The Savannah United 2010 Girls Premier team has mostly been together since the members of the team were 9-year-olds playing Academy soccer, and it has been evident that it was a talented group from day one.
The talent, perserverance and continuity paid off this spring as the team won both the United States Youth Soccer National League Piedmont Conference and the USYS Georgia State Cup. The team qualified for USYS Qualified to play in the USYS Southern Regional Championships in Baton Rouge, La., June 23-29.
"They’ve been together for quite some time, and that always helps," said head coach David Shuman, who is in his first year of coaching team. "They’re a hardworking group that puts in the effort. The environment in training is so intense, and that has helped them develop quickly. They push each other a lot during training, and the starting 11 are all top end players so it's a good environment for everyone to continue to develop."
In the Piedmont Conference (which includes teams from South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia), the team's record was 9-0-2 while socring 31 goals and only allowing three goals. In the Georgia State Cup, the Premier scored eight goals and didn't surrender a goal while winning four games.
"It's a massive accomplishment (to win the conference and the state cup) in your first year playing 11 vs 11 on the big field," Shuman said. "We’ve had some other girls' teams that have done something similar but not until they were 16, 17 or 18 years old. It really comes down to the group being bought in with team training and sticking together through the ups and downs."
The Savannah United 2010 Girls Premier 2023 Roster:
Addison Locke
Alysa Gibson
Anna Melissa Torres
Ava Gower
Bella Turner
Brooklyn Linstroth
Callie Griffith
Elin Cerkoney
Eliza Reeves
Emily Whittle
Julianna Kitchen
Kiley Singleton
Olivia Melich (GK)
Reese Creeden
Winnie Estabrook
