This is the fourth part of a series covering the Steamboat Soccer Club’s U18 boys journey to the Far West Presidents Cup Regional Championship in Boise, Idaho.

Well over a month of anticipation has finally led to Boise week for the Steamboat Soccer Club U18 boys team, which will compete in the Far West Presidents Cup Regional Championship in Idaho this weekend. 

At the start of May, the SSC U18 boys team was crowned Colorado Presidents Cup champions, becoming the first team to do so in club history. 

The team won the cup championship game 2-1, scoring both goals off of set pieces — something the team does not run specific drills for, but the players see naturally through the club’s philosophy of games-based training. 

Now in Boise for the tournament, the boys are prepared to represent Steamboat Springs and the state of Colorado on the biggest stage they have faced to date. 

The regional tournament runs on a cross-bracketed system. Steamboat is pooled together with two other teams — Spartans FC (Arizona) and Drako FC (California South) — to make up the B Division. Those three teams will each take on the three teams from the C Division for a chance to advance. 

The top four teams across Divisions A, B and C move on to the semifinals. 

Steamboat’s first match of the tournament is Friday against Gallatin Elite Soccer Club (Montana), followed up with matches against Northshore Select Club (Washington) and Portland City United (Oregon) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. 

All of Steamboat’s games are scheduled for 8 a.m., which coach Joey Rind says is a blessing. 

“The beauty is, we play early and we’ve got the entire day to recover,” he said. 

Steamboat is taking 20 players along to Boise and 18 can be rostered per game. The roster includes: Keagan Austin; Connor Baptiste; Ori Barlev; Mason Boatner; Julia Carrillo Chavez; Benjamin Castor; Will Heit; Connor Hull; Treyden Klingemann; Nolan Laird; Bridger Lawton; Daniel Martinez; Jackson McLaren; Kane Morris; Olson Morris; Jovanny Munoz Martinez; Nathan Rind; Noah Sabat; Jackson Schutt and Charlie Wiedel. 

At the U18/U19 level, only the winner of the regional tournament will qualify for the next level — the Youth National Presidents Cup in mid-July in Florida. 

Rind said the team is excited for the challenge and looks to represent their small ski town well. 

“Our plan is to prepare, work hard and win every time we step on the field … nothing is different,” he said. “The distance we’re traveling and the scope of the tournament might be different, but our outlook never changes.”