U16 boys soccer team heads to Northern Ireland for tournament

MONROE — The Ramapo Valley Soccer Club U16 boys team, which includes seven athletes from the Monroe-Woodbury area, recently won the U.S. Club Soccer New York State Cup.

The team’s victory over East Meadow earned it a place in the regional championships which took place in Hammonton, N.J., from June 29 to July 2. Competing against state champions and finalists from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and western New York the Ramapo team earned a spot in the regional final only to lose to a nationally top ten ranked FC Coppa team from New Jersey.

Their place in the regional final earned the team a spot in the nationals scheduled for Colorado. However, the team cannot attend as it has been invited to compete in the prestigious Foyle Cup in Northern Ireland.

Under the coaching of Monroe resident and St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s soccer head coach, Graham Brown, the Ramapo team will head overseas to play friendlies in Dublin, Fermanagh and Belfast before the Foyle Cup begins on July 23.