Billings, Montana - It's early morning, and a team of bleary-eyed boys climb into Coach Vince Rosales???s van. Parents wave good-bye, and try not to tear up as the van leaves the parking lot. Even though 5:30 in the morning is no party to anyone, Christopher and Lee can't help smiling at each other as they reach the highway. They were finally on their way.
Magic City. For those who play soccer in the Northwest region have probably heard of the soccer league. The name "magic city" is nickname for Billings, Montana, and also the name of a prestigious soccer team. The Magic City U18 boy's team had done it, once again. The best team for their age group in the state, and now it was time to head to Vegas. Literally. But I'll get to that later.
Billings is a long way away from my home, across the coast actually, but that doesn't stop me from spending most of my summers at my cousin's place. I guess cousin's place isn't really the correct term, because most of the time, we're at the park or college fields playing the beautiful game: soccer. But that's beside the point. What inspired me to write this article are my 18-year-old cousin, Lee, and his soccer team that's finally getting a chance to show what they are made of.
A season that began in uncertainty turned out to be a perfect ending for Coach Rosales' last season coaching. He had coached in Oregon, Idaho, and Billings, and after 21 years, is ready to settle down with his family, including his son Marco, who is on the U18 boys team this year. "We weren't really sure how this group was going to do this year," Coach says during a Thursday practice. Any doubt that had been in his mind was erased after the U18 boys won state championship this year, and he realized that the first time since 2004, they were heading to the U.S. Soccer Far West Region Championships in Las Vegas. Sure, the team was good, and you can know that by reading this, but today, I want to give you a little insight on the players, and what really goes on inside this soccer team.
"It's turned out beautifully. The team had good chemistry right away. "This is one of the most talented and unselfish groups I've ever coached," Rosales says. "You can tell by looking at them. I've seen these boys play a few times, and out on the field they are hard-working, quick and strategic, but off the field, they are just funny, kind guys who love the game, and play by the rules." I also had the privilege of playing soccer with a few of those guys in the afternoons after their practice, when I would tag along with Lee. It's amazing how, for their age, what skill this team has, as a whole.
The best part is, U18 really is a team. Many of the boys have been on the same team for years, and are best of friends.
So, what does the coach say is one of the secrets to Magic's success? Or at least part of it? "Defense is the strength of this team," he states. "We have tremendous defensive players like (Billings Central Grad) Konner and (Billings Senior Grad) Lee, and (Senior Grad) Derek is as good a goalkeeper you'll see in this region." (Author's Note: I edited out last names from my sources for safety reasons, if you would like to look further into the players, you can look on MCSC-Magic City Soccer Club- or various articles in the Billings Gazette.)
Derek, the hilarious, quirky goalie mentioned earlier, has quite a joke playing around him. Usually, if the game is going well, then Derek is extremely bored down at the goalpost while the ball is on the opposite end of the field. Much of the crowd giggles at Derek absentmindedly swinging on the posts, or performing some soccer trick while knowing full well the ball isn't going to be down at his end for awhile. Like the guys and I usually say, "It's going good if Derek is ready to rip his hair out [from boredom]."
In addition to strong team chemistry, Marco Rosales (son of Coach Vince) says, "We have a lot of team speed. We certainly don't have the size most team's have (take my cousin for example. He's really, really short) ??? but we make up for that in speed and hustle. And we play well together, we don't have much miscommunication on the field."
Miscommunication? Ha. Marco is one of the most vocal players on the field.
Marco is going to be playing soccer at Whitworth College in Spokane this fall, after almost 10 years of being coached by his dad. Marco is going to take a step up and he's good enough to. Marco, a shorter boy, has enough agility and skill to be really good on the college level. Personal experience, I've seen him play many-a-times.
Now, let's get back to the regional in Las Vegas. It's going to be tough, as we all know, but Coach doesn't show it, in fact, he explains the competition coolly.
"The teams we are playing in the regional are all but professionals. We obviously want to be competitive in every match, but we have to go with realistic expectations. On Monday (June 18) we will play Colorado state champions. They are a fully sponsored sports club that plays a national schedule, including some friendly matches with foreign teams. On Tuesday, we will play the San Diego Surf, which is another team that plays a national schedule, and had their state championship match two weeks ago on ESPN"
Is that competition enough for you?
The U18 squad will face Alaska on Wednesday; it's final pool-play game. Defender Konnor says the tight-knit nature of the Magic City squad will play dividends against the stiff regional competition. "The thing about this team is that we never give up.," he said. "Even if we are down 5-0, we don't stop battling till the final whistle."
So, what do you think of this assured, talented, team of boys. I hope you got a little insight on what it's like to be on their team, and some of the stuff it takes to be good.
"We don't expect to win every match at the regional," added Lee, "That's not realistic. But we do expect to compete and stand our ground. We want those teams to remember the team from Montana."
Excellence like this is never an accident.
Glitsygrl
