East Islip girls soccer team honors life of former star player Kayla Saager-Beckley before game vs. Deer Park
Members of the East Islip girls soccer team hold up yellow flowers during a moment of silence honoring the memory of former star player Kayla Saager-Beckley prior to the start of their game against Deer Park on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
The soccer players lined up across the turf with a yellow flower in hand, the Deer Park girls on one side of the East Islip girls and the East Islip boys on the other. After words of remembrance were read over the PA, the teams raised their flowers toward the sky in a touching tribute.
Kayla Saager-Beckley was gone way too soon, unexpectedly passing earlier this month at the age of just 30. The East Islip district honored the memory of its girls soccer star from the Class of 2014 in so many ways Tuesday at the middle school stadium.
There was the ceremony with a moment of silence before the Deer Park-East Islip girls game. There were the yellow ribbons tied into the hair of the players on both sides. There were the yellow balloons lining the entry walkway. There was “KAYLA” and there was a heart formed with yellow cups jammed into a chain-link fence.
There were the yellow flowers in a basket for the crowd. There was the donation table to benefit The Bee Foundation’s work for brain aneurysm prevention and for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
And there was East Islip beating Deer Park 4-0 behind junior midfielder Payten Tidridge’s two goals and one assist.
“It’s so special to honor her and play for her,” Tidridge said. “It made today truly so special. I feel like it made everyone want to work even harder to get the win for her.”
The former EI and Binghamton forward, who played professionally in the Czech Republic before going into coaching, had just gotten married in June to John Beckley, Tulsa’s outside linebackers coach. They were expecting their first child, a daughter named Sawyer.
But Saager-Beckley was working out on the morning of Sept. 9 and was soon found unresponsive.
“The biggest thing about her was how she lifted her teammates,” East Islip athletic director Stephen Restivo said. “She was always positive. A great kid.”
Athletic trainer Taylor Kenney, who was Saager-Beckley’s teammate here, wrapped her arms around longtime assistant coach Kimm Schwarz after the ceremony. The moment had hit Kenney.
East Islip girls soccer assistant coach Kimm Schwarz, right, embraces East Islip athletic trainer Taylor Kenney at the close of a pregame moment of silence honoring the memory of former star player Kayla Saager-Beckley prior to the start of a game against Deer Park on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Besides Saager-Beckley’s great soccer skills and leadership, Kenney knows she will be remembered for her “amazing presence, her light, her laughter.”
Ah, that smile.
“When she smiled, which was always, her eyes like sparkled,” Schwarz said. “She had this sparkle and you just felt so accepted . . . She made you feel like you mattered.”
