ABOUT THE CLUB

Hunter Soccer Club began in 1962 as a response to a call for physical fitness from President John F. Kennedy. Originally called St. Luke's Soccer Club, it was made up of a group of Cub Scouts under the leadership of John Hunter.

 

John Hunter, a native born Scotsman, came to this country with a love of soccer.  He took St. Luke's players and taught them the game of soccer with a volleyball at Abington High School's playing fields.  Mr. Hunter received support from Episcopal Academy when the school sent him its discarded shorts, shoes, and equipment. After some early years teaching soccer to the community children, along with Hans Peters, Mr. Hunter helped form the Intercounty Soccer League (ICSL) some 50 years ago.

 

For its colors, St. Luke's Soccer Club adopted the royal blue & white of St. Luke's school's athletic teams and for its jersey, the blue & white horizontal stripes. Besides the color scheme of St. Luke's teams, these stripes stem from the uniforms of Queen's Park Rangers (QPR), a famous English professional soccer team. Some QPR players would come to Glenside in the summer for Hunter's Soccer Camp. As a matter of fact, the early Hunter uniforms actually came from England and were exact duplicates of QPR's teams. That tradition continues today with the blue & white horizontal stripes that we call the "Hoops." 

 

Although there are religious overtones in the original St. Luke's Soccer Club name, the soccer club was and is non-denominational. To this day, Hunter Soccer Club does not discriminate against any of its participants, whether coaches or players, because of their religious backgrounds, race or gender. Hunter is a non-profit organization and consists of volunteers wanting to help the youth of our community.

 

In 1970, John Hunter passed away and to honor the memory of its founder, St. Luke's Soccer Club became Hunter Soccer Club.  After 60+ years, Hunter Soccer Club continues to be a strong, vibrant, community-oriented organization that helps teach children of all ages the “beautiful game” of soccer.