MELBOURNE, Fla. — This past summer, Space Coast United 05’s (U-16) girls team traveled to and won the US Club National Championships in Commerce City, Colorado.

It was not easy to get to this tournament and the girls had to go through many good teams just to reach this event. In fact, this team had a very busy summer. The first stop was the Florida Cup, which is like a state cup tournament. This tournament consisted of 5 or more games and they won each one. Then, they won the ECNRL league and next was the ECNRL regional championships in NC in mid-June. Again coming out on top and what was special about this is the girls who played in the ECNRL tournament were playing some of the best teams in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, etc. Winning this tournament made them eligible for the Open Cup on July 1. In the Open Cup, they traveled to Lakewood Ranch and were able to once again come out as the victor, playing some of the best teams in the nation. The conglomeration of wins from these tournaments paved the way for them to make it to the US Club Nationals in mid-July in Colorado.

Mike Lord, the Space Coast United 05’s coach, has been coaching soccer for many years and says, “How we were able to get through all these tournaments as the champion, I will never know. “ In addition to the challenge of getting a win for all those games, the team had to schedule practices around family vacations, keeping the girls grounded and focused as well as the altitude challenges in Colorado. Viera has an elevation of 25 feet at the highest point compared to over 5,000 feet in Colorado so that made for a lot of adjusting for the girls. A majority of these girls have been playing together since they were 6 years old so the cohesiveness of the team was already there.

Lord said. “The highlights of the tournament were my wife and kids made the trip so they were able to experience Colorado and a tournament of this caliber. Also, Steph (the goalie) made two great penalty kick saves to lead us to victory. This was a very memorable experience and something to look back on with great pride. I was glad the girls achieved such an honor, and let me be there on the sidelines for bad jokes and stories.”

When asked what amazed Lord the most about this team, he said, “Due to Covid and last year’s schedule, we ended up playing every weekend from mid-February till May and the girls were able to stay mentally focused for each challenge, while still happy to see each other. The girls traveled together, played together, laughed and cried together, sometimes had really bad food, or warm chocolate milk, but managed to work to be their personal best. They dealt with the pressure and expectations to the best of their ability while still understanding that this is a journey that we are all doing together and enjoy the experience as it will never happen again.”

The goals for this year’s team are simple, and the same every year. We would like to win more games than we lose, give our best effort for the team, and have a good time competing as the girls will be headed to college very soon.

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