Out of the five recreation soccer teams competing for Troy, all but one will be in action this weekend.

The 11-and-under girls will in the position that the other teams will be playing for this weekend, as the team received an automatic bye to the state tournament.

While many would look at that as good fortune, head coach Tim Bobo looks as it as a good time to improve.

“We have been together now for about two weeks and lately we have been practicing and conditioning a lot trying to get ready for the state level.

“We have a really good group of kids all over the place on the team. They all have been working hard the last couple of weeks.”

That ‘good group’ is made up of Sadie Allen, Caitlin Bobo, Peighton Carpenter, Cathia Cook, Sophia Davenport, Lacy Earles, Lindsey Fox, Kaylin Gibson, Kassidy Hester, Nesley Leverette, Abigail Salmon, Jessica Shipmon and Rose Snyder.

Eight of those girls were a part of the state championship team two years ago, and another three were on the runner-up team from last season, so Bobo knows his team is capable of doing big things when it matters the most.

“For a lot of the girls on this team to have experience in tournaments and know what it takes to win is obviously big,” the coach said.

“They have been there before and we can use that experience to our advantage.”

With the state competition still over two weeks away, Bobo said he hopes his team can to continue to work hard.

“There are some things we would like to get better in, like working together, shooting the ball when we have open shots and passing.

“But the girls are really eager to continue to get better. They want to do well this year, and hopefully, we will be ready to go,” he said.