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Area comes up empty at regional tournament

Three teams advance to the semifinals but can't win championships.

By JEREMY RASMUSSEN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 28, 2001

TAMPA -- No Hillsborough County teams won titles at last week's United States Youth Soccer Association Southern Regionals.

Texas teams won six of the 12 boys and girls titles in competition ranging from under-14 through under-19.

Three teams -- the Brandon Flames under-15 boys, the Tampa Bay Kickers under-16 boys and the Tampa Black Watch under-19 boys -- reached the semifinals. The Black Watch under-14 boys and St. Pete Raiders under-14 girls didn't advance past pool play.

Last year, one Florida team reached the final, the Team Boca Gunners. This year, the Gunners fell 1-0 to South Texas in the final. Kickers coach Jeff Brattain said this was par for the course.

"Florida has just not won many regionals," he said. "It's been this way for 25 years. In Dallas alone, they have more kids playing soccer than in the entire state of Florida.

"We have about 110,000 playing in Florida. So those numbers are staggering. You're able to select a local team that's as good or better than what we could put together drawing from the whole state. It's sheer numbers."

Brandon Flames coach Scott Sedlak said another reason for Florida's shortcomings might result from a dilution of the talent. "I know in Florida, there's a club team on every corner," he said. "It would be interesting to see if the (Florida Youth Soccer Association) does anything to address this."

Several Florida clubs have tried to move toward the "super" club status enjoyed by such powerhouses as the Dallas Texans and Dallas InterBlue. Sedlak said another step in the right direction will come when the top Florida clubs get better competition next season in a newly sanctioned USYSA Region III league, which will feature the elite clubs in the Southeast.

"We've won our (Florida) league every year. So we can only get so much competition down here," Sedlak said. "We really need to travel and play clubs like we saw (at Southern Regionals) on a regular basis."

Brattain said the Kickers had a decent showing in the tournament but didn't play up to their potential.

Gaither's Brenden Crampton was a standout at stopper, helping sweeper Jarret Bourgeois (Sarasota Riverview) anchor the defense. Bloomingdale's Todd Cripe provided some scoring at forward.

The Kickers defeated Oklahoma 4-0 in their pool play opener. But they lost 2-1 to Tennessee, a team they beat 8-0 in last year's Sun Bowl.

Sedlak said Riverview's Tyler Nuckols and Bloomingdale's Tom Davison provided solid offense for the Flames.

He said, however, the team probably needed to add an additional defender.

"We scored enough, but we gave up too many," he said. "We've got to be able to win 1-0 games at this level."

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