HUNTINGTON — They were on the edge of their lawn chairs, or just pacing back and forth, all shouting “Pressure on the ball!” and “No fouls!”

Maryland’s Casa Mia Bays, U-19 boys team, were up 1-0 against FC Greater Boston (Mass.) as the clock ticked down, and the parents were a little nervous about the close finish.

Thousands of dedicated players have crowded Huntington and Barboursville this week for the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships. But when it comes to taking the game seriously, there are some clubs that kick it up a notch.

These are the types of teams that remain today, the final day for the Region I Championships.
Award ceremonies will be held after each set of games today — 18 in all. Gold and silver medals will be presented in each age group, boys and girls, as well as “Fair Play Awards,” which are given to teams that demonstrate good sportsmanship.

“It’s one of the things we stress at the tournament — it’s about more than just soccer,” said Shannon Holtz, communications specialist for U.S. Youth Soccer.

It’s been a great tournament, she said. And fans have seen a lot of great soccer, some said.

The Casa Mia Bays, U-19 boys team, is one club that has stood out, Holtz said, which is not unusual for Coach Steve Nichols and his players.

Many of this team’s players were part of the group that won the U-16 National Championship in 2006. The same club also won at the U.S. Soccer Academy last year in Los Angeles.

They’re players who have gone to colleges around the country to play soccer — Providence, Loyola, the University of Pennsylvania and others.

Many of them came back to play with this team because they were handpicked by Nichols to form a champion club. They practice in Baltimore, but come from Delaware and Pennsylvania to get to practice, the parents said. At least one player drives two hours to practice.

Talk to the parents for a few minutes, and you start to understand why these players are so good.

Take Dee Deasel, for example, who can calmly tell you that her son, center midfielder Mike Deasel, went to a local hospital earlier this week to have his side checked out.

“He got hit hard the first game,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries. There have been a lot of cards (fouls) here.”

As it turned out, it was nothing that serious, but Dee Deasel knows how it works. These players don’t stop for pain. They place players strategically to help an injured player get by.

“When you’re at that level and that type of player, that’s what gets you to where you are,” she said.

These players really want to be on this team, she said.

“They’re all in college and they still came back,” she said. “They all wanted to be together one more time.”

Harold Weisbaum tells matter-of-factly that his son, center midfielder Gary Weisbaum, has had two hip surgeries in two years — something to do with a torn labrum. It’s what he’s known for, his father said with a laugh.

But Gary has not given up the sport. He plays at the University of New Mexico, and soccer has taken the family to a lot of places: Italy, Brazil and all over the United States, such as Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Florida, Texas, California and West Virginia, his father said.
“I love watching it, and he loves playing it,” Harold Weisbaum, said.

These are not the type of players who do much “vacationing” when they travel for games, Dee Deasel said. In California, they mostly stayed away from the beach, she said. They have gone out to eat, to the mall and to movies here in West Virginia, but they are just as likely to stay in and play Xbox.

Dee Deasel said she and some other parents went to the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center over the weekend — her second time ever at a casino.

She lost $5.50, but had fun.

 “We giggled and cackled the whole time,” she said.