TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - For nearly three decades, Warner Soccer has trained athletes to compete against the nation's best. One way to prove you're among the country's elite? Win a National Championships, and two ASG soccer clubs are pretty close to doing just that.
Both the U17 girls and the U16 boys won the President's Cup in April, becoming one of twelve teams to advance to the Region III tournament, and still with a shot to win a National title.
The girls have played together since they were ten, so to say they're close would be accurate, and they're hoping that gives them an edge come Wednesday.
"Off the field, we're just all sisters," said Dorian Simpkins, a member of the U17 club. "We have that bond. It really helps the overall game because you really kind of need to know your players as you're playing. Because we've been playing for that six to seven years, we just can all know our strengths and weaknesses."
"They're competitors during high school season, but they're the best of friends during the year," said co-director Andy Warner. "They travel, they train three times a week, they travel all together, so basically, this is a family environment that we've created, and when a team can stay together four or five years, ultimately those bonds get stronger."
The ladies play a team out of Oklahoma in their first pool play game. Both squads will play three pool play games, with the top teams from each pool advancing to the knock out round on Saturday.
