Santa Monica #2 AYSO Girls Under 16 brought home the Area Championship with a decisive 3-0 win over perennial powerhouse Culver City last Sunday, finishing the season undefeated with a 13-0-1 record. Reflecting the team’s balance, three different players scored against Culver City including Reva Santo, Karisma Narayan, and Julia Gomez. Defensive backs Kira Balaban, Jessie Garcia, and Monica Norris, and keepers Amanda Aden and Alexis Rosas, held tough co-finalist Culver City scoreless. Susie Scribner, Tara Griffith, Lily Monboquette, Caroline Huber, Melodee Piper, Cami Berry, Toni Garcia, Erika Molina, Jessica Pippin, and Caroline Huber complete the squad’s roster. Gary Berry and John Worthen are the coaches. The game was held on a neutral field near downtown L.A. and a surprisingly large crowd showed up to support Santa Monica, including younger players, commissioners and coaches. The team’s post game joy was tinged with some sadness as the players realized that this was their final game together as a squad. From here many players will matriculate into winter high school soccer, most at Samohi and St. Monica’s.
Regarding upcoming events, Thanksgiving weekend marks annual “turkey tournaments” all around Southern California and thanks to the hard work of AYSO volunteer organizer Jeffrey Safrit, and over a score of volunteer coaches, no fewer than 22 AYSO teams with upwards of 250 players aged U10-U12 will hit the road for Friday through Sunday campaigns in Pasadena, South Pasadena, and Huntington Beach. Six Girls U12 teams will compete (coaches include Reza Alahverdi/Michael Emerson, James Encinas/Kevin Brunskill, Anthony Kavanagh, James Langan and Sammy Romo) and three Boys U12 teams will compete (coaches include Euan Araneta, David Galloway, and Randy Holland). The Girls U14 rosters will be split into three tournament squads (coaches include Chris Byrne, Richard Pye, and Gene Shapiro) and Boys U14 will send two teams (coached by Mike Maggianho and Sebastian Sciupac). A total of nine teams for players aged under 10 will represent Santa Monica AYSO.
With over 1,500 players, AYSO is Santa Monica’s largest youth sports league.
