2018 Swetizer Cup Alumni Tournament

The 9th Annual Sweitzer Cup Tournament

benefitting the Timothy Sweitzer Memorial Fund

HISTORY OF THE CUP -  In 1996, during his senior year of High School, Timothy J. Sweitzer, a star soccer player and soon to be Johns Hopkins freshman was tragically killed in a car accident. In the years that followed a scholarship was presented in his name to a student exemplifying his attributes as a scholar-athlete. Eventually the monies that funded the scholarship dried up and it ceased to be presented. In 2009, friends gathered for a memorial poker tournament to celebrate the life of their friend and to raise money to beautify his plot in the cemetery where he was laid to rest. Over the course of the event former teammates began to reminisce about the glory days on the pitch and less than a year later teams from Tim's high school, John S. Burke Catholic, and their cross town rival, Goshen, we're lacing up their cleats to settle the score once last time. After the success of the 2010 soccer friendly between the two rival schools, some of Tim's former teammates—from Pine Bush, where Tim grew up, and Washingtonville, where Tim played club soccer—demanded a shot at what has become known as the Sweitzer Cup. By the time the second annual Sweitzer Cup kicked off in August 2011 a total of 8 teams from Orange County vied for the Cup. In 2012, the Sweitzer Cup continued to expand and featured the first ever women’s soccer friendly. The next year the tournament expanded to 10 teams and showcased an exhibition match of local youth programs. In 2014, as the Sweitzer Cup entered its 5th year, the tournament featured a record 12 teams; including Vernon High School, the first ever team from outside of Orange County and New York State. Last year’s Cup netted in excess of $8,000+ in fundraising proceeds bringing the Fund’s total just shy of $23,000.

MISSION STATEMENT The goal of the Sweitzer Cup and the affiliate charity, the Timothy J. Sweitzer Memorial Foundation, has always been two-fold: first and foremost our goal is to memorialize Tim, to ensure that his legacy, one of competitive spirit and camaraderie, of passion and compassion, of excellence both on and off the field, is eternalized. Second, our goal has been to give back to the community that gave so much to us and to Tim. In the coming years it is our vision to build a top flight soccer field and eventually an entire complex in the greater Hudson Valley bearing his name, where children of all backgrounds--racial, socioeconomic and educational--will be able to develop leadership and teamwork skills in effort to provide a breeding ground for the next generation of Tim Sweitzers. We realize this is a lofty and long term goal—but this tournament has proven it has staying power. This philanthropic prong also includes a plan to replenish the scholarship bearing Tim’s name and will be looking to award to students who embody the attributes that made Tim so special – both on and off the field.