City Council Honors Pair Of State Title Teams
Tuesday, February 6th, 2024
Dalton has become known as "Soccertown, USA" thanks to our town's dominance of state soccer tournaments in recent years. Thanks to the Parks and Recreation Department, Dalton has two more state titles to back up its reputation as the home of Georgia's best soccer talent. Two all-star youth teams representing the DPRD's soccer leagues recently won championships at the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA) state tournament. The Mayor and Council honored the state champion 10 & Under and 8 & Under teams at their meeting Monday night.
Caption: The members of the DPRD 8 & Under All-Stars posed on Monday night with the Dalton Mayor and Council after being honored for their achievement
"We have some excited soccer players," DPRD director Caitlin Sharpe told the City Council on Monday night. "Rightfully so, that should be very excited to be state champions. At any level, being a state champion is a very big deal. These teams are all-star teams, they were hand picked by their coaches because of not only their skill on the field but also their sportsmanship. So we should be very proud of them."
Each of the players wore their championship t-shirt and their GRPA medals to show off at Monday night's meeting. DPRD athletic coordinator Victor Rodriguez read each player's name while presenting them with certificates honoring their championship achievement. He also thanked the volunteer coaches who led the teams to the title.
"It's a great accomplishment, and it's not easy being a coach," Rodriguez said. "It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of planning to become a coach and especially to achieve this (type of) special achievement."
Mayor Annalee Sams congratulated the teams after posing for pictures with the rest of the City Council and both teams and also thanked the DPRD for setting the stage for the achievement.
Caption: The members of the DPRD 10 & Under All-Stars posed on Monday night with the Dalton Mayor and Council after being honored for their achievement
"Thank you, Caitlin and to all the staff at Dalton Parks and Rec, we really appreciate you guys and we hope to see all of you guys back here next year for your next state championship," Mayor Sams said. "You guys did a great job and hopefully you’ll have just as much success in the seasons to come."
The members of the 10 & Under state champion all-stars are Gael Avila, Bentley Blackburn, Nathaniel Briseno, Hector Calderon, Christopher Cruz, Illian Garcia, Jose Jacobo, Daniel Magana, Juan Moreno, D’Angelo Ocampo, Bryson Rangel, Luis Salaices, Armando Silva. The team was coached by Angel Alvarado.
The members of the 8 & Under state champion all-stars are Romeo Becerra, Raul Capistran, Julian Cuevas, Adrian Del Bosque, Santiago Hernandez, Alonso Ojeda, Jacob Pena, Jeremiah Piscitelli, Carson Richards, Castiel Taylor, Jesus Ulloa, and Michael Winterbottom. The team was coached by Clint Richards and Raul Capistran.
