After winning the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship last year as a member of the U-14 Baltimore Casa Mia Bays, Julian Griggs said, "Now that we're on top, we want to stay there." One year later, that is exactly where Griggs and the U-15 Bays find themselves. In fact, the Bays didn't just defend their title July 26 in North Little Rock, Ark., they didn't let anyone get anywhere near it.

The Bays outscored their opponents, 8-0, in pool play, and then defeated the Solar Red (North Texas), 2-1, without ever falling behind or even being tied after going up 1-0 in the first five minutes.

"Our defense is extremely good, we hadn't allowed a goal the entire tournament" before the championship game, said Griggs, an Ellicott City resident and rising McDonogh sophomore.

Griggs scored five goals in the tournament -- including the first goal of the championship game -- and was awarded the golden boot, also known as the tournament's most valuable player award. Last year, he did not score any goals in the tournament.

"It was a huge improvement over last year," he said.

Griggs noted that every team in the tournament was gunning for the defending champions and to repeat "is a great accomplishment," he said.

Another difference this year was the heat. With a heat index of 110 degrees, according to Griggs, one of his teammates was taken to the hospital with dehydration and a mandatory water break midway through each half was instituted.

"Our team is one of the most fit teams and we were still feeling it," Griggs said.

After the win Griggs was videotaped by U.S. Youth Soccer and his interview, along with tournament action and the post-game celebration, can be viewed at championships.usyouthsoccer.org.

"We kind of just went crazy on the field afterward and then we stayed up all night in the hotel," Griggs said. "This is my top (trophy) ever."

user comments (0)