SOCCER CHAMPS
Golden Knights FC capture USYF Kansas state title
The Golden Knights FC won the 2022-2023 United States Youth Futsal Kansas Championship last weekend in Wichita, Kan.
The Golden Knights FC is made up of area youth players (from Guymon and Liberal, Kan.) and is the premier U11 indoor soccer/ futsal team in the area. The Golden Knights FC is coached by and founded by Miguel Torres.
Torres grew up in Guymon and, five years ago, relocated to Liberal, Kan. Torres has always had a passion for developing youth and, in 2019, he started the Golden Knights FC.
His goal was to expose our areas youth to competitive soccer not just at the local level but beyond. The trail has not been easy but the hard work and dedication is starting to pay dividends.
The Golden Knights FC has added several milestones within the past year, such as multiple top three tournament finishes, multiple tournament championships, multiple league championships, six players chosen to train in Madrid, Spain, five players selected to the Olympic Development Program Oklahoma State Team and the United States Youth Futsal Kansas state championship.
Futsal earned the status of FIFA’s official form of indoor soccer in the 1980s by being recognized as a scaled down version of outdoor soccer played indoors. It is a 5-on-5 small-sided game played on a hard surfaced, basketball-sized court with a smaller, low bounce ball.
Futsal places a large emphasis on technical skill in high pressure situations which can be translated into the outdoor game. The sport is a great skill-developer as it demands quick reflexes, fast thinking and pinpoint passing.
Futsal is played on all the continents of the world in more than 100 countries with 12 million players worldwide. Great soccer superstars such as Pele, Zico, Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka and Katia grew up playing the game and credit futsal with developing their skills.
Most of the teams in the US Youth Futsal state championships are all major long-standing soccer clubs, but Golden Knights FC
took everyone by surprise. It is safe to say that the odds were not in the Golden Knights favor, but one thing that isn’t accounted for in the odds equation is the size of the fight in the dog. Golden Knights showed their fight by putting on a dominating performance, beating Sporting Wichita, 7-3, Kansas Rush, 8-4, RB7 Academy, 6-1, and in the championship game against Sporting Wichita,
9-4.
After being crowned champions, the Golden Knights FC aspires to continue their journey to the next two levels of yje US Youth Futsal regional and national tournaments.
The Golden Knights FC are enjoying their win this week, but will continue to work hard as they move on to the next challenge. The Golden Knights thank their communities, sponsors and families for their unwavering support.