AYSO Region 19, Culver City Gunners/AYSO 2014 National Games Champions-BU-12 EXTRA Division

Photo courtesy of Lori Cowley. WINNERS: In the back row, from left to right, Dave Stewart (senior referee), Brennan Elliott, Lori Cowley (team manager), Gabriel Ochoa, Jake Schultz, Lawrence Marshall (assistant coach), Josh Mejia, Aden Marshall, Robbie Ri

The 2014 AYSO National Games, which took place from June 29-July 6, was the largest youth soccer event in AYSO’s history and one of the largest youth soccer tournaments in the nation.

Nearly 500 teams from more than 150 communities in 19 states competed in games in Riverside and Torrance. Our own Culver City BU-12 Extra Team won five games out of six over a span of four days, competing against teams from Chicago and Hawaii, as well as other teams from California.

The Culver City Gunners claimed their Championship medals on the final day of competition by defeating both of their consolidation round opponents in a penalty kick shootout after both the semifinal and final matches ended in ties. After 13 months of playing together as a team, the boys ended their AYSO Extra season on a very high note!