Magruder soccer team earns Spirit Award

Players raised money, awareness after coach died of brain cancer

But Scott Alexander was a good man as well as a great coach, team members say, so they wanted to do more.

At the urging of Coach Steve Pfeil, who stepped up from the assistant coaching position to take the helm after Alexander passed away, the team began raising money for a charity race.

They entered the 11th Annual Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers Race for Hope, a 5K walk⁄run that raises money for the Brain Tumor Society and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure. Team Magruder put together $595.

Joseph Weinberg and his family give an award each year in honor of their late father, Rabbi Joseph P. Weinberg, to a walk⁄run team that ‘‘goes above and beyond.” Rabbi Weinberg led the Washington Hebrew Congregation in Northwest Washington, D.C., and lived in Potomac.

This year the family took notice of Team Magruder’s stunning championship season and fundraising efforts, and presented members with the Rabbi Joseph P. Weinberg Triumph of the Spirit Award.

‘‘Scott [Alexander] was just 36 when he died,” Pfeil said. ‘‘For these kids, he brought a positive attitude and enthusiasm to all aspects of their lives. We accepted the award for our achievements on the field, but Scott taught us that there is more to life than soccer.”

Weinberg said the team’s efforts were worth honoring.

‘‘The fact that they came together after losing their coach and having to start the season so soon is what really made the team stand out,” Weinberg said. ‘‘They said, we’re not going to let this defeat us, and we’re going to show that life goes on. Then they went on to win the season. That’s really inspiring.”

Pfeil is proud of the award.

‘‘Winning the state championship in honor of Coach Alexander was a thrill for our team, but receiving this award and being able to help in the quest for a cure is profoundly meaningful,” Pfeil said. ‘‘I mean, the kids would go to his house and swim in his pool. Their relationship was about more than just soccer.”

Pfeil, his wife Maureen, Assistant Coach Scott Hughes and his 9-year-old son, Jake, a third-grader at Candlewood Elementary School in Derwood, participated in the race. Several team members had league soccer matches to attend, and others had taken the SAT the day before, so they could not participate in the race, Pfeil said.

But seven current and future team captains made it to the awards ceremony at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., to be recognized after the race, Pfeil said. He and his wife plan to make the race an annual event, he said.

Two hundred eighty-four teams and 20 company teams entered the race, raising a total of $1.75 million. More than 7,000 runners, walkers and kids participated in the race on May 4.