This is the TQ's new soccer team (plus some friends and siblings who play for the same club).

Yes, it's technically a boys team (but our goalie and sweeper are girls).

Yes, it's mostly made up of working-class Hispanic kids who come from primarily Spanish-speaking homes. We do have one Filipino (first generation American) and our two "token" Caucasian Blondes.


A LOT of assumptions were made about our team when we entered the Region Cup this year.

We had never played an "A" level game.

We belong to a small, mostly recreational club. Our coaches aren't paid. We don't travel much because money is so tight for most of the families.

They call themselves "United"--and they mean it. TQ has never had the blessing of playing with a team like this. No prima donnas, no stars, no white, brown, male or female. Just kids who love soccer--and take care of each other. (I got a little choked up when, during warm up, another player knelt down to adjust the laces on TQ's shoes for her--something nearly impossible to do in keeper gloves, and later when she was lent layers to keep warm in the biting winds of the last game of the weekend).

Their coach never yells. Never. The parents are kind and positive.

They swept the semifinals this weekend, beating clubs that have serious money and sponsorship behind them. I can't repeat some of the comments made by parents from those clubs as this is a family blog, but trust me, they were NOT kind.

We couldn't be more proud to cheer them on in the Final Four.

Did we mention that Eeyore's team made finals, too? His dad, however, forgot the camera :-).