Get to Know Carmel, NY Sports Teams

Team sports have been enjoyed for centuries by participants and spectators alike. This list is for you if you count yourself among the ranks of sports enthusiasts. The town of Carmel, New York, and the wider Putnam County area are home to several high school and amateur sports teams that you should check out if you’re a sports fan. Whether you prefer classic American high school football, junior ice hockey, soccer, baseball, or lacrosse, you can find a game to attend close by. Here are a few Carmel and Putnam County teams that we think you’ll enjoy supporting.

Carmel Rams High School Football

If football is your game, then you’ll want to know who the local high school team is. Lucky for you, it’s a good one — perhaps the best in the state as of 2021. The Carmel Rams are Carmel’s high school football team and have been making a name for themselves recently by winning last year’s state championship for the first time. It’s the first team from Putnam County to earn this title. With a winning score of 42-12 against their opponent, this will be the team to watch in the 2022 high school football season.

Lacrosse Teams

Lacrosse is a uniquely North American team sport, first played by the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas in parts of New York and Canada, possibly as far back as the 12th century. It involves sticks with a net or basket that is used to catch, pass, and toss a ball between teammates and into the goal nets of the opposing team on the field. Though some of the rules have changed and become standardized over the years, lacrosse is still played in schools across the USA, and there are lacrosse leagues and fans worldwide.

Putnam Valley Lacrosse Club

If you have any young lacrosse fans in your family, you’ll want to get them involved in the Putnam Valley Lacrosse Club. This club has teams for boys and girls from kindergarten through eighth grade and works as a feeder program to the Putnam Valley High School, a varsity lacrosse team for boys. Team sports, such as lacrosse, are a great way for kids to make friends, build skills, and increase confidence. As an additional benefit, your kids will be taking part in a sport with a proud history that goes back nearly a thousand years.

Mahopac Water Panthers

The Mahopac Water Panthers is a new senior men’s box lacrosse team based in Mahopac, just 15 minutes south of Carmel. Box lacrosse is a version of the game played indoors, often on a hockey rink covered with turf. If you’re a fan of box lacrosse or just a sports fan who enjoys a good game played by dedicated athletes, you’ll want to check out this team, which won its first home game in June 2022. The Mahopac Water Panthers will be returning for the fall season, so you can go watch a game to see what they can do.

Hockey Teams

Hockey has an interesting history. Its origins are suspected to be rooted in the Scottish game of curling combined with elements of Irish hurling, field hockey, and a game played by the Indigenous Peoples of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is one of the most popular team sports in Canada and the USA and is also played in the Olympics and around the world, with ice hockey particularly popular in the colder Nordic countries.

Brewster Ice Area, just down the road from Carmel, is home to several local teams, including the Junior Rangers teams for boys and girls, the Lady Bulldogs, and the Westchester Express.

New York Apple Core Junior Hockey

If you’re looking for a great team to support at the Brewster Ice Arena, then check out the New York Apple Core junior hockey team. A member of the Eastern Hockey League, this is a top-level junior team made up of players with the potential to go on to play for the area’s top colleges and universities. Many players from this team have gone on to play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association programs, and some are now professional hockey players. If you love hockey, this is your chance to see a great team in action.

Soccer

Soccer is one of the most popular team sports in the world, with professional and pickup teams playing just about everywhere, including Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East. People have been kicking around balls made from animal hides for at least a couple of thousand years, but it was the British that formalized the game and established the rules we know today. From its humble origins, soccer has grown to have the World Cup, where national teams play to be the best in the world, and the winners are cheered on by millions of passionate fans.

Carmel United Soccer Club

The Carmel United Soccer Club is a volunteer, nonprofit organization that supports local soccer through its programs within the Carmel school system. It was founded over forty years ago in 1980 and offered recreational programs for kids ages 3 to 13. For more serious players ready for their next step, there’s a travel program for kids ages 8 up to twelfth grade, which competes in the East Hudson Youth Soccer League. The Carmel United Academy offers participants additional training by the area’s top coaches to help with players’ skills and development.

While Carmel doesn’t have the major sports teams, you’d find in a big city, finding a local team that you can support and be proud of in our community is still a lot of fun. Sports have always been a great way to bring people together, and this can be even more personal in a smaller setting where the players are your friends and neighbors. We love our local teams at Meadowland of Carmel and hope you enjoyed reading about them. Contact us if there’s a great local team you want us to know about.

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