By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Ally Welch returned to preseason practice with the Conner girls soccer team Monday after spending last weekend in Kansas City playing a different version of the sport.
Welch attended tryouts for U.S. Youth Futsal international teams and was one of two goalkeepers selected for a girls 16-17 age group team that will play matches in France during the last week of December.
Futsal is a form of soccer played on a rectangular hard court surface between teams with five players, including a goalkeeper. Unlike indoor soccer, there are no sideboards and the game is played with a smaller, harder ball.
Welch said futsal is much more fast-paced than traditional soccer. She has a smaller goal to defend, but there’s more shots taken and they come at her faster on the compact playing area.
“I would say when I started playing futsal, that’s when I really started to take off as a goalkeeper because my reactions were much quicker and my foot skills became a lot better,” Welch said.
An incoming junior at Conner, Welch became the soccer team’s starting goalkeeper as a freshman. Last season, she allowed 24 goals in 23 matches for a 1.04 average with six shutouts and 90 saves.
“She works extremely hard in training and matches,” said Conner coach Mike Hughes. “Her commitment and dedication to the craft of goalkeeping have helped her produce since she began starting as a freshman.”
High school soccer season begins in two weeks. That gives Welch plenty of practice time to make the transition from futsal, where goalkeepers often come away from the net and take part in the scoring.
“In a close game if you make a save, sometimes you have to roll the ball to your feet and go all the way down and try to get a shot off,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of goalkeepers do it. It’s crazy.”
The international futsal tournament begins Dec. 26, so Welch will be spending Christmas in France with members of her family. She’s looking forward to competing against teams from other counties and adding that to her resume for college recruiters.
“It’s kind of something you don’t see very often, so I’m hoping it will help out a lot,” she said of playing two versions of the sport.
Soccerama boys scrimmage games provide early look at local teams
The Ryle boys soccer team that won last year’s 9th Region championship and made it to the semifinals of the state tournament will play Highlands in one of 10 preseason scrimmage games during Soccerama 2023 this week at Holmes High School.
Highlands has a new head coach this season. The school hired Suli Kayed, who was in charge of the Notre Dame girls team the last two years. The Pandas won the 2021 girls state tournament and finished with a 28-0-1 record in his first season.
Ryle head coach Stephen Collins has compiled a 327-129-48 record in 22 seasons. He currently ranks fifth in career wins among Kentucky boys high school soccer coaches. He’s entering his 20th year with the Ryle program.
The first three Soccerama games on Thursday will be Holmes vs. Villa Madonna at 5 p.m., St. Henry vs. Pendleton County, 6:30 p.m. and Simon Kenton vs. Brossart, 8 p.m. Friday’s schedule begins with Boone County vs. Scott at 5 p.m., followed by Cooper vs. Dixie Heights, 6:30 p.m. and Ryle vs. Highlands, 8 p.m.
The final four games on Saturday will be Grant County vs. Holy Cross, 11 a.m., Covington Catholic vs. Campbell County, 12:30 p.m., Beechwood vs. Walton-Verona, 5 p.m. and Conner vs. Newport Central Catholic, 6:30 p.m.
Soccerama scrimmage games for local girls teams will be Aug. 3-5 at Brossart. The first day of the regular season is Monday, Aug. 7 for both boys and girls.
Cooper graduate will continue his basketball odyssey in Lithuania
Cooper graduate Sean McNeil will continue his basketball odyssey by playing for a men’s professional team in Lithuania next season.
McNeil recently announced that he signed with Nevezis, one of 12 teams in the Lithuanian pro league. Nevezis has been actively recruiting new players after finishing last season in eighth place with a 14-19 record.
Last season, McNeil was a starting guard for Ohio State University. He spent the three previous years playing for West Virginia University. His college career totals were 1,239 points, 248 rebounds and 126 assists.
McNeil earned all-state honors as a senior guard on Cooper’s state runner-up team in 2017. He accepted a basketball scholarship from Bellarmine University in Louisville, but he came home a few days after the first semester started and never returned to campus.
He resumed his basketball career at Sinclair Community College in Ohio. After averaging 29.7 points, the second highest scoring average in the National Junior College Athletic Association, he transferred to West Virginia.
