Pink Panthers to battle for WSSL championship

Pink Panthers to battle for WSSL championship

Oct. 26, 2000

CORTEZ JOURNAL

Tri-City Soccer Association’s Pink Panthers (U-14) Soccer Club will host Thunder Mountain from Palisade at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, on the south side of Parque de Vida for what could be for the championship of the Western Slope State League.

The Pink Panthers have a 7-0-1 record going into the contest. Thunder Mountain has at least one loss. A win today would clinch the title.

The current team members are: Amanda Graffis, Emelia Alee-Jumbo, Amy Johnson, Maddy Stephens, Gina Franchini, Katie Meyer, Savanah Tanner, Darshina Benally, Jessie Love-Nichols, Elizabeth Powell, Danielle Kinsley, Karlyn Franchini, Esther Harclerode, Janae McCarroll, Lisa Ehmke, Randa Olson, and Piedra Lightfoot. The coaches are Marc Meyer and Cliff Stephens.

Other members of this league include teams from Basalt, Aspen, Carbondale, Montrose U-14, Eagle, Grand Mesa Wild Things, Glenwood Springs, Grand Mesa Inferno, and Montrose U-13.

The team record from Fall 1998, Spring 1999(U-12), Fall 1999, Spring 200 (U-13) and now into Fall 2000 is a gaudy 73-25-13. They recently took first place at the Grand Mesa Invitational (Competitive Division U-13) and they captured first place. Last May they won the American Cup (U-13) in Denver with four wins and a tie to capture the State Recreational Championship.

They recently competed in the Fire Classic Silver Division (U-14 Competitive) but did not do well because five key players were gone.

The WSSL was formed in 1994. At that time, the purpose was to create a league for advanced youth players in the central and western counties of Colorado. For advanced teams prior to that time, the alternative was to travel to the Front Range which, for many of those along people living along the Western Slope, meant a six to eight hour drive for one game. In addition, the spring season for the Colorado State Youth Soccer Association traditionally begins the second weekend in March, a time when the mountain towns are precluded from playing because of snowpack still on the fields.

Beginning in Spring of 1999, the WSSL has operated two leagues: Advanced and Developmental. The Pink Panthers play in the Advanced, a competitive league.