2003-2004 Highlights

Kali Paris, Kolina Beck, and Amber Luce join the Parrots. 

Parrots win the GU19 Diadora, beating GU19 Saints 7-2, Emerald City 84 4-1, Vision 4-0, and in the final Allez 6-4. 

Eight Parrots represent Washington at 2003 regional ODP camps.  Hillary Heath and Katie Hall make 87 regional pool.  

Parrots have their 35-game winning streak in summer tournaments in Washington begun August 2000 broken in a late minute 1-0 loss to GU19 Eastside Red in final of the Evergreen.

Parrots are seen by many coaches at the Surf Cup Gold level and particularly at the Texas Shootout (well over 100 different schools).

Parrots win  their fourth straight Division I fall league title by the largest point differential (9). 

  At the Thanksgiving Surf Cup Super Level, the Parrots reach win their bracket including the #4 ranked  team in the country (Surf White).   In the semifinals they lose to the Slammers 1-0, who beat the #1 ranked Sereno Golden Eagles in the fina.

Every Parrot graduating in 2004 (but one still recovering from illness) is excited to be attending and playing at a Division I or Division II school next fall.   Nine are in the Northwest.  See Parrots Profiles page for details.

Parrots win the GU18 Championship Cup bringing their streak of shutout wins against their longtime rivals, the FC Royals, to four. 

In early June of 1999 the Parrots became one of the first four GU14 teams to qualify for Division 1, the top division of the WSYL. Though the team was largely made up of new players, having only six players returning from the U13 year, our success that year was not surprising as the team had played well all spring, with the newer players blending very well with the older ones. Nonetheless, earning a place in the highest league in the state was a euphoric experience for everyone connected with the team.

Though the players deserved most of the credit for the Parrots’  success that year, there is not doubt that the team was greatly influenced of the exceptional new co-coach of the team, Eugene Poublon, who played six years for one of the top professional clubs in the world, AFC Ajax, spending two years in the youth program and four years as an adult on the Zaterdag 1, the team directly below the Ajax reserves.  Eugene earned his USSF National B License in the summer of 1999, and his A License in the summer of 2000.

When not losing badly at Chinese poker,  Eugene is a very positive person with an enormous amount of soccer knowledge and technical ability.

Though Eugene runs most practices, the Parrots are still also coached by Steve Spickard, who has trained and managed the team since its inception in 1992. 

The Parrots are a team of 18 unselfish, intelligent, hard-working girls who love soccer and want to become creative soccer players, and have the support of their families in heading toward that goal.

It hasn't always been this way.  In late winter of 1998, we weren’t at all sure whether we had enough interest in the team to keep it going.  

But as U14s,  we followed up our LPT success by placing second to Sparta Blaze in league with a 7-2-5 record.   As U15s, we finished first in league with a 12-0-2 record, seven points ahead of the second place Crossfire Sounders.    We went on to win the State Cup over the Royals, and reach the quarterfinals at regionals.   As U16s, we again won Division 1 with a 9-2-3 record, four points ahead of the second-place Extreme.    

However, we had a difficult season that fall with many injuries, playing our final four games with an average of ten players.   Our injured players returned, and we had a good run in the 2002 State Cup but our offense sputtered in the final, and we lost 1-0 to the Royals.

As U17s, we had another good year, losing only three games total in our appearances at the Northwest Showcase of Champions, Texas Shootout, Evergreen Invitational,  Surf Cup XXII Gold Level,  and Pleasanton.   We remained first all season in P1, finishing with an 11-2-1 record, eight points ahead of the second-place Extreme.

We made another nice run through the State Cup to the finals where we again lost to the Royals in the final 3-0.   We couldn't score, and they did very effectively.

On the Parrots, performance still comes above any result.    We would rather play beautifully and lose than play poorly and win.   We didn't play beautifully in our 2003 loss, but it was our best performance yet in a State Cup final.   We weren't happy with the score, but as a soccer team, we knew there was nothing we could do to express ourselves but improve and demonstrate our improvement convincingly.

We did well in the fall league, winning P1 by nine points, and we reached the semifinals of the Thanksgiving Surf Cup Super Group, losing 1-0 to the eventual champion Slammers.

After that loss in the 2003 final, we played the Royals four more times, and defeated them 1-0 at the Northwest Showcase,  5-0 in the Evergreen, and 3-0 in the opening game of the State Cup.   On March 7, we  won our fourth in a row, the 2004 State GU18 Championship, with an extremely exciting 1-0 win decided by a spectacular set of kicks from the mark.

We have a lot to learn, and we know that the kind of development in technique and understanding we're seeking doesn't come quickly.  But the players remain enthusiastic and focused, and we're committed  to having  fun growing as individuals, and as a team, until our players go off to college in August of 2004.

Katie vs Steph (Parrots vs Green Gators) as U8s

Click on above photo for ancient Parrots History

Eugene Poublon from an Ajax publicity still