Kristen Amarikwa has verbally committed to extend her soccer career to San Jose State in the fall of 2016. The Amarikwa family is no stranger to San Jose with Kristen’s brother, Quency, playing for MLS soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes for years. Kristen, a member of Jason Carter’s South Valley G97 team and a member of CalSouth’s ODP National Championship team, is looking forward to playing Divison 1 soccer while studying nursing at San Jose State!

The South Valley G97 team, coached by Jason Carter, won the top flight of the Albion Cup National Showcase this past weekend in San Diego. The G97 placed first in their showcase bracket which contained Slammers, Long Beach FC and Las Vegas Premier. In elimination play, they defeated Elite FC of New Mexico and Albion USA. South Valley G97 then faced Legends FC in the championship match and secured their title with a 1-0 win!

This result is a continuation of their U16 age-group domination through-out southern California this spring and summer. They had dominating finishes in the Northern CA Showcase, Players Showcase, Legends College Showcase, Southern CA Showcase, and placed in the Elite Eight of National Cup. Great job, girls . . . and the best of luck as you compete this fall in Coast Soccer League’s Premier Bracket!

The South Valley B98s, coached by Jeff LaForce, won the U16 bracket of the San Diego Hotspurs USA Cup this past weekend! Over the course of the weekend, the B98 were 3-1. Pool play included wins over United FC and Delmar Sharks. Their finals match on Sunday was against San Diego United FC. Despite being down 0-1 at half, the B98s rallied in the second half to notch a 3-1 win!! Iced it.

After participating in two weekends of CalSouth ID2 weekends, Kristen Amarikwa & Reigna Banks from South Valley’s G97 BOTH made the final cuts onto the CalSouth ODP roster for players born in 1998. Coach Jason Carter commented that Kristen and Reigna are the first two female players from Bakersfield to be rostered onto final ODP rosters, and that both of the ladies will certainly represent South Valley well in the months to come!

Congratulations, Kristen and Regina!!!

Bakersfield College is hosting a youth soccer camp this summer in conjunction with Soccer Etc International. This is a local camp for players of all ages. Please open the associated brochure for additional information.