Sports Briefs: Soccer players head to Ireland for international tournament

DOWNEY – Downey High School soccer coach Marvin Mires and Paramount coach Rafa Villasenor have joined together to take several players from the San Gabriel Valley League to play abroad in the Super Cup of Northern Ireland Soccer Tournament. 

The two high schools brought a total of five players to compete in the Super Cup NI. The junior team has three players from Downey and the premier team has two players from Paramount. 
The two players from Paramount are senior Chris Perez and junior Brian Duarte. This older team is also referred to as the 1999 Premier Team due to the players’ birth dates.

The Premier Strikers FC defeated Otago 6-0 on Monday, were defeated by Osasco FC 2-0 on Tuesday and were defeated by Hibernian 2-0 on Wednesday. The games played on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were qualifying games and are played on a cumulative point system. 
Similar to professional soccer tournaments, three points are given for a win, one point is given for a draw and no points are given for a loss. The Premier Strikers FC finished the qualifying stage with three points and will now wait to see who they play next in their semifinal bracket.
On Wednesday, after the three qualifying games were completed, the teams were placed in total points order (unavailable at press time). The teams were then divided into six brackets of four teams with the lone exception being teams ranked 21-26. 

The top four teams competed for the NI CUP. The next four teams (5-8) competed for the NI GLOBE, the next four teams (9-12) competed for the NI VASE, the next four teams (13-16) competed for the NI BOWL, the next four teams (17-20) competed for the NI SALVER and teams 21-26 competed for the NI SHIELD.    

Coach Mires and coach Villasenor are excited for these young players and for this outstanding opportunity they have to compete internationally at such a high level.

■ Downey High School soccer coach Marvin Mires and the Strikers Football Club of Southern California traveled to Northern Ireland this past week to participate in the Super Cup Northern Ireland Soccer Tournament. 

The Strikers FC Junior Division has three current sophomore players from Downey High School competing. Cesar Ruvalcaba, John Guerra and Oliver Juarez are all representing Strikers Football Club, southern California and the United States. This younger division is also called the 2001 Junior Team due to the players’ birthdates.

The Junior Strikers FC defeated County Fermanagh 2-0 on Monday, defeated Swindon Town 3-1 on Tuesday and played Middlesbrough to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday. The games played on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were qualifying games and are played on a cumulative point system. 

■ The Warren High School football team will kick off their 2016 football season when they travel to Don Lugo of Chino Hills on August 26 at 7:00 p.m. 

Warren has just ended their C.I.F. mandated “dead period” and will now start their final preparations for the start of the season. The Bears now have four weeks until their much anticipated road to kickoff. The 2016 season also marks the third year for head coach Raul Lara and his staff.

Warren is young this season and must try to replace the production at quarterback from last year’s starter, Jordan Yancy. Last season, Yancy completed 105/189 pass attempts for 1,900 yards and an average of 18.1 yards per completion. Yancy averaged 172.7 yards passing per game which included 22 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. 

Yancy also had 76 rush attempts for 425 yards and a team leading 5.6 yards per attempt average with 9 touchdowns. As a team, Warren averaged 151.7 yards rushing per game and scored a total of 50 touchdowns.

The Bears finished last season with an overall record of 8-3 and were 4-1 in San Gabriel Valley League play. Warren was a S.G.V.L. tri-champion with cross-town rival Downey and Dominguez, respectively. The Bears were defeated by St. Francis 21-19 in the first round of the C.I.F. Southeast Division playoffs.

Coach Lara, his staff and players are looking forward to the start of the 2016 football season. 

■ Warren High School has just finished their six week summer school session and many teams are now taking their C.I.F. mandated “dead periods.” It is also a time for student-athletes and teachers to take vacations and spend time with their families as the academic school year will begin on Wednesday, August 17.

Coaches Ramon Miranda (boys) and Jay Waldron (girls) and the Warren boys’ and girls’ cross country teams have been putting time in this summer running locally, on hills and trails and in camps to get faster.

Coach Raul Lara and the Warren football team have been busy preparing for their opening game at Don Lugo of Chino Hills on August 26 at 7:00 p.m. The year-round weight training and summer conditioning will soon be put to the test.

Coach Rick Nichols and the Warren boys’ water polo team have been busy passing, shooting and defending in practice to improve their skills. Swimming those extra sprints and laps in practice will also be put to the test.

Coach Tina Schmid and the Warren girls’ golf team have been busy driving and putting golf balls this summer in preparation for their fall season on the links.

Coach Mary Starksen and the Warren girls’ tennis team have been busy practicing their serves, backhands and groundstrokes in order win on the tennis court. 

Coach Scott Lane and the Warren girls’ volleyball team have been busy passing, setting and spiking this summer in hopes of earning another S.G.V.L. title and C.I.F playoff run. 

The fall sport’s seasons will be here shortly and go by quickly and we will then turn our attention to the next round of teams and the winter sports. Socc