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David among the Goliaths
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Posted on Dec 31 2008
The U14 Boys National Football Team that competed in the East Asian Football Federation’s U14 Festival may had been dwarfed by nine other squads, as far as ceiling and playing experience are concerned, but the CNMI strikers showed the biggest heart in the tournament in Guam.
From start to finish, the CNMI bets never let their guards down, hustled for every play, chased the ball, and banged bodies with opponents in a fair manner.
For these, the CNMI strikers were called the “young warriors” of the tournament.
“Our 80-lb. defenders took rockets from other teams’ 170-lb. forwards, again and again. Ten-year-old Hunter Jewell took down a towering forward on a clean tackle in front of the goal which prevented a shot on goal. There were many miraculous saves from players, especially from our goalkeepers Caleb Arriola and Josiah Orlando. After playing North Korea and watching the amazing efforts of CNMI goalkeeper Caleb Arriola everyone in the crowd, including officials and spectators, clapped as he left the field,” coach Nick Swaim was quoted as saying in July after the six-day tournament.
Besides Arriola, Orlando, and Hunter, other members of the team were Mickey Coleman, Devin Atalig, Hunter Thorpe, Jaythan Camacho, Crosby Schultz, Bo Barry, Stacy Escueta, Jake Lee, Angelo Jones, Andrew Johnson, Misaki Cramer, Hirai Misami, Jehn Joyner, Keoni Borja, and Clay McCullough-Stearns.
“Few players would have had the tenacity and moxie to put themselves in a position to play football giants knowing the odds were stacked against them. We sent 18 willing players from the CNMI that did. They not only fought but they improved dramatically over the course of the week. They learned so much about the game by playing boys that were better than them. They rose to the occasion and will make our youth program stronger as a result,” he added.
The CNMI strikers played against the experienced players of China, Guam, Hong Kong, Chinese-Taiepi, Mongolia, Macao, and Korea.
