When local parents Lindy Williamson and David Jacoby first kicked around the idea of launching a soccer program in Charlestown earlier this year, they never imagined that the fledgling Charlestown Youth Soccer Association would go on to become of the most successful new youth programs that the community has seen in recent memory.
In February, Williamson and Jacoby met with Bunker Hill Community College men’s soccer coach Scott Benjamin, who offered them use of the school’s indoor athletic fields for youth soccer clinics. (Jacoby had previously coached several informal soccer clinics at Paul Revere Park). The idea of launching a soccer program for youth between the ages of 4 and 14 was also met enthusiastically by Bill Ryan of Charlestown Connects, and by March, around 50 interested players had signed up for the program at the Charlestown Community Center and the Harvard-Kent School’s Spring Fair.
At the same time, Celio Fritas, youth minister of the Celebration Church in Sullivan Square, met members of the Glasgow Celtics professional soccer team while he was attending a conference in Cleveland. Fritas, who played for the Sao Paulo indoor soccer team in Brazil from 1989 to 1994, also hoped to launch a soccer program in Charlestown and convinced the Celtics to take part in it. A week later, Charlestown Neighborhood Council member George Morton introduced Fritas to Williamson, and they agreed to help bring soccer to Charlestown.
The program got another boost, thanks to the Charlestown Mothers Association. (Williamson is a member and past president of the organization). The CMA secured a pro bono lawyer and paid for the filing fees that enabled the organization to become a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) non-profit entity, as well as overseeing its mailings.
Good Sports, a Boston non-profit that distributes sporting goods to programs in need, also donated new goals, nets, cones and 80 balls to the program.
In June, Glasgow Celtics members and coaches made good on their promise when they participated in the CYSA’s soccer clinics at Bunker Hill Community College. And once again, the events far exceeded organizers’ expectations when 100 kids turned out each day and 155 kids signed up for the fall program.
By the time the inaugural season started on Sept. 15, 197 kids had signed up — far more than were expected. ”We kept putting a maximum on and getting rid out it because we felt badly leaving people out,” Williamson said, whose husband, John Williamson, also helped found the program.
And the kids weren’t the only ones excited by the new program, as was made evident when 28 parents volunteered to coach.
“It got a lot larger than we expected in a short period of time,” Jacoby said. “Even parents who had never played soccer before volunteered to coach.”
In fact, the demand was so great that the entire program had to be readjusted to not overwhelm the coaches, and teams consisting of 20 players were divided in two for scrimmages.
Fritas, who, along with other members of the Celebration Church, has played in active role in the program, is also surprised by the CYSA’s success to date.
“It’s gone well above our expectations because we didn’t expect to see so many parents get involved, and the kids are having fun,” Fritas said.
While all play has been intramural so far, the team will face off against the Warren-Prescott School soccer team on the last three Saturdays of the season — Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 and 10 — at Charlestown High’s new athletic field.
“The first half of the season was about developing skills, while the second half will emphasize teamwork,” said Gerard Kennedy, CYSA founding member, secretary and a coach of 8-year-old players. “Hopefully, [the second half] will show them how much more effective they can be working as a team, and that’s a lesson they can take with them for life.”
Looking forward, Jacoby hopes future seasons will see a traveling team, as well as a program that will attract kids from diverse backgrounds and can accommodate them as they get older.
“Soccer crosses all socio-economic backgrounds,” Jacoby said. “It would be great to see kids from the housing developments and other parts of Charlestown playing on the same field.”
For more information on the Charlestown Youth Soccer Association, visit www.charlestownsoccer.com.

While Cooperative Bank Vice President Tom Coots might not call Charlestown home, he is an omnipresent fixture in the community and an undeniable asset to the town.
Coots, the son of a retired minister and the one-time chaplain of the Everett Fire Department, was born in 1964 and raised in Revere. After graduating from Revere High School in 1982, he attended Salem State College with plans of becoming an accountant but he abandoned this career path upon graduating from college in 1987.
“I was going to go the whole nine yards…then I realized I needed more exposure to other human beings,” he said.
Instead, Coots found full-time employment at Mr. Tux Formalwear in Somerville, where he began working as a college student in 1983. Coots climbed the ranks from sales assistant to branch manager of the company’s stores in Billerica and Burlington before leaving Mr. Tux in 1991.
He then took a position in the currency department at the Bank of Boston that found him carrying and sorting bags of coins. One day, when his boss called in sick, Coots quickly demonstrated his proficiency with the bank’s computer system and was transferred to the bank’s commercial teller department.
“I was handling hundreds of thousand of dollars each day in a vault big enough to throw a football around in,” he said.
Coots continued working in the department until 1994, when his boss, John Sexton of Charlestown, advised him that he would be better off providing real service at a smaller bank. From here, Coots went to work in the retail department of the Glendale Cooperative Bank in Everett, but he soon realized his work wasn’t limited to that role.
“I also worked in customer service department and as a teller,” Coots said. “Anything that needed to be done, I did, and that’s what I like about a small bank.”
In June of 1998, Coots left Glendale Cooperative and came to work as a teller at the Cooperative Bank in Charlestown. He was soon promoted to customer service representative, then loan administrator, assistant manager, manager and branch manager. In December 2005, Coots reached his current position as vice president of the bank.
What immediately struck Coots about Charlestown was the strong sense of community that is often lacking from city neighborhoods.
“[Charlestown] doesn’t fit in with the City of Boston,” he said. “It’s like a place down south or out west where people get together to support others. Whether it’s at a church dinner or a fair, there’s a real sense of community spirit.”
During the nearly 10 years he has been here, Coots has taken on an active role in the community through his work with many local non-profit organizations.
Besides serving a director of the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club for three years and as co-chair of the Charlestown Business Association since 2001, Coots is also involved with the Dave Powers Foundation, an establishment named for the late special aide to President John F. Kennedy and Charlestown native that supports military families and the Boys & Girls Club.
In January of this year, Coots also spearheaded the effort to resurrect the Charlestown Militia Co. after a nearly 20-year lull. The outfit, which stages historical reenactments from the events of the Revolutionary War, participated in this year’s Battle of Bunker Hill Day Parade and has forged a partnership with a similar local group, the Woburn Living History Guild.
This has been a particularly rewarding experience for Coots, a participant in historical reenactments throughout Massachusetts since 1987.
“Reading about history in a book is okay,” Coots said, “but when you see, it come to live, it’s an amazing thing.”
Today, Coots lives in Revere with his wife of 18 years, Diane, and their three children, Rebecca, 14, Andrew, 13, and Victoria, 11, but he admits he often feels stronger ties to Charlestown than his hometown.
“I know more about what goes on in Charlestown than I do in Revere,” Coots said. “I have to read the Revere Journal if I want to find out what’s going on in Revere.”

Charlestown residents started their holiday on Saturday at the Training Field Fall Fair at the corner of Winthrop and Common streets. The annual event benefits the non-profit Friends of the Training Field.

CAPTION 1: Amy Telles brandishes her pumpkin tattoo.

CAPTION 2: Fran and Cory Lyons show off some of the Halloween fashions they were selling.

CAPTION 3: Taylor Mahoney is seen with her selection of books for sale.

CAPTION 4: A knight’s suit of armor was on display at the Training Field.

Charlestown High School was forced to forfeit its Sept. 28 win over East Boston High due to an ineligible player, putting a severe dent in the chances of the Townies reaching the Boston City League’s North Division championship.
The Townies’ 28-16 victory over the Jets at East Boston Stadium marked the first time Charlestown had beaten the rival team since 2002.
Charlestown, which now has a 3-3-0 record, is counting on undefeated East Boston to lose its next two games in order to clinch a playoff spot. The Townies next face O’Bryant at home tomorrow.
Charlestown head coach George Farro was unavailable for comment.

After state highway officials discovered several small cracks in one of its support beams Friday, trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles were temporarily banned from using southbound lanes on the Tobin Memorial Bridge.
Inspectors were performing a “foot by foot” examination of the bridge when they discovered the cracks, which were likely caused by corrosion, in a 2-by-8-foot transverse floor beam that supports the deck for the southbound lanes. The bridge was reopened to all vehicles Saturday morning after emergency repairs were made.
Workers wrapped high-strength cables around the cable as a temporary fix immediately after discovering the problem, while permanent repairs are expected to take at least another week, said Massport spokesman Richard Walsh.
The cracked beam was discovered in the 800-foot center span of the bridge, which measures 2¼ miles long.
The last two major inspections of the bridge, completed in 2003 and 2006 by an outside consultant, uncovered similar defects in the southbound lanes that included corroded steel girders and braces.
Walsh confirmed that Massport had previously repaired cracks in the bridge similar to those found last week but said this isn’t surprising given its age.
“It’s a 57-year-old bridge, so we need to continue doing these repairs to take corrective action,” Walsh said. “On average, Massport spends $9 million a year on maintenance of the Tobin Bridge.”
Ongoing work on the bridge includes a total rehabilitation of the Beacon Street off-ramp, painting and a re-decking program, Walsh said.
In August, Massport officials installed a net beneath the Tobin Bridge to prevent concrete and metal debris from falling down on boats in the Mystic River. This emergency precaution was taken after the Chelsea Yacht Club complained that six boats had been struck by debris falling from the bridge in a two-week period.