Starkville teams medal at state tournaments
For Starkville Daily News
Two Impact Futball Club soccer teams were champions and a third team was a finalist after the last dew settled on the turf at recent state tournaments in Mississippi.
Signs will be added to the row of champions at the Sportsplex on Lynn Lane in Starkville, after the U12 boys IFC 05 Green and U14 girls IFC 03 Blue finished as state champions in the challenge division at the Mississippi Soccer Association President's Cup held in Oxford. IFC 03 Blue qualified to advance to regional play as a result of their victory and left this weekend for regional play in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
IFC competitive teams from Starkville participating at President's Cup included six on the boys side and three on the girls side.
The boys U12 IFC 05 Green, coached by Kase Kingery and TJ Avant, played in the Gold bracket and defeated Hernando 6-1 and DeSoto County 5-1 before advancing to the championship where they shut out Clinton Soccer Organization 8-0 to claim their gold medals.
The girls U14 IFC 03 Blue, coached by Abby Phillips, blanked Pearl Poe 5-0 and shutout CPCS Andrews 7-0, before edging Saltillo Futbol Club Storm 4-3 to claim their state title. Their bags were packed and at press time were headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma for regional President's Cup play.
In addition to the two state champions, four other teams narrowly missed advancing and finished thirrd in their groups.
On the boys side, teams that finished third in their division included the U11 IFC 06 Green who finished 2-2, the U10 IFC boys who were 2-2 playing in the Gold Division, and the U16 IFC 01 who finished 1-2-1. The IFC U10 girls also finished in third place with a 1-2-1 record.
Meanwhile, Callaway Orthodontics U16 boys, the only recreational team from Starkville to participate in Admiral's Cup, finished as finalists at the championship event held in Clinton.
Coached by Rob Leach and Robbie Leach, and assisted by team manager Jason King, the top seeded team from the Northern District
shut out Northwest Rankin Freeze 4-0, dominated the Southwest Jackson Soccer League Lions 7-0, and beat the Florence Youth Soccer Association United Sheppard 4-1.
However, in the key match of round robin play the Callaway Orthodontics won the battle of field possession and shots on goal, but Meridian Youth Soccer Organization Alliance scored a single goal from 30 meters out before the half, forcing the Starkville squad to
settle for silver medals and a 10-5-2 overall record including select play.
SSA and IFC Director of Coaching Phil Rose was pleased with the level of play by the competitive Starkville teams that participated in President's Cup.
“It's a measure of our progress that we have only had an academy program in Starkville for two years, and you had six of nine teams finish third or higher in their division,” Rose said.
He indicated the club will continue to focus on recreational play, while still supporting academy training. He said in the near future
Impact Football Club will focus on challenge teams that may participate in challenge or select tournaments.
Registrar Tina Green announced that parents should check www.starkvillesoccer.com regularly for updates on pre-registration, scholarships for recreational play, and sign up for summer training camps in July.
President Chris Driskill thanked all league sponsors Platinum Sponsors Starkville Radiology and Callaway Orthodontics, as well as Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of Mississippi, BJ's Pharmacy, Clark Beverage
Group, Flowers By the Bunch, LaQuinta Inns & Suites, McReynolds Orthodontics, Oktibbeha County Hospital, Wesley Ferguson, Rotary, Synergetics, Weyerhaeuser Company, William Wells Tire & Auto, and Zaxby's.
Driskill said that their funding helps the club provide coaches training and oversight, promotes affordable recreational soccer and scholarships for the 500-600 youth soccer players in Starkville, and helps the club support two challenge tournaments in Starkville, that are typically attended by more than 75 teams from across the state.