Gainesville's Got Talent!
Players of the U12 Bulldogs won the Quickfoot 4v4 National Championship August 9th & 10th. The championship tournament was held in McKinney Texas at Craig Ranch Soccer Complex. U12 teams from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas & Arkansas participated after qualifying in one or more of the 2007-2008 4v4 tournaments held in several states.
The Bulldogs first qualified in December 2007 at a 4v4 event held in Dallas. The team then participated in other tournament events held between January and June 2008, finishing 1st place in three different tournaments and 2nd place in one. First and Second place teams are invited to the national championship and the Bulldogs were ready to compete.
In the championship event the bulldogs went 3-1-0 in pool play and faced another Texas team (Palestine Wildcats) in the semi-final. The Bulldogs beat the wildcats 5-0 sending them to the championship finals against a Kansas team (Real Madrid) who they faced in pool play and tied 3-3. The Bulldogs were down 1-0 at halftime and came back to win 4-1. It was a tough, well-played game, said Robert LaSalle (Bulldogs Coach), but the team had a halftime chat and decided they were there to be champions and needed to play like it.
The boys are part of a larger team that plays regular fall and spring seasons in Gainesville and look forward to a successful upcoming fall season and many more tournaments to come.