Eagle's soccer team takes it up a notch

The FC Kitsap Explosion, a 12U girls soccer team, is on a roll.

The youngest roster in the FC Kitsap organization also has been one of its most successful this season, taking three tournament titles and one runner-up trophy since May.

But age is but a number in the world of select soccer. The real measurement is the amount of soccer the girls have played which for many of the 11- and 10-year-olds on the roster is either five or six years.

“They’ve all played select soccer,” Byers said. “They’ve just played on different teams.”

“It’s a big hodgepodge,” assistant coach John Ferguson said of the team that was formed out of four different teams, including three from North Kitsap. “But it works because they don’t like to lose at all. They’ve got that flavor to win and not lose — so they just win.”

The team started off with a second place finish in the Snohomish Invitational in May but then ran into trouble at the Viking Cup when it was placed in a pool with three of the top teams in Washington and was bounced out in the semi-final round.

The girls rebounded from that struggle in a big way and has worked its way into the top 12U ranks by winning the Skagit Fireworks Tournament, the Portland Cup in Oregon and the Evergreen Invitational last weekend in Burlington.

“The more games they play the better they get,” Byers said. “They’ve just gelled. When we started we had all these girls that are used to being the best player on their team. You get them all together and suddenly they’re all very equal.”

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