Found In My Basement: Soccer Trophy

My athletic career peaked at the age of nine. What is sad is that I realized this only a few years later. During the end of junior high school and certainly by the beginning of high school, my teammates and opponents on the soccer field were all bigger, stronger and faster than me. However, I’m reliving the past in this Found in My Basement series, so let’s go back to Fall 1984 where my team, the Burgundy Panthers, was the CAYSA Under-10 Champions.



It’s amazing to me that while I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night, there are parts of that season that I remember vividly. I played goalie during the first half of games and generally switched between midfield and forward during the second half. We had a very balanced team with multiple goal-scorers and a solid defense. While I was mediocre as a goalie, my best friend Mitch was the Tim Howard of the league when replacing me in the second half.

In week eight of the ten-game season, we were in second place facing our rival who happened to be in first place. The remaining games for both of us were against teams in the bottom of the standings, so we knew that this game was essentially for the championship.

In a brilliant coaching move, our coach (my dad) decided to start me in the field instead of in goal. Part-way through the first half, I got the ball near the top of the penalty box and took a low shot inside the left post by the diving keeper. That goal turned out to be the only one of the game as Mitch kept our opponents scoreless in the second half. We finished the season 8-1-1, and as you can see by the impressive trophy, earned the CAYSA U-10 Championship!

Here are your World Champion Burgundy Panthers:



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