Brendler’s Boys: The House That George Built

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When they started league play in 1953, the Eagles finished with no wins. In 1955, only their third year of league competition, they won their first sectional championship. Other titles followed through 1964, but in 1965, Chazy soccer entered a new era with the arrival of Coach George Brendler.

Brendler took a good team, taught them to play his style of soccer, and took the North Country by storm. No matter who the opponent was, no matter how big the school might be; more often than not, the Chazy Eagles cut them down to size. Brendler’s career at the helm lasted for twenty-four years. When he retired from coaching after the 1988 season, he left a tremendous legacy.

Chazy had become a soccer town. Continued success was enjoyed by the boys’ teams, the girls’ teams, youth squads, and adult squads. Across the region, it was widely known that Chazy soccer was the best in the north.

Brendler’s school soccer program continued to flourish into the mid-1990s under his successor, Tom Tregan. Then, Rob McAuliffe assumed control, and though the bar had been set high by Brendler and Tregan, McAuliffe cleared it, and then some. The Eagles became a near-fixture in the annual state playoffs, and in 2004, McAuliffe’s team achieved the Chazy dream, winning the New York State Class D championship.

In 2005, McAuliffe’s Eagles were even better. With a record-setting performance, Chazy went 24-0 and won a second consecutive state title. It was a historic, astounding achievement.

The Eagles’ continued success can be traced to its roots many decades earlier, in the person of George Brendler. George Brendler was a great soccer coach, but he was much more than that. He was an American child and a Hungarian child, a victim of the Great Depression, and witness to the worst war in history. He was a soldier, a student, a teacher, and a husband and father.

He survived many dangers and overcame many obstacles, driven by a powerful will to survive and prosper. Above all, he worked hard, and that would always be part of his formula for success. It would prove instrumental in the development of Brendler’s boys.

This is the story of George’s life, his coaching career, and the history of Chazy soccer. They are all intertwined, weaving a marvelous path to Eagle glory.