By David DiPasqua, Jr., DiPasqua Sports
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA. – There is no denying that George Lambritsios’ impact on special teams played a role in Marple Newtown’s success of capturing their first District One Class AAA victory in program history.
Lambritsios hopes to duplicate that success next season, where he plans to kick collegiately at West Chester University.
Two factors played a role into his decision of attending West Chester this fall. The most important being the top notch education he would be receiving as he plans to study criminal justice. Second was location, considering that it is only a short car ride away from his residence in Broomall.
Additionally, the West Chester coaches met his expectations of being able to help the team right away and make an impact in a tough Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
The Golden Rams finished with a 7-4 record, while also appearing in the PSAC Championship Game. Lambritsios provides some extra firepower to a West Chester offense that 34 averaged points per game last season.
In his two seasons as Marple Newtown’s kicker, Lambritsios developed into an important asset for the Tigers. His senior campaign is where he truly shined, connecting on 11 of 15 field goal attempts, including a long of 45 yards. On extra-points, he put 22 of 26 kicks through the uprights.
Kickoffs is where Lambritsios showcased his big leg, establishing field position by recording 21 touchbacks. When the postseason rolled around, Lambritsios was nothing short of spectacular. In the pair of playoff games, he converted 4 out of 4 field goal attempts, including a long of 34 yards.
For his efforts on the field, Lambritsios racked up 2015 First Team All-Southeastern PA honors, a nod as the All-Delco kicker, while also being an All-Central League selection this past season.
When asked about statistics and awards, he mentioned how they are nice when things are going well. However, his mentality will remain the same regardless of the situation. He will never change who he is and stick to his goal of always getting better.
Lambritsios credits all of his success and development as a kicker to coach Dave Bertoline. The pair worked hard together, training through the summer and school year.
Bertoline is a graduate of West Catholic High School, where he was a multi-sport athlete in soccer, football, baseball, and basketball. In 1988, he was named the Philadelphia Daily News Athlete of the Year. After high school, Bertoline did a two-year stint at Spring Garden College, then ended up up at Temple University where he played soccer.
In terms of coaching, Bertoline assisted West Catholic’s special teams for fourteen years before joining Marple Newtown’s squad. Lambritsios and the rest of the team have benefited from the knowledge and experience Bertoline has provided.
Kicking at the collegiate level is an adjustment, considering how different it is from the high school ranks. Lambritsios has recently started to kick off of the ground, instead of using a block. He admitted that the transition is going well.
“Many kickers have a hard time with this transition, but kicking the soccer ball off the ground all these years definitely could have helped.”
For Lambritsios, football was not even on his radar until his junior year.
“After many people telling me to go kick, I would have been a fool to not give it a chance.”
Soccer was his priority, putting all his focus into the one sport. From his perspective, playing other sports would have taken away his concentration and therefore fall behind.
His hard work did payoff, earning several awards. In 2014, he was named All-Central League’s Player of the Year to go along with other honors such as All-Central League and All-Delco.
“Growing up in a Greek household soccer was the sport to play. My father introduced me to soccer and asked me if I wanted to get serious about it so other sports never crossed my mind.”
Representing the Tigers on the gridiron and soccer field did present some challenges. The fall was hectic, running around from practices to games. This was a strict schedule for him, highlighting the importance of time-management. Transitioning was difficult with all his schoolwork, but he found a way to make it work.
Be sure to see Lambritsios among several other of his teammates in the 40th annual Delaware County Hero Bowl, which will be held on Thursday, June 2 at Cardinal O’Hara High School with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.