The SMSC Elite ‘09 girls team is headed to the National Championship in Kansas

One local soccer team is making a name for themselves not only across the state, but the entire nation! 

The South Mississippi Soccer Club’s Elite ’09 girls team are writing their names in the history books, and they’re not done yet. Layla Martinez plays right back for the squad, and she could tell the team was something special when they began practicing more.

“At the beginning of the season we were just doing two days a week, and we moved to three days a week to really just lock in and work harder,” Martinez said. “I think that pushed us to do better, and then we’ve just been going and doing better every tournament I feel like.”

The journey started back in May when the girls played in Tupelo for the State Cup, and then they moved onto the Southern Regional tournament in South Carolina last month.

The girls eliminated Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas, but came up short in the championship to Tennessee in penalty kicks. Although they didn’t come home with the trophy, they are still one of just eight teams that qualify for the national president’s cup in Kansas.

“We’re very excited to go to Kansas for nationals because we’ve worked hard all season for this experience and opportunity, so we’re very excited,” said center midfielder Adalyn Snell.

The ’09 squad is the youngest team to make it to this point in SMSC history, but the team’s success is no surprise to their head coach, Nick Middleton.

“I’m not surprised by their success,” Middleton said. “It just goes on how hard they work in training and mindset throughout the entire year, and this is well deserved for this group. They really put in the work for it and we’re just excited about the opportunity.”

The girls will be playing teams from Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Southern Utah, Seattle, and Nashville. The team will proudly wear the southern patch, while also representing their community and state.

Attacking midfield and striker Katherine Wall said, “I wanted to mention how happy we are to represent our community and the gulf coast as well as our state, and just how honored we are just to be here and to get this far after all the hand work we’ve done. it’s really amazing.”

“I think it’s very fun that we all get to experience this with each other and I wouldn’t rather do it with anybody else,” said striker Cadence Cook.

The girls will be competing for the National Championship July 6th-July 11th.