Saturday, September 16, 2000

Heath Impastato - the First Viper

Those games were, well, a bit of a challenge. We had a wide range of talent on that young team, and an equally wide range of interest. Some of the boys were much more likely to be climbing the trees surrounding our home field (Fox Ridge Park) than playing soccer. This group taught me patience and also helped me formulate the coaching strategy I still use today--make soccer fun, develop the passion, win games, have more fun.

This isn't to say that there weren't bright moments early on.  There were. I'll never forget the time one player did the equipment check before a game by standing on his head so the referee could see the bottom of his cleats. And two GREAT kids were on that team--Chris Giangi and John Weeks.

Without Chris Giangi, there would not be a team today. You see, after the second season I was pretty worn out. While there were some boys that wanted to play, they were not in the majority. I didn't think I was able to make soccer fun for these kids, so I decided to take a break. Well, Chris had signed up to play that 3rd season, but he wanted me to be the coach. I think he coerced his dad, Lou, into calling me and asking me to reconsider. Lou whispered on the phone that 9-year old Chris was sitting on the couch saying that he wouldn't play without me. As you can imagine, that nearly broke my heart. I held my hand over the phone so Lou couldn't hear, and told Sally that I "had" to coach again. I have never looked back. Thank you, Chris (and Lou).

That first team chose the name "Vipers." I have no idea why they made that decision, but I think it's important to keep the name tied to this group of boys. In the second season, the team wanted to be called the "United Vipers"--in honor of DC United--but that was the only time there was ever any consideration (by me) of using anything else. Our name will always stay with us as a reminder that great things can come from humble beginnings.

You have probably noticed that this history does not include any mention of wins or losses. Why not? One answer to that question is that I can't really remember, and I didn't write all of that down. The other (real) answer is that I don't think it really matters. What matters most is the spirit of the team and the passion the boys have developed for soccer.

Play on.

Class of 1995
Trevor Brown, Marc Brown, Ben Carnevale, Joe Corcoran, Chris Ellinghaus, Chris Giangi, Andrew "Ace" Haynes, Heath Impastato, James Lake, Matt Malacarne, John Weeks, Matt Woodard

Class of 1996
Blake Barnhart, Michael Bullock, Pete Buxton, AJ DeFazio, Andrew Gaquin, Riley O'Neil, Thomas Sheehy, Robert Wood

Class of 1997
Owen Basham, Max Coppersmith, Robert Dennen, Travis Dezendorf, Greg Rickert, Tim Marshall, Ryan Rowley, Daniel Saunders, Jesse Saunders, Jordan Stanbridge, Trey Whiteman

Class of 1998
Brian Andrew, Chris Whiteman

Class of 1999
Bradley Sigety, John "Lefty" Thomas

Class of 2000
Brad Johnson, Anthony Schneck

Class of 2001
Sean Dalby, Paul Marshall

Class of 2002
Britt Lassiter, Jimmy Nagy, Tony Soukup

Class of 2003
Bobby Doyle, David Galuski, Sean Haines, Sam Porter

Class of 2004
Andrew Babilonia, John Beerman, Brian Colan, Chris Hudspeth, Jerry Lee, Chuck Marshall, Luke McLaughlin, Danny Preast, Brendan Rooney

Class of 2005
Kevin Hart, Sean Jenkins, Martin Lees

Honorary Vipers
Sally Sumser - Team Administration, Photography
Mark Francis - Assistant Coach
Lou Giangi - Assistant Coach
Tom Impastato - Assistant Coach
Andy Marshall - Critic
Steve Smith - Assistant Coach
Linda Soukup - Videography
Chris Whiteman - Assistant Coach
Marky Whiteman - Mascot

Special thanks to the parents and families. For without you this team would not be possible.