By Staff
ARDEN - The St. Joe Kickers are the 2005 Blossomland Soccer League champions after defeating Athletic Jaier FC 5-0 on Sunday in Arden.
The Kickers now enter Blossomland Cup Tournament play with a 7-0-1.
Their lone blemish was a hard fought 0-0 draw against Whirlpool United.
The championship is the first one for the Kickers in a USSF-sanctioned league since a 1986 Michiana Soccer Association title. The Kickers also took the 1983 MSA crown.
The Kickers were a perennial power in the 1970s, winning the Western Michigan Soccer League championship in their first year in the league in 1971.
The Kickers also took the WMSL title four years in-a-row between 1977-1980.
In 1980 they were also the state amateur champions of Michigan.
The St. Joe Kickers Sport Club was founded by German immigrants in 1953 and began playing soccer at Dickinson Stadium in St. Joseph in 1954.
During the 1950s and 1960s they competed in the National Soccer League in Chicago.
In the late 1950s they moved their home field to the House of David Baseball Park, where they remained until they built their facility in Arden in 1971.
The Kickers return to soccer prominence began in 2004 when Berrien Springs High School varsity soccer mentor Nick Lesch was appointed coach.
In taking over a program that had not competed competitively in over 10 years he was able to meld veteran Kicker players with third generation Kicker members and area high school standouts to finish third in the Blossomland Soccer League and capture the inaugural Blosomland Cup in tournament play.
This year, with the addition of league leading scorer Jay Fettig and other former and current high school stars from St. Joseph, Lakeshore, and Grace Christian, the Kickers were able to outscore their opponents 53-5.
First-year goalkeeper Tim Smith accounted for four of the team's five shutouts.