London sides fulfil dreams of Disney trip

Tuesday, September 3, 2002
By KATHY RUMLESKI, Free Press Sports Reporter

Disney World is about dreaming and wishing upon stars and ultimately making kids smile. So with a shot at going to this magical place, North London under-11 boys head coach Joe Skufca got his soccer team to start believing it could win when it entered the 25th annual Henderson Memorial soccer tournament this weekend. The result was a 4-0 win in the final yesterday over the Toronto Eagles. For the first time this year, the Henderson has been designated as one of 10 SuperClubs regional qualifying tournaments in North America. "For sure it's a great motivator for the kids," Skufca said. "It creates a lot of dreaming for the kids." The top two teams in each Henderson division can play at the SuperClubs Orlando championship, held at Disney's Wide World of Sports each July. Skufca's team, which has won four tournaments, also won a SuperClubs qualifier in Vaughan earlier this summer. The team can now defer acceptance into the Orlando event for a year, Skufca said. Scoring for North London in the final were Ben O'Quinn, with two, Josh Geer and Dean Zapishny. Andros Agathos recorded the shutout. Skufca's assistant coach Chris Korakianitis worked some magic of his own yesterday. He also coaches the London United under-15 boys, who came back from a 3-0 halftime deficit to beat Brampton 4-3 in the final. "I never game up on them," Korakianitis said. "(I said), 'Believe in yourselves.' " Scoring for London United were Carlo D'Emilio, Paul Popala, Matt Travato and Mark Pocrnic. Aldo Caranci, a London United volunteer who worked to get the Henderson SuperClub status, said people were talking about the opportunity. "Everyone's kind of excited," he said. "We're hoping somebody takes advantage of that and goes. There's a lot of good teams that won." The Forest United under-18 girls weren't thinking about Disney World yesterday. They wanted to win the Henderson tournament and then the Ontario Cup title. The first part was accomplished -- although it wasn't easy -- with a 2-1 overtime win over Windsor Caboto in the under-19 division. Now it's on to the Ontario Cup final Sunday against the Burlington Flames. "We always try to get in a tournament the week before (the Ontario Cup)," said Forest United coach Anthony Camacho. "We try to get prepared a little bit and keep your fingers crossed hoping there isn't any injuries." Anna Chudyk scored the winner four minutes into the second overtime. Janice Harkins scored the first goal for Forest United and 14-year-old Cheryl Beishuizen played a great game in net. "We knew if we played hard and played as a team that we should come out victorious," said Harkins, 17. Another London Ontario Cup finalist to win its division yesterday was the North London Supernova under-12 girls team.