In Cooperstown, the Thanksgiving tradition includes shin guards and a side of mud in the cleats.
The annual Legends of Cooperstown Soccer Alumni Game kicked off at 10 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 27, as it has nearly every year since the early 1990s, hosted by Frank Miosek, the Hall of Fame coach who, a month ago, won his 500th (and 501st) boys varsity soccer game at Cooperstown.
Almost 30 players gathered for the game, with about 50 family members watching on the sidelines. Youth carried the day, as Team Youth beat Team Experience, 6-3.
“It means a lot to see everyone come back, to see the families,” Miosek said.
The tradition dates back to Miosek’s early years at Cooperstown Central School. It was suggested by the school’s unofficial videographer, Ted Spencer, who was then an executive at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and has had three children and several grandchildren graduate from CCS.
The seeds were planted after a joint fundraiser with Mount Markham to support a Mustang player who suffered an aneurysm, Spencer said.
“I though it would be nice to have a benefit game, because otherwise, we were always hating each other,” he said.
The next year, Cooperstown had a high ranking but an early exit from the playoffs.
“We were ranked No. 1 in the state that year and we went out earlier than we wanted,” Miosek said. “Ted Spencer said it was a shame things ended early, because we still had some soccer to play. He suggested we do a game on Thanksgiving, since it was such a family holiday.”
“I thought it would be nice to do something on Thanksgiving, because it is a popular game here,” Spencer said. “The first year, we had just enough guys. We had 11-on-11, and each year it just grew and grew.”
By 1992, the game was official, complete with t-shirts. A couple of players told Spencer on Thursday they still had their shirts.
The game is played rain or shine. Often, it is played in snow, as it was last year. The only time the game has been canceled was in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. The game is open to any varsity alumni, male or female, and can include players in the upcoming graduation class.
Miosek referees, often shouting encouragement, and occasionally criticism, at the former players. This year, the game took place a day before Miosek turned 75. Other years, he has gotten a birthday serenade. This year, it was congratulations on his 500th win.
In Thursday’s game, Youth led 4-0 early.
Although Experience scored once before halftime, the game was lopsided enough that two Youth players — 2022 graduates Liam Spencer and Luca Gardner-Olesen, the 2021 Daily Star Boys Soccer Co-Players of the Year — switched sides to even out the play in the second half.
Several families had multiple players: there were three sets of brothers, and two groups of father and son players.
Matt Spencer, son of Ted, and father of Liam, Aidan and Declan, was named the most legendary player, representing the Class of 1990.
Former Otsego County Treasurer Dan Crowell was named the game’s MVP; his son Paul played for Team Youth.
The tradition within the tradition was Experience always dominated Youth. From the time the format was established in 2000, Team Youth was the Washington Generals to Experience’s Globetrotters.
That changed in 2019, when Youth won for the first time. Since then, with players who were also on the 2019 state championship boys basketball team, followed by three classes of players who made back to back Class C boys soccer Final Fours, Youth has dominated, winning five of the last six games.
Still, the rivalry is a friendly one — muddy, often chilly — but familiar and friendly, like the coach who ring-leads it.
“It is one of those things that makes a small town so good,” Miosek said.