U-10 select soccer team wins summer tournament

September 5, 2017 6:00 pm
Contributed photo — South Whidbey Mutiny won the Silver Division of the Snohomish Bigfoot Tournament on Aug. 21. Back row, from left to right: Coach Chris Layman, Jett Pozarycki, Sean Byler, Jack Hempel, Walden McKell, Abram Durham, Coach Steve Byler. Front row, from left to right: Sammy Cheren, Johnny Haines, Colten Smith, Caleb Arndt, Levi Dixon, Silas Merino.
Contributed photo — South Whidbey Mutiny won the Silver Division of the Snohomish Bigfoot Tournament on Aug. 21. Back row, from left to right: Coach Chris Layman, Jett Pozarycki, Sean Byler, Jack Hempel, Walden McKell, Abram Durham, Coach Steve Byler. Front row, from left to right: Sammy Cheren, Johnny Haines, Colten Smith, Caleb Arndt, Levi Dixon, Silas Merino.

South Whidbey Mutiny, a U-10 select soccer team, won the silver division of the Snohomish Bigfoot Tournament on Aug. 18-21.

The Mutiny went 3-1 over the four day tournament. The 11-man team is coached by Steve Byler and Chris Layman. As is typical for South Whidbey select and club teams, the Mutiny faced teams which had a far larger drawing pool to select players from, due to the size of their clubs and the area they play in. Byler said the competition spoke a great deal about the Mutiny’s effort and performances on the field.

“All of the players were really amazing,” Byler said.

The team is also the first U-10 team to represent the South Whidbey Youth Soccer Club.

The Mutiny beat Crossfire Premiere-Oyer 7-1 on Friday, followed by a 6-3 win over South Lake Select on Saturday. It’s only stumble came on Sunday, when it lost 9-1 to Crossfire Premiere-Rilatt.

The Mutiny’s two prior wins still put them into the championship, where they faced Greater Seattle Surf. South Whidbey won handily, 7-2.

“In each game, we were able to apply what we’ve learned in practice, such as the ability to possess the ball and good passing,” Byler said. “…Incrementally, we worked on those things throughout all four games. Also, our defense was really solid. The last game, we clearly put it all together.”