November marks the stretch run for the regular fall season of Santa Monica’s American Youth Soccer Organization. Open to both boys and girls ages 4-18, our local AYSO league is the city’s largest youth sports organization with over 1,500 players, and hundreds of adult volunteers who make “soccer Saturdays†possible. Just about every coach and player dreams of an undefeated season at the start, but for most teams reality quickly intervenes. Take the boys under 12 Iron Wolves. Going into last Saturday’s match they had lost their first six games. The seventh game started true to form as the Wolves quickly fell behind by two goals. In the third quarter they held their opponent scoreless. Then in the fourth quarter two Wolves, Andrew Chung and Sylvain Wolfe, scored. Their teammates keeping goal in the third and fourth quarters, Jasper Rowan and Jorge Arroyo, played incredible defense fending off numerous shots. Also assisting on defense was stopper Dylan Jones who cleared the ball repeatedly. In the midfield, Jason Chung and Adam Goren were stand-outs as the Wolves finally stopped their losing streak. Additional teammates include Aman Haji, Cole Page, Jason Rosenbach, Orson Spence, Sam Wittert, and Gabriel Ziaukas.
“I was amazed at how the boys turned what seemed like a sure loss into a team effort,†notes Wolves Coach Yaov Goren. “One could actually sense how they refused to give up. Coming back from a 2-0 deficit with 15 minutes to play is quite an achievement in soccer and it demonstrates a lot of heart.â€
Like over a thousand of their AYSO player peers, the Wolves will continue to hone their soccer skills for the remainder of the season. One suspects that after a trying season set somewhat straight, the Wolves are learning additional lessons about tenacity and persistence, skills that may well serve them long after the soccer season ends.
