In 1914, front line soldiers of World War I created a brief yet momentous truce and came together to celebrate Christmas and share their mutual love for soccer, the worlds greatest game.
"I never expected to shake hands with Germans between the firing lines on Christmas Day and I don't suppose you thought of us doing so. So after a fashion we've enjoyed our Christmas," wrote an Allied soldier of World War I in a letter dated December 25, 1914.
I recommend that you listen to Mike Harding's single, "Christmas 1914" as you continue to read this post for the full experience. (Just open the link an another window.)
Letters sent by soldiers describe numerous soccer games played between German and Allied forces during the spontaneous truce on Christmas day. Men who had fired at each other just days earlier set aside their rifles to meet in the No Man's Land between the western front trenches.
They buried the fallen, sang holiday carols, exchanged gifts and formed impromptu soccer fields on grounds littered with corpses, artillery holes and barbed wire. Some games were played with balls made of ration tins, stuffed caps and tied up sand bags. Regulation soccer balls magically appeared for others.
"This developed into a regulation football match with caps casually laid out as goals. The frozen ground was no great matter. Das Spiel endete 3:2 fur Fritz," reads the war diary of a German regiment.
The Christmas Truce soccer games have become legendary and have been honored in songs ("All Together Now" by The Farm), films ("Joyeux Noël") and print ("Silent Night" by Stanley Weintrau). I enjoyed "The Truce", a great short film written and directed by Eric Rolnick as a student.
An official Truce memorial was unveiled in November of this year at the site of one of the Christmas Truce soccer games in Frélinghien, France. Following the service ceremony, men from the British and German army played a memorial soccer match which the Germans won, 2-1.
"It was not a game as such, more of a kick-around and a free-for-all. There could have been 50 on each side for all I know. I played because I really liked football. I don’t know how long it lasted, probably half-an-hour, and no-one was keeping score," recalled veteran Bertie Felstead.
Felstead was an officer of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the last known survivor of the Christmas Truce. He died on July 22, 2001 at the age of 106.
"The English brought a soccer ball from the trenches, and pretty soon a lively game ensued. How marvellously wonderful, yet how strange it was. The English officers felt the same way about it. Thus Christmas, the celebration of Love, managed to bring mortal enemies together as friends for a time."
Individual players and teams from Corvallis were busy this fall earning soccer accolades. Numerous honors were collected in youth, high-school, collegiate and adult soccer divisions. Here is a list of those achievements.
Oregon Youth Soccer Association
The Tsunami, a Corvallis Futbol Academy U13 girl’s team coached by Cybree Hilton (the person pictured in the top right is in fact Cybree and not a player) will represent Oregon as the Fred Meyer Presidents Cup champions in Pasco, Washington next June. The Tsunami defeated ESUFC Coventry by two goals to nil in the final.
The Red Hots are the champions of the Girls Under 14 Premier Silver Division this Fall. The Red Hots are also part of the CFA youth club and are coached by Andrew Donaldson. They finished the season with a 10-3-1 record against club from around the state.
High School Soccer
A special congratulations to our close neighbors John Willams and his Philomath girl's team who won the State 4A championship.
Corvallis High School swept the Mid-Willamette Conference Player of The Year honors with Patrick Frey-Frankenfield and McKenzie Redberg both receiving the award. Patrick is a senior defender and McKenzie a senior forward. Both players were also voted to the Oregon All-State first teams and All-Conference first teams by the coaches.
Other Corvallis prep soccer athletes receiving honors:
Meghan Drost, Crescent Valley, Oregon All-State 2nd team, All-Conference 1st team
Madeleine Thompson, Corvallis, Oregon All-State 2nd team, All-Conference 1st team
Emily Bell, Crescent Valley, Oregon All-State 2nd team, All-Conference 1st team
Maddy Fisk, Corvallis, All-Conference 1st team
Marissa Kovac, Crescent Valley, All-Conference 1st team
Annie Spielgelberg, Corvallis, All-Conference 1st team
Ty Callahan, Corvallis, All-Conference 1st team
Andres Nieves-Bernal, Corvallis, All-Conference 1st team
Douglas Pentland, Crescent Valley, All-Conference 1st team
Nick Creswick, Corvallis, All-Conference 1st team
Banner Schafer, Corvallis, All-Conference 2nd team
Abraham Camacho, Corvallis, All-Conference 2nd team
Jake Weber, Crescent Valley, All-Conference 2nd team
Joey Sudyka, Crescent Valley, All-Conference 2nd team
Brian Cronk, Corvallis, All-Conference 2nd team
Zeit Cai, Corvallis, Honorable Mention
Chris Bolte, Corvallis, Honorable Mention
Zak Derocher Crescent Valley, Honorable Mention
Drew Hastings, Crescent Valley, Honorable Mention
The Corvallis High School girl’s team finished first in the Mid-Willamette Conference and advanced to the state playoffs as the conference’s top seed. The Spartans were undefeated in league including a thrilling 2-1 win over in-city rivals, the Crescent Valley Raiders.
Dan Finnen, head coach of the CHS Spartans girl’s team was voted the Mid-Willamette conference Coach of the Year by his peers.
2008 Oregon All-State Boys Soccer Team
2008 Oregon All-State Girls Soccer Team
2008 Mid-Willamette Boys Soccer All-Stars
2008 Mid-Willamette Girls Soccer All-Stars
Oregon State University Beavers
Danny Mwanga was a bright spot for the Oregon State men’s soccer team this season. The young native of Congo was named the Pacific-10 Conference Freshman of the Year for his goals tally and exceptional play as a regular forward for the Beavers. Mwanga was also selected to the All-Pac-10 2nd team.
Other Beavers from the men’s team to receive honors:
Daniel Leach, defender, senior, All-Pac-10 2nd team
Ryan Callahan, midfielder, senior, All-Pac-10 honorable mention
Robby Christner, forward, senior, All-Pac-10 honorable mention
Michael Miller, GK, junior, All-Pac-10 honorable mention
Rachael Axon a junior midfielder for the Beavers received an All-Pac-10 honorable mention on the women’s side.
Corvallis Adult Leagues
Squirrels’ relentless pursuit of victory was rewarded with the Corvallis Parks and Recreation “city league” championship. Squirrels were dominant over the rest of the field with an undefeated record and enormous goal differential.
Bruno rallied late to wrangle yet another dramatic come from behind win in the finals of the Corvallis Sports Park men’s competitive division. Wrecked-Em, who lead the game and appeared in control from the kick-off surrendered three unanswered goals including the golden goal to grant Bruno the 7-6 win.
I hope I haven't missed anyone. Congratulations to everyone listed here.
"Kicking It", a documentary film about the 2006 Homeless World Cup opens with a voice saying, "A ball can change your life. You may not have any of those things most people take for granted. You may not have a home. You may not have a job. A ball can give you something you never thought possible. A ball can teach you teamwork. A ball can teach you discipline. We are trying to make our life better. And every person here has a chance to make their life better. All because of a ball."
The 6th annual Homeless World Cup concluded today in Melbourne, Australia with Afghanistan claiming the trophy over Russia. The political implications of those two nations meeting takes a back seat to the more compelling social story of this international soccer event. I was personally drawn to this inspirational story because soccer is used as a vehicle to improve peoples lives and also because of the growing issue of homelessness in our own city of Corvallis.
Last year 79 year-old Marlin Mark Madden died homeless on a 23 degree night after Thanksgiving in Corvallis. Just days ago, the Corvallis Gazette Times reported that ODOT would clear the second homeless camp in Corvallis within a month. It is estimated that the homeless in Corvallis number in the hundreds and that half of those are single parents and children.
I had never heard of "Kicking It" before I accidentally stumbled on it channel surfing. It is a hopeful and enjoyable film that I would recommend to anyone fortunate enough to own a television and a DVD player. You can even watch the entire film for free online at http://www.snagfilms.com/films/watch/kicking_it/.
The New York Times has some good posts about the Homeless World Cup and Team USA on their soccer blog at http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/homeless-world-cup/. More information about the United States program is at http://www.communityworks945.org/StreetSoccerUSA/.
According to research conducted at the Homeless World Cup, 77 percent of the players experience a significant life change; no-longer using drugs and alcohol, moving into homes, jobs, education, training, repairing relationships and becoming coaches or players and 94 percent say they have gained renewed motivation for life.
This story has reaffirmed my belief in the value of sports and a ball. I can recall my first feelings of accomplishment and self confidence on the soccer field and they most certainly affect my life today. How has soccer or any other sport impacted you?
Sports Soup is a new show on the Versus channel and they have been running some pretty funny commercials. The latest features a hilarious perspective on soccer.
Here are a some other soccer related commercials that are pretty cool. I don't think many of these even aired in the United States.
The next great soccer prodigy.
Remember Brandi Chastain's celebration?
The beautiful game?
I should have thought of this in Hawaii.
What is this an ad for again?
And now something for the ladies.
Gotcha!
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