NORTHEAST KINGDOM – With UVM’s national title defense coming up short in the second round of the NCAA Tournament over the weekend, it brings the official end to the season and an eighteen month plus run of the meteoric resurgence of the sport of soccer in the Green Mountain State.
Soccer is absolutely booming in the state of Vermont, especially at the youth levels. Helping drive that boom has undoubtedly been the success of a UVM men’s soccer team that had a Cinderella Run for the ages last season that ran right into this summer. The Catamounts captured their first-ever Division I National Championship last fall as an unranked team. Virtue Field in Burlington just sold out their thirteenth straight match over the weekend with Catamount faithful that have turned the modest stadium into a standing room party atmosphere week in and week out. The party continued into the summer when several Catamount championship players elected to play for Vermont’s semi-pro soccer team, Vermont Green FC. Those players double dipped into championship glory, leading the Green to their first ever USL2 National Title this past August in just their fourth year in existence. The Green went undefeated on their way to their USL2 title, while continuing to pack in standing room only crowds at Virtue Field.
That enthusiasm for the sport has trickled down into the high school, middle school, and youth levels all across the state. Participation numbers were up this past fall for most high school soccer programs in all divisions, with local programs like Hazen Union (Craftsbury Academy) and Caledonia United (Twinfield-Cabot-Danville) enjoying successful seasons, along with uptick in numbers. The Caledonia United boys team rode the program’s first ever undefeated regular season all the way to the Division IV state title match. The Hazen boys team had their most competitive season in the rugged Capital League since joining four years ago, finishing with their first winning season at 7-6-1. The Hazen girls hosted a playoff game for the third straight year, winning 27 games over that span. Cal United now has the reigning Player of the Year in Eli Russell and Coach of the Year in Peter Stratman. Isabelle Gouin also won Player of the Year in the Mountain League for the Lady Cats, breaking the all-time scoring record at Hazen with 56 career goals. Harry Besett was named Coach of the Year in the Capital in just his second season coaching the Wildcats. Russell, Gouin, along with Hazen’s Grayson McNaughten, Taylor Thompson and Cal United’s Sam McLane, Josh Petersen and Eliska Siebenbruner, were all Vermont All-State selections.
Summer soccer youth programs are surging across the state and the Vermont Soccer Association as an affiliate of U.S. Youth Soccer, is leading the way to grow the game. Vermont has become the largest youth member of the United States Soccer Federation. Recent data shows that Vermont is one of the top states for youth sports participation in the entire country at nearly a seventy percent clip, including the nationwide leader in youth soccer participation.
If soccer enthusiasts need a breather, make it short, because with help from Canada and Mexico, the United States will host the World Cup in the summer of 2026.
