Soccer Teams Kicked Off The Season in Fashion
By Matt High, Athletics Program Coordinator, CHS
Photos by Mike Tribby

The City of Sunny Isles Beach Cultural and Human Services Department, Athletics Division, “kicked” off the season with an impressive showing. The soccer teams are comprised of 2 teams in the Under 6 age group that are coached by Marcelo Essaba, Terry Walker, Diego Echeverria, and Kyle Long; the Under 8 is comprised of 2 teams that are coached by Ray Sellars, Luis Segovia, Jason Sheppard, and Victor Mercedes; the Under 10 age group is comprised of 2 teams that are coached by Jessica Lenoir, Matt Allen, Luis Segovia, and Victor Mercedes; the Under 12 age group is comprised of 2 teams that are coached by Sergio Vuguin, Diego Echeverria, and Patrick Noriega; and the Under 15 age is comprised of 1 team coached by Sergio Vuguin, Diego Echeverria, and Patrick Noriega.

The teams play in the Greater North Miami Soccer League which consist of 10 teams from the surrounding areas. Games are played on Saturday mornings at Douglas Park in Coral Gables, Shenandoah Park in South Miami, and North Miami Athletic Stadium at FIU North Campus.

The soccer teams started practice in the middle of September and the season runs through mid-December. Our first game was October 14th which was played at Senator Gwen Margolis Park in Sunny Isles Beach. This was an inter-squad game that kicked the season off. The participants along with their parents had a great time. Since the Under 15 squad has only one team, they played on Wednesday, October 18th at Mishcon Park in North Miami Beach under the lights. The Sunny Isles Beach team beat Soccer Paradise with a score of 2-1. The game was very exciting with a lot of defense being played. Our league play started on October 21st at Douglas Park in Coconut Grove. It consisted of an opening ceremony which the teams marched onto the soccer fields with a flag bearing pageantry. Also, there was a mounted officer on hand as well as a plane with a banner welcoming all the participants and parents to the league. The teams faired well winning 6 games, tying 2 games, and only losing one game. Not bad for the first games. The coaches had their teams well-prepared and the results indicate a great upcoming season for the teams.

Unfortunately, the games for October 28th were cancelled due to inclement weather.

This year the registrations for soccer were the highest ever. We anticipate a fun-filled year. Also, cheerleading started at the same time as soccer. More to come with cheerleading in a future edition. The traveling soccer league will begin after the recreational season concludes.

If you have a chance, please come and support your Sunny Isles Beach Soccer program as well as the cheerleading program.

Below is a schedule of the games and parks:

For more information regarding the exact time of specific teams, please call the Cultural and Human Services Department at 305.792.1706.

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