SA UNITED AT THE DALLAS SPORTS SOURCE SHOWCASE

The weekend of December 3rd, saw our 04/05 Boys, our 04/05 Girls and our 07 Boys headed to Dallas to compete in the prestigious 32nd Sport Source Showcase and Clinic.

The 04/05 Boys started and finished their first game in fantastic style, beating 04/05 Solar ECNL Boys 2-1. It was a wonderful result for the team, not only in justifying the way that they set out to play the game, keeping to our clubs philosophy, playing an attractive pressing, possession based, attacking style of soccer, but also the result itself, especially after the fact that this Solar team had already crushed both ECNL San Antonio teams representing our City, 3-0 and 5-0 in the division.

The remaining two games, one on Saturday and one on Sunday were against continued competitive opposition, Lamar Storm SC and Arkansas Rising. Both games were played at break neck speed and high intensity, with the boys unlucky to not come out on top in either game, creating multiple chances in both games and controlling the tempo from start to finish, tiredness and the energy expelled in the previous days game taking its toll.

Overall a fantastic end to their season and showcasing, quite literally, what they can achieve as individuals and as a team.

This young group of players have been a pleasure to work with this season. Newly formed for the 2022/2023 season, they have grown together over the past 13 weeks, not only as individuals but also their team chemistry, technical development, camaraderie, passion for the game and their willingness to work extremely hard for one another has been an absolute pleasure to be a part off. Their overall regular season, with just one unlucky loss all year is testament to just that. The Solar result in particular at the Dallas Sport Source is indicative of their hard work this season, with multiple College representatives expressing their appreciation and interest to the players over the weekend, complementing their style and work rate. I'm extremely excited to see what they can do in the future. - Head Coach, Duncan Cox

Our 04/05 Girls continued their season form with impressive performances across both days of the Showcase. Their first game was against a very good FC Dallas team, with the girls playing a balanced attacking style mirrored by a physical, fast opponent. Several of the girls being spoken to by College coaches.

Their second game of the day was against another FC Dallas team. The girls going into the game full of confidence with the same focus and mentality, coached by Brandon Rodriguez. They continued to press and attack the opposition with an attractive possession based style, although their speed and physicality was a problem throughout the game.

The final game of the Showcase matched the girls against Houston Dash, with the SA United team coming out on top, a dominating performance from start to finish, working the opposition as soon as the game began The girls pressed quickly, kept the ball excellently and attacked non-stop, ultimately winning the game 7-0. Fantastic from this talented team.

This impressive group compiled a Fall record of 10-3-2 across all competitions, inclusive of pre-season, regular season and showcase events. What is outstanding about this group is that they support one another inside and outside of the game. Their strong relationships with each other translate to how they play and compete. The group consists of players who are committed to continue playing at the collegiate level as well as those who are strictly focused on academic endeavors. Regardless, the players have been committed to our style of play, roles and responsibilities, pursuit of individual excellence and servant leadership.

The girls know how to play, they train at a high level, execute our game plan, always have positive attitudes and are strong competitors. This was on full display this entire year as the team played against teams from highly competitive areas of our great state and always played consistently well. The time players have spent together over the years has really come to fruition and produced very good players and strong individuals. The future is very bright for this group! - Head Coach, Brandon Rodriguez

With our 07 Boys attending back to back Showcase events in Austin and Dallas, they continued their excellent development playing against quality opposition and competing at a high level. In their first game the boys played some quality soccer from back to front, competing against ODP with the game ending in a tie. Their second game coming later the same day saw the boys cruise to a 5-0 victory against the Texans, dominating from the very beginning the group continued to play expansive attacking soccer, high pressing the opposition and refusing to let them settle on the ball.

Competing against the Dallas Texans in their final game, the game was played at a frenetic pace with the boys pushing themselves as hard as they could to finish the season strong, falling just short with one goal separating the teams. Overall an excellent display and experience for this fine young group.

This is a group that continues to progress as players and who are growing in our program. This includes technical execution under greater demands and more complex tactical understanding. Each player is becoming proficient in a primary position, but also preparing for secondary positions through deliberate training. With a strong group of returning and newly added players this year, the team has positively improved in how we want to play. This has been demonstrated throughout the regular season where the team has played very competitive matches in select league play. The team also performed very well in showcase events where they demonstrated our style and quality against opponents from North Texas, This is a very strong group of really outstanding players. - Head Coach, Brandon Rodriguez

All Showcase results:

04/05 Boys

V's Solar ECNL | W 2-1 21' | Elijah Lopez 56' | Owen Harris

V's Lamar Storm | L 0-3

V's Arkansas Rising | L 1-3 34' | Joe Worley 04/05 Girls V's FC Dallas | T 1-1 V's FC Dallas | L 0-3 V's Houston Dash | W 7-0 07 Boys V's ODP | T 0-0 V's Texans | W 5-0 V's Dallas Texans | L 1-2