By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
Starting today, boys soccer tournament action continues in Brownsville for the third straight week as the UIL season gets underway.
This week, it’s the inaugural South Texas Futbol Showcase with games played at Rivera, Hanna and Los Fresnos’ Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
The 18-team event begins at 10 a.m. today and runs through Saturday with three full 80-minute games per day at each of the three sites. Similar to last week’s 37th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament/Showcase, there will be no championship match.
The participating teams include Brownsville schools Veterans Memorial, Hanna, Rivera, Porter, Lopez and Pace plus Jubilee Brownsville. The other 11 participants are Los Fresnos, San Benito, Harlingen South, Edinburg Economedes, Edinburg North, Edinburg Vela, La Joya High, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, PSJA High, McAllen High, and Laredo United.
“The competition (in this Futbol Showcase) is going to be strong again (just like last week),” said Rivera’s Salvador Garcia, one of the three host coaches of the tournament. “It’s a perfect time for players to make mistakes, correct them and keep getting better. It’s an opportunity for our players to get more playing time and for us to try different formations and lineups.”
There are still a lot of positive feelings for local squads from last week’s BISD Tournament. Three Brownsville teams played San Antonio Reagan, ranked No. 4 in Class 6A in the state, and did pretty well. Rivera beat Reagan 2-0, Brownsville Veterans edged the Rattlers 1-0 and Hanna took Reagan to penalties before being edged 2-1. Reagan played in last season’s 6A state final.
“We understand it is still early in the year and it was just a pre-district game,” Garcia said of the 2-0 victory over the Rattlers. “But at the same time, getting a result like that against a powerhouse (is motivating), and even more, it was great for us to play the way we did. We hope it will be a confidence booster for us.
“We might not have the talent that other schools have this year,” Garcia added, “but when we play together as a team, we can compete against anyone in our humble opinion.”
It’s a big week for Jubilee Brownsville.
“This is the first time the Jubilee Brownsville varsity soccer program competes in a tournament of such caliber,” Jubilee coach Robert Coronado said. “My boys are excited to participate, and they understand it’s a tournament to gain experience before the regular season (of district play) begins.”
Today’s 10 a.m. Futbol Showcase openers find Los Fresnos playing host to Economedes, Harlingen South playing PSJA High at Rivera and San Benito going against Jubilee Brownsville at Hanna. Also highlighting today’s schedule, Rivera plays Lopez at noon at Rivera.
STRONG SHOWINGS
The girls teams from Brownsville Veterans, Porter and Hanna played at the San Antonio Edgewood Tournament last week and did well, particularly the Lady Chargers and Cowgirls.
The Lady Chargers went 4-0 in the tournament and defeated Porter 1-0 in the championship match. The Lady Chargers’ first three wins were against San Antonio Memorial (4-0), San Antonio Sam Houston (7-1) and San Antonio Christian (2-0).
On their way to reaching the championship match, the Cowgirls defeated San Antonio Southside (3-0), Seguin (4-0) and Uvalde (1-0).
The Pace Lady Vikings played in the San Antonio ISD Tournament and recorded early tournament victories against San Antonio Holy Cross (6-0), San Antonio Roosevelt (9-0) and San Antonio Brackenridge (4-0).
OTHER TOURNAMENTS
Besides the South Texas Futbol Showcase in the Lower Valley, other events this week include a tournament for the boys in Hidalgo and girls tournaments at PSJA and Donna North. The majority of Brownsville girls teams are headed to the PSJA Tournament.