United States Power Soccer Association

by Tony Jackson, Arizona Heat 2nd Degree

After a great second place finish at the Western Regional, we on the Arizona Heat 2nd Degree were feeling really good about our chances at this year’s national tournament.  However, those hopes were dampened slightly when we found out that one of us wasn’t going to be able to make the trip.  It would change our game plan a bit, but we still felt strong heading to Indianapolis.  Arriving at the airport, another member of our team showed up extremely ill, but he decided to make the trek anyway.  He wanted to be there for the rest of us and he was sacrificing his health for the team.  When the team arrived in Indianapolis, it was decided that our sick teammate was too sick and needed immediate medical attention.  A trip to the hospital now left us with only four players.  Despite the circumstances, we had to carry on.

By Jenny Mitchell, San Jose Steamrollers

Last weekend, the San Jose Steamrollers hosted the Vancouver Lightning for two days of exciting International Power Soccer games. The BORP Bay Earthquakes (from Berkeley), Hollister Free Wheelers, and Santa Barbara Rollin' Gauchos also participated in the tournament, which served as a season finale for some teams and a warm-up for the USPSA National Championships for others.

by Zachary Schmoll, Vermont Chargers

Three hours is a long way to drive. However, when you are a power soccer player on the Vermont Chargers, that is what you need to do to find your nearest competition. On Saturday May 15th myself, two teammates, and our two coaches drove from various parts of Vermont to Durham, New Hampshire to take on the New Hampshire Power Cats. The Power Cats have been around for a few years, so it was good for us to see players who know what competition is really like. They had 11 players turn out in their powder blue uniforms. In fact, they even let us borrow a goalie for the game since one of our players, Nate, has been in the hospital for a while and was unable to travel with us. While obviously we would have liked to have our entire team active, we appreciated the willingness of the Power Cats to help us out in that area.

by Deandra Bardell, Courage Blizzard at Huntington IN D1 Regional Qualifier

The Courage Blizzards participated in their first Division 1 regional qualifier. This was not our first Division 1 tournament, we went to the PowerBlast in Arizona in January. The difference between Division 1 and Division 2 is huge. With all of the Division 2 teams forming it is easy to win and score high against them but it very hard to improve your game, strategically. The thrill of winning is huge but not as huge as improving your game and taking it to the next level. It was fun to watch some of the Division 1 great players because you can see then almost planning 3 steps ahead, envisioning where the ball is going. Maybe they actually have secret powers and will the ball to go where they want it, but probably they are actually that good and that passionate about their game. One thing I noticed is that there is not a lot of extended one on one play with the ball. People are always passing and moving. It is not a game about one good player it is about teamwork and an entire team of great players. No snoozing on the Division 1 court.