Aiming for Kentucky State Cup glory

It's certainly a busy weekend for youth soccer, as a number of players from southern Indiana will also participate in the finals of the Kentucky State Open Cup.

Over 3,000 players from 176 teams from all corners of the Commonwealth competed at Masterson Station Park in Lexington this past weekend and the final four in each age group (U13-U19) move on to the championships, which will be held this Saturday and Sunday, also in Lexington.

It's no surprise to see Javanon '92, who made it to last year's national finals, in the mix this weekend. The team, hot favorites to stock up on its hardware, features Trevor Bruner of Jeffersonville.

Hopimg to cause an upset will be the finalist for the past two years, United 1996, which features Sam Fox and Christian Academy's Drew Mattingly.

Others who are looking forward to taking part in the finals at the time of going to press were Daniel Wilburn and Matt Kelecy of Javanon '94, who progress to the U15 final following wins over Thoroughbreds and '94 Storm.

Also progressing is Javanon's U14s, which features Jeffersonville's Pierce Crawley, after it had 6-0 and 4-0 wins over CKSC Lightning and Mockingbird respectively. It will play United 1996 in the semi-final this Saturday.

Javanon’s U13 team, which includes brothers Evan and Grant Holkamp, and Varun Alyse. Evan is a 7th grader at Providence, while his brother, Grant, is a 5th grader at St. Paul. Varun is a 7th grader at Holy Family and is bound for Floyd Central.

Of the girls, Mockingbird U17s and New Albany’s Kaitlin Robinett will be hoping to win their fourth consecutive State Cup title after booking their place at championship weekend, helped by a 5-1 win over Atletico Flames and a 0-0 tie with KY Rush.

Another reigning champion, Javanon U14 girls -- featuring Leah Mattingly of Floyds Knobs -- was in fine form ahead of this weekend with convincing wins over NKSL Klass Force (7-0) and Thoroughbreds (5-0).

The winners of the U13 through U19 age groups will qualify for the US Youth Soccer Midwest Regional Championships at Yankton Trails Park Complex in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from June 19-24.

Regional championship winners of the U14 through U19 brackets earn a berth at the 2009 US Youth Soccer National Championships from July 21-26 in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Pictured above: Kelsey Graeter (left) of New Albany in action for Louisville Soccer Alliance's U17 team at the Kentucky State Open Cup prelininary rounds in Lexington at the weekend. Photo by Judy Hoke.

Are teams up to the ‘Challenge’?

Southern Indiana United and Net-Surfers will be represented by three teams at the preliminary round of the Indiana Challenge Cup this weekend.

SIU's U17s and its U12 Strikers will be joined by Net-Surfers' U15 girls for the state championship level travel tournament, which will be held at three venues -- Columbus, Evansville and Lowell.

Drew Starck's U17s will be located in Columbus, where they will open against Fort Wayne Sport Kickers on Saturday (11 a.m.), and will follow it up with a game against Sporting Indiana FC (5 p.m). It will finish out against FC Pride on Sunday (11 a.m.).

Starck said his team is going int the tournament "pretty banged up", with two players out for the season due to injury and others missing recent games due to sickness.

"But with that said we are looking forward to the weekend and hope that we have saved our best soccer for the end of the season," he said. "If we knock the ball around like I have seen us do at times this season we will be fine."

SIU Strikers, meanwhile, will go into the competition in confident mood, having claimed first place in its division in the Kentucky Select Soccer League this spring.

It will play in Evansville in the U12 Blue section and will open its account against Hoosier FC (12.30 p.m.) and FC Pride Lawrence Marauders (6.30 p.m.) on Saturday. It finishes against Westside United on Sunday (1 p.m.)

Coach Paul Duckworth said his team is "really looking forward" to the weekend.

"At the beginning of the season, our priority was to win promotion, which we managed by winning the league," he said. "Anything else would be icing on the cake."

Duckworth said that a recent tournament in Nashville where they performed better than expected has given them a big boost.

"We now feel we can match anyone, and have more confidence going into the tournament," he said. "It all comes down to goals of course. In league play we only conceded eight goals, so defense has been good. During the season, we had 219 shots -- 92 on goal -- but only converted 24. If we keep creating chances and we can put them away, we should progress to the finals."

Net-Surfers U15s will also play in Evansville, opening against Indianapolis Premier Soccer Club on Saturday (4 p.m.) Jamie Ochsner's girls have an early start on Sunday against FC Indiana North at 8 a.m., and will complete their Bracket A games against GASC USF Real '94 (2 p.m.)

The four bracket winners in each age category will progres to the Challenge Cup Finals, which will be held at Shamrock Springs in Westfield from June 12-14.

Going tough at Indiana State Cup

Teams from Southern Indiana United and Net-Surfers found the going tough at the Indiana State Cup this month.

SIU has three boys' teams playing in the preliminary stages of the premier level tournament, held at Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, while Net-Surfers’ girls had two.

Going into the competition, which is part of the US Youth Soccer National Championship series, the best hope for local success seemed to be U16 Rampage. After a 0-0 tie on the first day against Fort Wayne Sport Club, it was in a position to seize its bracket on Sunday and book itself a place at the finals, which will be held at Goebel Park, Evansville from June 5-7.

However, a 2-0 defeat at the hands of IPSC Force and a 3-0 loss to Carmel United put an end to Rampage's tournament.

It was a baptism of fire for U15 Maverick's, who were finalist in last year's Indiana Challenge Cup and made the step up to State Cup company for the first time. It lost all three games to Cutters (0-1), eventual bracket winners FW USA Citadel (0-5), and Fusion Orange (1-2).

SIU's U18 team fared no better with defeats to the hands of FW Citadel (1-10), Dynamo FC Katner (0-6), and FC Pride (0-8).

Net-Surfers, meanwhile, was represented by its U13 and U14 teams. The U13s found SWISA Crush (0-7), Zionsville Eagles (0-4) and Fishers FSC Blue Lightning (0-6) too good, while the U14 team did manage to tie with Evansville SC 3-3, but went down to Fort Wayne Sport Club (0-6) and Fort Wayne Fever (1-8) in its two other games.

New girls' program for Charlestown

Charlestown High School is looking to introduce a new soccer program for girls in the fall.

There are believed to be 25 girls, grades 9-11, interested in playing on the team. Some of them were part of the Pirates' co-ed squad last year.

The school's athletic director, David Null, has just been given the green light to advertise for a head coach and an assistant coach.

If you are interested in starting the girls' soccer program, you can send a letter of application to: David Null, Athletic Director, Charlestown High School, #1 Pirate Place, Indiana 47111.

Play With Courage

(Published in Vype Magazine)

A Jeffersonville High School student has just returned from the Final Four -- in soccer, that is!

Red Devil Vincent Straight was a member of the Indiana team that made it to the Olympic Development Program National Championships in Frisco, Texas.

Straight, who also plays select soccer with Southern Indiana United's U15 Mavericks, was part of a '93 team which reached the final four thanks to its triumph at the Midwest regional last year.

Their reward was a place at the national championships, joining Oklahoma, Virginia and California South.

"I had a lot of fun," says Straight. "It was a very good experience for me. I never thought I would actually be competing in nationals on a state team."

Although they lost their semi-final game to Oklahoma 4-0, the Hoosiers bounced back in the consolation game to beat Virginia 2-1. In the final, California South beat Oklahoma 4-3 in overtime.

"We came into nationals losing three of our main players, including our goalie," says Straight, an attacking midfielder. "We performed well, but not together as a team in the first game. In the second game we got it together and we moved the ball around."

Straight says the competition at ODP Nationals is "a lot different" than what he's used to at Jeffersonville High School, where he was named Newcomer of the Year as a freshman in the fall, or with his SIU Mavericks team.

"Touches are better, as is vision of the field, passing, speed, strength and shooting," he says. "Everything is a lot cleaner."

His coach at Mavericks, Mike Vejar, says he is very proud of Straight, whom he has mentored for seven years.

"It is a very talented group and for Vincent to have made it was a huge accomplishment for this young man."

Straight's dad, Scott, says the achievement is even more noteworthy for the fact that, other than one player from Evansville, all squad members are from Bloomington and north of the state.

"Just like in other high school sports in Indiana, it is very hard for boys close to Louisville and so far away from Indy to get recognized at state level," he says.

The US Youth Soccer ODP was formed in 1977 to identify a pool of players in each age group from which a national team is selected for international competition. Each state association holds ODP tryouts on an annual basis.

So did Straight take away any valuable lessons from his ODP experience?
"I was told a lot of things by my coaches and the people there that I will remember and use every time I step on the field," he says. "They told us to always have courage, always take risks, and to always give 100 percent in everything you do."



Above: Jeffersonville’s Vincent Straight (right) in action for Indiana against Virginia at the ODP national championships. Photo by Bill Vieth

New soccer program set for IUS

A new club soccer program is set to start at Indiana University Southeast in the fall.

The club will be funded through sponsorships and fundraising activities, but will not be financially subsidized by the university.

One of those behind the formation of the team is Scott Klink, former president of select soccer club Southern Indiana United. He said it is hoped the program will participate in one of the local area soccer leagues, most likely the Greater Louisville Soccer League or the Louisville Soccer Amateur League.

"Both of these organizations play their games in Louisville – either at the Louisville Soccer Park or Eva Bandman Park (both on River Rd. in Louisville)," said Klink. "Our long-term goal would be to participate in the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association league, where many of the areas college club sports participate."

Klink said the university is willing to support the club by providing on-campus resources for practice and possibly home games, although they would be more likely look to some of the local area schools for home game fields.

If anyone who carries at least six credit hours per semester at IUS and maintains at least a 2.0 GPA is interested in playing soccer in the fall, and has competitive or recreational playing experience, they can contact Scott Klink at 812-949-7424, or email: sklink@insightbb.com.