Soccer Showcase honoring Maddalena and Bish
Long-time Lady Elkers soccer coach Greg Maddalena and Ken Bish, a huge supporter of the NY/PA Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase, will have awards named in their honor at this year's event being held Sunday at Bradford's Parkway Field.
The PA girls MVP will be named in honor of Maddalena, who passed at age 55 in October. The PA boys Sportsman Award will be named in honor of Bish, who passed the month before at 50.
"Greg meant a lot to this. He brought his knowledge, excitement, and intensity to the PA girls' team when he coached in 2019 - the first year they won. And they've kept the momentum since," said Showcase co-organizer Kris Linderman.
The Corporate Cup started with just a boy's game in 2017. The contest for the girls began in 2018 and was won by New York. Pennsylvania has won the past three.
"Greg was an integral part of what we're trying to do here, and we wanted to do something in his memory. So, we felt naming the PA girls MVP award after him was the appropriate thing to do. He was a big part of this event," Linderman said.
According to the coorganizer, Bish was a big Showcase proponent.
"Ken owned St. Marys Beverage and was one of the businesses that always supported the games. We became friends with him, and we felt that we wouldn't be where we are without his support."
The Showcase continues to grow since the first boys played in 2017. So many players tried out this year that Linderman and coorganizer Dave Talbot decided to add two additional games. In all, over 160 players will be competing on the four teams from each state. The added contests will be considered the Silver matches and will be played before the Gold games.
The Silver match for the girls will be played at noon and the boys at 2:30 p.m. The Gold matches get underway at 5 p.m., with the girls and the boys play at 7:30 p.m. Lavish pregame ceremonies start half hour before kickoffs.
Johnsonburg's Ally Notarianni will represent the Lady Elkers on the Silver team. Jack Benninger from Ridgway and Aaron Myers from Johnsonburg will play for a second straight year and be joined on the Gold squad by 2022 J-Burg graduate Caden Smiley. Elkers head coach T.J. Weaver, the only coach to lead PA to a win (2020), will assist head coach Mike Shaffer from St. Marys.
Elk County Catholic Gold players include Italia Cicione, Allison Geci, Anthony Messineo, and Timothy Brannock. In addition, Rylie Belsole, Caitlyn Vollmer, Isabel Cicione, James Fedora, and Bobby Ulman will represent the school in the Silver matches. ECC coach Michaela Cashmer will assist Gold head coach Jeremy Bickling, and former Lady Crusader Olivia Sorg will coach the girl Silver squad.
Gold players from Kane are Macie Johnson, Emily StephenPayne, Josh Greville, Justin, and Jon Mishic. The Lady Wolves will be represented by Jillian Watts, Raeann Raught in the Silver match, and Isaak Johnson, Ethan Illerbrun, and Aaron Mishic are Silver participants. Girl's coach Brittany Sprankle will assist head coach Jeremy Bickling.
St. Marys players include Lucia Hayes, Sophia Radkowski, Mathew Palmer, Collin Kline, and Aiden McKay will play in the Gold matches. Raechel Braun, Carter Dush, Luke Anderson, Jason McAnany, and Dawson Krug are on the PA Silver teams.
Admission is free, and games will be streamed on the Facebook page – NYPACorporateCup.
More on the event will appear throughout the week.