Dutch Elite Joins Steel Family
The Steel Sports family is growing! We’re excited to announce Steel United is joining forces with Dutch Elite Soccer Academy to form Steel United Hudson Valley in New York beginning this summer! Tryouts start April 26 and Summer Camp registration is underway. Jeroen Hofstede and his Dutch Elite team share our values in shaping our future generations on and off the field, and we welcome them to the Steel family.
STEEL HOSTS 2 SPRING TOURNEYS
Steel Sports hosted two successful soccer tournaments over the March 18-19 weekend with over 200 teams combined participating in the Philadelphia Spring Kickoff and St. Patrick's Cup in New Jersey. Both tournament directors, John Steele and Jeremy McManus, and their staffs did an outstanding job providing a first class experience on and off the field. The weather may have been a little chilly even with the sunshine, but the players had fun competing in the early season tournaments.
Steel United was represented well during the events. Steel United NJ 2007 Boys Elite, 2007 Girls Elite, 2008 Boys Elite and 2011 Boys Elite won championships at the St. Patrick's Cup. Steel United NY 2007 Girls also won a St. Patrick's Cup title, and the Steel United PA 2010 Girls won their bracket at the Spring Kickoff.
Steel United Top 10
The Steel United Top 10 is back, and we're starting 2023 off strong with some jaw-dropping highlights during the month of March — viewed over 1,500 times on social media! Congrats to Steel United Washington's Ryley Radcliffe for claiming the No. 1 spot with a long range strike past the keeper and becoming a nominee for this year's Play of the Year in the upcoming National Xcellence Awards!
Lasorda Legacy Park LAUNCHES SPRING TOURNAMENT SEASON
Lasorda Legacy Park launched the 2023 tournament season on March 31 with the Steel Sports Festival. Nearly 60 teams in ages 8U-14U enjoyed a unique event that provided off field experiences including pitching, hitting and catching clinics, Batter Up Contest, Yokohama Tire Accuracy Challenge and cornhole games. Lasorda Legacy Park has a full complement of tournaments throughout the spring, summer and fall. Go to lasordalegacypark.com to see the 2023 tournament, camp and clinic schedules.
Sports Are For You PANEL
The Steel Sports Women Of Steel hosted a "Sports Are For You" panel on March 20, and it was a great discussion about female athletes, sports apparel, initiatives for access and inclusion and careers in sports. Tabitha Tice and Coley Dietrich of IDA, Sarah Dwyer-Shick of the Sports Bra Project and Michelle Delloso of Go Girl Program discussed the topics and answered questions from attendees. Our Steel United Massachusetts and Team Steel Colorado teams even got together and joined live as groups!
Town Halls Return IN 2023
Steel Sports is on the road again this year as part of Steel Partners Town Halls visiting every business unit around the country. Former Major League Baseball player and manager Jerry Royster has been the keynote speaker at many of the Town Halls sharing inspirational messages and captivating stories about his time as a professional athlete and coach. The Town Halls are a chance to engage Steel Partners employees on the shared purpose and Kids First philosophy. Employees are going through Foundations of Positive Coaching 1 in the Steel Sports Coaching System and have the opportunity to earn sponsorships for their youth sports teams or programs. To date, Steel Sports has provided $80,000 in sponsorships from over 100 applications. This year's round of Town Halls conclude in early May.
SPRING IS HERE
Our soccer, baseball and softball teams across the country have been getting out on the field as the weather improves. Many teams have claimed hardware early in the season, but the important thing is the kids are having fun and demonstrating our core values on and off the field! We're showing everyone what it means to be a part of Steel Nation!
Massachusetts Athlete Leadership Council In Action
Getting ready for the season on and off the field! During a March Athlete Leadership Council meeting, kids from Team Steel and Steel United Massachusetts used their creative minds to design posters for the equipment and food drives planned for this year.
Staff Spotlights
Congratulations to March's Staff Star John Steele and Social Impact MVP Jeremy McManus! John has provided the commitment and leadership to get our company off to a strong start in Q1 by building and executing three Steel Experience tournament events in addition to closing out a successful winter soccer league. John has worked hard to move the events towards impacting players on and off the field with social impact initiatives, engagement of our core values and coach and parent education.
Jeremy oversaw another successful St Patrick’s Cup in New Jersey with 116 teams participating. There were numerous obstacles to overcome in the run up to the event, but Jeremy handled everything that was thrown at him and ran an excellent event. He also organized for Steel United high school players to staff the event, following our mission to inspire athletes to reach their potential both on and off the field.