Anderson Youth Soccer League prepares for opening day

As the season is ready to get started for the Anderson Youth Soccer League Division, teams and coordinators prepare for success. There are a total of seven teams, four boys teams and three girls teams with about 120 players.

The teams will travel to five or six tournaments during the three month season along with playing their regular games in the District 9 area which consists of Anderson, Red Bluff, Corning, Susanville, Mt. Shasta and others.

Tony Moebes of Cottonwood has been the coaching coordinator of the girls teams for the past two years and has been coaching soccer for the past six years. He has seen continuing growth in the program as the popularity of soccer grows.

He practices with his U16 girls team two nights a week and is also working with a U14 girls team. Moebes believes that the girls are learning their skills at an earlier age and are playing at a higher competitive level than in the past. Moebes's goals for the girls are to be able to teach them the importance of the fundamentals of soccer, the aspect of competition which will provide life skills such as responsibility, accountability, work ethic, perseverance and building a good relationship with other players and coaches.

"Along with other skills, I would like to see the kids continue to grow. When it comes to tryouts and playing the game, they have to be physically ready to work hard. This is something that I am seeing. Most players that play at this level are mentally and physically tough and play year round. There are many variables to the game including wins, losses and field conditions," stated Moebes. "I do encourage the kids to be kids first and to get their homework done and spend family time before soccer. They need to be kids first."

Tommy Baugh is in his second year as the Division Three Coaching Coordinator of the AC United Boys teams and enjoys spending time out of the field coaching the kids in the program. The boys teams go to five to six tournaments a season, depending on how their teams are doing. The older teams (U19) will play mostly out-of-town tournaments throughout the season. Baugh hopes that the youth that play for the AC United teams will take away from the season a new sense for responsibility, life lessons, competitive but fair play, sportsmanship and a love for the game of soccer.

The Division Three teams for Anderson Youth Soccer will be starting their season earlier than league play due to tournament schedules. The Anderson Youth Soccer League will start its season with opening ceremonies on Aug. 14 and games are scheduled to begin Aug. 15.

"I would like to thank the community and parents for all of their support in these difficult financial times, for both our division three teams and the youth league as a whole. If you are curious about soccer and how it is played, come down to Anderson River Park any weekend in September and watch some of our games. You can also check out our Web site at www.acunited.org and www.ayslca.com," said Baugh.