AYSO completes successful 2nd season

More than 220 children ages 4-13 took part in Colusa County's second season of American Youth Soccer Organization play.

Players from Arbuckle, Williams, Maxwell, and Colusa played on fields throughout the county.

At the end of the regular season, a regional tournament was held and the winners from the U-10, U-12 and U-14 age divisions went on to represent Colusa County in the area tournament on Nov. 17-18 in Davis.

At this tournament, the Colusa County U-14 girls team, coached by Rafael Madrigal, shut out Rio Linda 10-0, then went on to lose 0-5 to a Davis team. The U-14 Girls placed third overall in the tournament.

At the same tournament, the Colusa County U-12 boys team, coached by Guillermo Hernandez, Brian Cervantes and Jerardo Velazquez, beat Capay 2-1 and Davis 1-0, earning first place.

In another impressive display by Colusa County soccer kids, the U-10 co-ed team, coached by Enrique Gonzalez and Israel Flores, also earned first place in the area tournament by beating Antelope 5-3 and shutting out Winters 5-0.

The U-12 and U-10 teams went on to compete in the Sectional tournament in Foster City on Dec. 8-9. The U-12 boys, known as Colusa County Argentina, beat Mountain View 3-2 and tied against Mammoth 2-2.

The U-10 team, known as Colusa County Manchester, beat Saratoga 4-1 as well as Mountain View 3-2. The Manchester team placed second overall in the Sectional tournament, when they lost to Foster City 4-3 in the championship game.

Colusa County AYSO was completely run by volunteers this year and supported by the registration fees as well as local businesses. The volunteers who worked very hard this past year are extremely proud of the success of the program.

The league needs bilingual volunteers to be assistant registrars and coach administrators next season. A board meeting will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Arbuckle Parks and Recreation office, 309 5th Street in Arbuckle.