Empire United Girls Soccer
Soccer fan or not, you had to enjoy the comeback from the Team USA Women's Soccer team against Brazil Sunday. The Americans, down a player and a goal somehow came back to tie the game and eventually win in penalty kicks.
If the casual or non-soccer fan was pumped, then you can imagine just how excited some of our local players were. So on Tuesday, we stopped by and chatted with the Empire United Girls Club Soccer team at the Jones Rd. complex in Baldwinsville. Everyone on the team said they were overwhelmed with joy while watching the game, 17-year old Michelle Wiese said she actually cried when Abby Wambach knotted the game up in the 120th minute. Hoping team USA can duplicate what it did in 1999 when the team won it all, Wiese said the team's performance also inspires her at the club level and during the school year with CBA where she goes to school. "It just inspires me to try my hardest because girls sports is not very broadcast at all, so when you come to the World Cup and you have a great showing it's just great" said Wiese.
Fellow senior Tessa Devereaux echoed those sentiments "seeing how hard that they worked to get to that point and how hard they worked as a team makes me want to do the same, either with my club team or my high school team to help bring us together. They've overcome so much adversity they've had ups and downs as a team but I want to be able to do the same with my team and have the same successes and be able to celebrate."
No doubt, the team will be glued to the television when Team USA battles France at noon on Wednesday, and Empire United Coach Mike Paolini thinks that just how it did 12 years ago, the American success will translate into even more growth of the sport in this country. "They see what team work can really do, especially with a player down at the World highest stage and that translates over into the youth soccer here with our teams" Paolini says.
