Area residents assemble team for local cancer charity tournament

A local group of soccer enthusiasts are leaving their usual roles behind the scenes as coaches and observers to play in a charity soccer tournament, Goals For Hope.

Goals for Hope is a fundraiser supporting Miles of Hope, a Hudson Valley-based nonprofit organization which primarily provides financial assistance outreach programs directly to individuals affected by breast cancer. The foundation additionally organizes programs, such as Goals for Hope, to raise money and awareness for the difficulties of people with breast cancer and their families.

Twenty-eight teams of adults will compete in the charity tournament on Sunday, Aug. 3 at Stringham Park in Lagrangeville, New York.

Jennifer Kronholm Clark will lead the “The Mountain Wolves,” a team in the tournament made up of coaches and former student players from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, volunteer coaches of the Northwest United youth soccer club and others.

The team’s name is a combination of the HVRHS mascot, the Mountaineer, and Northwest United’s, the Wolves, Kronholm Clark said.

Kronholm Clark, who serves as the Director of Engagement of the North East Community Center in Millerton, is well-practiced in the organization of charitable events for her work with the community center, but her involvement in Goals for Hope reflects something much more personal.

“We were halfway through our season at Northwest United when my father died of cancer,” Kronholm Clark shared.

In an effort to help other people experiencing similar loss, Kronholm Clark coordinated with Pari Forood, the director of Miles of Hope, to assemble a group of players from northeast Dutchess County and Connecticut’s Northwest Corner with a knowledge of soccer and a love of service.

Between her involvement with Northwest United, where Kronholm Cark volunteers as a coach, and HVRHS, where her child is a student, she was able to assemble an enthusiastic team for the tournament.

The Mountain Wolves will be made up of Northwest United Coaches Michelle Wurm, Jenn Naylor and Victoria DeLuca; HVRHS junior varsity girls soccer coach Ellery Kiefer; and recent HVRHS graduates Lindsey Drislane, Ellie Sanders and Mel Matsudaira.

“People play on teams for someone, in memory of someone, or in honor of someone with cancer. Usually they’re related to the issue in some way,” Forood said.

Now in its eighth year, Goals for Hope has expanded from an event focused particularly in support of breast cancer patients to drawing people interested in supporting people affected by the disease in general.

Five teams will consist exclusively of male players, Forood said, a testament to the event’s diverse appeal.

Forood attributes the event’s success to a knowledge that a donation to Miles of Hope will benefit the community directly. “The American Cancer Society, for example, is a big national organization. Miles of Hope is just in the Hudson Valley. Players know that their donor dollar is going to stay local to help someone near Millerton,” Forood said.

The ultimate fundraising work, though, rests with team leaders like Kronholm Clark looking from a place of sympathy to help others in the community. “I’m proud that we’re a local team supporting a local organization,” Kronholm Clark said.