By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
An Alamance County youth soccer team has reached special levels as part of its inaugural season in the Triangle United Soccer Association.
The Alamance Gold boys’ team reached the finals of US Youth Soccer’s North Carolina State Cup.
“For them to do what they’ve done and make it to a State Cup final in their first year is special,” coach Jose Alvarenga said of players on the team. “This is our inaugural season and we’ve grown.”
Alamance Gold put together a 42-6-1 record since last August, with competition coming from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia teams.
Stemming from the good results, the team has moved up to higher competition levels.
“We travel a ton more,” Alvarenga said. “We had to go in tougher tournaments.”
The formation of the team with its new affiliation came after Burlington Soccer Club merged with NC Fusion. What became Alamance Gold broke off and was absorbed by the Chapel Hill-based TUSA as the only Alamance County entry.
“I’ve coached these guys, some of them for almost six years,” said Alvarenga, a 2019 Williams graduate and former player for the Bulldogs. He also played as a youth in Burlington Soccer Club.
Next year, the team will compete on the National 1 League level.
The under-13 team, which has a core of players from Burlington, Graham and Mebane, will compete next week in the Southeast Regional, which is being held June 12-14 in Greensboro.
Alvarenga said almost 60 players are involved in the TUSA Alamance program, ranging from under-9 and soon to under-14.
