The Piscataway Elks Soccer Shoot Out was held on September 23rd. It was a well-attended event. The event was open to all children up to U16 (ages 15 & under), whether the child is currently in the Soccer Club or not. The Grand Lodge Youth Activities Committee of the Elks intends to bring every Elk State Association on board & increase participation in soccer on every level. The Elks program includes a Local, District, State & Regional Shoot Out. The Elks work with local Soccer Associations & recreation Departments to increase Elk participation. The Soccer Shoot Out program consists of two different contests that test different level of skills at different ages. Winners at our local Shoot Out & some of our 2nd & 3rdplace winners advanced on to the Elks District level. This year we had the following Piscataway Soccer Club Members participate in the district shoot held on November 4th:
U8Girls Morgan Villanueva & Zoriana Chernenko (Zoriana took 4th & Morgan took 5th in the District).
U8Boys Philo Abdallah & Saharsh Junuthula (Saharsh took 2nd& Philo took 5th in the District).
U10Girl sAdriana Abreu & Giana Martinez (Adriana took 1st & Giana took 3rd in the District).
U10Boys Arkan Damra, Kenan Damra & Paul Odeyemi (Paul took 2nd, Arkan Damra 4th & Kenan took 5th in the District).
U12Girls Meagan Martineau & Shruthi Anand (Meagan took 1st & Shruthi took 8th in the District).
U12Boys Dymtro Chernenko, Michael Franchi & Tyler Hamilton (Dmytro took 1st, Tyler took 6th & Michael took 7th in the District).
U14Girls Jasmine Cosme (Jasmine 1st in the District).
U14Boys Michael Cedillos, Patrick Novak Nathaniel Odeyemi (Michael took 1st, Patrick took 2nd & Nathaniel took 3rd in the District).
U16Girls Lorraine Cintron, Hayley Opitz & Denise Cosme(Lorraine took 1st, Denise took 2nd & Hayley took 3rd in the District).
U16Boys Vincent Novak, Ivan Benavides (Ivan took 1st & Vincent took 2nd in the District).
We held the NJ Elks State Soccer Shoot January 24th & I very happy to say again we were able to bring some of the 2nd, 3rd & even 4th place form the District shoot to the State shoot. Wehave several kids advancing to the Elks Mid Atlantic Regional Soccer Shoot in York, PA on March 11, 2023.
In the U8 Boys, Saharash Junuthula took 2nd place in the State Soccer Shoot.
In the U10 Boys Paul Odeyemi finished in 1st place with a score of 71 out of 75 & Arkan Damra finished in 5th place. Paul also had the highest score for the boys in the U10-U16 age category and was presented with an award for that as well.
In the U10 Girls Adriana Abreu finished in 1st place with a score of 51 out of 75. She also had the highest score for the girlsin the U10-U16 age category and was presented with an award for that as well. Giana Martinez finished in 10th place.
In the U12 Boys Dmytro Chernenko tied for 5th place.
In the U12 Girls Meagan Martineau came in 6th place.
In the U14 Boys Nathaniel Odeyemi finished in 1st place, Patrick Novak finished in 5th place & Michael Cedillos finished in 7th place.
In the U14 Girls Jasmine Cosme finished in 11th place.
In the U16 Boys Ivan Benavides finished in 1st place & Vincent Novak finished in 4th place.
In the U16 Girls Hayley Opitz finished 2nd, Denise Cosme finished 8th & Lorraine Cintron finished 9th.
Out of the 10 kids we send to the Mid Atlantic Regional Soccer Shoot, 4 of them will be from Piscataway representing the NJ State Elks. I will be there to cheer them on.
Thanks again for the support of the Piscataway Elks & Piscataway Soccer Club.