| In November, 2009, Coach Mike Krahnke and the U16 Boys IMPACT (GOLD) Lightning '93 team were invited to represent CYSA-Northern California in the prestigious North vs. South Premier League Cup tournament. This is a special U15-U19 Boys' and Girls' tournament designed to address the issue of California's not having one State Cup, but two, for North and South. Out of 64 northern California U16 Boys teams, 2 were chosen by CYSA-North: Santa Clara Sporting, a nationally-ranked team, and our Impact (gold) Lightning '93. And by estimating the same amount of teams in Southern California, the Lightning were 4th out of over 125 teams! So, it was a great privilege to go.
Several parents accompanied the team and helped by shopping, cooking, driving to LA or by contributing money during the trip. Also, there were some U15 IMPACT Gold players who played as guests to make it a real "Club" experience.
The Lightning boys played their best but were defeated in all three games. Some players were still recovering from injuries and some players were hurt during this tournament. Their opponents were South Bay Force, Southern California's Premier League winner; Santa Clara Sporting, and Arsenal FC, the 2009 finalist in the US Youth Soccer Regionals (they won the State Cup for S. Cal in 2008). All three great teams: by some standards, #1,2,3 in all of California. The final results of the North/South Championship, Boys U16: South Bay Force - 4 Arsenal FC - 2 (both SoCal teams).
Unfortunately, the scoreboard only tells the smallest part of the story. This weekend demonstrated how the Club is developing players to be proud of. Despite being beaten by insurmountable odds, these young men did not fight amongst themselves; they did not play dirty or mistreat the refs; they did not complain or give up; they played strong and held their heads high. Hopefully, when the sting of defeat fades, they will be able to appreciate the competition and come away having learned something. Mostly, they will have another weekend of great memories to take with them forever. Everyone had a great time and all returned safely!
A special note of gratitude to Cheryl Krahnke's mom, who saved the whole team from having to cancel the tournament by coming out in the middle of the night and lending her car to a truckfull of stranded players and coaches! A true "soccer Mom" she is, Cheryl.
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