Youth Soccer News: “Surf Select” Team Formed for Development, Friendship
A brand new team of under-12 boys will be competing in their first-ever soccer match this weekend at the prestigious Surf Thanksgiving Tournament. The team was formed just a week ago as part of Surf Soccer Club’s “Surf Select” program, and is made up of players from Surf Soccer Club affiliates.
“The Surf Select Program aims to provide excellent Surf affiliate players an opportunity to play in signature tournaments that their regular team might not be ready or able to compete in,” explained Bryan Thistle, Surf Soccer Club’s affiliate club coordinator. “These players arrived on Monday and spent the week training with Surf Technical Director and Boys Director of Coaching Wayne Harrison, experiencing the Surf curriculum firsthand and preparing to compete in the tournament on Friday.”
The team will compete in the Boys Under-12 division of the Surf Thanksgiving Tournament and face some of the toughest competition in California and Arizona in bracket play.
“This team is not formed with the intent of fielding an all-star team to sweep a tournament,” Thistle remarked on the level of play expected. “Rather, we want to give as many kids as possible an opportunity to work under the system put in place by Wayne Harrison at Surf, and to give talented players from Surf affiliates additional opportunities to compete against the best players out there.”
The boys on the Surf Select team have bonded over the course of the week and the team dinner, and are excited to compete for Surf starting on Friday.
“We’re thankful to Surf for this opportunity to train with Wayne and compete in this tournament against some of the best Under-12 players in the country,” commented Bob Kawabe, parent of midfielder Luke Kawabe from Hawaii Surf SC. “My son is making friends and learning concepts that he’ll take back to Hawaii and have for his whole soccer career.”
The program is supported by Surf Soccer Club and Nike, and will expand to include more tournaments and more teams in 2014. The ultimate goal of the program is to make sure every deserving Surf affiliate player gets an opportunity to play at the highest level and realize their soccer potential.
The Surf Select program is a benefit of Surf’s affiliate network, which is designed to provide support to affiliate clubs in a variety of ways: coaching training, registration and financial software, tournament support, Nike gear, additional playing opportunities and other administrative support. For information about the Surf Soccer Club affiliate program, contact Bryan Thistle at bthistle@surfsoccer.com.
