While the Jefferson County Soccer Club may be small compared to other programs, the recent performances of the U-14 Bobcats girls soccer team have been anything but.
The squad of fifth-grade to …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you had an active account on our previous website, then you have an account here. Simply reset your password to regain access to your account.
If you did not have an account on our previous website, but are a current print subscriber, click here to set up your website account.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
* Having trouble? Call our circulation department at 360-385-2900, or email our support.
Please log in to continue |
|
While the Jefferson County Soccer Club may be small compared to other programs, the recent performances of the U-14 Bobcats girls soccer team have been anything but.
The squad of fifth-grade to eighth-grade level players clawed through their competition to win the regional championships in late November, then faced the best of the best in Washington state and made it all the way to the semifinals in Tukwila.
“We had a great season this year. The girls had seven shutouts; the top shutout rate in the league,” said Bobcats Head Coach Simon Little.
“They did an awesome job taking us through the season,” Little added.
While winning a regional championship is a high merit by its own right, the fact that the Bobcats outplayed larger regional rivals with more kids and more funding display the U-14 squad’s true tenacity and embodiment of the underdog mentality.
“Our local region goes through Port Orchard, Belfair, Bremerton, Silverdale, [and Kitsap County],” Little said.
Little and assistant coach Josh Brown have coached for the squad since 2017.
To see his team rise above the rest was, “pretty amazing,” he said. “The other clubs are maxed out with roster size, with kids that age. We were pulling across an age range from fifth to eighth grade to fill the squad.”
Part of what makes the Bobcats so good is the years of teammate chemistry built up alongside each other.
“When we started the first team, I think it must’ve been U-10, it was a new team at that point,” Little said. “The core group has been playing together for a long time.”
While the girls came up short versus Seattle’s Starfire Academy in the state semifinals, losing 5-1, the quest for the coveted state championship isn’t over yet.
“We’ll definitely have at least one more season. We have three eighth-graders we’ll be losing to the high school soccer team,” Little said.
As much as the team wants to continue striving for the top, a lot relies on funding and volunteer efforts with the Jefferson County Soccer Club.
The club has encountered struggles with maintaining its operations as an outcome of the COVID pandemic, and the team said any donation of time or money helps.
“Part of what has made that teamwork is the commitment and participation of the club as a whole and parents to keep the local club going. The lifeblood of the local, small-town club is participation through parents in order to create opportunities for our youth,” Little said.
To help the club and keep youth soccer alive in Jefferson County, go to jcsoccerclub.org.
