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Posts Tagged ‘Soccer’

Killin’ it, near and far!!

Posted in Boys Soccer, Girls Basketball, Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , , on August 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Matthew Kelley (Pat Kelley photo)

   CMS 8th grader Matthew Kelley and the fruits of his soccer summer. (Photo courtesy Pat Kelley)

Kalia and Mia

   Kalia and Mia Littlejohn pose with their select soccer teammates Sunday after a tourney win. (Dawn Hesselgrave photo)

(Katy Wells photo)

   Hoops sensation Izzy Wells (left) and lil’ sister Savina enjoy shaved ice as they try and beat the heat in Arlington. (Katy Wells photo)

3 v 3

   Wells (15) is joined by teammates (l to r) Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Audrianna Shaw and Ja’Kenya Hoskins. (Photo courtesy Dustin Van Velkinburgh)

Kelley

  Kelley (bottom row, far left) basks in the glow of the championship cup.

They took the heat and dished it back out.

Fleeing Whidbey Island during a hectic weekend when arts and crafts festivals, barbecues, hydroplane races and car shows clogged everything in sight, a group of Coupeville athletes took to the scorching-hot mainland.

Once there, the Wolves put in work at basketball and soccer tourneys, with several of them coming back home bearing championship glory.

Four young Coupeville hoopsters — Izzy Wells, Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Ja’Kenya Hoskins and Audrianna Shaw — ended up in Arlington, playing in 90+ degree weather at an outdoor 3 v 3 showdown.

While they didn’t win any trophies, the Wolf stars of the future acquitted themselves nicely and earned their shaved ice treats.

“Those four are good athletes,” said coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh. “Girls played hard and gained valuable experience.”

Meanwhile, off in Bellingham, three Coupeville booters, playing on two separate teams, all won titles at the Phillips 66 Rimland Challenge.

CMS 8th grader Matthew Kelley and his Northwest United FC squad romped to four straight wins, outscoring their foes 14-3 en route to winning the BU15 COPA flight.

Kelley punched in a pair of goals and dealt out three assists as he added to his stash of soccer awards from a busy summer schedule.

Sisters Mia and Kalia Littlejohn, who will be a junior and sophomore at CHS respectively, were just as successful.

Rampaging across the turf, the duo helped spark Northwest United G’00 Black to a championship win in GU17-19.

They and their select teammates won four of five over the course of the weekend, avenging their lone loss in the championship tilt.

Northwest United nipped Blackhills FC in penalty kicks after battling to a 1-1 tie through regulation and overtime.

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Come together for soccer excellence!!

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , on August 12, 2016| Leave a Comment »

coed soccer

   Central Whidbey players (in blue) mix it up on the pitch last season. (Jennifer Moody photo)

coed

  Last year’s debut U14 co-ed squad. (Island Life photo courtesy Michelle Cernick)

Something for everyone.

The Central Whidbey Soccer Club needs players for a U14 co-ed squad, and they’re putting out the call to players of all skill levels.

The squad is open to boys and girls born in 2003-2004, and will start its fall season in mid-to-late Sept.

Schedule-wise, the season consists of eight games (played on Saturdays) against teams from Oak Harbor.

If you register (https://coupevillesoccer.org/) and pay your $75, it doesn’t matter if you’re a grizzled vet who has been running the pitch for years or a newbie who’s never put foot to soccer ball.

Players see equal time on the field, regardless of skill level or gender.

Co-ed soccer offers a different challenge, one young players have embraced.

“Playing co-ed makes me play harder, because boys are more unpredictable,” Autumn Cernick said. “It makes it more fun.”

While boys and girls tend to approach the game differently (CWSC coaches said boys tend to be more technical and girls more aggressive), play doesn’t always favor one side.

“Sometimes the boys underestimate the aggression of the girls and what we’re capable of,” Aurora Cernick said.

Having a co-ed team is essential, as the U14 age group is an especially hard one at which to pull together a complete girls or boys squad.

Last year’s team, which had three boys, was the first time CWSC had fielded a co-ed U14 team.

“In the very beginning the boys walk on the field feeling confident that the girls are no competition for them. They have severely underestimated the capability of their teammates,” Michelle Cernick said. “Then we have our first soccer scrimmage to see what each player is capable of.

“The boys start out with the ball and moving across the field doing tricks with the ball and acting like they own it. Next thing you know the girls start getting in there and knocking the boys around,” she added. “Boys meet female aggression and you are about to get body checked because you have what said female wants … the ball.

“Welcome to coed soccer.”

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Soccer sisters shine!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , , on August 7, 2016| 1 Comment »

Mia Littlejohn (21), on the attack. (Dawn Hesselgrave photos)

Mia Littlejohn (21), on the attack. (Dawn Hesselgrave photos)

The Littlejohn sisters, hard at work during a three-day, four-game tourney.

The Littlejohn sisters, hard at work during a three-day, four-game tourney.

318 teams. 2 Wolves.

Not getting lost in the mass confusion that was the Washington Rush Cup, Coupeville sisters Mia and Kalia Littlejohn helped guide their select soccer squad into the semifinals this weekend.

The Littlejohns, fellow Islander Jenna Cooley and their teammates on Northwest United FC G’00 Black split four games over three days.

They opened with a close 2-0 loss to Crossfire Premier Friday, then rebounded to thrash Washington Rush 2-0 in a nightcap.

A 3-0 victory over Thurston County United Saturday put them in third place among the 10 teams in their flight, with the top four advancing to action Sunday.

Down several players due to church commitments and injuries, Northwest United played without any subs in its semifinal match, where it fell 2-0 to the (aptly named) Academy of Soccer Excellence.

“The girls played hard. Mia, Kalia and Jenna ran their little booties off,” said team manager Dawn Hesselgrave.

“Mia came close a few times of putting it in the net,” she added. “It was a white knuckle game.”

The tournament, held on a 900-acre complex in Snohomish, was a massive one, with one team for every three acres by the time the draw was complete.

It was the first of back-to-back weekends the Littlejohns will be on the road for premier level tourneys.

Northwest United plays in the Phillips 66 Rimland Challenge in Bellingham next weekend.

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“You have to want it bad enough!!”

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , , , on August 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Chris Cernick faces off with fellow frosh Mallory Kortuem during a drill this summer. (John Fisken photo)

   Chris Cernick (left) faces off with fellow frosh Mallory Kortuem during a drill this summer. (John Fisken photo)

Cernick

   Cernick (far right) and friends celebrate his recent birthday. (Michelle Cernick photo)

“Even select (soccer) can’t make you a great player unless you put in all the hard work and effort.

“You have to want it bad enough.”

It’s that drive which keeps Chris Cernick moving forward every day as he pursues his dream of soccer success.

The Coupeville High School freshman, who will be managing the girls team this fall before joining the Wolves boys’ program as a player in the spring, is deeply committed.

And his philosophy is one which could benefit any player.

“I would love to say that if there are kids out there that feel that you have to be in Select to be great, I would just like to say that I have only played one year of soccer, but I practice four hours a day,” Cernick said.

“I am very disciplined and work very hard because I am working towards being a great player one day, which is my dream.”

When he’s not playing, Cernick will assist his dad, Reese, who runs a local U14 co-ed squad, as well as reffing rec soccer games on the weekend.

The young gun enjoys pitch life and wants to spend as much time as possible around his favorite game.

“I enjoy being outside all the time and playing soccer as an athlete,” Cernick said. “It gets boring if I am inside too long.”

Soccer offers a different flow than some other sports, something he greatly enjoys.

“It’s my favorite sport because I like using my feet rather than my hands,” Cernick said. “And I love running with a ball and doing cool tricks that you can’t do in many other sports.”

He prides himself on his endurance and determination, though he’s constantly working on upping his game.

“I would like to work on building up my endurance so I can withstand a whole soccer game,” Cernick said.

“My goals as a freshman is just to get onto varsity and if not just keep improving til I can get there one year,” he added. “My future goal is to be able to play for the MLS Sounders and then eventually play for Barcelona or another international soccer team.”

As he’s worked on fine-tuning his game, Cernick has drawn support from his family, with his father providing him a great deal of help.

“My dad has helped me a lot with soccer,” he said.  “He has taught me a lot of valuable skills and now I am ready to move on to high school.”

Cernick has also picked up knowledge from “my friend, Jean Lund-Olsen, or from watching videos on YouTube.”

When he’s not playing soccer, Cernick enjoys hanging out with friends and listening to trap music. In school he gravitates towards gym and wood shop.

But soccer is never far from his thoughts, as evidenced when he names his favorite film —  Bend it like Beckham — probably the best-known film about life on the pitch.

Now, Cernick is ready to write his own Hollywood ending on the pitch.

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One birthday, two supernovas!!

Posted in Cheer, Girls Soccer, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , on August 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Birthday buddies Taichen Rose (top) and Gaby Halpin. (John Fisken photos)

Birthday buddies Taichen Rose (top) and Gaby Halpin. (John Fisken photos)

They are two of the best and brightest we have.

Taichen Rose and Gaby Halpin, who share a birthday today, are part of a band of young women who are at the forefront of Wolf sports.

Strong, competitive yet compassionate, intelligent, ready to help lead the future, they are a dynamic duo.

Both go their own way in the sports world, with Taichen, a junior at Coupeville High School, running the soccer pitch.

Teaming up with older sister May, the younger Rose gives the Wolf booters big energy and supreme effort.

A scrappy defender who learned her skills under the leadership of Jenn Spark, Taichen will be counted on to play a big role for this year’s team as it tries to shut down rival snipers.

Is she up to the job? Absolutely.

Rose is a winner, on and off the field,  the kind of bright young woman who is well on her way to astonishing the world with all of her achievements.

Halpin is a year younger, yet has already had a huge impact on Coupeville as well.

You don’t end up a cheerleader unless you have at least a smidge of school spirit and an outgoing attitude.

Gaby takes that and pushes the dial to 11.

She burst on the high school scene last year and immediately claimed the stage as her own, an exuberant ball o’ fire who was as loud ‘n proud as any Wolf cheerleader, maybe ever.

Through football and basketball, Halpin provided vocal and mental support to her classmates, embracing her teammates and looking very much like the future cheer captain I am sure she is destined to be.

The birthday duo both provide snapshots of the best Wolf Nation has to offer.

Happy birthday to you both. May the best be yet to come.

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