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Fog/Mist South Side High School girls' varsity team hosts World Cup-themed soccer clinic
The U.S. Women’s National Team has inspired young girls everywhere who hope to one day play soccer at the highest level. To help them reach for their potential, the South Side High School girls’ varsity soccer team held a World Cup-themed clinic on Aug. 3.
Some 75 players took part, and they were split up into seven World Cup-style teams. Second- to fourth-grade girls represented Australia, England and Spain, while the fifth- to eighth-graders represented Japan, France, the Netherlands and Germany.
The young athletes competed in events including dribbling and penalty shoot-outs, as well as a round-robin tournament.
“I feel like everyone’s going to be really excited for everything, because we made everything super competitive, because that’s how you get little kids going,” Nora Basile, a co-captain of the Cyclones’ varsity soccer squad, said. “You just need them always doing something, just against each other. They always have more fun.”
The initial excitement came when the high school players organized a “flagging” event on July 3, at which they unveiled the team assignments to the kids.
Reese Haley, another Cyclones co-captain, and her fellow teammates placed American flags in the participants’ yards and displayed posters indicating their designated teams: green for Germany, orange for the Netherlands, red for Japan, and blue for France.
The varsity players taught the younger children basic soccer skills at last week’s clinic, and Charley Doreste, a senior player and another co-captain, detailed the clinic’s broader mission. “We just really want them to just have fun, because that’s really what this sport is about,” Doreste said. “That’s what we’ve learned throughout the years of us playing every day, that you really need to love it to keep going.”
“I’ve looked up to her since I was young,” Basile said. “I feel like, hopefully, the younger kids start to like to watch the FIFA Women’s World Cup, for example, and see that she’s from our town and just be excited for her and bring the community together to support her.”
Girls’ varsity coach Judi Croutier emphasized that the team, including the co-captains, led the planning and execution of the event. “They can be here, helping players that were young like them ... having Crystal as a role model is such a great thing to aspire to,” Croutier said. “Only a few get there, but at least you can see there’s hope, there’s dreams, and with hard work, people get there.”
The clinic brought together parents, families and coaches as well as the players, garnering significant support from the community, including Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray, who was among the attendees.
“This is our high school girls, teaching the younger children about the game of soccer,” Murray said. “It’s more than just a game of soccer; it’s a commitment to sports. What’s good about living in Rockville Centre, they go out and play team sports — team being the big word. So it’s a wonderful thing they do to bring up the next generation.”
Despite the Americans’ loss to Sweden in the World Cup’s Round of 16 and their elimination from the tournament, Haley said she hoped the clinic would inspire more people to tune in to the competition, which continues until Aug. 20 — especially younger children — and encourage them to follow the games, stay updated, and cheer for the teams they represented.
“For me and all the seniors, it’s just a great way to start our senior season,” Basile said. “I feel like this is the perfect start, trying to bring soccer down to the next generation and have them look up to us, hopefully come to our games, and just be excited for every season, too.”
