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After winning an unprecedented fourth United States Youth Soccer State Cup championship, the FC814 U-19 girls Team Energy headed to the National United States Youth Soccer Championships in Nashville, Tenn., from July 13-20.
This was more than just another huge opportunity for this group of regional girls to attain success at a national level, after a decade of playing together.
It was their last opportunity to play together before heading off to an assortment of universities to further their scholastic and soccer careers. It was the last time head coach Marc Frye and assistant Todd Cammarata led the girls onto the field, which began when they stepped onto a field as U-8s.
The knockout round at the national championships started well as the Energy defeated Real Billings (Mont.) in a 2-1 battle. The team went on to shut out the Lobos Rush (Miss.) 6-0. In game 3, the Energy dropped a 3-0 decision to Cabossa FC (La).
In the quarterfinals, the local team defeated the Bulls Rush (S.C.) 4-2, to advance to the national championship semifinals. There, the Energy played its final game together in a tough 2-0 loss to the TF Rapids (Idaho).
The game ended the playing days of the team after facing squads from 14 states, Canada and international academy teams.
Summer Shootout
Local Youth Soccer Club FC814 held its 5-on-5 second annual Summer Shootout 2 with teams across the region battling for titles in a wide variety of age groups.
The event featured competitive matches, food trucks, local vendors, music, radar gun kick speed challenge, Capelli competitive corner and a 60-feet inflatable obstacle course. Every team entered was guaranteed at least three 25-minute games.
The Summer Shootout originated to help youth players by raising funds for the Strawberry Hills Outdoor Complex and the Keith Athletic Facility, as well as improving all other current fields.
World Cup thoughts
The 2026 Men's World Cup featured a number of firsts.
The new expanded field had 48 teams competing for the Cup and was the first time the competition was shared by three countries -- USA, Mexico and Canada. The Cup finals, held on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in N.J., featured the European champion Spain against the defending Cup champion Argentina.
Spain was the favored team to win the Cup and it demonstrated why in the championship. Argentina managed only one shot on goal against the Spaniards, as Spain rifled more than 20 shots on goal in winning the Cup.
Spain played so well it surrendered only one goal in the course of Cup play. It still took a goal in extra time by a 19-year-old phenom to produce the 1-0 victory. The Argentina goalie, however, was incredibly impressive as he kept his team in the game, stopping some excellent shots on goal while playing with a broken finger.
Although Spain totally dominated time of possession and shots on goal, if the game had come down to penalty kicks, Argentina may have been favored as it had only lost one match on PKs.
Superstar and arguably the World's best player, Lionel Messi, playing in his final Cup, was a virtual nonentity. This was Spain's second World Cup championship, its first coming in 2010.
Spain is also the women's defending Cup champions, but USA and Japan will be coming after the Cup next year when the women take the field in 2027.
The USA men's team looked very sharp at points in group play, advancing to the round of 16s. However, as a repeat scenario of other years, it had no offensive push against Belgium and broke down defensively, dropping a 4-1 decision and again failing to move on to the quarterfinal round.
It was believed new coach Mauricio Pochettino would get America over that hump, but he was unable to overcome that hurdle. Heralded USA star Christian Pulisic did not take the leadership role for USA and appeared more concerned with healing an injury he sustained in game 1.
For now, the USA men have yet to prove themselves against the best in world competition. Soccer remains the world's game but has not reached that level in the USA.
Tom Schmitt writes a monthly soccer column for the Mirror.