In the winter of 1988, Mike Flynn, Rick Aleshire and Rudy Krumpe, who were coaches in the Hagerstown Area Youth Soccer League, decided to pick up a few teams to participate in the indoor soccer tournament at Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia. None of the players had ever played club soccer before, let alone gone to a tournament. They had a great time even though the competition was very tough. That spring Mike and Rudy decided to put the two indoor teams that they took to Phillippi together to form a team to play outdoor soccer in the Frederick County Soccer League (FCYSL). They named the team the Hammers and called themselves the Hagerstown Soccer Club. Later that year Rick asked if he could join up with the team he had also taken to Phillippi. His team was named the Scramblers. Before long a third team was formed by John Wentz which he named The Express. The teams continued playing in the FCYSL and going to indoor and outdoor tournaments. Soon other teams were asking to join our club. In January of 1991 a decision was made to incorporate and seek 501-C3 status under the IRS code. So we became the Hagerstown Soccer Club, Inc. and received a final determination letter of tax-exempt status in March of 1991. Rudy Krumpe was selected President, Mike Flynn became Vice President, Peggy Karap became Secretary and John Wentz became Treasurer. Later Mike Flynn resigned and Rick Aleshire became Vice –President. The club began hosting its own tournaments in 1989. The Hagerstown Soccer Club Indoor Invitational was our first large tournament. It was held annually from 1989 to 1999. The indoor tournaments rented school gymnasiums and attracted up to 100 teams. Some years we had to use three school gymnasiums. After 1999 however the Board of Education changed its policy about indoor soccer so we no longer able to rent the facilities. The club held its first outdoor tournament in 1991. The tournament was called the Mason-Dixon Cup. The first one drew about forty teams and was a great success. This tournament is an annual event which takes place during the second or third week of June. It has been a very popular tournament and helped to establish the reputation of the Hagerstown Soccer Club. The largest tournament accepted one hundred seventeen teams and took place at five locations using seventeen fields.
In October of 1999, the club partnered with the Hagerstown Lions Club and started a fall tournament over the Columbus Day weekend to hold the Hagerstown Lions Club Shoot-out. This was a very popular tournament, but had to be discontinued after 2004 because it was not possible to hire enough referees for the event. There was just too much demand for referees due to league play, high school, college and other large tournaments. The club is very proud, however, because over the time that the Shoot-out was in existence over $25,000 was raised for the Hagerstown Lions Club to benefit local charities. Using funds that had been accumulated from the soccer tournaments we were able to purchase the twenty-one acre site that is now home to Hagerstown Soccer Club. The land was purchased from Lester Albin for $126,000 who also graciously agreed to hold the mortgage on the property. It took several years before the fields were playable, but members of the club were very excited to to have their own fields. Today the facility is one of the best in the tri-state region. Today our teams play in more competitive leagues and tournaments than what was available in the past including Washington Area Girls Soccer League (WAGS) and the Baltimore Beltway Soccer League (BBSL). We have had teams win many tournaments and have advanced as far as the semi-final in our State Cup. In the future we hope to continue providing an opportunity for youth to enjoy the game of soccer and to make it more affordable for them to do that. The goal of our club is to give players the opportunity to play against higher competitive levels through league and tournament play, while improving their individual skills playing as a team. The Hagerstown Soccer Club was not conceived to compete against other soccer organizations. We are committed to maintaining full cooperation and coordination with other local associations. The club does not discriminate on the basis of race or religion and encourages anyone from the tri-state area to try-out for club teams.