With the recreation soccer state tournament play beginning today, many teams will be looking to see if the hard work and preparation put in during weeks of practice will finally pay off.

One of those teams is Troy’s nine-and-under girls’ team.

The team is coming off a 2-1 district championship win over Andalusia earlier this month and coach Matt Leverette believes his team will be ready to win another championship this weekend.

“I think the district win put a lot of confidence in this team,” Leverette said.

“They are all really excited and have a great attitude heading into state play – they are going in expecting to win.”

One of the main reasons the coach believes his team will play fairly competitively is because of how much the girls have progressed from the beginning of the year.

“Everyone on the team has come a long way,” he said. “We are getting better in all aspects of the game.”

“We have worked a lot on the fundamentals of the game like handling the ball and penalty kicks.

“Regardless of what happens this weekend, these girls will be better soccer players,” Leverette added.

The last time this team competed in the state tournament, it came away with the title.

However, despite the team’s recent success, Leverette said the path to the state championship will be a difficult one.

“I am expecting very close games this weekend.

“We will be seeing a lot of the same teams we saw last year, and even though all the teams, including us, are different it will be a tough time,” he said.

The girls open up state play at 10:30 a.m. against Ft. Payne followed by a 1:30 p.m. game against Dothan.

The nine-and-under championship game will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

“We have a really special team here who really enjoying playing this game,” Leverette said.

“We have a great group of parents who encourage their kids to be the best and that really makes a difference in the end.

“It has been a lot of fun to coach this team,” he added.