Raymon Gaddis has won four Indiana Youth Soccer Association State Cup titles as a member of the Pike Township-based Indy Burn '90 Eagles soccer club, which has captured five straight state titles.

 

All have been special for Gaddis, a junior at North Central High School.

"Each one is different," Gaddis said. "Each time you play a championship game, the way you win it is different."

 

Gaddis said players other than the usual suspects stepped up in the Eagles' 2-0 double-overtime win over the Carmel United 90 team for the 16-and-under State Cup title in early June.

Gaddis, coach Isang Jacob and the rest of the Eagles players hope for good results when the team competes in the U.S. Youth Soccer Midwest Region II tournament, which begins this weekend in Appleton, Wis. It is one of four regionals throughout the United States.

 

The Eagles have been to the regional the past four years and have yet to advance out of their bracket play. The team will face the Ohio South team at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and will face the state champion from South Dakota on Sunday and the Missouri state champion Monday. The top team from each bracket advances to the regional semifinal. The winning team from each regional will advance to the national championship tournament set for July.

 

Tyler Keever, a Cathedral junior and the Eagles' goalie, believes the team learned from its performance in last year's regional.

 

"We went in there thinking we were probably the best team in our bracket and the other teams came out and played harder," said Keever, a Washington Township resident. "We learned from that. This year we have to play two of those same teams. We need to play our game and show who's the better team and come out strong from the start, which we didn't do last year."

 

Jacob, who also serves as the director of coaching for the Indy Burn travel division of the Pike Soccer Club, feels this year's team has the best chance of any he's coached to do well in the regional.

 

"I think what's key is we've kept the core group of players together and continued to develop them," said Jacob, who has retained 75 percent of the original players from when he took over the team six years ago.

 

It's an assorted mix. Some Indianapolis-area players include Brad Foulke, Alan Hyslop, Drew Kelsey and Sean McGrath from Pike; Adam Mills and Michael Whitman from Brebeuf Jesuit; Matt Hedges from Carmel; Taylor Rhodes and Jon Snider from Brownsburg; and Blake Leyden from Covenant Christian. Jacob also is the coach of the Warren Central varsity boys team.

 

"I think this year has been (the Eagles') most accomplished year," Jacob said.

 

This year's team has claimed championships in the Champions Adidas Warrior Classic, Nike Challenge Cup and Disney Soccer Showcase.

 

Gaddis said the team has grown stronger each year, and he believes this is the Eagles' year to make it to the nationals.

"We have a better team, and we're going in more focused this year," Gaddis said.

 

Jacob has plenty of reasons to be proud of the Eagles. He praised his players' attitudes and work ethic.

 

"The bottom line is, they're just good kids," Jacob said. "They're very hard-working and they believe in themselves and the team as a whole."