Charles City is hot for soccer

YMCA coaches, players, referees can’t wait for first high school team(s)

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — When the Charles City Board of Education announced it was adding soccer to the 2017-18 school calendar, one thing was for certain — there would be few if any instances of games being canceled and postponed due to inclement weather.

Like football, futbol is meant to be played in most all conditions that don’t involve lightning.

Thus, the unseasonably cold Saturday morning and afternoon didn’t quell Charles City YMCA Youth Soccer League action at the College Grounds. And with all the pitches being used and surrounded, there didn’t seem to be too many absentees in players and fans.

Among the soccer enthusiasts who served as more than a passive observer was Charles City sophomore Mariah McKenzie, who’s one of the league’s volunteer referees.

“It’s something I like to do to support soccer around here,” McKenzie said.

Among the extracurricular activities  McKenzie has been involved with is Charles City’s Soccer Club. McKenzie also plays soccer — but for Mason City.

“Last year, we only had a contract with them for their boys team,” McKenzie said. “This year, I got to play on their girls team, but it’s still a pain to drive all the way down there after school.

“Now that high school soccer is coming here, it’s going to be a great opportunity.”

Isaak Jensen is another CC high school student who refs for the youth league. Like McKenzie, Jensen’s excited about the prospect of playing soccer for the Comets.

But he may have to drop a spring sport he’s currently participating in.

“It would be too difficult to do both at once,” said Jensen, who runs track for the Comets. “I would likely go with soccer … it’s my favorite sport.”

Soccer is also Sherry Jones’s favorite sport. She is a coach in the YMCA league, where her daughter, Hannah, and her son, Cole, plays.

“(Hannah) is in 7th grade, and she was thrilled to hear of soccer coming to the high school,” Jones said. “She was thinking she would need to go to Mason City to continue to play.”

Though high school soccer is still a ways off for 4th-grader Cole, Jones believes he’s destined to play for the Comets.

“Soccer is the game he loves,” Jones said. “There are a lot of kids where football and basketball are not their favorite sports, but soccer gives them another option.

“Soccer encourages teamwork and keeps kids physically fit and out of trouble. There are over 300 kids who participate in the YMCA soccer season so the interest is definitely there to support a high school team.”

Charles City freshman Hayden Pleggenkuhle, another league referee, believes there is enough local talent for a Comet team or teams to be competitive from the start.

“You see it out here every week,” said Pleggenkuhle, who plans to go out for a pending Charles City team. “I know there are some guys who’ve stopped playing after eighth grade, but I’m sure once they start practice and playing again they’ll get it back.”

As one of the more adamant student activists in bringing soccer to the high school, McKenzie is excited that the “goal” is in reach. But there are still things that need to be determined.

“We still need to find a place to play our home games,” she said, “and we’re not too sure if we’re going to have separate boys and girls teams or a coed team.”