AYSO South Bay Conclude 2016 with Nomads Tournament Win
The AYSO South Bay’s Girls 2002 team closed out the 2016 season with a championship win at the 2016 Nomads Thanksgiving Tournament. The AYSO Pacific Soccer Club affiliate won its Coast Soccer League Silver Elite division, and advanced to the “Great Eight” of CSL’s League Cup .
Youth Soccer News: AYSO South Bay’s Girls 2002 team followed its impressive Coast Soccer League championship season with a title run during the 2016 Nomads Thanksgiving Tournament.
The South Bay girls won the Nomads tournament final 2-1 in overtime over the Soccer Life Academy of Los Angeles.
“I am tremendously proud of the girls,” Coach Polo Aviles said. “They have worked extremely hard this season, and this is a great finish to 2016 for our team. Each of the girls has made their high school soccer teams. They head into their respective high school seasons with a wave of momentum.”
The team plays under AYSO’s Pacific Soccer Club, and is formally known as PSC South Bay. The Nomads tournament championship is the latest in a series of achievements by the team, directed by coaches Aviles and Luis Rivera. PSC South Bay won the Coast Soccer League Silver Elite division, and advanced to the “Great Eight” of CSL’s League Cup.
The Nomads Thanksgiving tournament welcomed top academy clubs from Arizona, Utah and Northern California. In reaching the tournament final, PSC South Bay knocked out two Gold division CSL clubs.
“This team has proven over and over that player development and coach development can produce incredible results,” said Anthony Millican, executive director of AYSO Matrix South Bay, which fields teams in San Diego’s Presidio League, the San Diego Development Academy and now Coast Soccer League under the PSC umbrella.
With PSC’s backing, the South Bay Girls 2002 team moved into the CSL for the Fall 2016 season after winning back-to-back titles in San Diego’s Academy League in 2014 and 2015.
“I am convinced the team has experienced the success that they’ve had because they stayed together, under a great coaching staff, as opposed to moving to other clubs that might have forced them to merge with another A-level team,” Millican said. “That would have negatively changed the team’s chemistry, and disrupted their learning curve rather than continued their growth. It is fantastic to note that 13 of the 14 players on this team’s regular season roster came from AYSO, the bulk from South Bay AYSO, proving we don’t need to recruit the county. We just need to grow, keep and develop the talent in our own backyard.”
Coach Aviles praised the parent support on his team, which endured a long CSL season. In addition, the Nomads tournament involved six matches over three days.
“It was good ending after a lengthy travel season,” said Coach Aviles. “I’m hopeful that this gives our girls a lot of motivation to come back next year and do the same thing in the Gold Bracket in Coast Soccer.”
