The Lower Merion Soccer Club is the result of the merger of four small soccer clubs in Lower Merion Township, those being Gladwyne Sports Association, Wynnewood Soccer Club, Penn Valley Soccer Club and the Narberth Athletic Association. The following article describes the events that led up to the club in it's present day status.

1968
The Gladwyne Sports Association formed their first soccer program in 1968, under the direction of Mr. John Wynn. John called the township and told them that he would like to get combination soccer and football goalposts at Gladwyne Playground. Almost immediately, the soccer goals were up and the program was running. The first teams in the program were boys teams, which competed in the Delco Soccer League (which started in 1959). Gladwyne was the first youth soccer program in Lower Merion Township.

1972
In 1972, Gladwyne soccer added a girls team, also formed under the direction of John Wynn. The boys program continued to expand as more and more teams were organized. The girls team also competed in the Delco League (the girls PAGS League would not form for several years).

1974
The first league Delco League championship for Gladwyne came in 1974 when their U-19 team took the Division One League Championship. The U-19 Gladwyne Rams also reached the fourth round (quarterfinals) of the State Cups. The leading scorer on Gladwyne was future LMSC President Biff Sturla.

1977
Almost ten years after Gladwyne Sports Association started a soccer program, the Penn Valley Soccer Club was created. Soon after, the Wynnewood Soccer Club and the Narberth Soccer Club were formed.

With each new age group, it was inevitable that the four clubs would compete for the best players in the township. Often times, the best players in an age group would jump from their club to another to be with the best coach.

The four small clubs always seemed to be filing complaints within the Delco League that the other clubs were illegally "recruiting" players away from them.

The Delco League offered travel team leagues in the fall at Under 10, 12 and 14, as well as winter league teams at Under 16 and Under 19. A separate travel league for girls, the Tri-County League was formed

With soccer growing in the 1970's and more and more youth players getting involved, the Gladwyne Sports Association formed an intramural program for boys and girls. Initially, the intramural program was purely co-ed.

1984
In order to increase the number of female participants, the Gladwyne Sports Association created separate intramural divisions for girls. This became a small source of controversy as some people thought that it was better for girls to play with the boys while others thought that separate programs would be better. The controversy quickly faded as the number of female participants in the program quickly grew from 10% of the program to 30% of the program.

1986
After years of battle, Gladwyne Directors Ed Hochreiter and Biff Sturla, along with Penn Valley Directors Dietmar Kohler and Mike Mandarino, got together and decided it would be in the kids best interest if their two clubs would merge into one club and combine forces. This seemed to solve their ongoing feuds of player raiding. The two clubs combined forces under the name of "Gladwyne-Penn Valley Soccer Association", run under the banner of the Gladwyne Sports Association.

1988
Two years later, GPVSA officers Sturla and Joe Hopkins (who had moved into the area after coaching for many years at another club), talked with Wynnewood President Bruno "Chick" Ceccarelli about combining Gladwyne-Penn Valley with the Wynnewood Club. The reasoning was that in addition to minimizing player raiding, one large club would allow the "top level" players to play 'A' division ball and lesser talented players to play 'B' divisions. Also by joining forces, a solid intramural program could be formed since more players would mean more age divisions.

1989
The three finalized the merger early in 1989, deciding to call the new entity "The Lower Merion Soccer Club". They decided that it was best to run the program independent of Gladwyne Sports Association since Gladwyne was a multi-sport club. Having an independent club would allow the program to concentrate fully on soccer. Ceccarelli was unanimously voted to be President of LMSC and head up the girls Travel Team Program.

Hopkins would serve as Treasurer and Vice President in charge of the Boys Travel Team Program while Sturla would be Vice President in charge of the Intramural Program and Director Of Coaching.

That spring, Hopkins led his Under 10 boys travel team, "The Dragons" to the Outdoor State Championship, as Trevor Walker scored the lone goal in their 1-0 semifinal win and the lone goal in their 1-0 championship win over Delco League rival Greater Chester Valley.

1990
Following on the footsteps of the LMSC Dragons, the Under 13 boys team, the Lower Merion Gorillas, coached by Sturla, became only the fourth team in the history of the state to win the Indoor State Cup Championship and Outdoor State Cup Championship in the same year. The Gorillas allowed only 1 goal in 6 games in the Indoor State Cups, defeating Northampton 1-0 in the final game on a goal by Hans Davies, assisted by Jobey Hollinger. Goalie Jon Conway recorded 5 shutout in the competition. Years later, Conway would be a goaltender for the USA Under 20 National Team.

The Gorillas followed up their Indoor State Cup championship by winning the Outdoor State Cup which was competed for by 46 of the best teams in the state. Conway again backed a very stingy defense, recording 5 shutouts in 6 games. The highlight of the cup was their 1-0 win over two time defending State Champion Fox Chase. In the State Championship Game against Simpson A.A., Matt Quinn scored the only goal. Captains Adrian Cox, Jobey Hollinger and Nathan Laver were once again handed a State Championship trophy. The Gorillas finished the 1990 season by winning the Fall Delco League's Under 14 Division One Championship. Another Conway shutout, along with a goal by Davies on an assist by Cox gave the Gorillas the league championship.

With the popularity of soccer continuing to grow at a rapid pace, LMSC created the Spring Intramural Program in 1990. The program was geared towards players ages 5-7, those players who were too young to participate in the Travel Team Program. It was decided that the Spring Intramural Program would run on Sundays so as not to conflict with all the youngsters playing baseball on Saturdays.

1991
Former LMSC player Will Kohler (son of former Penn Valley Director Dietmar Kohler), made the Under 17 National Team and started every game for the USA in the Under 17 World Cup over in Europe. Kohler later became an All American at Harvard University and was drafted by the New York / New Jersey MetroStars of the Major League Soccer (MLS).

1993
Four years after Joe Hopkins led the LMSC Dragons to the Under 10 State Championship, he led another team to a State Championship as his Under 17 boys team, the LMSC "Psychos" took the Indoor State Championship. The team was led by the excellent goal scoring of Jon Hanks and Eric Hopkins. In the final, the Psychos defeated Danubia from Philadelphia 2-1 on goals by Hanks and Hopkins.

Also in 1993, LMSC added a "Special Needs Program" for youngsters who had physical limitations that prevented them from competing successfully with other children. The program was founded by Susan Reynolds and continues to run every fall.

1994
The following year, saw the club's first success in the Girls Travel Team Program as the Under 11 LMSC Firebirds, coached by Lance Laver, were runners-up in both the Indoor State Cup and the Outdoor State Cup. Both cups went to a very powerful Council Rock team.

The Outdoor State Cup game was a thriller. Council Rock was holding on to a 1-0 lead late in the when Claire Laver ripped a 25 yard left footed rocket into the net to tie the score. The game went into overtime, both teams having great chances but only Council Rock could score.

Despite the loss, the Firebirds became the flagship team for the Girls Travel Team Program.

Also in 1994, the Under 11 boys, the LMSC Lunatics, coached by Sturla, took second in the Indoor State Cups but rebounded to win the Outdoor State Cups. The semifinal was a hard fought 2-1 win with Matt Skipper scoring the winner with only three minutes left in regulation on a great pass from Richard "Fuzzy" Zeller.

The State Championship game was probably the greatest game ever played by a Lower Merion team as the Lunatics defeated Hulmeville 6-0. Bernard Horshaw scored two first half goals and Zeller added a third in the first half. It was estimated that midfielder Adam Chesbrough ran 15 miles in the game, helping goalie David Hanlon earn the shutout.

1995
Hopkins earned his third State Championship with LMSC in 1995 as his Under 16 boys team won the Indoor State Championship. His son Justin netted the State Championship goal in sudden death overtime to defeat York United.

Also, coming into being in 1995 was the Adult Women's Program. This program, founded by Karin Sturla and Nancy Worby, was designed to give adult women a chance to play soccer. Many of the players were mother of players who stood on the sidelines hundreds of times watching their children play. Known as the LMSC Moonlight Ladies, the team plays outdoors in the fall and spring, separated by an indoor season. The team regularly schedules games against other similar programs, plays in a league in Northeast Philadelphia and occasionally enters women's soccer tournaments.

1996
In 1996, Hopkins led yet another team to a State Championship as his Under 11 "Derelicts" won the Indoor State Championship in their first ever State Cup. Goalie Robert Machnicki recorded a shutout in every game, including the 4-0 final over Nether Providence. Playing standout soccer for the Derelicts was Jared Kahn, Ryan Kelly and Ryan Westman.

With the growth of the club, LMSC added two more Directors in 1996 to help the program run properly. Nancy Worby joined the Board, helping to run the Girls Travel Team Program. Allan Greaves, a former player in the Gladwyne Sports Association, also joined the Board, helping to run the boys Travel Team Program.

1997
LMSC took over operations for Sports Rink Indoor Soccer which provides over 450 children with indoor league play during January and February. Sports Rink also runs 14 indoor soccer tournaments for travel teams each year. Sports Rink is located at The Parker Gymnasium at The Haverford School on Lancaster Avenue. The program is geared towards players 6-10 years of age. Games are played inside of a portable ice hockey style rink made of PVC boards.

Also in 1997, LMSC acquired the Philadelphia Freedom Professional Soccer Team which competes in the D3 Pro League in the USISL. Joe Hopkins became the President of the Freedom and Biff Sturla became the General Manager. Also on the Board Of Directors is Bruno Ceccarelli whose son Justin was a player on the Freedom for several years before joining the Cape Cod Crusaders, another team in the USISL. LMSC also took over control of the Philadelphia Frenzy, the women's team which competes in the W-League of the USISL.

LMSC Director Biff Sturla, head coach for the Conestoga High School Boys Varsity, was named Central League Coach Of The Year.

The Travel Team Program continued to grow. Tryouts for the Under 10 boys teams saw 108 kids tryout. Because of this, an unprecedented EIGHT teams were formed in this division. This was by far the most teams ever entered in a single age group by any club in the history of the Delco League.

One of the reasons for this success was the continued effort by the club to help educate the coaches so that we would not only have a sufficient number of coaches, but a sufficient number of high quality coaches.

1998
Due to the large demand for soccer in the spring, LMSC expanded the Spring Intramural Program to include boys and girls ages 5-10. The boys Seniors Division and girls Electrons Division (ages 9 and 10) were added to the spring program lineup. This was made possible, thanks to the effort of the township who were able to obtain field space at Haverford College. The Spring Program grew by 160 players, reaching the 600 mark for participation.

In the fall season, LMSC had their four youngest boys 'A' travel teams (Under 9 through Under 12) reach the championship game in the Delco League Division One playoffs.

Several new people became officers in LMSC. After 10 years of excellent, well appreciated service to LMSC, Hopkins stepped down from LMSC as an officer. Marty Rubenstein replaced Hopkins on the LMSC Board Of Directors and as the club's legal counsel. Bryan Richardson took over for Hopkins as Treasurer. Dan Sutton was also named as a Director. Dan has served as a Division Commissioner in the intramural program and head coach in the Travel Team Program. Dan also was named to the new position of Travel Team Registrar.

The Adult Women's Program (a.k.a. The Moonlight Ladies) were crowned champions of the Adult Women's League at Rocket Sports, defeating Swarthmore 5-0 in the finals. With the growing demand for women's soccer, a new league was formed. The founder and first president of the new Tri-County Women's League was LMSC's Karin Sturla. The 1998 spring season was the first for the new league. The Moonlight Ladies entered two teams in the league. Other clubs represented in the league were Downingtown (two teams), King Of Prussia (two teams) and Nether Providence (one team).

1999
The 1999 season started off well as the Boys Under 12 team, the Delinquents, coached by Dan Grauman, took 2nd place in the Indoor State Cups. The Boys Under 11 team, the Lasers, coached by Marty Rubenstein and Gary Smolen, reached the semifinals of the Indoor State Cups in their first ever cup competition.

After 23 of service to the program, Chick Ceccarelli retired from LMSC. He was replaced on the LMSC Board Of Directors by Noah Gorson, one of LMSC's girls travel team coaches. The three person Board Of Directors now consisted of Biff Sturla, Marty Rubenstein and Noah Gorson. Harold Goldner became the newest LMSC Director, taking over as head of the Boys Travel Team Program.

The Spring Intramural Program grew from 635 participants to a staggering 803 participants. Many other players had to be turned away due to the limited field space that the program has access to. The girls Protons Division (7 and 8 year olds) more than doubled from the previous spring.

The Fall Intramural Program also reached new participation records with 1767 kids playing. The Travel Team Program had a very successful year, a total of 5 boys teams and 4 girls teams won League Championships. The highlight of this feat was the crowning of the Under 9 Hammerheads as Division One champions. The Hammerheads went 12-0-0, outscoring their opponents 56-4, enroute to being the first LMSC team since 1996 to win a Division One championship.

2000
The 2000 season saw a record number of participants in the Spring Intramural Program as a total of 935 players ages 5-10 signed up to play.

In the Indoor State Cups, LMSC saw two boys teams reach the semifinals, the Under 11 Rovers and the Under 15 United team. Both teams were coached by long time LMSC coach Allan Greaves, a former player in the program.

Also in the winter, the Under 9 Boys team, the LMSC Hammerheads, won both indoor soccer leagues playing 'up' a year. They also won two outdoor tournaments and placed second in another while playing up a year in Under 10 tournaments.

In Outdoor State Cup action, the Girls Under 12 'A' team, the LMSC Warriors, got to the State Cup Championship game before falling to Back Mountain (Wilkes Barre), 3-1 in the final. The Warriors had a 1-0 lead at halftime and hit the goalpost twice on other shots but bad luck in the second half kept them from becoming state champions. The Warriors were coached by Rich Schwab and D.J. Jones.

In the fall season, the Under 10 'A' boys team, the Hammerheads, completed their second perfect season in Delco League action, going 13-0-0, scoring 54 goals and allowing only 6. This gave them a two year record of 25-0-0 in Delco League action.

LMSC also created the "Rachel Savett Memorial Scholarship Fund" to honor one of our club's fearless soccer players who died from a severe reaction to a food allergy. This Scholarship Fund will be awarded annually to a former LMSC player, referee or field crew person who is currently in college.

Former LMSC player Ben Olsen represented the United States in the summer Olympics as he started for the Men's National Team in the Olympics.

2001
LMSC had it's best ever showing in the Indoor State Cups in 2001 as four LMSC teams reached the semi-final round of their competition. The highlight of the Cups was the Under 13A boys, the LMSC Ocled, who were crowned Indoor State Cup champions. The Ocled went 5-0-1 enroute to winning the 28 team tournament, defeating F.C. Bucks 1-0 in the championship game on a goal by Chris DiLullo.

Our LMSC U-11A girls, the Fireballs, took 2nd place in their competition while the LMSC Rovers, our U-12A boys, and the LMSC Rage, our U-12A boys, each reached the semifinals of their competition.

In the fall of 2001, LMSC introduced a new "Pee-Wee" program for four year olds. In it's first year of operation, the Pee-Wee program had over 200 participants.

The Boys Travel Team Program had two teams win Division 1 championships. The LMSC Vélez, coached by Miguel Nuila, won the U-10 Division 1 championship with a 5-1 win over T/E. The Vélez went 12-0-1 during the fall.

The Delco League's Under 12 Division 1 championship game saw two LMSC teams play each other. The U-11 Hammerheads, playing up a year, faced the U-12A Disasters. This was first time ever in Delco League history that two teams from the same club played each other for a Division One championship. The game went into overtime with the Hammerheads finally winning 2-1. The Hammerheads were the first team in 10 years to win a Division One championship playing up a year. They finished the season ranked #1 in the nation.

2002
The Boys Under 11 Indoor State Cups saw not one, but two LMSC teams reach the semifinals. The Hammerheads won the Indoor State Cups, going 6-0-0 and defeating Spirit United 6-2 in the championship game. Our 'B' team, the LMSC Spider Monkeys (coached by Tom Pillion and Miguel Nuila) also won their bracket and their quarterfinal game, before losing to Spirit in the semifinals. The Spider Monkeys became the first 'B' team to ever place in a State Cup competition.

In Outdoor State Cup competition, the Lower Merion Hammerheads were crowned Under 11 State Cup Champions, becoming the first LMSC team since 1990 to win both the Indoor State Cup and Outdoor State Cup in the same year. The LMSC Natural Disasters reached the Under 12 Boys State Cup semifinals, while the LMSC Ocled reached the semifinals of the Boys Under 14 State Cup competition. This was the first time that LMSC had three teams reach the semifinals of the State Cups.

After four years as a Director, Noah Gorson stepped down from his position at LMSC. He was replaced by Jay Dubow on the club's list of Directors.

The number of girls in attendance at the Under 10 tryouts was so high that LMSC formed it's first ever 'D' girls travel team. The number of girls participating in LMSC continued to grow. 45% of the participants in 2002 were female.

2003
Two LMSC teams were crowned Indoor State Cup Champions. The LMSC Vélez, coached by Miguel Nuila, won the Under 11 Indoor State Cups. The Under 12 Hammerheads, coached by Biff Sturla, won the Under 12 Indoor State Cup. This was the second straight indoor state cup championship for the Hammerheads.

The Hammerheads became the first LMSC ever to win back to back outdoor State Cup championships as they defeated Lower Dauphin 3-0 to win the State Cup for the second straight year. The Hammerheads won the Region One Championships, which is contested by the State Champions from Maine through West Virginia. The Hammerheads posted shutout victories in their final four games of the Region One Championships, which were held in Providence, Rhode Island.

Female participation in the Spring Intramural Program reached an all time high as 48% of the players who registered were girls. At the conclusion of tryouts, two of the girls age groups had enough players for 'D' teams.

In the fall season, LMSC had a record five top division league champions. Winning the Delco League's top division were the U-9A Cannibals, the U-11A Roadkill and the U-12A Vélez while the U-10A Bocas lost their championship game in overtime. On the girls side, the U-12A Chili Peppers won the top flight in their age group while the U-9A Heart finished with a perfect 10-0-0 record in division one play.

The format of the 6-8 year old intramural programs changed to a 4 vs. 4 format (previously, teams of this age played 7 vs. 7). The purpose of this change was to maximize the number of touches on the ball that each player makes in the game. This in turn will lead to faster skill development.

The format for the 4-5 year old intramural program changed to 4 vs. 4 games with no goalies. Smaller Pugg goals were used in place of regular goals. This change eliminated the stress of young players playing goalie and increased the number of goals scored, making for more smiling faces.

2004
The Vélez repeated as indoor state champions while the U-11A Roadkill took second place in their age group. The newly formed Leagues United Indoor Cups made their debut with the U-9A Cannibals defeating CASA (Harrisburg) in the Cup final of their age group. The Roadkill also took first place in their age group. The Vélez also won the prestigious Jefferson Cup in March. This tournament, played in Richmond, Virginia, is considered the Premier Tournament of Eastern United States.

In the EPYSA Outdoor State Cups, the Roadkill won the U-11 boys age group while the Vélez won the U-12 boys age group. The Vélez became the second LMSC team in two years to qualify for the Regional championships. The U-13A Arsenal dropped a 2-1 decision in their EPYSA State Cup final to the FC Delco Hammerheads. The Hammerheads team originated in LMSC. The Under 13 State Championship game was thus comprised of two local teams. On the girls side, the U-12 Chili Peppers lost their semifinal state cup game in overtime.

In the fall, the Lower Merion Nimrods won the Under 9 Delco League division one championship. Their opponent was the Lower Merion Mini-Madrid, making for an all LMSC Delco League division one championship game.

2005
In 2005, the Lower Merion Pink Panthers (boys U-11A team) won an unprecedented three indoor state cups as they won the EPYSA U-11 indoor state cup, the Leagues United U-11 indoor state cup and the EPYSA U-12 'B' flight indoor state cup. The LMSC Roadkill (boys U-12A team) also won their EPYSA indoor state cup. The Roadkill became the second LMSC boys team to ever compete in the Dallas Cup, considered to be the toughest tournament in the country.

In the fall season, the Under 11A Lower Merion Cannibals won their third straight Delco Soccer League division one championship. The LMSC Lightning won the Delco League Under 9 division one championship in their first year of play.

Former LMSC player Justin Ceccarelli was named LMSC's newest officer. Justin is the son of former LMSC President Bruno Ceccarelli. Justin has run the PeeWees program in the fall for many years and was given the responsibility of running all LMSC four and five year old programs.

2006
The Lower Merion Heart became the first LMSC girls team to win an EPYSA state championship as they won the Under 11 EPYSA State Cups. Congratulations to head coach Casey Ichniowski and the Heart.

The LMSC Cannibals, our U-11A boys team, won the top flight of the Jefferson Cup in Richmond, Virginia. The Jefferson Cup is ranked as the third toughest tournament in the United States. The Under 12A Pink Panthers became the third LMSC team in three years to compete in the Dallas Cup.

In outdoor state cup play, LMSC had four teams reach the state cup semifinals and one reach the state cup finals.

LMSC instituted a new program in 2006, the Under 8 Developmental Travel Team Academy. This program was designed to give the club's top seven year olds a chance to work with a high level coaching staff and spend a year preparing for the travel team program. The staff for the Under 8 program consisted of no parents of players.

Ben Olsen became the first LMSC alum to play in the World Cup as he represented the USA in Germany. Olsen also represented the USA in the 2000 Sydney, Australia Olympic games.

The Cannibals became the first team in club history to win four consecutive Delco League top division championships when they won the Under 12 age group in the fall. The Cannibals won the Delco League every year in their team history.

The Harriton High School Boys Varsity soccer team was crowned District One Champions (AA flight). Almost all of their players were current or past LMSC players.

2007
Grant Myers was named the newest club officer and took over as the club's Travel Team Coordinator. Grant also took over as the head of the club's Summer Travel Team Program.

Adrian Cox became the first person in club history to win a state championship as both a player and a coach as he led his Under 10 boys Lightning team to the EPYSA State Cup championship. Adrian was also a member of the Under 13 LMSC Gorillas who won the state championship in 1990.

LMSC was officially granted 501 (c) 3 status by the Internal Revenue Service.

LMSC President Biff Sturla was honored by the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association as the Coach Of The Year for 2006. Sturla was also honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) as their Regional Coach Of The Year and was a finalist for their National Coach Of The Year Award.

The Lower Merion High School Boys Varsity soccer team was crowned District One Champions (AAA flight). All of their starters were current or past LMSC players.

In the fall season, LMSC had three teams win top flight division championships. The trio of teams was led by the LMSC Heart (U-13A girls) who won their second consecutive top division league championship as well as their fourth championship in their five year history. The Heart are coached by Casey Ichniowski. Also claiming top division championships were the LMSC Rat Pack (Grant Myers, head coach) who won the Under 9 Delco League championship in their first year of league play as well as the LMSC Magic (Mark Weinmann, head coach), our Under 10A boys team.

2008
The LMSC Rat Pack, our Under 9A boys travel team, won the Indoor State Cups, making 2008 the eighth year in a row that LMSC has had at least one team win an EPYSA State Championship (indoor or outdoor).

The LMSC Heart, our Under 13A girls travel team, took second place in the Indoor State Cups, playing up a year in the Under 14 age group. The Heart were unable to play in their age group due to a team conflict so they played up a year and still took 2nd place.

The LMSC Vélez, our Under 16 boys travel team, won the Region One Premier League. This league is comprised of the top 16 teams in Region One which extends from Maine through West Virginia. The Vélez are coached by Miguel Nuila.

In outdoor state cup competition, LMSC placed four teams in the state championship game of their respective age groups. This was more than any other club in the state. Reaching the finals were the LMSC Rat Pack (Under 9A boys, coach Grant Myers), LMSC Magic (Under 10A boys, coach Mark Weinmann), LMSC Heart (Under 13A girls, coach Casey Ichniowski) and the LMSC Vélez (Under 16 boys, coach Miguel Nuila). LMSC had one other team reach the semifinals, the LMSC Fightin' Freedom (Under 11A girls, coach Danielle Fagan). Also, the LMSC Lightning (U-11A boys, coach Adrian Cox) reached the quarterfinals of their state cup competition.