Heart Mountain youth soccer experiences Vegas tournament

Posted 12/9/21

Attending a tournament outside of Wyoming is a rare occurrence for youth soccer clubs in the state, but the Heart Mountain United under-10 boys got the experience of a lifetime last month, when they …

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Heart Mountain youth soccer experiences Vegas tournament

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Attending a tournament outside of Wyoming is a rare occurrence for youth soccer clubs in the state, but the Heart Mountain United under-10 boys got the experience of a lifetime last month, when they traveled to the Las Vegas Thanksgiving Classic.

“This is the first time in four or five years and maybe ever that the club has sent kids to a tournament like this,” United head coach Travis Rapp said.

The Nov. 26-28 tournament started on a high note for Heart Mountain, as Cyrus Graham scored a goal within the first three minutes of their match against Albion SC Las Vegas Academy.

Vegas quickly responded, but a free kick by Paelé Rapp put United back up 2-1. 

Another response by Vegas evened the match, but another goal by Graham put Heart Mountain up 3-2 at halftime.

In the second half, both teams scored a goal, with Liam Wolford’s kick representing the winning goal for Heart Mountain. The Powell team took its first match 4-3.

Heading into their second and third matches, Heart Mountain was unable to find the net as the team lost 5-0 to Las Vegas Soccer Association Red, and 4-0 against eventual tournament runners-up Laroca Futbol.

Coach Rapp was proud of how the team battled against Laroca, being able to keep them in check compared to most of the teams in the tournament.

In their final consolation game, Heart Mountain looked to finish with an even 2-2 record for the weekend, and was able to walk away with a victory over Idaho Surf. In that game, Graham added another early goal, and Paelé Rapp added a hat trick to finish the 4-3 victory.

Overall for the weekend, goalkeeper Kenny Parker finished with 26 saves over four matches.

Heading into the tournament, the team was playing with no substitutions, which forced coaches Rapp and Chad Curtis to put players in positions they’d never played before.

Those players for the tournament included Paelé Rapp, Wolford, Graham and Parker, in addition to Braeden Curtis, Cristiano D’Allessandro and Kolbie Parker.

It is not often that Wyoming’s club teams get the opportunity to play at these tournaments; typically teams attend these tournaments as part of the Olympic Development Program (ODP) or the 307 Academy.

In order for the Heart Mountain team to go, they performed fundraising activities throughout the year, which helped relieve some of the cost to parents. 

Coach Rapp was hoping to show the team how hard other teams from outside of Wyoming work and the different skill levels that are out there, since the team rarely gets to play teams outside of the Cowboy State.

“The main thing I wanted these boys to see is that growth is continual,” coach Rapp said. 

He said kids on the 10U team have ambitions to play soccer at a high level when they are older. The coach felt showing them what it’s like to face teams from California and Las Vegas that play year-round would help show the dedication it takes to continue to perform at a high level.

Heart Mountain has begun signups for their spring soccer season, which will include a new age group of 6U to help incorporate more youth into the program at a younger age and play locally before moving into travel soccer.

Signups will be from age groups 6U all the way through high school, and they will continue through the end of January.

“The club is trying to continue to grow and absorb kids out of the community,” coach Rapp said.

He hopes the recent trip to Las Vegas will be the beginning of a new tradition for the club as it looks to send more teams to bigger tournaments to gain experience outside of Wyoming.

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