Middle school soccer teams have great season

The Sisters Middle School girls soccer program had a great turnout this fall with 31 girls participating in the program. With this number of players, Sisters was able to field two strong teams whose main schedule consisted of eight Saturday games in the Bend Parks and Recreation League.

The two Sisters teams not only dominated play in the Bend league with matching undefeated records; each team had only one goal scored on them in regular league play. The girls remained undefeated in additional games with teams from the Redmond Parks and Recreation program and other Central Oregon teams that compete in Eugene or Portland leagues.

Sisters fielded two middle school soccer teams... Photo provided

The Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation runs all the middle school soccer programs. Coaches for the teams were Julie Kemper and John Tehan.

Kemper brought to the middle school program her experience as the former Sisters High School girls soccer coach and her involvement with various athletic programs offered by SOAR.

Tehan, who coached high school football in the Portland area before moving to Sisters, got involved with soccer when his three kids took up the sport.

"I've really learned to appreciate the game of soccer," Tehan said. "It's a great game for kids to play at any age, but its especially rewarding to see this large number of girls participating in the middle school program.

"Many of them have played soccer since kindergarten or first grade and this season really showed how far they'd come in developing their skills and confidence in the game," Tehan said.

"It also reflects on the dedication and hard work of individuals like Marti Dale and John Nordquist, who as volunteers over the past nine years have coached almost every one of these girls within the youth soccer program here in Sisters. It all comes back to the concept of needing a village to raise a child, or in this case developing a successful sports program."

...and both had outstanding seasons. Photo provided