Click on the links to read the news in the Arizona Daily Star.

Salpointe defeated Scottsdale Notre Dame, 3-0.

Catalina Foothills defeated Cave Creek Cactus Shadows, 2-0.

Here are the links in the Arizona Republic - Foothills and Salpointe.

Salpointe is coached by Wolfgang Weber, one of the founders of TSA. It’s his fifth state title as Salpointe’s head coach and first since 2004.

Catalina Foothills coach Charlie Kendrick, a coach for TSA, has now won six state titles.

A number of TSA players are on each of the championship rosters. Congrats again!

The Tucson Soccer Academy wants to congratulate the Salpointe Catholic High boys soccer team and the Catalina Foothills girls team for winning Division II State titles on Saturday. Click on the links to read the news in the Arizona Daily Star.

Salpointe defeated Scottsdale Notre Dame, 3-0.

Catalina Foothills defeated Cave Creek Cactus Shadows, 2-0.

Here are the links in the Arizona Republic - Foothills and Salpointe.

Salpointe is coached by Wolfgang Weber, one of the founders of TSA. It’s his fifth state title as Salpointe’s head coach and first since 2004.

Catalina Foothills coach Charlie Kendrick, a coach for TSA, has now won six state titles.

A number of TSA players are on each of the championship rosters. Congrats again!

The Tucson Soccer Academy wants to congratulate the Salpointe Catholic High boys soccer team and the Catalina Foothills girls team for winning Division II State titles on Saturday. Click on the links to read the news in the Arizona Daily Star.

Salpointe defeated Scottsdale Notre Dame, 3-0.

Catalina Foothills defeated Cave Creek Cactus Shadows, 2-0.

Here are the links in the Arizona Republic - Foothills and Salpointe.

Salpointe is coached by Wolfgang Weber, one of the founders of TSA. It’s his fifth state title as Salpointe’s head coach and first since 2004.

Catalina Foothills coach Charlie Kendrick, a coach for TSA, has now won six state titles.

A number of TSA players are on each of the championship rosters. Congrats again!

 Robert Acosta has a message: never give up on a dream and always work hard.

Always. And if people say you can’t do it, prove them wrong.

Acosta is living a dream – and he thanks the Tucson Soccer Academy and a host of coaches who have brought him to this point in this life.

He’s now on the roster of the Norfolk (Va.) SharX of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

            “It has been a very long and arduous journey, beginning with my foundation with TSA in 1987,’’ said Acosta in an email. “ Without the groundwork laid out by my coaches throughout my years with the academy, I would not be where I am today.  As I think about my coaches throughout my tenure (Charlie Kendrick, Charlie McCabe, David Cosgrove, Wolfgang Weber and their assistants), I can attribute one of more aspects of my play to each one.  The opportunity to grow and develop as a player under an array of different coaching styles added to my arsenal of knowledge, ability, skills, technique, etc. It has prepared me for the next level.’’

            Here’s a quick look back at his journey.

            After playing for TSA, he attended Wartburg College, a small Div. III school in Waverly, IA., where he was part of two Sweet 16 teams and four NCAA tournament appearances. He was a four-year starter and an IIAC all-conference selection in 2008.

            It wasn’t always easy, Acosta said, but he was getting good advice from his mom from home: “good thing TSA prepared you for this".

And, he said, she was right.

Because after college (he graduated in 2009), it didn’t get any easier. He had no connections to play at the next level, although he tried to latch on seemingly everywhere (at least eight states and teams just to name a few).

“I was turned down, mostly because I ‘didn’t have enough experience at the next level,’’’ he said, quoting others.

But he moved to Virginia in 2010 and made some connections and friends. Soon after, he was playing for the Virginia Legacy. Unfortunately, the team lasted just one season. He then played for the Virginia Beach Piranhas. From there, he tried out for the SharX.

“I hoped this would be my chance to get into the league,’’ he said.

It – again – wasn’t easy. There were two rounds of tryouts, and he didn’t get through the first one. “(But) I made some adjustments in my training regimen, and hit it even harder to prepare for the second round,’’ he said.

He made enough of an impression – although he still didn’t make the team – that the owner invited him to preseason camp. He made the final roster – plus three. He’s now one of the three and was recently activated. He spent some time doing the team’s play-by-play announcing for television broadcasts.

“Since November I have attended every session, and have put in 15 to 20 hours a week in the gym on my own ... and I got my payoff on Feb 3, 2012,’’ he said. “The head coach contacted me and told me that he liked what he had been seeing lately, and wanted to offer me a spot for the remainder of the season, with option to renew the contract depending on my performance.  I signed that day, and look forward to making my mark in the remainder of the season.’’

As they are.

“I was happy that he made the active roster,’’ said Carol Senechal, the team’s communication’s director. “ He certainly has been a huge asset to the club all season!’’

Congrats to a number of people who were listed on Greg Hansen’s list for top 100 sports figures. There were more than a handful of current or former people with TSA connections on the list.

* Dave Cosgrove, a coach and the league’s director of player development, was ranked No. 27. "Pima College’s men’s soccer coach guided the Aztecs to the region championship, won 20 games, and finished tied for fifth in the NJCAA.     Along the way, Cosgrove won his 200th career game at PCC.’’

* Coach Charlie Kendrick was listed at No. 53. The Catalina Foothills head soccer coaches swept the state titles again: Kendrick’s girls team (22-3) won its fifth title in seven year.

* Coach Wolfgang Weber was listed at 87. "Tucson’s ’Father of Soccer’ is at it again this year. His Salpointe Catholic boys were 14-1-1 through Christmas and ranked No.48 nationally among all high school boys soccer teams."

* Former TSA standout Donny Toia came in at No. 85 after joining the Real Salt Lake organization of Major League Soccer.

* Minh Vu was listed at No. 31 after helping Penn State to a nice run in the Big Ten Conference.

* And former TSA coach David Korn was No. 95 after helping lead Wright State to the Horizon League title game in men’s soccer. Korn is an assistant coach at Wright State, which finished 11-7-2.

Congrats to all!

     Intestinal fortitude is one of Analisa Marquez many attributes. It’s displayed in a “where are they now’’ in the La Sombra newsletter.  By the looks of it, she’s been pretty busy and will be once she returns from her knee injury, one she suffered in October. But she said she’ll be ready to return to the field in April in Atlanta.

     Here’s a quick look at where she’s been.

     The former Tucson Soccer Academy star walked on at Arizona and eventually was the team’s captain her senior year.

     After landing on the roster of the Women’s Professional Soccer League’s Boston Breakers in 2010, she then moved to the Atlanta Beat. She played in every game and against some of the world’s best soccer players in the world.

     Before suffering her injury, she had signed a professional contract in Sydney, Australia but unfortunately couldn’t participate because of the injury. “Analisa is definitely a TSA ‘Poster Child,’’’ said Wolfgang Weber, one of TSA’s founders. “She has excelled at every level and is a terrific example for all TSA players – Girls and Boys alike.”

     And, former TSA standout Donny Toia was featured in a recent story on Tucsonsentinel.com.Toia is in his first year with Real Salt Lake and could be here in the spring with the MLS team for practice.  "It’s going to be great," he said in an interview with the website. "To play in a professional jersey is what I’ve been trying to achieve my whole life."

     He played one year under coach Dave Cosgrove at Pima Community College. His time there taught him "how to work harder than anyone else." As for Salt Lake Real, “I’m a first-year player, they have all been playing two years at least," he said. "I look up to all of them. I’m still learning." He recently had a chance to go to Costa Rica with RSL.

TSA programs, contact David Cosgrove, TSA Director of Player Development, 370-3717.

Registration, contact Kim Kenworthy, TSA Administrator, 991-2118.

 Notes to add to the TSA website, contact Steve Rivera, 661-5302.

 Questions concerning the TSA website, contact Charlie MacCabe, 731-8115

 

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