Last second goals, big saves, great teamwork and so much more. Virginia Youth Soccer’s 2019 Futsal State Cup experience was one for the books!
The 2019 Virginia Futsal State Cup took place on January 26 (boys) and January 27 (girls) at The St. James sports facility. Our futsal program sent ten teams to compete against top competition from around the state. Our players and coaches represented our commitment to values, sportsmanship, teamwork and more while competing for the cups!
This year, with the development of our futsal ID curriculum and a competitive pre-season schedule, ASA ID teams were well prepared and ready to compete. Five of our top girls teams competed, U10-U14. The U13s brought home the third place trophy and the U14s brought home fourth!
This tournament is a learning experience for all ages, but especially our younger teams. Peja Ilic, coach of the U10 (2009) girls, was proud of how well his team transitioned from offense to defense (and vice versa) on the court and were able to focus without questioning their teammates decisions. “This ability talks about their professionalism and character. I love that they’re developing these abilities at a young age,” he said.
Check out the referee below lend a hand with a rogue shoelace and then teach the shooter about waiting for the whistle.
On the boys side we took one first team and four second teams to the tournament. “We looked at the competition level for the weekend and determined that State Cup would be a great opportunity to give some of our teams the opportunity to compete at a higher level,” said Futsal Director Chris Arnold. “We knew it would be tough competition but a great learning opportunity. It’s awesome to see the growth of futsal in our area and it was really apparent with the diversity of clubs at the competition.”
The 2005 boys, coached by Peter Kallin, advanced to the championship match where they faced off against a very good team from Premier Futsal Academy (PFA). Down by two goals with three minutes left in the game, the 2005s battled back and tied the score at the buzzer with a rocket free kick by goalkeeper Drew Hartman. Overtime for this tournament consisted of two, three minutes halfs, with no golden goal. Again, the ASA boys found themselves down by two goals with about two minutes to play. They found the back of the net with 90 seconds left to play which left them down by one.
Following a frantic minute and a half, a handball AT THE BUZZER (again!) by PFA resulted in a free kick for ASA from the ten meter mark. (Handballs are considered fouls in futsal and PFA had committed over five fouls meaning that ASA got to shoot from the mark). Drew buried his second free kick of the game, taking the game into penalty kicks. Each team got three shooters. Check out the video below to see what happens.
Following in the 05’s footsteps, the 2007 (U12) boys advanced to the finals where they competed against a tough Futsal City team. The game was close for the entire 40 minute match but Coach Rida’s boys couldn’t quite pull ahead. The final score was 6–5, with Futsal City taking home the cup.
The U10, U11 and U13 boys teams each demonstrated concepts they’ve been working on this season and competitively held their own throughout the tournament. Futsal ID Director Will Hanna said, “We really asked a lot of these teams, many of which were competing in their first State Cup tournament. The game experience these kids got, the quick decision making that was required under pressure and the focus we demanded from each team are all very hard to emulate in a practice environment. This tournament provided the opportunity for learning, more than anything else!”
Thank you to the parents, coaches and players for helping us create a great tournament environment for our teams. We’re looking forward to taking some of the lessons we learned and applying them to our futsal league games in the future. Four of the the State Cup competitors have now set their sites on the Regional Competition in February. Let the preparation begin!
