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Health & Fitness

La Mesa Soccer Teams Strive to Win at Area All-Stars Tournament

Eight La Mesa AYSO teams recently competed in the Area 11v All Stars Tournament with the boys under 12 team advancing to play in the upcoming Regional playoffs in Garden Grove.

Held over two successive weekends in January, the Area 11v All Stars Tournament brought the best of the best in local AYSO players to compete for the chance to advance to the Regional All Stars playoffs held in Garden Grove. 

La Mesa AYSO sent eight boys and girls teams, ranging in age from under 10 to under 14.  Those teams played against other All Stars from the 11v regions, which also include El Cajon, Santee, Lakeside, Alpine, Jamul, Julian, and Borrego Springs. 

According to Rob Pennoyer, Referee Administrator for La Mesa AYSO, there are over 6,000 youth from age 5 to 18 playing on teams in Area 11v.  All Stars are selected in November and often play in multiple competitions to prepare for the Area tournament. 

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Different AYSO regions host the various games with La Mesa Middle School as the site for the boys and girls under 12 matches.  The games were hard fought and all players gave their best efforts to help their teams try for victory. 

Ultimately the boys under 12 team, coached by Rob Coppo, won a difficult final match against El Cajon to advance to the Regional playoffs in February.  The girls under 12 team, coached by Craig Angarola, played a close game with Lakeside and took second place. 

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Special sportsmanship awards were given out to two girls from each team after the match and all the girls posed together for a finalist’s picture.  The boys under 14, coached by Tom Tjossem, also made it to the final match taking a second place against El Cajon. 

One of the La Mesa girls under 10 teams played a spectacular semifinal game, moving first to overtime and then a penalty kick shootout.  It was close but the other team ultimately won the shootout to advance to the final match. 

Congratulations to all teams for skillful play and sportsmanship!  Best of luck to the boys under 12 team in their upcoming Regional competition.

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