Our Storm teams have had quite the Spring Season, gaining due notoriety for their quality play and sportsmanship.   The success these teams have had truly reflects the Storm creed:

PRIDE • PASSION • PREPARATION • PERSEVERANCE

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The first event was the popular Piggly Wiggly Shootout down in Charleston, SC.   We went to this event with our U10 Black team playing up in the U11 bracket, with an 8v8 format and the U10 White team playing in the 6v6 division.  Our talent and training proved invaluable as the Black team came away as Finalists in the U11 division – quite a feat for their first time playing up an age!   The White team played well, but fell short in their quest, losing in the semi-final round of their division.   But this was a very fun event for all of the players and families – especially watching the MLS exhibition games Saturday night, blowing their horns and getting autographs from the pros!

The two teams were soon back at it again attending one of our favorites:  The Julian Brown Memorial in Charlotte.   Our Storm teams have traditionally played well there, with multiple Champions and Finalists over the years.   Both teams played in a special U10 8v8 format, with Black in the top flight and White in the second.   The Black team had a rough 8am game to start with, losing to a strong team from Charlotte.   But they bounced back, turned up the passion and came away with the championship – even after losing two players in the first half to injuries and not having any subs for the remainder of the championship match!   The White team made it to their championship match as well, cruising past the competition with no goals allowed in the first three games!   It was a great championship match, with a lot of back and forth, but we simply ran out of time, losing by one goal.   Well-fought efforts by all, with deserved hardware for their hard work!

The U14 Storm team was up next, traveling to Charleston for the Robbie Owens Memorial.   Determined to not repeat last year’s losing results, the team came out firing, even with severe weather Sunday morning.  Unfortunately, we came up just a bit short, but won three out of four matches to proudly take home the Finalists trophy.

Our next tourney Champions are from our U9 Lightning Academy, who recently played in their first tourney ever down in Myrtle Beach.   An impressive little team, the Lightning made sure that their academy training paid off by pulling out the championship in a long, hot afternoon, double-overtime match – scoring with two minutes left to go!   Yet another Storm team starting another winning tradition!!

More events are still to come – and hopefully more Championships for these great teams!

GO  STORM !!