Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer to Honor Sharon Gregg Bolognese and David Hatt with Service to Youth Awards Saturday, March 8th
Plymouth
Meeting, Pennsylvania – March 6, 2014 – Sharon Gregg Bolognese of
Harrisburg and David Hatt of Downingtown will receive the 2013 Eastern
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association Service to Youth Award during Eastern
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer’s Annual Award Reception, Saturday, March 8th.
The awards will be presented at the Radisson Hotel
Philadelphia Northeast, located at 2400 Old Lincoln Highway at US Route 1, in
Trevose, PA (19043). Cocktail hour
begins at 6:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and additional information are
available at http://www.epysa.org/events/awards_reception/.
“The Service to Youth award is one of
Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer's most prestigious awards, and has been
awarded annually since 1979,” said
Chris Branscome, Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer.
“Both Sharon and David have, over a significant period of time, made outstanding contributions to youth and the sport of
soccer in our community.. They have dedicated their time, both on and off the
field, to instilling the principles of good sportsmanship, the development of
youth in soccer, and the promotion of soccer within Eastern Pennsylvania Youth
Soccer, as well as its leagues and teams.
All of us at Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer are proud to honor Sharon
and David for all their work.”
Sharon Gregg Bolognese became active with Eastern
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer in 1984. She
became a member of the association’s board in 1984 and has been active in the
Harrisburg area at the same time, serving on the board of the Central
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer League from 1984 to 2011. Gregg Bolognese started the ODP program for
boys and girls in the Harrisburg area, calling it League Select, and also
established the Silent Soccer Weekend to honor former CPYSAL board member Steve
Stabinger. She also opened the first
office for CPYSL, and helped the clubs reach compliance with the rules and
statutes of Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer.
She coached in the Lower Paxton Soccer Association from
1984 to 1989, coaching first in the rec program, and then organizing one of the
first girls travel teams. Gregg
Bolognese has also coached in the CLASSIC Soccer League, and was one of the
most instrumental in Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer’s efforts to get the
Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) to recognize girls’
soccer at the high school level. She
then became the first girls’ soccer coach at East Pennsboro High School. She has helped organize the volunteers and
support staff for several international
men’s and women’s soccer games played in
the Harrisburg and Philadelphia areas, and also helped form and organize
support programs and staffing for several pro teams established in Central
Pennsylvania including the Hershey
Impact, Harrisburg Heat, Hershey Wild Cats, and the City Islanders.
David Hatt has
been a member of the Spirit United Board of Directors since 1979, and has
served as the club president six times.
He served a coach for the Spirit for 10 years. A former member of the Eastern Pennsylvania
Youth Soccer Board of Directors, Hatt has been a District Commissioner with
Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer for 15 years.
Hatt is currently Chairman of the Board
for Spirit United Soccer Club, and a Club liaison to the Downingtown and
Coatesville Area School Districts.
Previously, he was a DELCO Soccer league delegate for five years.
He was the founder of the Spirit
Kick-Off Classic, and the tournament’s director for nearly 20 years. Hatt was Instrumental in developing girls’
soccer within the Spirit United Soccer Club as well as the Downingtown School
District, and was instrumental in the purchase of property and developing
the partnership with United Sports in
Downingtown. Among his many honors, Hatt
is a member of the DELCO Soccer League Hall of Fame, and the Southeastern Pennsylvania
Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and was selected by the Philadelphia
Union as a Hometown Hero Honoree.
About Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer: Since
1972, Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer
has worked throughout Eastern Pennsylvania’s 36 counties to promote foster, and
perpetuate the game of soccer to the region’s youth. Through competitions, educational programs,
workshops and coaching clinics, each year Eastern
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer impacts the lives of more than 130,000 youth
soccer players from ages five to 19.
Additional information is available at www.EPYSA.org.