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Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association has announced that the Bronx, N.Y.’s Tamara Honcharuk will receive a Jack Bauman Scholarship.
Tamara Honcharuk will attend SUNY Brockport this fall. (Photo courtesy of ENYYSA)
Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association has announced that the Bronx, N.Y.’s Tamara Honcharuk will receive a Jack Bauman Scholarship.
She was an Honor Roll student at the Kingsbridge Academy in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and in Odesa. She plays club soccer for Asphalt Green and her team advanced to the State Cup final the past two years.
Honcharuk wrote in her essay that “the roaring engines before take-off is a stark contrast to the silence that has settled over my heart. Staring at panoramic scenery through an airplane window, I’m leaving behind more than my country, but my whole life. War has ruined everything. There is a painful emptiness where my soccer team, my home and my sense of normalcy once existed. My teammates are scattered across the globe, pushed away by the same circumstances that put me on this plane. School, old classmates, native streets full of cultural belonging––all these fragments of my life in Ukraine––now feel like far-off echoes. Who will I be so far away from all I’ve known?
“Soccer is a passion which I brought through a thorny pathway here. I started to play six years ago, and ever since I appeared on the field, I have fallen in love with the sport. Ball kicking and drills became my everyday routine, where I found enthusiasm, determination and love…
“During my first weeks in the new school, we discussed the Cold War using a picture of a European map. Suddenly, a classmate asked the teacher about Ukraine, who responded, “Well, it’s a good question. What do you guys know about Ukraine? Can we justify Russia’s actions or not?”
“Tears welled up in my eyes, a blend of grief for my homeland and outrage at the thought of anyone trying to justify what was happening. It was shocking to see the world through the eyes of someone who didn’t now the devastation I felt. But then, a flicker of resolve ignited within me. If the soldiers in Ukraine could bravely fight there, I could fight for my dreams here. If civilians could remain steadfast and hopeful, I could overcome any obstacles with belief. This classroom, this foreign language I was studying, this unfamiliar city –they all became battlefields and tests of resilience. I wouldn’t let heartache break me. Instead, it would fuel me to conquer these challenges and prove my strength and spirit.”
The scholarship’s namesake, Jack Bauman, is considered the father of women’s soccer on Long Island. He was devoted to the Massapequa Soccer Club and Eastern New York. The scholarship is based on success in high school as well as community service.
Honcharuk will study and play soccer at SUNY Brockport this fall.
Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 28 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.
