In the soccer spirit

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I never played soccer growing up. I was strictly a basketball-baseball-backyard football child.

It's weird because youth soccer was really starting to pick up steam when I was a young'un, but I never played in my life until gym class in high school. And I was really bad. I have trouble walking upright without stumbling, so adding a ball into the mix is just a disaster in dexterity.

With that said, I've been on a huge soccer kick recently. I've watched a lot of the UEFA games and enjoyed them all. International soccer is always fun to watch, and I'm a sucker for any kind of tournament. I'd probably watch an international badminton tournament if one existed (and it might, I don't know).

In addition to that thought, I'd like to add that we have some really, really good soccer players in the area. The N.C. Soccer Coaches Association recently released its all-region teams, and Iredell County had 16 total players from all six county schools chosen.

That's pretty remarkable. And from my point of view, it made selecting the 11-member R&L All County team incredibly difficult.

Here's a list of our All-Region players, with All-County selections italicized, All-State members bold and our Player of the Year in all caps (you follow?).

Taylor Branton, West Iredell
Amanda Comer, South Iredell
Brittney Dailey, Mooresville
Alicia Danenhower, Mooresville
Rachel Gibson, South Iredell
Tara Johnson, Lake Norman
Meghan Kos, Lake Norman
Ashley Lail, South Iredell
Caroline Moffett, Lake Norman
Katie Register, Statesville
Claudia Solis, South Iredell
COURTNEY SMITH, Mooresville
Sarah Tang, Lake Norman
Lauren Vawter, Lake Norman
Sarah Ann Waugh, Statesville
Tiffany Wilson, Mooresville