Mount Pleasant U8 girls’ team wins national 3V3 tournament

A team of under-8 girls from the South Carolina United Mount Pleasant Soccer Club recently traveled to Walt Disney World and came home with something a lot better than most of the souvenirs found at the theme park: a trophy for winning a national championship in the 3V3 tournament.

The team, United Attack, consisted of coach Jeff Sheidow along with Morgan de Barros, Walker Sheidow, Anna Sheppard, Leslie Holt, Juliana Leone and Rylie Tart.

Three versus three, or 3V3, is soccer played on a small field, generally 15-25 yards wide and 20-25 yards long. There is a small box in front of the goal, and players cannot play the ball inside that box.

“It allows players to get a lot of touches, a lot of dribbling, a lot of passing, a lot of shooting,” Sheidow said. “It’s a fast-paced game, usually high scoring.

“Our players really dominated against the competitions they were supposed to. If we got (a big lead), I would ask the girls to pass the ball more, promoting less shooting and more ball control. The girls responded very well to that. It helped them play better as the tournament went on.”

The team was put together for a summer season that included a few tournaments and practiced a couple of times a week. And Sheidow said he thought the experience would help the players as the fall season begins Sept. 8.

In the championship game, Sheidow said, they played a team from Clearwater, Fla., that had taller, bigger players.

But after the game started, the Mount Pleasant squad scored a couple of goals and never looked back, he said.