Maggie Bell, Granite Bay High School

Freshman Maggie Bell competed on the Varsity Cross Country team for Granite Bay High School. Maggie won her league competitions as well as the section and state title for D2. She also won the Del Oro Invitational and the Stanford Invitational during the season. As a top five individual finisher for the state, she was invited to attend the Nike Cross National tournament recently in Portland. She finished in the top third nationally and then finished up the running season with a gold medal and National Champion title from USA Track and Field for winning the U14 girls division of the Junior Olympics held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Congratulations Maggie!

Big congratulations to Ryan Hollingshead and Seth Casiple who are ranked in the 20 Best College Players list for the PAC 12 conference.

Ryan, a senior at UCLA, was ranked the #1 player in the highly competitive PAC 12 Division, and Seth, a sophomore at Cal was ranked #13.

All the coaching staff at Placer United are extremely proud of these player’s accomplishments and look forward to seeing you and the rest of the Placer Alumni at this year’s Placer Alumni Game scheduled for December 21st at Del Oro Stadium.

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-conference-top-20/men

U10G Red, Copa Del Rey Tournament Champions

The U11G Black posted a 1-0 quarter-final victory over Mustang Blaze to move into the Silver 3 Norcal Cup Semi-finals this weekend.

Our U9’s and U10’s competed in the Copa del Rey tournament hosted by Boca.  This was the final event of the season for these age groups.

The U10G Red won their first two games in group play beating Barcelona 7-1 and Inter Rage 4-0.  In the semi-finals, the girls defeated a tough Santa Rosa United team, 2-1.  In the final, the girls beat the host Boca, 4-1 to bring home the cup!

The U9G Red had two wins. The U9G White had a draw and two losses. The U10G White had one win and two narrow defeats.

Congratulations to all of the U9 and U10 girls on a fantastic season filled with fun and development!

The U16G and U18G White teams travelled down to Turlock to compete in the New Year’s Derby.

The U16’s Drew 2-2 in the first game versus the Folsom Arsenal.  In game 2, the girls defeated the Turlock Tornados 3-0.  In game 3, the girls defeated American River 1-0 to advance to the Championship game!  In the final, the girls defeated Galt FC 1-0 to claim the championship!

The U18’s won their first game 1-0 over the Stockton Storm.  In game 2, the girls drew 0-0 with the Turlock Tornados.  In game 3, the girls had a convincing 3-0 win over Merced to advance to the champhionsip game.  In the final, the girls went up against a very strong Modesto Ajax side.  The girls scored two early goals and were able to hold on and win the game 2-0 for the title!

Congratulations to all teams and families for a great weekend!

U16B Red

“Black Friday” for the Placer United U16B Red team meant college coaches and scouts were shopping for top student-athlete talent at the recent Surf College Cup, held on November 23-25th, 2012 at the San Diego Polo Grounds.  Along with playing three fierce competitive matches, including a match with #3 nationally ranked (according to gotsoccer.com) Olimpica United FC, the U16B Red players showcased their soccer skills to some top colleges like Clemson, University of Pennsylvania, and UCLA.

“All the coaches I talked to said we showed really well,” said Coach Kelcey Chaidez of the U16B Red team.  “We faced some incredibly tough competition and we had to leave everything on the field.”

In the tournament, the U16B Red team played its toughest opponents so far this season – all from Southern California. The first game featured RSF Attack 96 Green, which is ranked 57th in the nation by gotsoccer.com, and although the team played hard, the result was a 0-2 loss.  The team received a 2-2 tie with 64th-ranked Manchester Carmel Valley Manchester Academy which featured some of the best soccer of the weekend.  The end of the tournament was a tough loss to Olimpica United FC.

The U16B Red team was selected by the San Diego Surf Cup XXXII committee because of its strong play.  Twenty three schools and/or organizations received the team’s profile and thirteen followed up with either discussions with the team’s coach, college liaisons, or the team’s manager. Additionally, the colleges liked the strong academics the U16B Red team features.

“As a predominantly sophomore team, Placer United U16B Red received a surprising amount of attention from scouts and coaches not only for their play but also for their academic standings and inclinations,” said Coach Chaidez.  “Usually most of the coaches and scouts are looking at teams with older players.  Obviously, we’ve got a special team here.”

Established in 2007, San Diego Surf Cup gives some 400 college coaches and scouts a venue to watch and evaluate players for opportunities to become student-athletes at the collegiate level.

Here’s the list of NCAA/NAIA colleges and other institutions that received the Placer United 16B Red team’s profile:

• Clemson University
• Loyola Marymount University
• San Diego State
• University of Pennsylvania
• Dominican University
• Wabash University
• UCLA
• UC Davis
• Santa Clara University
• Chico State
• UC Santa Barbara
• Stanford
• University of San Francisco
• Sacramento State
• UC Berkeley
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• UC San Diego
• San Diego State
• Sonoma State
• UC Santa Cruz
• Saint Mary’s College of Calif
• Chivas USA
• Mexican Federation

contributing author, David A. Schmidt
with Jackie Corchado

Cody Sunquist

Fresh from attending the US U14 National Camp, Cody Sunquist jetted off again to represent PUSC in Phoenix at US Club’s ID2 camp for  boys born in 1999 and 2000.

The four day camp consisted of high-level training and off-field sessions at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, Arizona.

id2 Program Training Camps are invitation-only events that bring together the nation’s top male and female youth players for four days of competition, evaluation and fun. U.S. Soccer National Team staff, some of the nation’s top coaches, as well as elite guest coaches and players, attend id2 Program Training Camps. In addition to the on-field sessions, id2 Program Training Camps feature guest speakers, lectures/classroom sessions and other offerings, which make for a complete experience.

Every id2 Program Training Camp is attended and scouted by U.S. Soccer staff members. Aided by their time at US Club Soccer’s id2 Regional Training Camps, numerous attendees of past camps have advanced into U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs.

The age groups for the camps are selected in order to more closely align with scouting priorities for the U.S. Soccer U14 National Teams. The id2 Program Training Camps are part of US Club Soccer’s id2 National Player Identification and Development Program and provide an opportunity for the country’s top youth players to be identified and developed for inclusion in U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs.

Good luck to Cody!

For more information, click here.

Placer United U14B Red goalkeeper, Jay Roundtree, was selected by Region IV ODP staff coach Paul Holocher to attend this year’s US Youth Soccer’s Interregional Event over Thanksgiving. The event was hosted at the home of Real Salt Lake’s USSF Academy teams in Casa Grande outside Phoenix, Arizona.

Jay joined an elite group of eighteen players who were selected to play for the ODP Region IV ’98 team at the five day Interregional Event.

A big congratulations to Jay!

Go Placer!

Jay Roundtree, U14B Red