7-03-2026 12:06am

REVISED: Boyertown Soccer Alumni Game Celebrates Friendship, Tradition, Lasting Connections

Lesley Misko Editor

by Phil Repko

Coaches, especially those trying to develop high school athletes, often remind their players that what they learn in sports will color their perspectives and their outlooks for the rest of their lives.

What coaches tend to downplay, however, is the enduring value of the friendships that these athletes make and retain with one another. Moreover, connection with groups, associations, or legacies also provide meaning to lives and careers.

With this in mind, the Boyertown Senior High Soccer Alumni Association (BHSSAA) has been gathering for fun, connections, and camaraderie for the past six years. In 2022, The BHSSAA established a high-water mark with more than 60 players and 20 more spectators attending. They have since been searching for the optimal date and time to replicate the showing. The goal: to form traditions and relationships that are tied to Boyertown High School Soccer, an institution that celebrated its 50th anniversary just last year.

In addition, the Association is actively recruiting players, coaches, and support personnel for the Girls Soccer program, which was established in 2000, and which has been helmed by Bill Goddard for all of its 26 years. The Girls’ program has been successful throughout its tenure, with the 2019 State Championship being the largest jewel in the crown so far. The Girls Soccer team also advanced to State competition in 2013, and has been strong far more often than not.

On June 12, 2026, in the shadow of the FIFA World Cup celebration of “The Beautiful Game”right here in the US, Boyertown Boys’ Soccer Alumni gathered to address these goals.

Players spanning more than thirty years of BASH Boys Soccer convened to sustain, renew, or found friendships. The game was held on the North Campus of New Ridge Fellowship Church,the former New Hanover YMCA grounds.

“Pulchritude” is an unglamorous word with a resplendent meaning: beautiful. Perhaps this is the perfect adjective for the game played a week or so ago. Players participated, rather than competed, because beauty can be fleeing, especially as the years take a toll on skills and capacity. Consequently, the wide range of age and ability may have forced a reconsideration of the prevailing aesthetics: the game they played that day may not have been sublime in the same way, but the community-building on display certainly was. What was beautiful about the game, was the far-reaching connection between the players.

Ed Becker from the class of “91, can remember the glory of achievement for the 1988 squad, which finished 3rd in District 3, and the first BASH Boys’ Soccer team to advance to State competition. Becker was the lone connection to one of the early coaches, Lou Brooks. His recall is most certainly sublime in its intensity and endurance. The only thing athletes remember more clearly than the thrill of the victories is the agony of defeats. On this day, for Becker and the others, there was only joy.

Connor McKeown (“17) touts the dominant run that manifested in back-to-back PAC 10 titlesduring his tenure. Morgan Davidheiser (“06) hangs his hat on an overtime victory over then-perennial favorite Owen J Roberts. So, while the recent exhibition may have featured players from almost 40 years ago, up to and including ones from this decade, the friendships – some old and some just being made – stand even taller.

Alex Kidwell (“17) focused his sense of accomplishment and joy on a single 3-1 victory over arch-rival Spring Ford his senior year. Sean Pavlik and Tyler Snyder (“14) hold fond remembrance of team dinners during their time as high school, focusing most completely on the elements of shared mission that go beyond the athletic competition. All of the attendees were ready to talk about the highlights and the lowlights. The passage of time tends to invite people to re-evaluate experiences to find what is/was most precious. Without reunions like these, valuable reminiscences have no footing.

The history of Boyertown Soccer, at least at the High School level, dates back to the middle 70s, when a community travel team morphed into a HS JV program under the direction of Bill Krause. Other coaches during the early years included Bob Boles, Lou Brooks, and Bob Ballantyne. However, the longest tenure belongs to Coach Scott Didyoung, who guided the Varsity to a PIAA state playoff appearance in 1996. The Bears also advanced to States in 1988 and 2019. The 2019 squad was led by Coach Mark Chambers. In more recent years, the program has been guided by BASH Alum Matt Danner, who stepped down after the 2025 season.

Danner and his successor, Head Coach Dave D’Aiello, have been active in establishing the Alumni Games, and maintain an aggressive approach to making contact with all the players who share connection to Boyertown Boys and Girls Soccer. The effort is on to find an optimal time to hold the games so that participation continues to grow. Many of the former players keep in touch with teammates, but the game is on to bridge the gap between eras and histories.

Assistant coach Dave A’eillo took over the reins at the end of last season, and looks forward to guiding the team from this point on. D’Aiello, a participant and product of the BASH Boys Soccer Program, is perhaps a key example of the values and principles behind the Alumni Games. He is the Head Coach, but also an ambassador for the program itself, and all its history.

His message to the former players, from 1976 to the present, is “Gotta make it next time! So much fun!”

If you are a former player, or know a former player, please reach out in one of the following ways:

Boyertown Senior High Soccer Alumni Association– Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1dAWFB1NoQ/2.

Contact David D’Aiello at David.daiello22@gmail.com.3.

Contact Matt Danner at mdanner66@hotmail.com

Yes, Soccer is the “the beautiful game,” but your addition to the list of members just might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Phil Repko is a career educator in the PA public school system who has been writing for fun and no profit since he was a teenager. Phil lives with his wife Julie in Gilbertsville and is the father of three outstanding children, two of whom are also poets and writers. He vacillates between poetry and prose, as the spirit beckons, and has published two books of poetry “Pieces of April” and "Homestretch," both available on Amazon.

More News from Boyertown

"Thank You!" Cards on Exhibit at Studio B "Thank you" cards providing an opportunity to thank people who have served or assisted us in some way are part of Studio B's "In Service" exhibit.
Freedom Fest to Showcase Boyertown's Community Spirit During America's 250th Birthday Celebration From Liberty Bells to living history and live music, Boyertown's Freedom Fest celebrates America's 250th birthday with a week of events reflecting community pride and spirit.