James Palumbo

It is true; our final events of this winter will be finishing on Saturday, April 3^rd, with our Easter indoor tournament!

It feels like yesterday, I was sitting on a concrete slab of the 2^ndfloor of our newly constructed indoor soccer complex with no walls and unfinished framing looking out on the open grass fields.  This moment is when I envisioned everything that was about to happen this winter…

Whether it was our Academy classes, JPSC premier practices, Saturday leagues, SNL, Finishing class, Goalkeeper training, Conditioning or our infamous in-house tournaments I saw it taking place.  Yes, there were a few doubts as we have been dealing with a global pandemic for over 12 months now, however we found a way to continue educating, inspiring and challenging our youth in each program that was run.

The success of each program this winter must be credited to our players who have demonstrated our motto, the parents who respected our rules and our staff members and owners for a collective effort through appropriate planning and delivery in all departments.

Understanding that every player that comes here will be different and we influence the voyage ahead of him or her, we believe the hallways and rooms should be filled with respect, humility and appreciation for others.

We are proud of the demonstration of these values from all this winter and are looking forward to building further as we enter the spring and summer of 2021!

Yours in soccer,

James Palumbo

When we make the decision to do something, then we should do it with everything we have.

Doing something with our entire essence of being will always be recognized by others.  Often times, those who give everything to something might be called crazy, intense, emotional, too attached, obsessed or too much.

Most of these labels come from a place of misunderstanding.  We truly don’t understand each person’s journey and when there is something extra that sticks out on a person it seems foreign to the individual.

Whether someone who sees a person giving their all is cheering them on or criticizing, the one thing that will be there no matter what is respect.

Respect is earned, can be a confusing statement depending on the delivery of the message.  The receiver of this message could interpret this as; if I do this then that person will respect me, which would be the wrong approach in my opinion.

I believe that we should not do things for other’s to respect us, yet we should put our soul into the things we love and believe in and the respect will ensue as a result.

The issue is that only ourselves can measure our maximum effort that is put into something and we should be the first person we are honest with.

Keep going…

Yours in soccer,

James Palumbo

Making Easter baskets with People helping people NY…

For the month of March, our club enthusiastically collaborated with our partners People Helping People, led by Jay Sampaio to give back to our youth in the community.

The mission of People Helping People is clearly defined in the name alone.  Jay Sampaio is the leader of this non-profit organization and his commitment to making a positive impact on the less fortunate youth in our communities is inspiring.

This past month, we asked our club members to help us make Easter baskets by dropping off various items in the lobby of our building.  The collections finally ended on Saturday and the amount of stuff donated was overwhelming.

I would like to thank everyone who donated to this cause as your thoughtful offerings contributed towards the making of 103 Easter baskets.  Jay will deliver these Easter baskets to families in need personally.

This experience was a reinforcing message of our responsibility to help others.  Understanding that the past 12 months have challenged each one of us differently, we can find solace in the belief that others are there to help.

Soccer is beautiful in many ways between the 4 white lines however our game is also responsible for spreading beauty outside the field…

Yours in soccer,

James Palumbo

Regardless of how far down or behind we are we must keep going with our way.

Desperate actions are taken when there is an obsession on the final outcome.

Making necessary changes like a substitution or altering the formation can be done but abandoning the identity of a team should not be an option.

Stay the course on your beliefs and if the outcome on that particular day is a loss then receive that loss with humility.

The challenge in today’s world of abundance is that many people expect consistent positive outcomes with the least amount of effort contributed.  When these positive results do not come, most people are tempted to take desperate actions to receive the positive result that they yearn.  These desperate decisions might provide a short-term win however the long-term objective gets further away.

Whether on the field or off, we must strive to stay true to whom we are and what we believe in while accepting and respecting that others hold different beliefs and ways of operating.

Yours in soccer,

James Palumbo

From an early age playing the game, I heard coaches often say, “Play the way you’re facing”.

Not only did I hear this phrase often but also I felt comfortable executing.  I have always preferred to combine with my teammates when superior to the opponent.

There is always great satisfaction in making a pass knowing it will create the next two situations that you envisioned based on what you saw.

With a low understanding of the game we can still play what we see, however the current decision might not be made with the next play in mind.  It is a simple and literal execution of playing what I see.  If I am not aware of the surroundings of my teammate and myself I can do more harm than good by playing what I see.

Often times, people play what they see in life without thinking of the steps that follow.  A person may see many others doing something and feel it is the right thing to do without having a true understanding if this act is suitable to them.

When a team is at all different levels of understanding in each situation, the challenge of playing what you see becomes much greater.  One player can notice the smallest details that influence their decision making for the better of the team however the responsibility of the next person becomes greater to continue that progress.

A common level of understanding amongst teammates is necessary to play what you see and have success.

I see/understand this, so I will now take action in this way…

Yours in soccer,

James Palumbo

Losing today should not prevent us from the possible wins of tomorrow.

Of course, there are various levels of losses and the reflection/recovery period is dependent on how much of an impact it has on someone.

A simple mistake in the morning can be a day ruined for somebody, while another person may lose a loved one and they are at work that same day performing as best as they can to honor that person.

Our mindset and limitations we create become our reality.

Even on the best days, there are things that go wrong, however they just go unnoticed.

The game is 90 minutes long and our day is 24 hours long.  We will encounter many minor losses throughout each game and day however as long as we are not knocked out we always have time to recover or reach our next target.

When I think of perseverance, I have an image of Gattuso running about 100 sprints at San Siro Stadium in warm-ups before a battle between Ac Milan and Napoli in 2011.  For me, this approach was not to prepare his body for the game, but to mentally acclimate himself to the suffering he was about to endure for the 90 minutes ahead.

Keep going regardless of the size of our defeats.

Yours in soccer,

James Palumbo