New Divisions Help With Development

After having played baseball before, soccer is the new thing for 10-year-old Kieurstyn Camacho.

Camacho, a member of Tumon Soccer Club’s U12B team, is among several young athletes playing soccer for the first time in the Docomo Pacific Robbie Webber Youth Soccer League Fall Season and loving it.

“I like passing the ball to my teammates, running on the field, and getting exercise with soccer,” Camacho said. “I hope even more new kids will join, too.”

With the resurgence in popularity with the sport, Guam Football Association created a separate division in the U10, U12, and U17 age categories to welcome new soccer athletes to develop individual skills and get a feel for the sport. The new division also allows developing athletes to play in matches without having to compete against their peers who may have more experience playing for club teams or with Guam’s youth national teams.

“Based on past seasons, we recognized a gap in experience and skill between the top-ranked teams and bottom-ranked teams in the U10, U12, and U17 age categories,” said Robby De Guzman, GFA Youth Administrator. “We created the separate division in those age categories for the beginning teams to develop and play the sport in a non-threatening environment. It’s for the teams to have fun without having them worry about statistics and wins. It’s also for them to just come out and have fun playing the sport.”

A total of 18 teams play in the U10B division and another 10 teams play in the U12B division. The U17B division features five teams. The teams play with the same league rules for their respective age categories and with official GFA referees.

In the second week of the youth soccer league at the GFA National Training Center, defending U17 champions ASC ISA Islanders Betde salvaged a 2-2 draw with the Southern Cobras. The Cobras led 2-1 on goals from April Talledo and Donovan Reyes until the Islanders’ Sora Recella scored the equalizer for the draw. Phillip Ogo scored the Islanders’ other goal. In other U17A matches, Philip Au, Scott Ishizu, Brandon Flores, Jonah Jones, Kazuki Yoshida, Daryl Damian and Jason Onedera all scored in the Strykers’ victory over a short-handed Wolverines team, which had many of its players scheduled to take the SAT test. Derrick Cruz, Frank Wenninger, Lyle Quintanilla and Nathan Camacho managed to score for the Wolverines in the contest. Last season’s U17 division runner up Wings Red edged the Southern Heat 4-3. Gen Fudo scored a hat trick and teammate Isiah Lagutang also scored for Wings Red. Gavin Quinata scored twice for the Heat and teammate Gideon Tyquiengco scored the team’s other goal. The Wings Black later also added a victory to its season tally against the Sidekicks.

In the U14 division, Kennedy Macatuno’s brace led Community First Dededo Soccer Club to a 3-1 win over Quality Distributors FC. Michael De Leon also scored for the winning team. Eddie Huang scored Quality’s lone goal. The Strykers, led by Clayton Mitchell’s hat trick, shut out the Wolverines. Xavier Naputi scored twice and Josiah Elwell, Vincent Cruz and Anthony Moon added to the Strykers’ tally.

In other matches, the Wings had a second 1-0 win in as many weeks, this time against the Islanders Betde. The Sidekicks also stay undefeated with a 6-1 win over Islanders Asut.