SPORTS & RECREATION


Photo by Denise Ronald
With the spring state competitive season scheduled to begin March 5, Chaffee County United soccer players are back on the pitch getting into shape, including the U18 players who practice dribbling.

DENVER — About three dozen Chaffee County United boys and girls soccer players are getting into shape for the state competitive spring season by participating in futsal tournaments.   Competing on five different teams, the group traveled to Regis College Jan. 29-30 for one of the largest tournaments in the state.
Chaffee County was represented by two U18 boys teams, two U13 boys teams and one girls team comprised of U18 and U14 players.  One group of CCU U18 boys won the tournament with a 5-1 record. None of the other teams placed.  Futsal is an indoor game similar to soccer, but is played at a faster pace with a weighted ball on a basketball court. Unlike traditional soccer which has 11 players, futsal is played by five team members, one of whom is the goal keeper. Substitutions are made on the fly during the 24-minute game.  Salida High School soccer players Aaron Hanes and Vic Short organized the teams, collected money and releases from the players, took care of motel reservations and ensured everyone made it to the tournament.  High school and CCU soccer coaches weren’t allowed to help because of the off season, no contact rule.
Players paid $200 team entry fees, gasoline, food and motel bills.   Hanes said he “really wanted” to compete in the tournament because he missed playing soccer and needed to get into shape for spring soccer, which begins March 5.
“ It was a lot of work to get all of this organized, but it was also a lot of fun. My team – which included myself, Vic Short, Aaron Dobson, Tyler Keidel, Jordan Voss, Taylor Hollingsworth and Kenny Hoosten – won the tournament.
“ The only game we lost was to a Steamboat Springs team,” he said.

The CCU U18 group defeated Alexander Dawson, the other Salida U18 team, Battle Mountain twice, and an unknown team from Kentucky.  “ There were a bunch of soccer players from a high school in Kentucky in the area on vacation who decided they wanted to play,” Hanes said. “ They were fun.”
Earlier in January, Hanes’ team won a futsal championship in Grand Junction. Victor Avila, Chance Bergmann, Patrick Hurley, Jared Hansford, Kevin Baldino, Nick Miller and Nick Vincent competed on the other U18 team.  Many of the boys on the two CCU U18 teams played on the Salida High School state championship team last fall.  Hanes said the pressure to perform as well in the state and high school arenas is felt by all the players, but said winning the championship title has “given everyone more confidence.”  Anne Musick, Laura Tucker, Breanne Johnson, Elena Barton, Hannah Daugherty, Abby Cortese, Aruna Gabriel and Jaylyn McMurry competed on the girls team.  The CCU U13 team split into two teams for the tournament. Players included Kit Barton, Chad Blake, James Bove, Zach Fagerberg, Hunter Gerberich, Justin Giorno, Zach Blitzstein; Kenney Lindstrom, Ryan Martin, Ben McElravy, Jace McMurry, Austin Moore, Mattson Schroeder, Sean Slivka, Frank Musick and Ross Thompson.
Bart Schleicher will play for the U13 this season, but was unable to make the trip to Denver.  CCU director of coaching, Ben Oswald, said his four state competitive teams began practice Monday.  “ We will field four of our five teams this spring with kids from Salida, Buena Vista and Fremont County. “ The boys will compete in U18, U16 and U13 divisions and the girls will play in a U14 division,” Oswald said.  The U13 boys team is new and will play in the Challenge II division.  It will be coached by Chad Gorby and Paul Bosanko.  Gorby is a former college player from the University of North Carolina national championship team and Bosanko is a “very knowledgeable” older coach, Oswald said.
Amber Combs and Jen Reid, former college players, will coach the reorganized girls team, which did not advance out of the Challenge II division last season.  Salida High School head soccer coach Scott McFarland and Byron Alsup will coach the U16 boys in the Classic division.  Oswald said he expects the team to produce results and good players this year.  “ We have Frank Gioscia, a big-time stud athlete from Buena Vista, back on the team after a two-year hiatus and we expect him to perform well.”  Oswald will coach the U18 team at the Premier I level.
“ There are only seven teams above us in the state this year and my goal is for the team to finish first or second in our division, which is going to be tough.  “ The boys also want to advance to the second round of the state cup, which we haven’t done yet.  “ We finished in the middle of the pack last season playing one man short most of our games. We have a full roster this year,” Oswald said.  Although his team has lost key players Brandon Policky, Patrick Hurley, Jamey King and Kevin Baldino, Oswald said several of his “big guns” are returning and his team will be “more competitive” than ever.

by Denise Ronald
Mail Staff Writer