BCWP Fields U16 Team for First Time By Anna Stewart, 08/17/17

The newly-formed U16 squad took to the pool for the first time at the Cincinnati Shoot-out Jose Cerda Memorial Tournament on July 7-8, 2017. The team entered their first game knowing they would be playing against well-established programs. However, they took the challenge in stride and showed well in every game.

Their first game was a Friday afternoon tilt against host Moose. While the Blues struggled to bury their shots, the game remained competitive throughout as they never fell more than three goals down. Arman Abdul and Zachary Ryan powered much of the Bluff City offense, while Alex Vinton chipped in with his first goal! Although the Blues fell 7-9, everyone was excited about the level of play that the team from Memphis exhibited.

Later that evening, Bluff City fell to Columbus 6-18. The combination of Ryan and Mark Addison combined for 5 of the 6 goals scored. Columbus pressured the Blues all over the pool, keeping Bluff City to under 40% shooting from the field on a low number of shots. On the bright side, rookie goalie Jenny Farler showed well collecting five saves. After an especially tough game, the Blues were exhausted and almost everyone’s eyes were burning from the strong chemicals in the pool.

Weary from their first game experiences as a squad, the Blues gathered at the pool Saturday morning ready to compete the Jungle Cats from St. Louis. While falling to the much stronger team 6-20, BCWP used the opportunity to develop individual awareness and proactive ball movement. Ryan again stepped up to score 4 of the team's 6 points, with many of those assists funneled from Addison. Eyes continued to burn and muscles ached, but the spirit and fight from the team remained strong and consistent.

Their final game was against our familiar foes from Georgia, St. Pius. The distribution of those who scored improved as Sarah Straub and Michael Bouchard chipped in offensively to augment the consistent trio of Abdul, Ryan, and Addison. From a possession standpoint, BCWP finally won the turnover battle 14-9. However, despite the improvement in team play, the Blues fell just short to the more experienced SPX team 10-11.

Overall, the U16s went 0-4 for the tournament, but we couldn’t be more proud of their work, improvement, and love of the sport.