For the second year in a row, the Northern Virginia Royals U15 Super Y-League team second place finish in their South Atlantic Division bracket proved enough to gain entry into the United Soccer Leagues Youth North American Finals. The U15 Royals join the U17 Royals, U16 Royals, U14Royals, and U17 Majestics for the trip to Florida and the chance at a North American title.
The U15 Royals (8-2-2) finished the season two points behind the FC Fredericksburg Gunners (9-2-1) in Group B of the Division, but swept all four teams in the A Group to ultimately qualify for the championship tournament. The Royals finished the season with four straight wins, outscoring their opponents 15-3 in the final twelve days of the season. The U15 Royals only two losses of the season came at the hands of FC Fredericksburg.
The upstart Northern Virginia U15 boys recently finished second in the 2008 US Club Soccer National Championships. After sweeping the regional tournament and advancing through their group in the national tournament, the U15 Royals dropped a 2-1 decision to Lobitos Velocity (Canada) in the US Club Soccer Championship Match.
The Royals are joined at the Super Y-League Finals by FC Fredericksburg and Triangle FC, the winners of the Group A South Atlantic Division bracket in the U15 age group.
Northern Virginia Football Club, comprised of both the Northern Virginia Royals (male) and Northern Virginia Majestics (female) USL teams, is represented so far by a club record seven teams in the 2008 Super 20 and Super Y-League North American Finals. Northern Virginia sent four clubs in 2007 and two clubs in 2006.
The USL North American Finals will be held in Tampa, Florida, and is scheduled to run from November 21st through November 25th. A total of sixteen teams will clash at every age level in the boys Super Y-League’s U13-U17 divisions. On the girls side, twelve teams will meet from each of the five age divisions. The 2008 version of the Super Y-League finals is the greatest representative of elite youth talent in North America now that the league encompasses nine regions across the United States and Canada.
