TCU youth soccer expands with an indoor league
Jarrod Schoenecker photo
Players scramble to get the ball from two different teams, from the left, are Daniel Adams, Avery Grasser, Brooklynn Burk, and Gabrick Rose. More photos are available in this weeks print and e-edition.
Youth soccer is a growing sport in the nation and locally. A report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association says that there are about 4.6 million players, roughly of one-third of all players in the United States, in the 6-12 age group alone. There have been steady increases in the number of players with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020.
The Minnesota Youth Soccer Association has approximately 25,000 players, which range from ages 6 to 19, and 8,000 coaches and administrators.
With having fairly successful school teams at Tri-City United at the high school and below level and growing interest in the sport, TCU youth soccer expanded even further.
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The TCU Youth Soccer Association organized their first-ever youth “futsal” league this winter. TCU Varsity Boys Soccer Head Coach Darren Iverson says, “Futsal is a fast-paced variant of indoor soccer played on a hard surface, in this case, the Montgomery Middle School gym, with a specialized ball that limits bounce. The sport is a great way for developing soccer players to improve their decision-making and on-ball skills.”
The new league did a week of scrimmaging so they could learn the rules and so coaches could track the ability of the 29 players. Coaches then split them into four teams, and those teams were coached by members playing in TCU’s high school soccer programs. Iverson said, “The team names were inspired by Minnesota's professional soccer past and present — The Kicks, The Strikers, The Aurora and The Loons.”
Through the first week of play, the Kicks lead the way with a 2-0 record, the Aurora and Loons both recorded a 1-1 mark, and the Strikers lost two close matches. A triple round-robin schedule will continue throughout the month, culminating in championship and 3rd place matches on the league's final night March 27th, in the TCU Montgomery PreK-8 gymnasium.
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