After five years as a “travel team” but never actually going anywhere, the Alliance finally proved that indeed, we can travel. Our trip begins on Friday, early afternoon for most of us, late late late for some of us. Leaving DC on any Friday afternoon is a lesson in patience, but to leave on a beautiful warm, long holiday weekend in early fall, is truly only for the adventurous of spirit and those who are brave of heart, willing to embrace a challenge, or to lovingly accommodate one’s beloved soccer player. Records may in fact have been set for the longest travel time between Washington & Richmond. Combine heavy traffic with extensive and seeming endless highway repair work on I 64 at the Chesapeake tunnel left drivers frustrated but forged & strengthened friendships between players. Eventually the Alliance trickled into Virginia Beach late Friday after a painfully long commute -- but with the rap music blasting at full volume, why complain? We’re going to the beach!
After several more weary Alliance families arrived with a gang of players (play-ars) the team was ready to party. The swarm of “Northside” play-ars, met up with the ""Southside" play-ars (the U-17 Arlington Assault) for football (American Style) on the sand in the moonlight. (Visualize Jets vs. Sharks) Only one thing missing from this Norman Rockwell portrait… where are all the girls? It is rumored that a Washington area WAGS tournament kept all the older girls away from Virginia Beach. A slight glitch in the recreational plans.
Now, for the games. Both games on Saturday did not yield the results the Alliance had hoped for as they faced opponents who should have been placed in higher tournament brackets. In our first game against the SOCA Lightning (a Charlottesville VA Premiere League) the Alliance came out strong but faltered against the intense speed of the Lightning who started slow, but stepped up the pace once they determined that they were up against a strong Alliance offense. The Alliance held forth a valiant effort, but lost 5 – 0. Our second game pitted the Alliance against the CSSC Fire, a local team from the Chesapeake region who play up in the U-17 bracket during the regular season, but plays U-16 for tournaments. Gotta bring home a trophy. Again, the Alliance faced a tough competitor and walked away with a 7 – 2 loss. They kept their heads up regardless and were able to break through the defense for at least two goals. The Fire went on to the finals and ultimately ended up in second place.
The glory of victory came during our final game, at 8:00 am, after a late night of poker and searching...but never able to find a U-16 girls team. The team was pumped up after the late arrival of Sam, our defensive ringer. His presence fortified the team so the Alliance could take control of the pitch to finish the weekend with a win against a strong Williamsburg team and memories of a great time; finishing the weekend with a 3-1 win.
After a weekend of running on adrenaline, the car ride home was quick, painless and rap-free as the exhausted team slept blissfully the entire way back.
