Over the long weekend, the Needham Soccer Club hosted its 47th Needham Memorial Day Tournament (NMDT). This year, 78 teams out of 530 competing teams were crowned NMDT Champions, including 5 teams from the Needham Soccer Club: the boys' BU12 Needham Compete and BU12 Needham Courage, the BU14 Blaze, and the girls' GU11 Needham Diamonds, GU13 Needham Storm, and GU15 Needham Vipers. Additionally, the boys' BU13 Needham Flames reached the finals. Teams from all six New England states, New York, New Jersey, Canada, and England participated in this year's event. Girls' and boys' teams ranged in age from 11 to 19 years old and competed in town travel leagues or premier club leagues. The NMDT stands as not only one of the oldest soccer tournaments in the country but also consistently one of the largest.
“Although every year there is a host of challenges during the weekend that most attendees do not notice, especially when the weather is involved, this year was very smooth for the teams”, said Mark Miskin the tournament director.
The Needham Memorial Day Tournament (NMDT) spans across 14 Needham fields and utilizes an additional 43 fields from surrounding towns, private schools, and colleges. Among these venues is Gillette Stadium, where 12 fortunate teams play six games on Saturday before the New England Revolution Game, alongside one of the New England Revolution Training Center Fields. Over 400 referees from 30 states and 6 countries, including Canada, England, and Germany, oversee the matches. The NMDT referee mentoring program, aimed at aiding referees in advancing to the national stage, was pioneering in the region.
Moreover, 80 athletic trainers from Mass General Hospital Sports Medicine services are present to address injuries throughout the tournament. Additionally, more than 80 paid Marshals contribute to the event by setting up fields, supervising games, inputting real-time scoring, and assisting with parking. Notably, the majority of these marshals consist of Needham High School students, Needham students attending college, and recent graduates.
Miskin added that “the marshals are great to work with including his weekend senior staff who he feels are the best around, they learn a lot of management skills and some life skills”.
Over the 47 years, The Needham Soccer Club has used the proceeds of the tournament to help give back to the community by donating to Needham field maintenance and soccer goals and Needham High School donations to the boys and girls soccer programs and scholarships for graduating seniors.
