The phrase "next man up" is commonly used in the sports world today.
It's been happening with the Blue Mountain and Schuylkill Haven boys' soccer programs for the past 23 years.
Schuylkill County's two premier programs, the Eagles and Hurricanes have been able to stay among the area's elite every season because their players work hard at a young age to hone their skills with the dream of one day being able to play for their respective schools at the varsity level.
When they get there, they work even harder. By the time they are seniors they are leaders, able to provide the guidance and leadership necessary to direct their teams on another postseason run.
This year's Republican-Herald All-Area Boys' Soccer Co-Players of the Year are perfect examples.
Blue Mountain goalkeeper Jake Gillespie and Schuylkill Haven forward Marcus Repella were the "next star up" in their respective programs, carrying the torch of leader
ship and talent passed on to them by teammates who came before them.
Repella scored 27 goals and collected 10 assists in leading the Hurricanes to a 21-2 record that included Schuylkill League and District 11 Class A championships and a trip to the state playoffs.
Gillespie allowed just 19 goals in 21 games, serving as an on-the-field coach for a young Blue Mountain defense that blossomed as the season progressed. Gillespie finished with 13 shutouts as the Eagles captured the Division I title and advanced to the Schuylkill League title game.
Schuylkill Haven's Vanco Georgevic, who earned his 300th career victory en route to his third 20-win season, is this year's All-Area Coach of the Year.
Gillespie the latest Eagles' star keeper
If there's been one key to Blue Mountain's success over the years, it's that the Eagles have always had a strong goalkeeper.
Gillespie, who has been starting in the net the past 2.5 years, is the latest in a long line of stars for the Eagles.
"That goes all the way back to the Dukmens in the late '90s," Gillespie said of the Eagles' goalkeeper tradition. He credited former Blue Mountain standout and current keeper coach Josh Ott for helping keep that tradition alive.
"Coach Ott, my keeper coach, does an excellent job," Gillespie continued. "As soon as the guy before me, (Mark) Travor, went down my sophomore year, I knew that I was ready to step in.
"I knew that Coach Ott had trained us well enough. He gives me the reps, the extra work. He does a heck of a job."
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Gillespie stepped in as the Eagles' keeper for the final three games of the 2011 season as the Eagles won the Schuylkill League title.
The North Manheim Township resident started every game last season, recording eight shutouts and earning All-Area honorable mention honors as the Eagles went 11-9 and reached the Schuylkill League playoffs before losing to Williams Valley in the semifinals.
This season started slowly. First, Gillespie suffered a wrist injury playing over the summer in England. Gillespie played the entire season with the injury, having surgery on his wrist as soon as the season was complete.
"I was always generally fine with pain tolerance, and I wanted to play in college in the future," said Gillespie, who will attend Shippensburg University next fall.
"The doctors said, 'You're not going to mess it up any worse. If you can take the pain, tape it up and play.' I didn't want to miss my senior season. I wanted to play."
The Eagles' defense struggled early, giving up six goals in its first two games. Gillespie said working out the communication between himself and defenders Christian Puzzi, Lyle Luckenbill, Drew Rudacille and Angus Fortune - all underclassmen - was the key.
"In the beginning of the season we were reeling there for a while," Gillespie said. "They're young guys ⦠there's no seniors back there ⦠and as they were gaining experience, and we figured out the communication, we just really kind of blended.
"We were deadly silent the first couple of games, and everyone was all over the place. It took a couple of practices until we said, 'Hey, let's figure out the talk between me and the defenders, and between the defenders themselves.'
"As soon as we knocked out that communication part of it, obviously the stats showed it flowed."
After starting the season 3-3, Blue Mountain held off Pottsville 4-2 in a Schuylkill League match Sept. 10. What followed was an impressive display of defense as the Eagles recorded 10 shutouts and allowed just two goals over the next 12 games to reach the Schuylkill League finals.
Although the Eagles lost to Schuylkill Haven in overtime, playing for a league title was the high point of Gillespie's senior campaign.
"It felt amazing," he said. "After that tough loss to Williams Valley in the semis last year, I didn't want anything more than to be back in that (league championship) game. Obviously, we didn't win, but it was a great feeling to be back there."
Versatility helps Repella dominate
When you look up Repella's name on the Schuylkill Haven boys' soccer roster, there isn't one position listed next to it. There are three.
The 17-year-old Schuylkill Haven resident played all over the field for the Hurricanes, and it was that versatility that helped him mature into an all-around soccer player.
Repella was an All-Area first-team selection as a junior, scoring 17 goals with three assists. This season, Repella scored in all but five of Schuylkill Haven's first 20 games, including four times in the Schuylkill League playoffs.
He saw action at forward and in the midfield, and was also moved to defender in key matches to guard the opposition's best scorer late in games.
"If you have players who can play anywhere, you'll go really far in a season," Repella said. "When you have specialized players, it's really difficult, especially at the end of the season when you get injuries. It's difficult to re-arrange formations.
"All in all, it helps to have versatility."
Repella is the latest in a long line of talented scorers that have come through the Schuylkill Haven program. It's tough to maintain winning records year after year at small schools in any sport, but the Hurricanes have managed to do it throughout Georgevic's tenure.
Repella said the extra work the players put in during the offseason, away from the normal practices, helped him become a better player.
"I had college kids and seniors and juniors in high school, in the program, bringing me up to play with them on courts in Haven and Cressona," Repella said. "I played with them and developed skills when I was younger so that when I'm a senior in the program I'm more skillful than I would have been without that extra practice."
The Hurricanes finished 21-2 and was the third team in program history to win a District 11 title and reach the state playoffs.
Repella said the key to this year's postseason run wasn't anything physical.
"Teamwork and staying calm when we're down (were the keys)," Repella said. "Staying strong mentally and staying together as a team rather than yelling at each other when we're under pressure is definitely the key to what made our season so successful."
Repella plans to attend Penn State's main campus, with a dual major in criminal justice and psychology. He hopes to try out for the men's soccer team, but realizes his playing career may be over.
He's happy that Haven's group of 10 seniors, which includes All-Area first-team selections Jason Wilson, Adam Seltzer and Dominic Trimboli, was able to go out winning a championship.
He does have one regret, however. Schuylkill Haven's season ended with a tough loss to eventual PIAA Class A runner-up Mountain View in the opening round of the state playoffs.
"It was great to win championships, and it was great to go out the way we did our senior year," Repella said.
"It really would have been nicer to win a state-level game. There's already such high expectations set for us, it's kind of expected for us to win leagues and districts.
"Going up against the defending state champions in the first round of leagues put even more pressure on us."
Georgevic credits kids, assistants in Haven's title run
When Vanco Georgevic began teaching at Schuylkill Haven in 1974, nobody knew what soccer even was.
The Yugoslavia native introduced his middle school students to the sport during intramurals, and is one of the founding fathers of Schuylkill League soccer in the 1990s.
Now 63, Georgevic has had some really good teams in his 23 years as a head coach, during which he's compiled a 320-118-10 overall record, won 12 division championships, three Schuylkill League titles and three District 11 crowns.
When asked where the 2013 team ranked, Georgevic said right near the top, right behind Haven's 2009 squad that went 21-1 and lost in the first round of states.
"It's awfully difficult to pinpoint a 1, 2, 3 type of thing," Georgevic said. "They are just a fraction of a point behind our 2009 team. It's nothing against this team, but they're so close.
"We were able to get more out of this team than we were able to get out of the team we had in 2009 because we were hit late in the season with some injuries with that team.
"Great bunch of kids, both teams. They were from different eras, even though it was only 4-5 years apart."
Georgevic said the key to this year's success was the Hurricanes' chemistry and how coachable they were. He pointed out that when trying to pick a scholar-athlete, he discovered the top three kids in Haven's senior class of 101 students were starters on his team.
"Every year, one of the things that coaches worry about is how quickly a team will start working together as a group," Georgevic said. "Every year you graduate seniors, sometimes seven, sometimes 10. Regardless of what it is, as a coach you're concerned about how quickly a team can come together.
"Having academically, very coachable kids, our team came together and they were very close almost right from the beginning, from the Millersburg tournament to the first league game with Williams Valley. They stayed that way throughout the year. It's a tribute to the kids."
Georgevic also praised his three assistant coaches - son Andre, Gary Hess and Adam Ketch - all players on previous Schuylkill Haven championship teams.
Andre Georgevic, who was on Haven's 1998 District 11 title squad, has been helping his father for eight years. Hess has been an assistant coach for six years while Ketch, a former All-Area goalkeeper, has been with the staff for four years.
"They are graduates of Schuylkill Haven High School and graduates of the soccer program," Vanco Georgevic said. "They can relate their stories from way back.
"They can go back and talk to the newcomers as well as those that have been on the team about the experiences that we have here at Schuylkill Haven in boys' soccer.
"It really does help to have someone who has been around the program. Hopefully, the kids respect the coaching staff, since we have quite a few years of experience, not just myself, but the other coaches as well."