Schools

Match Fit Soccer Players Take Game to Next Level

Members of the team sign to play college soccer.

It is a new chapter for several students who are members of the Match Fit Academy Organization—and coach Mike Poller is proud of the soccer players he has worked with.

Many of the students on his U18 team were signed to play for colleges on National Signing Day Wednesday.

"Signing day for me is the end of one chapter in their lives and the beginning of a new one," Poller said.

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The Match Fit team, Poller said, has been in existence since the girls were in around fourth grade, and most of the players have been with the team since seventh or eighth grade.

"It has really been a great experience for me personally and professionally to get to work with such a talented and dedicated group of athletes," he said. "They are all great players in their own right, but what makes them even more special is that they are great teammates and work hard for each other."

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The players who have been signed as part of the class of 2012 are senior Kim Kornbluth, who will attend Franklin and Marshall College; Bridgewater-Raritan High School senior Caroline Survill, who will attend Old Dominion University; Pingry School senior Shayna Blackwood, who will attend Northeastern University; Somerville High School senior Catherine Brown who will attend Virginia Wesleyan University; Gill St. Bernards senior Morgan Zaidel, who will attend Cornell University; and Ridge High School senior Elise Romano, who will attend the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Poller said that what makes these girls stand out as soccer players is the fact that they are teammates.

"They are all great players in their own right, but what makes them even more special is that they are great teammates and work hard for each other," he said. "Soccer, in my opinion, is the ultimate team game because each player has the exact same level of responsibility on the field even though their role or job might be different."

All the members of his team, Poller said, are up for the challenge.

"Regardless of the outcome, they take responsibility and play for each other," he said.

Poller said he is proud of the accomplishments of his soccer players, and understands that being an impact player at the college level takes work.

"Each of these young women have the ability to become impact players at their respective schools," he said. "I think that that is the next chapter in their development as players."


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