E.B. team heads overseas for their last trip together

The members of the East Brunswick Blazers travel soccer team have been playing together since they were 8 years old. And now that they have reached 15 (16 for some), their time together, as a team, is coming to an end.

As a result, the team’s coaches, Carlo Pascetta and Frank Vetri, wanted to do something special for their highly successful team as a means of ending their run in style.

Playing in a last travel tournament didn’t quite fit the occasion, as the team has already traveled throughout the Northeast together, competing in tournaments in places such as Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia. This time they wanted to do something really special for a group of kids who have become more of a family than a travel soccer team.

And then Pascetta had an idea. Why not show these kids some of the best soccer in the world this summer?

"It really came on a whim," he explained. "I thought, why not take these kids to Italy?"

After speaking with his uncle, who "loves to put exchange programs together," Pascetta began to formulate a proposal for two weeks of travel, training and fun. After speaking with many of the parents of his players, he realized that just about everyone was enthused with the idea.

"Fourteen of the 16 boys on the team are definitely going on the trip, though we’re hoping for 15," the coach said. "We’ve been raising funds with the help of the East Brunswick Soccer Club, and a pair of sponsors."

In addition, a total of 21 parents and siblings will also be making the trip, for two weeks of training and touring.

"We put in a lot of hours putting this together, and it’s all coming to a head," Pascetta said.

The group will be leaving on July 12, and will begin training in Ostia Lido, which is about 20 minutes east of Rome, under the tutelage of an Italian coach. From there, they will play five regional games, the first four of which will take place in the outskirts of Rome.

"From there we’ll play one game in Avellino, where my mother’s side of my family is from," Pascetta said.

The Blazers are coming off another extremely successful spring season, one which included three tournament victories, including the Rider Cup at Rider University, Lawrenceville. The Blazers won all five games they played in that tournament, allowing just one goal.

As a group, they have grown accustomed to traveling together, and are expecting this to be their most rewarding trip yet.

"This group is more than just a soccer team," Pascetta said. "We are a family. We have been together through happy occasions, and some very sad ones, but we are always there for one another."

The team members are Ryan DeNino, Richie Lowlicht, Evan Lubcher, Arthur Lyssenko, Tim Mullane, Joseph Pascetta, John Pease, Zachary Simi, Adam Tepliztky, Frank Vetri, Jarek Kozlowski and Chris Riccio of East Brunswick, Josh Kay of Scotch Plains, John Leone and Steven Villalobos of Old Bridge, and Michael Gambino and Tim Logan of Spotswood. The team’s trainer is Mike Cormack.