Last weekend saw teams from Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania come together for the Internationals Soccer Club 39th All-Star Indoor Tournament. Over 50 teams competed in ten brackets over three days of intense indoor soccer. Each team played a minimum of three games with many brackets concluding with final games on Sunday afternoon.
It was a strong weekend for the Internationals taking home eight of the ten titles that were up for grabs. In the U10 Competitive Division the Internationals 2009 Blue team won an intense final in sudden death overtime against Cloverleaf Thunder U10 Girls. Internationals 2008 Red came away from the weekend as champions in the U11 Premier Division, winning all four of its games to top the table. The team scored an impressive 21 goals and only conceded three over their four games. In the U11 Competitive Division Internationals 2008 Blue played Internationals 2009 Red in the final, which was decided by just two goals. The older team came out on top after a very close and exciting game. ISC 2006 Red claimed victory in the U12 Division with an impressive win over the CSAIU Pre-DA Team. It was a game that saw the Internationals go up early in the game and then hold the lead there after ending with a 4-2 victory.
In the older divisions Internationals 2006 Red were dominant, winning all four of its U13 Premier Division. They played some great attacking soccer while its defense kept the opposition to three goals in four games. The U13 Competitive Division saw two Internationals teams playing in the final, with the game having to be decided in overtime after the game ended in a 0-0 tie. Internationals 2006 Blue Horan claimed victory in another 3v3 sudden death overtime game over its Internationals teammates on the 2006 Blue Pugh team.
The U14 Premier Division was one of the two brackets won by non-Internationals teams. Liberty FC U14 GLA won a close final 2-1 over the Internationals 05/06 Red team. Continuing in the older divisions Internationals 2005 Blue Rapinoe team beat the Internationals 2005 Blue Lavelle team in the final 4-0. Both teams made it to the final, winning all three of their group games and combining for an impressive 30 goals while conceding only five goals along the way.
The two High School Divisions saw Internationals 2005 Red and Erie Admirals HS Girls come away as champions. In the Premier Division the Internationals 2004 Red team beats its 2005 Red counterparts 6-2 while the Erie Admirals HS Girls came away victorious in the last game of the event with a 5-4 victory over Internationals 03/04 Lloyd.
"We are very pleased with the soccer that took place this weekend in all of our age groups," said Mark Platts, one of the tournament directors. "We had new teams join our tournament this year and provided the event with some strong brackets and great learning experiences for the players. We would not have been able to host the event without the sponsorship of Dr. Edward Soltesz and the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Our club cannot thank the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Soltesz enough for the great support of our event and helping us to continue to offer the All-Star Indoor Tournament for our members."
The tournament also welcomed back Coaching Director Keri Sarver to the event, having been away with the U.S. Youth National Teams for several years. Joining Sarver for the weekend were two other coaches heavily involved in our country’s national teams in Jitka Klimkova and April Heinrichs. Both Klimkova and Heinrichs served as guest coaches for several of the Internationals teams and presented some of the winning teams with their championship awards. Klimkova was recently the head coach for the U20 Women's National Team, while Heinrichs has enjoyed a legendary career as a full Women's National Team player and coach. Most recently, Heinrichs served as the Women's Youth National Teams Technical Director for the United States Soccer Federation from 2011 through 2018. It was an amazing opportunity for our players and guests to be surrounded by some of the most accomplished coaches in the women’s game.