By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
It may not be a mass exodus, but it’s something pretty close to one.
As another regular season of UIL soccer gets under way today, a number of Rio Grande Valley teams are traveling to faraway destinations to begin their 2016 campaigns.
For those Valley boys and girls squads hitting the road, it’s an opportunity to see what the competition is like in other parts of the state while still playing a good amount of games to help prepare players for the start of district later this month.
The Hanna boys, ranked No. 1 this week in the Valley by RGVSports.com, are among several Valley teams going to tournaments in Houston. The Golden Eagles will be playing at the Pearland Tournament starting Thursday.
“We want to get some experience against different kinds of programs (such as those in the Houston area),” Hanna coach Reyes Prado said. “We want to establish our style and get some momentum for the tough District (32-6A) competition ahead of us.”
Rivera’s boys also are headed to Houston and will play in The Woodlands Showcase.
“We have been talking about all the games before District (32-6A) competition,” Raiders coach Salvador Garcia said. “We would like to improve with every game and allow the players to get confidence in themselves and in the system that we are playing. With all our scrimmages behind us, this weekend will be a good test to see what we have learned from these games.”
The Porter boys, ranked No. 2 in the Valley, will play at the Cy-Fair Showcase in Houston along with Valley boys squads that include No. 3 Valley View, Harlingen High and Harlingen South.
The No. 8 Harlingen South girls also will be in Houston at the Spring Branch ISD Tournament.
The Porter girls are headed to the Aldine Tournament in Houston.
“I have great expectations for our girls this season,” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said. “They have been doing great so far. Right now we’re looking to play all our players during the scrimmages, non-district games and tournaments to give everyone playing time so our athletes can gain experience. Hopefully we can have them peaking at the beginning of district.
“We — the coaches and our girls — are expecting a lot of great things for this team,” Gracia added.
Also making the trip out of the Valley are the girls teams from Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Pace. They’re playing at a tournament in Bastrop.
“My expectation from this trip is to bring the team together and experience a new soccer environment,” Pace girls coach Jesus O. Villarreal said.
Laredo will be the destination for a number of top Valley girls teams this weekend as they play in the Border Olympics Tournament. Among the Valley girls squads going to Laredo are No. 2 Lopez, No. 4 Sharyland Pioneer, No. 7 Los Fresnos and No. 9 Edinburg North.
McAllen Memorial, the Valley’s No. 1 girls team, will be in San Antonio this weekend for games against San Antonio schools Churchill, Brennan and Cibolo Steele.
CLOSER TO HOME
Tournaments in the Valley beginning today include the Mission Invitational for boys and the McAllen Showcase and Lionette Tournament in La Feria for girls.
The Mission Invitational is being played on the opening weekend of the season for the second straight year with a 42-team field. Teams are divided into six groups for pool play starting today.
Among the teams from the Metro area entered at Mission are Brownsville Veterans, Lopez, Pace and Los Fresnos.
At the McAllen Showcase, the six-team field includes host McHi, Hanna, Rivera, San Antonio Taft, San Antonio Clark and Del Rio.
The Lionette Tournament features a 20-team field with pool play in four groups for two days. Bracket play for the top two teams from each group is scheduled for Saturday.
ELSEWHERE
Port Isabel’s boys play host to St. Joseph Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a season opener for the Tarpons. TAPPS member SJA already has played some games and will bring a 5-0 record into the contest.
The Bloodhounds are coming off their alumni game at Canales Field on Tuesday.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess