2007 (17U) State Premiership
Sunday April 13th at 2:45pm FC United will host SC Miners South in a 17U State Premiership clash. Both clubs are returning to the competition having tasted some success last spring season. FC United returns after a third-place finish in Premiership 1, while SC Miners finished one point off the top in second place in the Premiership II Blue division.
The hosts will not be satisfied with a third-place finish, a demanding club will be looking at the bigger prize. Their 2023 season was still something to look back at with pride as they finished one point off second place, where two out of their three losses came against the first and second place teams. This is the same side that went to the semi-final in the Spring 2023 Presidents Cup where they eventually fell 1-0 against the Winners, Bolingbrook SC. Their losses have come against top opponents, and they have won against many too. FC United may not have reached the summit in these competitions but this will surely serve as great motivation for the players to take that next step.
SC Miners will be looking at the 2023 Premiership II standings, feeling like they deserved more than a second-place finish. They scored 23 goals last season – most in the division – and finished only one point behind the Champions – Aurora Juventud. A respectable team, the Aurora side finished second place in the 2023 Spring Presidents Cup. SC Miners lost their only game of the Premiership season to the Presidents Cup Finalist in a highly contested 3-2 result. With said number of goals scored last go around, SC Miners may have one of the scariest attacking units in the division – they scored 5 or more goals in three out of their six games last season!
This will be the opening game for both sides, and both coaches were asked how important it is to begin the season with a positive result. Coach Sasha Bogosavljevic of FC United stated, “The first game, in most cases, sets the tone for the rest of the season. It is always good to bring home a good result however, completing certain aspects of the game successfully could be considered positive for the period to come.” This is a game where both squads need to come in motivated and ready to prove their worth. We asked what the message to the team is to get them motivated, to which Coach Sasha responded, “Every game matters, every minute on the field enriches you and make you a better player, of course with the right attitude and mindset. Sooner or later hard work always pay off and unlock unlimited potential.” The bigger picture is what he looks to motivate the team, and the team knows the image of unlimited potential and becoming a better player begins with the performance this weekend.
Coach for SC Miners, Luke VantLand is excited for his team to prove they belong in the Premiership I division. “Since this will be our first match in Premiership I as we were promoted this season from Prem II, we want to show that we can compete at this level with top-tier clubs like FC United,” said coach Luke. The SC Miners coach stated he did not really feel like he had to say much to motivate the team, “The players have done a great job motivating themselves the past couple seasons as they have continued to advance upwards and performed well in key matches. I’m confident that we will be ready to play,” he said.
Both coaches were then asked what they are most excited to see in their team in their 2024 season debut and while the answers differed, the answers had similar conclusions. Coach Sasha stated, “I want to see idea, creativity, ‘thinking and doing something out of the box” not just pattern play, at the same time game stability and endurance to last.” Coach Luke said, “It’s exciting to watch the boys coach each other on the field (which means less coaching for me!) and execute on all the tactics that we have worked on as a group over the past few seasons.” They both are excited to see their team’s personality and to see that individuality that can come with it. To see that growth of the individual player play out in a group setting.
There will be many adversaries in the 17U division and to get a positive result, both teams know the focus needs to be on team in front of them come Saturday, April 13th.