By Laura Lane
But when the North Bellmore resident said that, he was speaking figuratively. Picinich never suspected that his team of 12-year-olds would indeed experience just that.
The girls, who are primarily from East Meadow and Bellmore, recently returned from the Jetix Tournament held in Columbus, Ohio pumped up having played some serious soccer against some of the best teams.
And when they returned to New York, they didn¹t come back empty handed. There were many freebees at the tournament and all the girls had photos too of themselves standing beside famous soccer players.
If all of that wasn¹t enough, the Disney Channel requested an interview with the team for Toon Disney and ABC Family, which will air Aug. 20-21. During the Jetix programming, there will be segments in which some of the girls will comment on their experiences at the tournament.
Hard to believe they¹ve come so far when the reason the girls began playing soccer was just to have fun. The girl¹s have been playing together since they were 5 years old playing in the East Meadow Soccer Club.
Picinich decided to put the Thunder girl¹s soccer team together so his daughter Jillian and her friends could play tournaments and have fun on the weekends in the summer.
For years, the girls played tournaments and three times qualified to go to Disney World. But no one ever took the trip because it was too expensive. The trip required that the girls pay for much of the cost to get to Disney World.
When Picinich heard about the Jetix Kids Cup, it looked almost too good to be true. ³It was the first time I¹d seen a tournament that gives so much to the girls,² Picinich said. ³The girl¹s flight would be paid for, uniforms given to them, and all hotel expenses paid for. I thought it would be a fun weekend for them, win or lose.²
When the girl¹s arrived in Ohio, they attended a banquet to meet the other players and had a pizza party the following day. They also went to the men¹s professional Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game, and met some of the players who agreed to appear in photos with the girls.
Picinich was pleased that the girls had the opportunity to attend the tournament, remarking that they didn¹t play much together as a team before winning the qualifying games. ³Scheduling practices was difficult because some of the girls were away on vacation,² he said. ³The Thunder didn¹t even practice as a full team until right before they left for the tournament.²
So Picinich, having heard that the competition would be tough, tried to think of the tournament as a way for the girls to enjoy a challenge and an opportunity for a group of friends to have a fun weekend together.
But the girls turned on the juice and proved to be a mighty force. The Thunder beat the Chicago team 5-0. And the games they lost, to a Brazilian team and a Californian team ranked No. 1 in the nation, were close. They fell 3-1 in both matches.
These days, the girls are busy calling everyone they know to tell them to watch the Thunder television debut.
As for Picinich, he continues to be proud of the girls. And he¹s also thankful that he was lucky enough to discover the opportunity for his team. ³We were like celebrities. It was an amazing weekend for the girls,² Picinich said. ³They had an experience they¹ll never forget.²
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
