Gillette, one of 'top venues' to host US Youth Soccer kickoff events

Gillette Athletic Complex will again be the site of a major US Youth Soccer event as the top Under-15, Under-16 and Under-17 National League boys teams in the country will converge in Wilson for a kickoff tournament Dec. 10-13.

There will be Girls U15, U16 and U17 games played in College Station, Texas. Both kickoff events are being held near the sites of the NCAA Division I men's and women's championships in order to bring the youth players more exposure to college coaches.

There was a press release on the US Youth Soccer Web site which states: " Over the course of the 2009-2010 season, the League will play at top venues across the country including games at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (Fla.), Bettye Wilson Fields (Nev.), and Wilson Gillette Soccer Complex (N.C.)."

Not that we didn't know Gillette was a pretty awesome venue already but it's always nice to read someone else say it.

North Texas struts its stuff at US Youth Soccer nationals

The powerful North Texas Soccer Association showed its stuff at the recently concluded US Youth Soccer National Championships in Little Rock, Ark.

Seven clubs from the NTSA, all of which played in Wilson during the Region III championships in June, won national titles. That's more than 50 percent of all the national championships from one state association. Four of those North Texas club were from the Dallas Texans club, including the girls U15, U16 and U17 champs. That must be one heckuva a club and one incredible association.

Here are the Region III teams that claimed national crowns:

Dallas Texans Red U16 Boys
Andromeda 91 U17 Boys
Andromeda 90 U18 Boys
Solar 89 U19 Boys
Dallas Texans Red U15 Girls
Dallas Texans Red U16 Girls
Dallas Texans Red U17 Girls

Explosion U15 girls to play for Directors Cup title

The Wilson Youth Soccer Association Explosion U15 girls will play for the US Youth Soccer Directors Cup championship after defeating the Virginia Rush 2-0 on Saturday morning in Kirkwood, Del.

The Explosion will meet HBC Intense of New York at 8 a.m. Sunday in the final. The two teams square off Saturday at 3 p.m. in the final game of round-robin competition which amounts to nothing more than a scouting opportunity for each team.

Kelly Sigmon and Taylor Parrish each netted goals for the Explosion on Saturday morning. They have outscored their foes 6-1 in two matches but the Intense has run up a 14-0 aggregate score in their matches. So Sunday's final should be interesting for Explosion head coach Toni Varacchi and her girls.

I can't figure out why what amounts to a national championship is being played at 8 on a Sunday morning. That's the most bizarre starting time I've ever heard.

In case you didn't know, the Directors Cup isn't the highest level of championship bestowed by US Youth Soccer. Those will be decided in Little Rock, Ark., next week. The teams that competed in Wilson in the Region III championships in June will be in Little Rock.

The Directors Cup is an alternate tournament for lower-ranked Premier-level teams or, in the Explosion's case, a team on the cusp of the Premier level. US Youth Soccer doesn't officially call it a "B" Cup but it's sort of like that. However, it's still a national championship and if our girls win it, it's a very, very, very big deal for the WYSA and Wilson. So let's hope they pull it out.

In related US Youth Soccer news, Austen King and his Capital Area Soccer League '89 Elite teammates completed their run at the national Development Academy tournament on Friday afternoon. After losing all three round-robin games, CASL ended its run with a shootout loss to FC Westchester in the seventh-place game.

I didn't see the game on ESPNU (probably because I erred in reporting here the game was supposed to be Saturday at 12:30 p.m., when in fact it was on Friday at 12:30 PACIFIC TIME, meaning 3:30 p.m. here). But I was told that King didn't play because of an ankle injury but was interviewed on ESPNU, so that's cool.

Soccer Night in Wilson

The constant threat of lightning at Raleigh's WRAL Soccer Complex on Saturday has added 12 more games in Wilson in the US Youth Soccer Southern Regional tournament.

There will be six games starting at 8:40 p.m. at Gillette Athletic Complex and six more at 10 p.m. which will mean 16 hours of soccer in Wilson. Originally, there was to have been 36 games a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Gillette and 16 quarterfinals matches on Monday. Now it seems there will be 136 matches played here.

The added action Saturday night at Gillette is in the ages 16-under (U16) girls and U16 and U18 boys. Additionally, six U19 girls matches originally scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at WRAL have been moved to Monday at 11:30 a.m. That change will not affect the quarterfinals schedule for Gillette on Monday.

Here's the schedule:

U16G - Columbia United FC U16 Elite (S.C.) v RSL Florida Elite - Gillette #1 - 8:40 p.m.
U16G - Polaris 92 (No. Texas0 v Baton Rouge Soccer Club (La.) - Gillette #2 - 8:40 p.m.
U16G - Vestavia Attack 92 Blue (Ala.) v Hurricane FC 92 Cussen (Okla.) - Gillette #3 - 8:40 p.m.
U16G - Lakeview Lightning 92 (Fla.) v AFC Lightning 92 White (Ga.) - Gillette #4 - 8:40 p.m.
U16G - Arkansas SC Cougars 92 v Gulf Coast United (Miss.) - Gillette #5 - 8:40 p.m.
U16G - Charlotte SC Blue G (N.C.) v Sting Royal 92 (No. Texas) - Gillette #6 - 8:40 p.m.

U16B - HSC Strikers 92 Blue (Ala.) v Solar SC (No. Texas) - Gillette #1 - 10:00 p.m.
U16B - Lonestars 92B Red (So. Texas) v CESA 91 Premier (S.C.) Gillette #2 - 10:00 p.m.
U18B - Columbia United FC Elite 89 (S.C.) v NOSA 90B (La.) - Gillette #3 - 10:00 p.m.
U18B - Alianza Premier (Ga.) v Charlotte SC Blue (N.C.) - Gillette #4 - 10:00 p.m.
U18B - Knoxville FC Crush Arsenal (Tenn.) v Team Boca White (Fla.) - Gillette #5 - 10:00 p.m.
U18B - Solar 90 (No. Texas) v CESA 89 Premier (S.C.) - Gillette #6 - 10:00 p.m.

So far so good at Southern Regionals

After spending two hours at Gillette Athletic Complex on Friday afternoon, I was impressed by two things — the performance level of the players and the folks running the show.

I know I've tooted the horn of Wilson Parks and Recreation Department and the hundreds of volunteers who help out in the past. But it really is worth noting how well-run a big soccer tournament in Wilson is. And while The Brittany Willis Memorial Scholarship Soccer Showcase has become a very big deal for high school boys and girls soccer, the US Youth Soccer Region III championships are a huge deal.

But the feeling at Gillette on Friday, at least by me, was that this was just a very big Brittany. Maybe there were some issues that I wasn't aware of but all seemed to running smoothly. There was ample parking, the crowds were big but dispersed throughout the complex, there was a volunteer seemingly everywhere in case someone needed something and the weather was fine.

Here's to three more great days of soccer in Wilson.