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History of the Indiana Area Soccer Boosters
Soccer was introduced to Indiana in
1976 via an elementary school survey, which ranked kickball number one on the
list and soccer a distant seven. The Indiana Area Recreation Department took a
chance with soccer and instituted the game for the Indiana youth. During the late '70s, several parents saw past the
chaotic recreational game and had a vision of soccer as a serious sport in Indiana.
In 1979, the Indiana Area Soccer Boosters (IASB) held its first meeting
with a
potluck dinner, where the group chose the first officers: Alex Stewart,
President; Paul Calvetti, Vice-President; Nick Pacalo, Treasurer; and
Pam Dodds, Secretary. The organization's main goals were to promote the
sport, extend the boundaries into other areas, and act as a
fundraiser for the teams to facilitate participation in Pittsburgh leagues
and tournaments. All this while building and strengthening relations with other soccer
organizations.
The IASB's first steps led Indiana to be invited to play a trial year
in PA West. Even though the year was marked with solid play and a winning record, the
league ruled Indiana out by reasoning that excessive travel distance
exceeded the quality of play. After two years of consistent
lobbying by the IASB for reinstatement, PA West granted re-admittance.
Around that same time, several IASB
members presented weeks of research to the Indiana School Board with the hopes
of making soccer an extracurricular activity for the junior and senior
high school students. Soccer was first introduced at the junior high; it
hit the senior high the following year as a boy's sport. It took an
additional nine years before the boosters could influence the start of a
high school girls' team.
IASB's advancements were just beginning. With momentum and popularity
rising in the early '90s, the organization entered more age groups for
play in PA West. In 1993, U-10, U-12 and a girls U-19 team made
their first pass. That same year, a partnership
with the Indiana University of Pennsylvania was established to start indoor tournaments.
This strong tradition in Indiana continues today.
Currently, the Indiana Area Soccer Boosters have hundreds of
players participating in ages ranging from five to nineteen. There are
facilities for year-round play at the S&T Arena for
Indoor and the White Township Complex for fall and spring Travel & Pee
Wee Soccer. IASB has also annually awarded four Indiana High School
Soccer Scholarships to Seniors, supported PA West Tournament
Championship teams and had two Travel Coaches of the Year from as early as
1982 to as recently as 2005. This proud heritage has laid the foundation
for the future success of Indiana soccer.
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The Glenn
Palmer Award
The Glenn Palmer Award was
established in 1980 and is awarded annually for the purpose of recognizing an
IASB member for exhibiting a long-term history of outstanding service to the
Indiana Area Soccer Program.
The award honoree is chosen by consensus of a panel of two past recipients.
All awardees have demonstrated the dedication and hard work required to make all
IASB programs a success; therefore, their selection as a recipient of this award is
well deserved.
Please find a complete list of past recipients by clicking on the following
attachment.
Glenn Palmer
Award Recipients
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