The Big Kick Off

High school students across Louisville and southern Indiana have been training hard with their select soccer teams through the winter, and now it's time to show the world what they've got. Club soccer features many levels of teams, from recreational leagues where anyone can play, to highly competitive teams where players must try out for a certain club. These tryouts are normally held almost 10 months before teams actually start playing in travel tournaments and their respective leagues. The most competitive teams play in the Midwest Regional League or MRL, where the teams travel all over the region for games and tournaments. Other successful teams play in various divisions of the Kentucky Select Soccer League and Indiana Soccer League We bring you a look at the teams to look out for this season, the leagues they play in and where they might be by season's end. The Teams Javanon Javanon (Farsi for 'youth') is Louisville's — and Kentucky's — most successful club, having won two US Youth Soccer national championships in 1997 and 2006. In fact, it has just been named No.17 in Soccer America's best boys' clubs for 2009. Javanon '92 boys have provided the club's most recent national success, having reached the US Youth Soccer national finals last year. The team will play in the U17 Premier Division of the MRL, which will give them regular matches against the strongest teams in the region. Kentucky Coach of the Year, Tim Chastonay, hopes his charges repeat their 2008 success at the Kentucky State Cup and the Midwest Regional Championships at Rockford, Illinois this year. The team is shaping up nicely after making it to the final of the Disney Showcase in December. Javanon '91 boys' team has picked up additional players from Indiana and Southern Kentucky to improve its already talented squad. "They have 11 players who received high school awards at the state level this year," says Javanon development director, Kay Maum. "After winning the MRL last season and adding new players for the spring, we look forward to an interesting year with this team." Javanon '94 boys is a promising up-and-coming team. They won the Germantown Invitational in December and hope for a good showing in the in the U15 MRL Premier Division. The girls' program at the club is just as strong. Javanon '91 has been ahead of their game for years and this year should prove to be no different. After winning the last four state titles, they should be ready for the spring season. Good seasons are also expected from the '92 and '94 girls, both of which hope to see a return to State Cup success. Javanon '94 girls will be playing in the MRL's U15 Premier Division. Mockingbird Valley Mockingbird Valley boasts one of the Kentucky's largest select leagues, comprising over 30 teams. One of those teams is three-time Kentucky State Open champion Mockingbird '92 girls, who went through the US Youth Soccer Region II championships unbeaten. The team will play in the 10-team MRL U17 Premier Division under new coach, Ben Schneweis. Mockingbird '93 girls will also play in the MRL (U16 Premier) and will be hoping to go one better than last year's runner-up in the Kentucky State Open Cup. They will be ably assisted in the task by experienced coach Jonathan Velotta, who is the club's director of coaching as well as the assistant men's and women's soccer coach at Bellarmine University. Four-time state champion Mockingbird '93 boys were stunned by United 1996 in last year's state cup semi-final and the club's assistant director of coaching, Bryan Michel, is confident Kenny Burke's boys will bounce back. "They've got a phenomenal team this year and have picked up a few new players." This year's Mockingbird '94 boys' team was also a state finalist last year and will be guided by Rusty McIntosh, one of the most successful coaches in Mockingbird history, with four state championships in his four years with the club. United 1996 United 1996, founded in 1996 by Bosnian Muhamed Fazlagic, has over 20 teams playing at Louisville Soccer Park and Floyds Fork Park. Last year, United '91 International won the Kentucky Open Cup by beating Javanon '91 2-1 in the final. Braco Jusufovic's charges beat their rival again at the regional championships in Rockford, Illinois in a thrilling 5-3 encounter. They eventually fell to Scott Gallagher of Missouri in the semi-final, a team they will again meet in the MRL this spring. Recently, the team made the final of the U19 Disney Showcase in Miami, where it found only PDA Cruyff of New Jersey too good. Fazlagic believes United '92, state finalists last year, is another team to watch. "Dino Sefer and Emery Hamada have been invited to go to FC Cambuur Holland for a year to advance their skills and if they are lucky — and hardworking — maybe they will pursue a professional career," Fazlagic says. He adds the United '93 boys have improved significantly, with several players coming over from Javanon, and the team is hoping to go one better than last year, when it was also a state finalist. Thoroughbreds Thoroughbreds Soccer Club, affiliated with the Oldham County Youth Soccer Association, has 300 players and 26 teams participating in the KSSL and MRL. The club has had seven state cup champions and 15 finalists since 2001, including the '91 and '92 boys, which won state in 2002 and 2005 respectively, and the '92 and '94 girls' teams, which were successful in 2003. The club has totally rebuilt its Thoroughbreds '92 boys' team from dormancy after many of its players moved to the Javanon '92s. "Our 'new' player pool is 20 plus strong and playing in the top division of the KSSL," says Dale Helfrich, the general manager and director of coaching. The U15 and U16 Girls ('94s and '93s) have each added some much needed depth to their rosters and are building towards a solid showing at the Kentucky State Open Cup. Louisville Soccer Alliance Louisville Soccer Alliance has over 350 select and recreational soccer players, with 20 travel teams playing in the KSSL. Ollie Barber, LSA's high school age group coordinator, says the relatively new club is in the process of building a $1.5 million complex on the western edge of Louisville. "We hope to make it to the point where we have an integrated program throughout the city," he says. LSA has had at least one team in each of the past three Kentucky Open Cup finals, and the club is looking to its '92 girls and '94 boys to continue the tradition. Indiana Southern Indiana United Southern Indiana United will be looking to its U15 Mavericks, U16 Rampage and U18 boys' teams for success this spring. All three will play at the Indiana State Cup, which is part of the US Youth Soccer National Championship series and features 16 teams in each age group. U16 Rampage, which won the Indiana Challenge Cup in 2007, has advanced into the prestigious Indiana Soccer League (ISL) premier division. "Our goals are to win at least one tournament this spring and finish as one of the top two teams in the ISL," says coach Bruce Rigsby. "Also, we would like to have a great showing in the State Tournament by coming out of the first round with a winning record." Rampage is dedicating its season to Kathy Brown, who recently passed away. Her sons Wade and Trent play on the team. U15 Mavericks, which was runner-up in the Indiana Challenge Cup last year, will play in both the ISL first division and the KSSL premier division. Coach Mike Vejar says he has "high hopes" of his diverse group of players making the final four. Net-Surfers FC Net-Surfers is an all-girls' club from southern Indiana, where founder and director of coaching Dave Smith is expecting its talented pre-high school age U13 and U14 teams to fly the flag for the club. However he says the combined U16/U17 girls' team is fortunate to have gained the coaching services of Shannon Smyth and Lindsay Boling. Smyth is a starting striker for the University of Louisville women's team the past three years. Boling, the Lady Cards' leading scorer as a junior midfielder last fall, was a high school all-American at Louisville's Sacred Heart Academy. Their wealth of experience and enthusiasm will surely boost the team's success in the KSSL. Smith adds that Net-Surfers '94 has diverse and very strong talent, which should take them far in the KSSL this season. Aidan Kelly is a freelance writer living in New Albany. He is originally from Dublin, Ireland, where he edited a newspaper for 11 years. Read his blog at soccerindiana.blogspot.com. The Leagues Midwest Regional League (MRL) The Midwest Regional League provides the highest standard of competitive play for more than 600 elite youth teams in 13 states. Teams in the MRL's top tier (Premier Division) vie for wildcard spots in US Youth Soccer Region II Championships, which this year will be held at Sioux Falls (SD) from June 19-24. Kentucky Select Soccer League (KSSL) The Kentucky Select Soccer League is made up of more than 300 teams from 40 soccer clubs in Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia. Indiana Soccer League (ISL) The Indiana Soccer League was established to provide a top level of competition throughout the state of Indiana for teams U13 through U18 at Premier, first division and second division level. -