ST. MARY’S COUNTY, Md. – The St. Mary’s Strikers Red Premiere Team has punched their ticket to the 2023 USYS National Championships in Orlando, Florida. They are currently ranked #1 in MD and #2 in the USA/Canada (at time of interview). For almost a decade, this group of players have stayed together.
They started in the St Mary’s Soccer Rec program. According to Coach Mark Pinkel “2013 is probably when the majority of them started playing. That is around when they decided to try out for the rec plus program. It was a league including Charles, Calvert, and St Mary’s County players. The players then moved on to an actual travel team. The core group of players have been together since then with a few other players being added to the team from military families.”
According to Pinkel to qualify for the USYS National Championships the boys needed to finish at the top of the table in the USYS South Atlantic Premier Division I, which then qualified them for USYS National PRO League. After successfully competing at the National PRO League, the boys qualified for USYS National Championships.
Pinkel says the likeliness of a small community producing a team at this level is truly inspiring. “And now, all of their hard work has paid off with an opportunity to win a National Championship for themselves and the state of Maryland.”
“On top of the countless hours the boys spend training daily, they also recognize the importance of giving back to their community. The team recently volunteered to help run a free player development night for players in our community. 13 of the players volunteered to run the training for the younger players. Many assisted the Special Olympic athletes at their schools as well,” said Pinkel.
According to Pinkel the team owes a lot to the community as well. “So much support from the community, local businesses, it’s been amazing that they’ve stepped forward since it is expensive for families. 19 separate businesses have backed the team in preparation for nationals. The artificial turf fields the County put in 2-3 years ago has helped a lot as well. Rain, snow, we’ve been out here it’s been a blessing for the community to help reach those goals.
The USYS National Championships will be hosted in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando . July 17th- July 23rd.
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