Don Wood, team manager for the U-14 soccer team Team Neeké, reported the girls took second place at the Sky River Diadora Cup in Monroe.

“This year a couple of parents realized there was a group of girls who had played together through the younger recreation leagues and were having to travel elsewhere to increase their level of soccer play,” Wood said.

“We put together a select club on the island through the South Whidbey Youth Soccer Club,” he added. “All these girls attended tryouts back in March of this year, practiced all spring and summer then played in four tournaments with a second-place finish in the Sky River Diadora Tournament.”

Team Neeké started their District 1 level season on Sept. 10 and will finish the season Dec. 17 with a final home game.

“As you can see, this is quite the schedule for a group of 12- to 14-year olds,” Wood added.

“Their current district standing is three wins, two losses and four ties. They enter into their last five games hoping to turn some of those ties into wins,” he said.

Their team is named after the Greek goddess of victory. Nike fashioned their trademark name after this particular goddess, and the South Whidbey Select U-14 girls team has adopted Neeké from its original form as their team name.