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By Paul Chasko

Parents, grandparents and friends may have been freezing, but these kids needed to get out and play soccer.

We're gonna score!

Opening day for the Ringgold Area Youth Soccer Association (RAYSA) was uninviting at best. It was 37 degrees with no sun shining as the games began at the Union Township Recreation Park. Then, add wet grass and little patches of cold, wet mud and anyone may want to stay home in a nice warm house – but not these kids. They were ready for some soccer.

The Ringgold Area Youth Soccer Association – it pretty much says it all. Instructional teams covering all age groups play within the Ringgold Association until they learn the basics and then move on to traveling teams to play other teams through the Mon Valley. It's a nice feeder program for Ringgold Varsity Soccer.

The success of youth soccer in our area is evident in the fact that Union Township recreation facilities are fast becoming inadequate for its continued growth. Access and egress to and from the soccer fields at the Union Township Rec Park on Brownsville Road is becoming a problem. Parking even on the upper lots is becoming scarce on Soccer Saturdays and the narrow driveway from the upper lot to the soccer fields can barely allow two cars to pass. Deep muddy ruts on the sides of the narrow paved area indicate that the drive is too narrow to handle the traffic flow. Another recreation facility sometime in the future will be necessary to cope with growth in the township.

Click on "Gallery" to see more future soccer star photos by Paul Chasko

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