Youth Soccer Briefs From Across The USA.
Volunteer Of Year
Four regional Volunteer of the Year winners are candidates for the US Youth Soccer National Volunteer of the Year awards.
Delaware Soccer’s Melody McNulty of Newark, Del., is the Region I winner, while Minnesota Soccer’s Abdirizak Said (St. Paul, Minn.) is the Region II winner.
The Region III Volunteer of the Year is Zoe Unger from Boca Raton, FL, and the Region IV winner is Sue Hughes from Gresham, Oregon.
Unger has been a long-time volunteer for TOPSoccer and since her 13th birthday she has planned a service project each year to benefit the program. She is now a senior in high school. Hughes works with Eastside United FC’s TOPSoccer program.
2013 Regionals
Four US Youth Soccer regional tournaments will hold their championships to qualify representatives for the 2013 US Youth National Youth Championships, which will be held July 22-28 in Overland Park, Kansas.
For the first time US Youth Soccer will hold a national championship at the Under-13 level in 2013.
Region I will hold its championships for U12-19 boys and girls, June 27-July 2, in Kingston, RI. The Region II championships are set for June 21-26 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Region III will be hosted (June 20-27) by in Edmond, OK, and Region IV will be in Honolulu, Hawaii, from June 17-23, 2013.
Regional champions will advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championships, which will be held July 23-28 in Overland Park.
2013 Presidents Cup
Auburndale, Fla will host the 2011 US Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup championship, July 10-14 at the Lake Myrtle Soccer Complex. Teams will advance to the national event from one of four regional sites.
New Hampshire will host the East’s Region I championships, May 24-27 in Manchester, while the Region II Presidents Cup tournament will be held June 13-16 in Overland Park, Kan.
The Region III Presidents Cup will be return to Decatur, AL, at the Jack Allen Soccer Complex, June 6-9. The Region IV Presidents Cup will be held June 11-16 in Boise, Idaho.
Administrator Of Year
The Region I Administrator of the Year is Paul Rossi from Westport, Conn. and Connecticut Junior Soccer Association. Rossi is the manager of Westport Soccer. Kevin Cathelyn from Braidwood, IL, is the Region II winner. He has been the President of the Reed-Custer Soccer Club. He led his club to become the first to reach the Illinois Youth Soccer “5 Star” Program recognition.
The Region III AOY is Christy Senn from Greer, SC., who is with the Carolina Elite Soccer Association in the South Carolina Youth Soccer Association. CESA hosted both the US Youth Soccer Region III Presidents Cup and 2012 US Youth Soccer Region III championships last summer.
The Region IV winner is Jon Dawson, Seattle, Wash., who is President of the Highline Soccer Assocition. Prior to that he was President for the West Seattle Soccer Club.
Young Referees
Eight outstanding young referees, four boys and four girls, have earned Young Referee of the Year regional recognition.
The four Young Female Referee of the Year winners are Inga Maric (Gilbertsville, Pa.) in Region I, Ashley Marroquin (Holt, Mich.) from Region II, Keina Crawford (Byron, GA.) from Region III and Kate E. Chapman (Victorville, Calif.) from Region IV.
The four Young Male Referee of the Year regional winners are Jordan Cavacdo (Brockton, Mass.) for Region I, Colby Rankin (Wichita, Kan.) for Region II, Dallas Rosier (Chapin, SC) for Region III, and Kyle Wiest (Pleasanton, Calif.) for Region IV.
ODP Championships
The 2013 US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program Championships were played January 1-3 at the FC Dallas Complex in Frisco, TX.
Competition was in the 1996 and 1997 age groups for boys and girls teams. Cal South won both the 1996 and 1995 girls in 2012, with Florida taking the 1996 Boys title and Michigan winning the 1995 Boys championship.
Cal South will represent Region IV in all four 2013 competitions, while Michigan and Virginia have teams in both boys and 1996 Girls. Florida will represent Region III in both 1996 compeitions, with New Jersey, Ohio South and Georgia advancing to 1995 Girls and Tennessee to 1995 Boys.
TOPSoccer Buddy
Four regional winners of the 2012 US Youth Soccer TOPSoccer Buddy of the Year award will be honored at the US Youth Soccer Workshop.
The Region winner is Will Olson of McLean, Va., Alyssa King from Lexington, KY. is the Region II winner, and Jed Holstine of Chattanooga, TN., was the Region III winner. The Region IV winner is Laura Ellen Aspelund from Anchorage, Alaska.