04 Sep Triple J Robbie Webber 2024 Fall season to kick off Sept. 14
[September 3, 2024 – Harmon, Guam] Roster slots are quickly filling for participating clubs in the upcoming Triple J Auto Group Robbie Webber Youth League Fall Season, set to kick off Sept. 14 at the Guam Football Association National Training Center.
For Crushers FC, the club closed its U6 and U8 rosters within a week of beginning training sessions at Tiyan, while still actively recruiting players at the older age divisions.
“We’ve had a great number of new, incoming U6 and U8 players; we already had to close those age groups after our first week because we had that many players come out for practice,” said Shippy Shipman, Crushers FC Technical Director. “It’s great to see so many players, and many new ones. Football is just a great sport that not only teaches football skills, but cooperation, teamwork, and communication skills – life skills that young athletes really need. And it’s just a fun sport to play – you get to run around and kick a ball. It was one of the sports that I fell in love with and I wish I would have started when I was younger.”
The club spent time advertising for the Fall season in late April during the GFA Football 4 Schools Jamboree, as well as through flyer distribution and word-of-mouth advertising by club coaches and its players. In preparation for the league’s start, the club also enrolled its coaches in various education courses at GFA. Seven of the Crushers FC youth coaches joined the recently concluded GFA Youth Coaching Certificate course, earning their first coaching certificates. Some also went on to earn the GFA “D” Coaching License ahead of the youth league. Shipman and Justin Samonte are working to complete the GFA “C” Coaching Diploma requirements before the end of the year.
Shipman gave credit to one of the club’s coaches, Tiffany Malaca, for helping in the recruiting effort.
“Most of the credit goes to Coach Tiffany – her energy is there and many of the young players heard her sessions are super fun,” Shipman said.
Crushers FC joins 13 other clubs participating in the 2024 Fall Season of the youth league: Dededo SC, ASC Trust Islanders FC, Quality Distributors FC, NAPA Rovers FC, Sidekick SC, Southern Cobras, GTA Southern Heat, Bank of Guam Strykers FC, Tiger FC, Tumon Typhoons FC, Wings FC, Guam Shipyard Wolverines, and youth teams from Andersen Air Force Base.
To order to play in the league, parents or legal guardians will need to register their child with a participating club. Information on clubs and its administrators is online on GFA’s Official Web site: https://guamfa.com/member-clubs/
The Fall Season of the youth league will feature six different divisions: U6, U8, U10, U12, U15 Boys, and U16 Girls. The league’s schedule is online at https://guamfa.powerupsports.com
Close to 1,500 youth athletes are expected to play matches on opening day of the youth league. GFA’s Referees Department also held an All Girls Introductory Referees Course in August, with a couple dozen new referees set to officiate at U8 division matches. Experienced referees also took part in promotional and refresher courses ahead of opening day of the youth league.
Triple J Auto Group will feature a new fleet of vehicles on opening day and also will stage a goal shooting challenge contest between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. open to all players.