ORLANDO – For the second straight year, at least one team from Ohio has won a national championship.
Fourteen (14) teams from across Ohio qualified to participate in the 2023 US Youth Soccer National Championships at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida in July. Qualification occurs via participation in the National League path or the NCS path (State Cup, Midwest Regional Championships).
In addition, the Columbus United G10 Toffees qualified for the National Presidents Cup – a separate but intense event – by virtue of winning the Ohio Presidents Cup (state) and the Midwest Presidents Cup (regional).
The teams participating in the National Championships from Ohio included:
- Barca Academy Columbus Premier 05G
- Club Ohio 09B National
- Club Ohio 06G Green I
- Club Ohio Dayton 07G Elite
- Club Ohio Dayton 09G Elite
- Columbus United G10 Lions
- CUP 04B Gold
- CUP 05B Gold
- CUP 06B Gold
- FC Dayton G05
- Kings Hammer North G07 Red
- Spire FC 04B
- Spire FC 07B
- Sporting Columbus B09 Academy
A testament to the strength of the competition, only four teams reached the semifinals (or final in one case), although several teams had it all to play for on the final day of group play.
Four teams still in the hunt.
— Ohio Soccer Association (@theohiosoccer) July 21, 2023
Catch @Columbus_United G10 Lions in the 13UG Final this afternoon at 5p on ESPN+!
Good luck! #FORitALL pic.twitter.com/vSVTWbdiXm
Columbus United G10 Lions, Spire FC 04B, Sporting Columbus B09 Academy, and Club Ohio 09B National each progressed to the knockout round. Columbus United G10 Lions advanced straight to the final due to the singular bracket in the age group (13U).
Columbus United
National Presidents Cup: The G10 Toffees would have to get past teams from some major clubs, including Saint Louis Scott Gallagher (MO), FC Alliance (TN), and Kansas Rush Wichita (KS) in the final – and they did, winning 3-1 in the final to secure the first National title of any kind for the club!
National Championships: In a tough final against Solar SC, one of the top clubs in Texas, the G10 Lions would come out on top 2-0 to secure the second national title in the same summer and in the same age group for the club.
Club director Simon Davis on his club’s summer success:
“Both teams set out at the start of the year with the goal of winning a national title.
Our Columbus United G10 Toffees in the Presidents Cup had an amazing run of 15/15 wins, scoring 3+ goals in every game. The girls’ preparation and dedication for each game was perfect and their commitment to this made a huge impact on and off the field. We had to pull through a number of challenging situations, such as being down 2-0 in our third game at Regionals [Midwest Presidents Cup], going behind twice in our first game at the National Presidents Cup, and going behind early in the second half of the final – but the girls showed great confidence and ability to turn those games around into winning positions.
Seeing the Toffees win the National Presidents Cup was a very emotional moment, as it was such a big achievement for the club and all these players. I am so proud of them all.
Our G10 Lions felt the pressure of what the G10 Toffees had achieved. The Toffees had already won regionals and nationals the week before the Lions started, so they knew they needed to match it when it was their turn.
The Lions won the club’s first women’s USYS State Cup title and didn’t concede a goal all event. This was a huge moment for us after finishing semi finalist and finalist at U11 and U12. The team then moved on to the Midwest Regional Championships in Missouri in June. Again the girls got going early and won both the first two games to advance into the semi-finals. The semi-final was a very tough match against Galaxies from Illinois, but after extra time we won 4-2.
The final of regionals was against NWI from Northern Indiana. Our only loss of the spring in Great Lakes Conference (regional league) came against this team. This time in the final, the girls came out firing and won 4-0 to clinch the regional title and book their spot at Nationals.
The National Championships was unbelievable. You just knew you were a part of the biggest youth soccer event in the country from the start. We had to play the champions of the three other regional championships (East, West, and South) with the top two going into the finals. After the first two games resulted in wins, it meant the third game was going to be the same team we would meet in the final, as they also won their first two games (would end in a 0-0 draw).
The final was shown live on ESPNU and was played in the stadium, which was an incredible experience for all the players. The girls won 2-0 and were the only team, boys and girls, U13-19 across the entire event, to not concede a goal.
As a coach of 21 years, it has always been a dream to take a team to win a National Championship. To do this twice in the same year with the same age group is something I could not be prouder of. These girls have worked so hard over the years to achieve this and have given each other, their families, and coaches memories that will never be forgotten. We are so proud as a club of their achievements and now we need to set our goals for next year and go again.”
Spire FC
Having qualified for the National Championships for a second time via National League, the team was coming in with an understanding of the level of play required.
After advancing out of the group, the 04B would line up against FC Bucks (PA) in the 19U semifinal, but ultimately fall just short in a very tightly contested affair 3-2.
Coach Sean Lane shares his thoughts, “We came to the competition with high expectations, not only from within our own group, but that the competition would be tough…we were not disappointed. The standard in the competition is high and had some really good, high quality players.
We qualified well through the group but had a disappointing second half in our semi-final and wound up losing the game 3-2.
We looking forward to getting back down to Orlando next year to go a couple of steps further.”
Club Ohio + Sporting Columbus
It is very rare to have two teams from the same state in the same age group reach the final of a National Championship, but that’s what happened this summer.
A rematch of the Ohio State Cup final in June, Club Ohio 09B National and Sporting Columbus B09 Academy are familiar opponents – even playing friendlies against each other earlier in the year.
Club Ohio 09B National would earn the same result as in State Cup, coming out National Champions against their in-state rival and securing the club’s first-ever USYS National title.
Coach Ika Khutso remarked, “Our experience at the National Championships was amazing. US Youth Soccer did amazing job. Everything was top-notch and they created incredibly competitive and fun environment in Orlando.
The level of play was very competitive. We were placed in a tough group. Two teams in our group won their National League bracket and the third team was ranked #1 in Virginia, so we expected hard competition and it didn’t disappoint. Every game was a battle. It was incredible when we found out that we would play our rival from Columbus in the final. They always push us to our limits. It was a great game and both teams should be proud for what they have accomplished in this season.
Players and coaching staff put lots of work and effort in the preparation and I am very happy it payed off. We couldn’t be more proud of our players. They worked extremely hard during the trainings so they could be well prepared for coming in. These games are the reason why you work so hard as a player during training. The boys played very hard against strong opponents and they deserved this. We created lots of memories and they will never forget this experience in their life.
This is the first USYS National Championship title for Club Ohio, so it means a lot to our club. Everyone in our academy was very happy about it and very proud of our boys. I received lots of calls and texts from coaches and families after the game. I know they were watching our championship game live to cheer for us from Columbus and I really appreciate that.”
Sporting Columbus coach Tom Presthus echoed many of the same remarks, and despite not achieving the desired result remained upbeat and positive about his teams accomplishments:
“We had a great experience at the USYS National Championship Series. The event was extremely well run. Participating in USYS Nationals was a rewarding way to end our time together at Sporting Columbus. The spring season was emotionally and mentally challenging for our team, knowing everyone would be going in different directions next season. I had planned to take a break from coaching, a few of our boys have committed to Crew Academy and were already training and playing with them all year, and others were starting high school soccer. Everyone knew this was our last event together and we tried to cherish it as much as possible.
There is an option to take up to three guest players to Nationals. We opted to take our league roster to Nationals rather than add more players or make changes. We are a tight group and it was really important for us to keep the group that had been together all year. The connection within the team was a big reason for our success throughout the week, but the heat and amount of games certainly took its toll on us.
The six weeks between State Cup and Nationals allowed us to take a couple weeks off. Some of our guys that were playing with Crew Academy had MLS Next Playoffs late June, so that left us just a couple weeks in early July to prepare for Nationals. One of the main reasons this group was so successful was because the trainings are so intense. The boys love to compete, so we focused on making those sessions competitive and fun. One of our favorite traditions is a massive water balloon fight at the last practice and this year some of my former players joined the battle.
The level of competition was fantastic, all of our games were close and we were able to advance out of group play. We played a top team from Texas in the semifinal and that game ended up going our way in the last minute. The final against Club Ohio was emotional. They are our local rival and we’ve played each other close for years. We also knew it was our last game as a team. I had been coaching some of the boys for nearly ten years. We got the feeling that our guys were driven to battle all week because they didn’t want it to end. That’s what I will remember most from the week. These are great boys that love to play soccer together. We are very grateful to have ended our time together at the National Championship. We fought to the end and came up a little short, but couldn’t be more proud.”
OSA CEO Gordon Henderson concludes, “We are thrilled that OSA had fourteen teams at the NCS National Championships and one at the Presidents Cup National Championships. It truly speaks to the depth of competition within OSA, our leagues, and US Youth Soccer.
Congratulations to Club Ohio on their national title and Columbus United, who completed the ‘double’, with both Presidents and NCS National titles. We also congratulate Sporting Columbus and Spire on getting so far – a fantastic achievement.”
We are proud of the manner in which Ohio was represented by all our teams.”
