Club likes numbers

The Pulaski United Futbol Club (PUFC) is off to a kicking start in its first official season, with over one hundred players trying out for the club’s multiple soccer teams over two rounds of try-outs.

“To have 120 try out, we’d call that a success,” said PUFC vice-president David Lowe. “It’s a milestone, especially since we just officially started the club in January.”

The club has enough players now for three boys teams (U10, U12 and U14) and two girls teams (U14 and U16) in the fall season.

Lowe says that four of the teams will compete in the Lake Country Soccer League in Springfield. The girls U16 squad will play in the Central Missouri Soccer League in Jefferson City.

Teams will primarily compete in league play, Lowe said, with around 8-10 games per season. Teams will also play in one or two tournaments. In all, the teams will play 14-17 games per season.

He said that there’s also a chance for more teams in the spring. The goal, eventually, is to have boys and girls teams that compete in every age division in both fall and spring.

“There’s a definite need to create an older team for high school boys,” he said. “Maybe a U16 or U17 team. But they can’t play in the fall.”

The high school season is claiming most of the players that might be interested in playing competitive club soccer at that age group; MSHSAA rules state that a player can’t compete for their high school and a club in the same season.

Lowe said that the area wasn’t served by its own high-quality competitive soccer club, so the numbers for of kids wanting to play aren’t surprising. And, the players aren’t just from the immediate Waynesville-St. Robert-Fort Leonard Wood area. The club is “Pulaski United FC” for a reason.

“The fact that was have so many kids from outlying areas [Rolla, Lebanon, Iberia, Plato, Crocker, etc.] speaks to two things,” he said. “First, we finally have this competitive club up and running and second, we have professional trainers on staff.”

Julio and Maximo Reyes, the club’s two main trainers, both played professional soccer in Latin America and are both certified trainers by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). A player wanting instruction from a soccer professional previously had to go play in St. Louis, Kansas Cityor Columbia.

“I don’t know of any other programs in this immediate area who have professional trainers,” Lowe said. “It reinforces what people don’t realize— that pros can do things for kids that amateur coaches cannot. If they’re part of a system, the kids get better.”

The Reyes brothers have dramatically increased the level of soccer competition in the area, Lowe added, and parents have agreed.

“I have noticed a huge difference in my son’s ability to perform on the soccer field since the development of trainers,” Sandy Shelton said in an e-mail to the Daily Guide about the Reyes’ impact on her son Josh’s abilities.

“Josh has developed a great deal in his own personal soccer skills, and they have helped to develop team skills as well.”

Players who want to get serious about soccer, Lowe said, would also benefit from playing on a club team for reasons other than the professional trainers. The players are better because rather than competing against the best players from, say, a single school district or high school or town, they’re competing against the best players in an entire region.

That, combined with the expertise that they Reyes brothers bring to the table, makes the club something too good to pass up for serious soccer players.

“I know that with the help of the professional trainers, our boys will be able to compete and win against teams from bigger areas in our state,” Shelton said.

“That is something that you don’t usually see from a rural area.”

The four teams competing in Lake Country Soccer will begin their seasons on Aug. 29.

For more information on PUFC, visit the club’s Web site at http://www.pulaskiunitedfc.org.