The STA 2008 GA team won the club’s first ever Girls Academy Champions Cup Final on Monday, March 10th against Utah Celtic.
“At the beginning of both the semifinal and final, I told the girls ‘be the best version of yourselves and the best version of us and we will win the game’ and they did just that,” said Kelly Sims, STA Girls Academy Director and 08 GA Head Coach. “I commend the girls for their ability to play under pressure (in front of a filming crew) in four competitive games against top competition that gave us many challenges. This group and all the girls involved truly deserve this. They never miss practice, they put each other and the club first and they work endlessly to raise standards on the field and achieve new goals. Each player had a different role to play and they all played it to the best of their ability, so thank you girls. To have the younger GA girls storm the field was a perfect ending and I am grateful for this group of role models and can’t wait for the rest of the season.”
The Girls Academy Champions Cup Finals took place at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL from March 6th-11th. All eligible STA teams qualified for the finals, from U13-U19. The club had its best performance in program history at this event. Three teams made the quarterfinals (2012, 2008, 2007), two made it to the semifinals (2008, 2007) and the 2008’s won the championship.
“Champions Cup is an event like no other,” said Tom Shields, STA Technical Director. “Every game counts, every point matters and the level of competition is relentless. Win or lose, you likely play a top top team from their respective conference and I was so proud of how the players and staff prepared for and dealt with this. For the staff, it was 5 games per day and 12 hour shifts at the field supporting our teams irrespective of who was playing, before more opposition analysis and team prep for the next day.”
The event also featured over 300+ scouts and college coaches in attendance.
STA will resume league play on March 22nd as teams compete to qualify for playoffs in June.
