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Updated: June 14, 2024 @ 5:52 am
Several members of the Lakelands Toros 2009/10 girls soccer team hold up a banner celebrating their South Carolina President’s Cup title. The team will compete in the US Youth Soccer Southern President’s Cup starting Friday.
Several members of the Lakelands Toros 2009/10 girls soccer team hold up a banner celebrating their South Carolina President’s Cup title. The team will compete in the US Youth Soccer Southern President’s Cup starting Friday.
Jonathan Hughes’ Lakelands Toros 2009/10 girls soccer team has had to wait awhile to get to this moment. It won the South Carolina President’s Cup in January.
Now after months filled with school and playing high school soccer, they’re back — but this time in Texas. The Toros will be participating in the US Youth Soccer Southern President’s Cup starting Friday morning in Plano, Texas.
“It’s a new experience for me, just like it’s a new experience for them, so we’re all just trying to do our best together and hopefully, we represent Toros well when we’re down there,” Hughes said. “It’s just really exciting, I think, for the kids being from a smaller club.
“Typically a lot of the bigger clubs are the ones that are represented down there, but I think it speaks really highly of our club and how those kids have been developed in the past that they’ve been able to make it as far as they have.”
The Toros will be playing against some of the top teams across the South for a chance to play in the national tournament July 12-16 in Wichita, Kansas.
Teams will be placed in one of three four-team pools where each pool winner and a wild card will advance to a four-team bracket. The Toros, a part of Pool A, will play their first match at 11 a.m. Friday against Blitz Academy FC of Oklahoma.
The team will then face MS Rush United of Mississippi 9 a.m. Saturday before playing their final pool game 1 p.m. Sunday against BVFC Champions of Texas.
“I’m very excited,” said Rylee Moore, a player on the team. “It’s going to be fun to go to Texas and play with all of my best friends. It’s just a new experience because we always play in South Carolina.”
The Toros have players from all across the area, including some who play for Greenwood, Emerald, Ninety Six and Greenwood Christian. The team also includes 2024 Lakelands Player of the Year Jacey Coates from Emerald.
“I definitely think we have a talented team. I just think we can’t switch off. We can’t have lapses in concentration. We can’t give poor effort,” Hughes said. “We’ve got to be on it and understand that the level of competition is going to be very high.
“Every second matters, and we’ve got to make sure that we are holding ourselves to a high standard, regardless of what the score is, regardless of who the opponent is, and I think if we do those things, we’ll be all right.”
Contact sports writer Cam Adams at 864-223-1814. Follow him on X @bycamadams.
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