- December 23, 2024
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Braden River Soccer Club will take an important step in its hopes of becoming recognized as one of the top junior club teams in the United States when its 2008 Premier Boys team plays in the Elite Clubs National League's Regional League Finals July 13-17 in Norco, California.
The invitation-only ECNL, which formed in 2017, has in the years since become known as one of, if not the, top club league in the country. The ECNL's Regional League, which Braden River joined in 2021, is one step below the National League, but Braden River Soccer Club general manager Neathan Gibson said he hopes for the club to prove itself worthy of a bid to that level in time.
A good performance at the eight-team Regional League Finals, he said, would be a step in the right direction.
"We are young in the game at this level and we are already making an impact," Gibson said. "A lot of our players are national level quality. But you have to prove your existence in a league over time before you are given a bid to play up (at the next level). You don't get promoted for winning your league once. But we're in the process, and these events help put us on the map. We have to make sure we get results consistently."
Braden River joined the ECNL in the organization's Florida Regional League. The Rage won its league title this season, which put the team in contention for a bid to the Regional League Finals, and it was selected. It will be the first Braden River boys team to play at such a level as the girls side has seen similar success in recent seasons, including an appearance at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in 2021.
At the Regional League Finals, Braden River will be an underdog based purely on its talent pool size. The Rage has approximately 850 competitive players in its system, while clubs it will face in California are much bigger, with some having approximately 15,000 players.
That's not an insurmountable obstacle in the mind of Rage players, who believe their talent and style of play can win out.
"It's all about finding space and keeping the ball, keeping possession," defender Nicolas Dieter said. "We use other teams' weaknesses against them. If we execute, we usually win pretty easily."
Dieter has been with the club's competitive division since he was 8. Dieter said he has known several of his current teammates since that time, having grown in the game alongside them. It's part of the reason the Rage has such good on-field chemistry for a club team.
Other teams are sometimes thrown together for one season at a time, or even for one specific tournament. But the Rage is different.
Since Braden River is interested in building for the future, Gibson said, keeping the majority of kids together makes sense — though the team has also implemented a type of relegation system for its players. Consistently strong skills from one player can be rewarded by moving that player up one level from his birth year; likewise, inconsistent or poor play might mean a trip to a lower level to work things out.
The team's head coach, Luis Salazar, believes the squad can compete in California thanks to its natural aggressive nature.
"This team likes going forward," Salazar said. "It has energy. The players just love soccer and coming out and competing. And at the same time, they are not satisfied with where they are. They want to get better. They want to push themselves, and that is what I expect. They just have to keep that same mentality (at the Regional Finals), in terms of imposing themselves on the other team. They have to trust themselves."
Dieter said it is an honor to be part of the first Braden River boys team to reach this level of success. It also comes with an extra level of seriousness, he said. While the game itself is still fun, everyone on the team is no longer satisfied with only having fun. They come to practice to get better, and everything else is secondary.
But it is not as harsh at it sounds as warm-ups are filled with laughs, Dieter said, and once in a while, Salazar will treat the team with a "fun practice," which usually means the same types of drills but less intensity, which allows the players to show their personalities and to bond.
"(Salazar) just wants more out of us, and that's exactly what we need," Dieter said.
Regardless of what happens at the Regional League Finals, Braden River is convinced this appearance is only the beginning. Gibson said it will start with the club's recreational league, developing players to be ready for its competitive league, in the process creating teams that are technically sharper and more quick to make good on-ball decisions. The hope, Gibson said, is that there is a consistent flow of talent throughout all levels of the club. Gibson said the club is also in talks with other local clubs about forming partnerships that would allow other clubs' top players to represent Braden River at national-level tournament play, or even would take another club under the Braden River umbrella entirely.
Over time, Gibson said, he believes consistent success will earn Braden River the national respect it is seeking. But for now, it is on this team to make a good first impression, and the team is ready for the moment.
"I knew this was going to happen at some point, with the talent we have and the progress we have made," Dieter said. "It was just a matter of time until we showed it in a league setting. And now we're getting somewhere. It's something that we're proud of doing."
