Anastasia: Soccer thriving at unique Lindenwold
The front of Jason Snyder's jacket reads, "Lindenwold soccer." The back explains what that means. Snyder is the coach of a memorable success story in South Jersey sports. The Lions are the champions of the Colonial Conference's Patriot Division - home to perennial powers such as Haddon Heights and Haddon Township - and they will be the No. 2 seed in the Group 1 sectional tournament, which begins Tuesday.
The front of Jason Snyder's jacket reads, "Lindenwold soccer."
The back explains what that means.
Snyder is the coach of a memorable success story in South Jersey sports. The Lions are the champions of the Colonial Conference's Patriot Division - home to perennial powers such as Haddon Heights and Haddon Township - and they will be the No. 2 seed in the Group 1 sectional tournament, which begins Tuesday.
At a small school with little athletic tradition, Snyder has a boys' soccer program that is churning along with more than 40 athletes at the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity levels. The overwhelming majority of them are first- or second-generation Hispanic students.
One notable exception is senior striker Oumar Sylla, who might be the best player in the Colonial Conference.
Sylla immigrated from the West African nation of Guinea as an eighth grader, speaking only French.
"I learn a lot from my teammates," Sylla said. "They learn a lot from me."
Snyder believes the challenges faced by many of his athletes - most of whom miss practice regularly for work, some of whom sharpen their games in men's leagues in Atlantic City and Camden - only strengthens the Lions.
"These kids play because they love to play," Snyder said. "This is not a situation where parents are paying for them to play on this club team or to attend that camp or clinic.
"There's not a [travel] youth program in town. But if you ride by Lindenwold Park on a nice day, there will be 30-40 guys out there playing soccer."
Most of Lindenwold's players learned the game in parks, on grass patches next to apartment complexes, in informal competition with older relatives and neighbors.
"My uncle taught me in Africa," Sylla said. "What I like about this team is how unselfish everybody is. Everybody is always looking to pass."
The Lions' style was clear during a game Thursday at Moorestown Friends. Missing their regular goalie in the first half, they fell behind, 3-0, but rallied behind Sylla and senior midfielder Jesus Cardenas for a 3-3 tie in double overtime.
Cardenas had a goal and an assist. Sylla, who clearly was the most creative player on the field, generated two goals and an assist.
"And he was 'off' today," Snyder said of Sylla, who has 18 goals and 12 assists and recently was invited to join the high-profile Match Fit Academy in Central Jersey.
Haddon Township coach Jim Bonder, whose team made the Group 1 state finals last season, believes Sylla is the "best distributing forward in the Colonial Conference."
"He's absolutely an all-South Jersey player."
The Lions are far from a one-man team. Cardenas, who has 16 goals, and junior midfielder Javier Ramirez are top players, along with senior goalie Emmanuel Ortega and several others.
"We've been playing together for a long time, and we trust each other," Cardenas said.
The Lions clinched the first division title in the program's history with a 5-0 win over Paulsboro on Oct. 23. It was a memorable moment in more ways than one.
"They dump the water on Snyder and they're cheering and all of a sudden the Paulsboro kids are giving them a standing ovation," Lindenwold athletic director Derryk Sellers said. "Never saw anything like it in my life. They understood what these kids have done. It gave me chills."
Sellers said that participation in soccer has helped many of the students "get acclimated" to this country and that the program's success has built "spirit" in the school.
Sellers said he will encourage the whole student body to attend Tuesday's tournament opener against Cape May Tech, as Lindenwold will seek the first playoff victory in program history.
Snyder will wear his jacket, which has patches on the back of the flags of 12 countries, including the United States, that represent the heritages of athletes who have played for the Lions in the coach's eight seasons.
He needs another patch now. He needs one to represent all the Lions. He needs one that reads: "2015 Colonial Patriot champions."
@PhilAnastasia
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