(Photos above from The Buffalo News – 2013)

The Section VI Boys and Girls Soccer Committee and FC Buffalo are proud to announce the first edition of what we hope will become a proud tradition: The Section VI and All-WNY High School Awards Dinner.

The event will feature a program honoring the achievements of 78 members of the All-WNY boys and girls high school teams, as well as a full dinner and guest speakers. It will be held at On Wednesday, December 3 at 7pm at Classics’ V Banquet & Conference Center, 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd, Amherst, NY, 14228.

It was also feature a still-to-be determined amount of matching scholarships awarded to terrific teammates in WNY high school soccer

“We’re extremely proud to be involved with a long-overdue event like this,” said FC Buffalo co-owner Nick Mendola, who coaches girls varsity soccer at the Park School and played at Kenmore East. “The student athletes of Western New York deserve to be lauded for they’ve achieved.”

Awards will be given to the All-WNY teams, as well as the WNY player, coach and official of the year.

“It’s been an honor to be a part of the great tradition of the All-WNY teams,” said event chairperson Todd Marquardt, the boys varsity coach at Kenmore West. “To now get the chance to publicly acknowledge these student-athletes is a goal achieved.”

Additionally, we’re committed to handing out the aforementioned matching scholarships to the “best teammates” in high school soccer. How it works is simple: a player nominates his or her teammate with a 100-250 word story as to why their teammate is the best. A group of voters in the community will determine who wins, and both the winning nominator and nominee will win a minimum $250 scholarship. For more details, head here.

Tickets for the event cost $25 and cover dinner and the awards. Seating is extremely limited and on a 2 guest-per-player basis.

“I’m extremely grateful for the cooperation and vision of Todd and the Section VI committees,” Mendola said, quipping that, “I guess this is what it takes to bring Kenmore East and West together.”

Any businesses interested in sponsoring this event should email wolf@fcbuffalo.org to learn how they can help grow the scholarships and prop up the event.

FC Buffalo players like Jake Rinow (Lancaster HS) and Chris Walter (Nichols School) are among several Wolves alumni to share the distinction of making an All-WNY team while in high school.

For more information, email nick@fcbuffalo.org or tmarquardt@kenton.k12.ny.us.

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