Opening day is a treat for parents, coaches and kids, a ritual as sacred to local soccer people as its Little League equivalent is in the spring. This is that moment during the year when legions of kids from the 5- and 6-year-old bracket to those 12 and 13 gather in one place for a spectacle of color and cheers. Cameras from the stands click and flash as parents try to capture the awe of the moment or take in various aspects of the pomp with whirring video cameras - each parent anxious to find his or her child's face in the throng.
Thirty-two teams cover the baseball outfield like stripes a rainbow, each team of kids forming a single band of blue or yellow or green. And each kid stirs in the anticipation of the moment when they will get to play or have their official photograph taken, most chatting with teammates or taunting their opposition.
"This has become bigger and bigger every year," said Coach Fred Rodrigo, who is one of the founding fathers of the Secaucus soccer program, and the coach of one of perennial champion teams in the upper division.
Rodrigo, who moved to Secaucus in 1983 from North Bergen and to North Bergen from South America before that, remembered Secaucus' first season when the league had only eight boys. This year, the 32 teams not only include a significant number of girls - they feature a mindboggling 450 kids overall.
"Back when we started, we played up by the high school," Rodrigo recalled. "But we eventually got chased off because the school thought we were ruining the grass."
These days, Secaucus has three soccer fields, two near the end of Millridge Road in the north end of town, and one off County Avenue in the south end. These, however, are hardly enough for the rigorous schedule these teams keep over the two-month season that starts in early September and ends with the playoffs at the end of October.
The 450 kids make up three divisions, upper, middle, and lower, based on age. The middle division is the most competitive since kids between ages 8 and 11 seem to be the most into the sport.
David Stanley coaches the younger kids in the lower division and his team is the Land and Sea Bears. The kids love the game but are still learning and most of their playing consists of running back and forth on the field.
This is Stanley's second year with the league and his first year as head coach.
"These kids love it," he said.
By the time kids get to upper division, other activities distract them from soccer, said Rodrigo, taking note of the numerous sports the high school offers. Three of his team members - whose team is sponsored by Mayor Dennis Elwell's trucking firm - seem very dedicated to the sport.
Amenda Mottocco said she has been involved with soccer for as long as she can remember but has been a member of the Elwell team for about two years. She said she started in the recreation league but sees herself moving on to the high school soccer programs in the future.
Teammate Alicia Flynn has also been a member of the Elwell team for about two years, and like Mottocco, she got involved with the program as a little girl. For Rachel Kantor, this is her first year with the championship team.
Rodrigo said his own kids have moved onto higher level soccer programs at various schools and universities outside Secaucus, as have other kids he has coached over the years. But his reason for getting involved in the program is partly personal.
"I grew up in South American," he said. "I've always had soccer in my life."
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