Helping launch the Cedar Bowl. Four straight generations of captains at Lebanon. Coaching stops that cover various schools and a range of sports. Hall-of-fame entries and an array of records.<\/p>\n
The Bartal family\u2019s fingerprints douse Lebanon County athletics history. There\u2019d be unmistakable voids, polarizing gaps without them.<\/p>\n
Matt didn\u2019t raise anchor on his family project to garner attention. Sure, he wanted each family member to receive their share of recognition, but the mission stretched far beyond the Xs and Os and the gaudy stats.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur intent is that this can hopefully reach other families and have them dig into their family history,\u201d Matt said. \u201cAnd perhaps see if anyone can challenge us and find out if their families have earned varsity letters in the roundabout district of 80 (in the county) and 153 (overall).\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt\u2019s \u201clight bulb moment\u201d wasn\u2019t singular but rather was compiled through years of family conversations and gatherings. The Bartals would visit grandma\u2019s for weekend dinners and spent countless birthdays and holidays at relatives\u2019 houses.<\/p>\n
While the family reunions served their purpose, athletics were always the strongest tie. As Matt grew older, the shared sports experience stoked a more meaningful appreciation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the bond that it has created through the years,\u201d Matt said. \u201cNot necessarily the unique wrinkle of competition, and it building the characteristics that it does for you as an individual, but how competition, whether you win, lose or draw, you decide how you as an individual are going to create your tomorrow or your next moment, and how you\u2019re going to handle that. \u2026 So as I did all of this, I could picture every single person, in my mind\u2019s eye, how we all, somewhere along the lines, were together at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\t\tLebanon County\u2019s Matt Bartal has documented 153 varsity letters earned across four generations of his family, a total believed to be among the highest in Pennsylvania history. (LebTown file photo by Will Trostel)<\/p>\n
<\/a>\u2018Determination\u2019 bred versatility<\/p>\n Scan the document Matt has formatted, and you\u2019ll come upon a clip of similarities. A swath of football and wrestling letters. Splashes of track and field and field hockey, and sprinkles of baseball and softball.<\/p>\n But woven into the fabric are budding branches. Ones that haven\u2019t been harvesting for long but are vital to the distinctiveness of the family tree.<\/p>\n Take Olivia\u2019s golf journey, for example. She stands alone with varsity letters on the links and has carved her own chapter amid the long-form feature.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething that I have pulled out of golf is I\u2019ve taught myself how to be my own best friend in moments where I really need a friend,\u201d she said. \u201cIn the sport of golf, it can be really easy to feel like you\u2019re on a deserted island all by yourself. You\u2019re just kind of out there in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of grass and maybe no one else to be found for hours. And you get put in a lot of challenging situations where you really have to hype yourself up and say, \u2018Hey, this maybe wasn\u2019t my best shot here, but what am I going to do in the future to make this better?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know if many others can say that.\u201d<\/p>\n Where golf can be a solo effort, the forward frame of mind was something all Bartals possessed. The fortitude covered the athletics landscape but spilled into all walks of life.<\/p>\n Work. Outreach. Every base was blanketed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the determination,\u201d said Doug Bartal, Matt\u2019s uncle and a 2010 Lebanon HOF inductee. \u201cOnce we focus on something, we finish it out to the end. That\u2019s one thing my dad always taught us, \u2018You start something, you finish it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a>\u2018Going to stimulate all these discussions\u2019<\/p>\n The gears Matt hoped his findings would turn are already humming.<\/p>\n Matt was on a phone call with longtime friend, Jerome Simone, earlier this month when he mentioned the family project. Simone, a big-picture thinker like Matt, rang his dad about the idea as soon as the initial conversation ended.<\/p>\n \u201cI kept thinking to myself, \u2018Matt, this is a genius idea,\u2019\u201d Simone said. \u201cBecause knowing Matt the way I do, it\u2019s not just about the result of what your number is. It\u2019s that journey to get to the result, and he is going to stimulate, just like he did with me, all these discussions, all this reminiscing about your family.\u201d<\/p>\n Simone has taken Matt\u2019s proposal a step further. While beginning to browse his family\u2019s athletic background \u2014 which he believes is in the 80 varsity letter vicinity \u2014 Simone pondered the angle of history in other crafts.<\/p>\n Simone said he comes from a bloodline of educators. For other families, it could be business start-ups, coal mining, farming, and military.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though Matt\u2019s initial avenue was sports,\u201d Simone said, \u201ccan you imagine the discussions that you could have about people and their heritage and that whole generational business? That\u2019s something that people take pride in and talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s exactly where Matt\u2019s venture started. The pride and passion for his family have led to a culmination he never anticipated.<\/p>\n The final puzzle piece has aligned.<\/p>\n Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we\u2019ll do our best to get back to you.<\/p>\n Support Lebanon County journalism.<\/p>\n Cancel anytime.<\/p>\n Still no paywall!<\/p>\n Fewer ads<\/p>\n Exclusive events and emails<\/p>\n All monthly benefits <\/p>\n Most popular option<\/p>\n Make a bigger impact<\/p>\n Join the 1,000+ readers who support our work as members<\/p>\n Already a member? Log in here to hide these messages<\/a><\/p>\n Quality local news takes time and resources. While LebTown is free to read, we rely on reader support to sustain our in-depth coverage of Lebanon County. Become a monthly<\/a> or annual<\/a> member to help us expand our reporting, or support our work with a one-time contribution<\/a>. Cancel anytime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Bartal was three decades removed from high school athletics when the final puzzle piece aligned. It was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[457,93,2210],"class_list":{"0":"post-35480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lebanon","8":"tag-featuredsecondary","9":"tag-lebanon","10":"tag-show-elevenlabs-player"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116289943967686142","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/bridge-cover-block.jpg\")
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