Play Like a Champion: Honoring Scott Goldsberry With Music Through Community

On January 3, 2026, the Asbury Park Brewery will do what Asbury does best—bring people together through music, compassion, and an unshakable sense of community. Play Like a Champion, an ALS Awareness Benefit Show, is more than just a lineup of great bands. It’s a gathering built around the memory of one man whose example continues to ripple across New Jersey: Scott Goldsberry.

Scott Goldsberry

Scott was a devoted father and a longtime Hazlet youth football coach, the kind who taught kids that strength comes in many forms: discipline, humor, patience, and the way you show up for others. He poured himself into mentoring young athletes, helping shape their character as much as their skills. When he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of C9 Orf 72 ALS, the community he had supported for decades rallied behind him.

Scott passed away just over a year after his diagnosis, but the heart of who he was didn’t fade. Friends, family, and former players created this benefit show to carry forward his spirit of teamwork and resilience, and to fuel ALS research through the ALS Hope Foundation. This event is their way of saying: coaches like Scott don’t just play the game—they change it.

A Lineup With Heart and a Whole Lot of Fire

In true Asbury Park fashion, the music scene has stepped up in a big way thanks to Event Organizer Jacob Bedel-Franklin, the vocalist of Free The Witness. The benefit will feature:

• Beach Rats — a punk supergroup featuring members of Bad Religion, The Bouncing Souls, Lifetime, and Minor Threat

• Free The Witness

• T.O.W.M (Tug Of War Machine)

• Pusch

• Thiev

• The Cryptkeeper Five

• Joey Affatato

It’s a lineup built for energy, emotion, and community—exactly the kind of night Scott would have rooted for.

Event Details

• Date: January 3, 2026

• Location: Asbury Park Brewery, Asbury Park, NJ

• Doors: 2:00 PM

• Admission: Free to the public

Proceeds from beer sales, raffles, and donations will benefit the ALS Hope Foundation in Scott’s memory, helping advance research, support families, and push toward a future where ALS stories end differently.

Play like a champion. Live like one too.