Three Sweet Home High School soccer players, Nick Rodgers, Ramon Fry, and Jessi Thomas, were part of a regional U-19 co-ed soccer team, which competes in the boys division; and Katie Robeck and Natalie Rodgers were part of a U-14 girls team that competed at the American Youth Soccer Organization National Games in West Palm, Fla., earlier this month.
High school assistant coach Huck Thomas was on the coaching staff.
AYSO Region 870, which covers Linn County, was invited to participate in the tournament. This year was the first time teams from Oregon have been invited to the National Games.
The U-19 players faced teams from California, Florida, Illinois and Hawaii. A game that had been scheduled against a team from Utah was canceled due to lightning storms in the area.
The day before the actual tournament began, the players participated in the annual AYSO National Games Soccerfest, in which the players are divided up at random and put onto teams comprised of players from around the country to play in friendly games against other randomly meshed teams.
Natalie Rodgers also participated in the Soccerfest. She is a member of the U-14 Gold team from Albany but is not a part of ASYO, so she was not a member of the U-14 team.
“The Soccerfest is a fun opportunity for players to meet and play with other soccer players from around the country,” said parent Ron Rodgers.
“Both the U-19 and U-14 teams played their hearts out, but neither team made it to the playoff rounds of the tournament,” Rodgers said. “Both teams were competitive and most of the games were close, but the Florida temperature took its toll on the players who were not accustomed to the heat and humidity. Several players suffered from heat related physical issues, however, thankfully none were extremely serious.”
Many of the parents who made the trip with team noted how unbearable the heat was simply as a spectator of the games, Rodgers said, and they were proud of the effort and stamina exhibited by the players who were certainly much more miserable having to play ninety minutes of soccer twice per day under harsh conditions.
The 14-U team played the first, second, fifth and eighth team overall out of 20 teams.
“Despite not making it to the playoff round, the kids enjoyed the experience and made memories that will last a lifetime,” Rodgers said.
In addition to the tournament, the team went on several excursions and got to have some fun in the sun other than soccer.
Part of the team went on a snorkeling adventure and had a chance encounter with a sea turtle, while others opted for an air boat ride through the Everglades, braving the Florida wetlands, and saw numerous alligators and other wildlife in their natural habitat.
They spent time on the Florida beaches swimming in the warm waters of the Atlantic and visiting to shopping areas and other attractions.
“The launch of the Pokemon Go craze occurred while they were in Florida, so the kids were able to find many of the creatures that are not as common in Oregon,” Rodgers said. “Even though they did not win or place high in the tournament, all of the kids were winners in that they got to enjoy an experience of a lifetime while being the first team to represent Oregon at the AYSO National Games.”
Nick Rodgers is a recent graduate of Sweet Home High School and will be attending Corban University in the fall, where he is part of the Corban soccer program. Fry will be a senior and Thomas a junior this year at Sweet Home High School.