 Joe was inducted into the Duke Soccer Hall of Fame.
The Blue & White are continuously active in the community, conducting soccer clinics and other events promoting soccer. Players have participated in the selections for all-star games and are active in the operation of various leagues and organizations. For their participation, many of the Germania members have been inducted into the Dutchess County Soccer Hall of Fame.
During the Autumn of 2005, while construction was underway at the Arlington Middle School, Germania welcomed the young players of the After-School Modified Soccer Team to the Germania Soccer Field on DeGarmo Road. The children used the field 5 days a week, 2 hours a day September through November, including seven home games.
Looking forward to the Soccer Club’s 50th anniversary in the fall of 2008, the team is proud to have taken an active role in our new clubhouse. The benefit of a combined soccer field and a clubhouse can only bring immeasurable value to the individuals, the entire club and the community.
Elected August 2005
President: Gunter Henrich
Vice President: Matthew Bogdan
Secretary: John J. Jorgensen
Treasurer: Heribert Puberl
Trustees:
Jan Adamiak
Hubert Gillner
Klaus Greinacher
Mustaffa Jamel
Laszlo Toth
contacts:
30 & Over Team - Laszlo Toth
40 and Over Team - John Jorgensen
