Kester Park in Pompano Beach has turned into a soccer haven for aspiring young athletes as the Pompano Beach Youth Soccer League is in full swing with teams enjoying the world’s most popular sport. With four coed age divisions and an all-girls division, there are over 420 members honing their skills, making friends and having fun. The league has 32 teams playing on the pitch.
The regular season started in December and concludes in February followed by a playoff tournament. The 7-9 age division comprises eight clubs with the Black Knights and Blue Angels starting to separate themselves from the pack.
Coached by David Yesbick, the Black Knights enjoyed a dominating performance in defeating the Panthers 5-0. The victory improved the Knights record to 4-0-1. Nipping at their heels is a talented Blue Angels squad that defeated the Thunder 3-1 to remain undefeated at 3-0-2. The Black Knights and Blue Angels registered a 3-3 tie in their only matchup earlier in the season.
Blue Angels player Kaya Ulucay scored two goals, while Teo Cohen chipped in with a score. Dima Berezin was stellar in the goal with a couple of big saves against a Thunder squad that refused to quit. Angels defenseman Brennen Dorval led a strong defensive effort and midfielder Cayden Combs continued to make strong contributions from his position. The Thunder’s Marco Lapera produced the lone goal for his club.
Blue Angels head coach Volkan Ulucay has been coaching Pompano soccer for four years and appreciates the opportunity to teach a sport about which he is so passionate.
“I thank the city of Pompano Beach for organizing recreational youth soccer program every year and for making this happen for the kids, parents and for the development of soccer in the area,” Ulucay said. This is a great socializing, exciting and entertaining event, and you can see an increase in attendance and how excited families are every year.”
The Blue Angels name has special meaning to the players.
“We are inspired by the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, and all the kids on our team love soccer,” Ulucay said. “We are here to have fun, make friends, learn the basics of the game, learn how to unify and work as a team toward a purpose. We learn both from our losses and victories.”
In a featured 10-12 division matchup, So Smooth and Fusion battled to a 1-1 tie. The Fusion’s Manuel Deleon scored first to jump out to an early 1-0 lead before the halftime intermission. So Smooth answered back in the second half with the equalizer on Christian Paton’s rush to the net and subsequent score. So Smooth’s undefeated record remained intact at 4-0-1, while the Fusion improved to 3-1-1. Both teams are chasing the 5-0 Thunder in the eight-team division.
Nico Sansone, Avery Paton, and Luca and Tristan Huang had strong performances for So Smooth, while the Fusion was led by Nicolas Marcano, Timothy Baisden, and Tori and Dominic Vanacore. Between the pipes for the Fusion were Cory Gourdet and Daiyan Rahman.
Other members of So Smooth are Jason Anderson, William Cerna, Sharior Cosmo, Nicholas Gonzales, Tommy Racaniello and Catalina Sansone.
The Fusion squad continues to improve as the season moves on. Other players are Henry Argueta, Joshua Israel, Benjamin Orna, Jason Vlader, Shae Devlin, Jelicia Dixon and Michael Kramme.
