The Oak Ridge Girls Middle School Wildcats are front row, left to right, Eden Gee, Sami Jaffery, Emily Avila, Reagan Ross, Yuni Ramirez, Carter Valencia Van Booraem, and Isha Bhandari; and back row, left to right, Alyssa Tittsworth, Lorelei Heffernan, Muskaan Vohra, Laura Snyder, Lauren Bass, Midori Hammer, Sarah Hammonds, and Bailey Thompson. (Submitted photo)
By Gerry Palau
A group of middle school girls from Jefferson, Robertsville, and Oliver Springs middle schools that banded together as the Oak Ridge Middle School Wildcats recently won the end-of-season Smoky Mountain Middle School League Tournament during the weekend of October 25-26.
The Smoky Mountain league is the premier middle school soccer league in the metropolitan Knoxville area with more than 50 girls’ teams competing this fall. The Smoky Mountain League has been in existence since 1987, hosting a girls soccer season each fall, and a boys soccer season each spring.
The Oak Ridge Middle School Wildcats, led by Head Coach Brittany Sterner (and assistant coaches Tony Webb, Carlos Avila, and James Brown) won all four of their tournament matches by playing an aggressive, attacking offense backed up by a very solid defense and goalkeeping that didn’t allow an opponent goal in the four matches. Coach Sterner noted that the preseason preparations and practices that began in July, combined with a very challenging regular season schedule, prepared the Wildcats for the strong finish in the tournament.
Coach Sterner is already looking forward to, and planning for, next year’s middle school season. Tryouts for the 2015 team will be held next May.
Additional information about the team and its schedule can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ORGMSS.
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