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Troy Trojans blasted to the past Thursday afternoon

Staff

Originally published 11:39 p.m., November 8, 2008
Updated 01:17 a.m., November 9, 2008

Photo by Matt Nascone

The Troy 9U girls’ tournament team practiced with the Troy University soccer team Thursday afternoon.

The Troy Parks and Recreation Department 9U girls’ soccer tournament team had a little taste of what it is like to play on the college level Thursday afternoon.

All 15 girls took the short trek to the Troy University Soccer Complex for a scrimmage with the Trojans. Troy 9U head coach Matt Leverette said his girls had an absolute blast.

“We are so grateful for coach Bentley to let us come over here and have some fun,” Leverette said. “Our girls are in an unusual situation because we have never had an all girls squad here in Troy, so this was good for them.”

The 9 year olds took advantage of their opportunity and walked away with a 2-0 victory over the Trojans in the 25-minute scrimmage. Troy coach Chris Bentley said it was all fun and games for his girls.

“It is exciting that Troy has an all girls squad and that just shows that the community has done a good job providing opportunities for the girls in the area,” Bentley said. “And for our girls this is a time to just have fun. You can’t take yourself seriously all the time and this was a great event for them to remember what it was like to be 9 again.”

After the 9U vs. college matchup, the squads split up and had a mixed game with half of each team on either side of the ball.

The idea for the scrimmage came from the brain of Trojan senior midfielder Evelyn Keith. Keith is an assistant coach for the 9U team and she approached Bentley with the idea.

“Evelyn works with them and she asked me if we could do something for them and we then asked the team and the entire team jumped on it,” Bentley said.

Leverette said all his girls had a blast and he is glad to have had the practice against another team.

“We didn’t have a district tournament, so this was good practice for us,” Leverette said.

The 9U girls as well as the 11U tournament team, 13U tournament team, 18U tournament team and possibly the 9U boys’ tournament team will all partake in the state tournament Nov. 15 in Dothan.

Click here for a photo gallery of the Thursday scrimmage

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