Special to the Breeze Team Dynamite U-13 girls soccer team after receiving their fourth-place medals Sunday at the 3v3 National Championship at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. Members of the team, which qualified for the Kickit World Championship in Januray, from left, coach Brad Herrera, Kaylee Herrera, Helaina Korvanen, Ashley Rogers, Sarah Morin, Ashley Nebel, Caitlin McGlynn, coach Ed McGlynn and coach Chris Rogers.

This is no ordinary trip to Disney World for 12 teen-aged girls and their families. Oh, there will be time for sightseeing, but this week’s visit is no vacation. It has a different purpose.

These girls are members of two Cape Coral soccer teams determined to win the 3v3 National Championship in their respective age groups. They earned their way to Orlando by winning one of several qualifying tournaments over the past three months.

The U-13 Dynamite team consists of six girls who were all-stars in the Cape Coral Soccer Association’s recreation league. They have been teammates or rivals for the past two years.

The U-15 Lady Cougars team is six 15-year-old girls who are teammates on the Island Coast Soccer Alliance U-16 competitive squad coached by Mark Bost. They were undefeated in two 3v3 tournaments this summer, and qualified for Nationals for the first time.

The girls, and their parents, had to work hard off the field, too, raising money in the community over several weeks by scheduling car washes, garage sales, barbecue lunch sales and seeking public and business sponsor donations.

The fundraising efforts helped pay for all tournament entry fees and uniforms while also helping parents pay the Disney hotel expenses.

The Dynamite and Cougars, and at least 14 other teams from Southwest Florida, hope to play well enough this weekend (July 31-Aug. 2) to earn a spot in the Kickit World Championships in January back at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.

The Dynamite and Cougars girls have agreed to share their experiences this weekend by writing a daily diary. This is two of the three parts.

The U13 Dynamite: Kaylee Herrera, 13, Gulf Middle School; Helania Korvanen, 13, Evangelical Christian; Caitlin McGlynn, 13, Caloosa Middle; Sara Morin, 13, Gulf Middle; Ashley Nebel, 12, Trafalgar Middle; and Ashley Rogers, 13, Gulf Middle.

Coaches – Ed McGlynn, Brad Herrera.

The U15 Cougars: Tina Agostinelli, 15, North Fort Myers High School; Lauren Cento, 15, Bishop Verot; Haley Emerson, 15, Fort Myers High; Brenna Hambsch, 15, Ida Baker; Brittney Herrera, 15; Ida Baker; and Payton Van Horn, 15, Ida Baker. Samantha Dalzotto, 15, Ida Baker, played as a sub.

Coach – Joe Cento.

Disney Day 1 – Friday

U15 Cougars

Lauren Cento: Today we played a team from Maryland that was called DSC SOUL and beat them 10-3. It was a really easy team, but the rain made it harder to play in.

Our next game at 4 p.m. we played a team from a Ocala, Fla. It was storming and windy, but we managed to win 8-2. The level of play was easy, we were just having an off day. Disney has been fun so far, and hope it gets better.

(We) want to thank our coaches for training us to win and have fun. Our head coach, Joe Cento and assistant Donna Agostinelli and Samantha Dalzotto, have contributed to our success.

We also like to thank our sponsor Salmen Insurance (Eddie Carmean) for allowing us to get here.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we play at 8 a.m. against Tapout and we play at 11:30 against the Spirit of 93.

Brenna Hambsch and Brittney Herrera: Today we played two games, they were both really easy. We won both games, one 10-3 and one 8-2. Both teams were not intimidating – one team with weird jerseys and spandex and another with cheerleading shorts. We were suprised the one team traveled all the way from Maryland, but it was a lot of fun because instead of being all serious we got to joke around some, too.

We all thought that being in Nationals would be a lot more competitive. Even though both games have been really easy we will go into the rest of our games with the same attitude that they could be good.

Playing these teams hasn’t been as fun because of the level of play, but still good practice for later in the tournament and Worlds. We all worked together well, and we also thank the coaches for keeping us going and organized.

Payton Van Horn: The Disney facility is really big. It has football, soccer, basketball and more.

We played well together today (Friday), won both of our games 10-3 and 8-2. We have been finding each other’s feet with the ball well. We play two games (Saturday) before we start the elimination round.

U13 Dynamite

Kaylee Herrera, Ashley Rogers, Caitlin McGlynn, Ashley Nebel, Sarah Morin, Helaina Korvanen: When we got to Disney’s Sports Complex we were all very nervous, but the excitement kicked in immediately as soon as we saw familiar things, such as players, the fields, and the audience, etc.

Our first game we were down 4-0. We came back in the second half, and the final score was 6-5, but we lost. In our second game we won, but we came from behind to win 3-2.

We went to Disney Quest tonight (Friday) and we are psyched for our game tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 p.m. We are exhilerated to be in the Nationals!

Disney Day 2 – Saturday

U15 Lady Cougars

Lauren Cento: Today was hot and sunny. Our first game was at 8 a.m We played Tap Out, a Tampa team that was not very good. We started off very lazy so we lost that game 4-1.

Second game we played was Spirit of 93, another team from Tampa. It was a really good game. I scored and played hard, but we lost 5-4. In that game Tina Agostinelli got hurt in the last two minutes. Disney tournament trainers worked on her for five minutes before they carted her off to an ambulance. She was sent to an ER orthopedic hospital. No break, or fracture, only a bad bruise.

The last game we played, was against a Pennsylvania team called Teal Wave. We were really tired and worn out from the first two games that we were not mercied 10-2. I did score again in the last game, but it was so hot.

We did the best we could and next year we are going to win it all.

Payton Van Horn: Saturday was a whole different day. We struggled playing together as a team and defending all together. At the end of the first game one of our players got hurt and was out for the rest of the tournament. The score of this game was a 4-1 loss.

Game two we came out very strong attacking and defending as a team, but made a few major game-changing errors and lost 5-4. Going into the quarterfinals we were in third place and we played the first seed team from Pennsylvania, but unfortunately they got up a few goals early in the game and we got down on ourselves. The score of this game was 12-2 loss.

For our first year going to Nationals, we had a fun time playing soccer and definitely look forward to coming back next year. Thanks to our coaches Joe Cento and Donna Agostinelli for organizing and keeping us focused.

U13 Dynamite

Sarah Morin, Helaina Korvanen, Ashley Nebel, Ashley Rogers, Kaylee Hererra, Caitlin McGlynn: We made it to World Cup! We are ecstatic!

Today, the intensity was on! All of our practices had come down to the game we played today. All of our passes were much more precise, we communicated more and we played like an actual team that has been together for years. We won our game, it was 5-3 (over Phoenix). Once again we came back from behind, 1-0.

We are in the semifinals (Sunday) against (unbeaten) Al Surge. If we win we will get into the finals for first and second, but if we lose then we are playing for third and fourth place.

After the game Saturday, we all went to CiCi’s Pizza and ate our hearts out and played arcade games. After that we all had ice cream by the pool and just chilled and relaxed for the big game tomorrow.

We are all having a great time here in Orlando and can’t wait to share the rest of the news with you Sunday.

Disney Day 3 – Sunday

The U-13 Dynamite girls’ recreation level team, which has been together as a 3v3 team for only four months, came together to finish fourth in their division with a 2-3 record overall, falling to tougher teams in Sunday’s semifinals and third-place game. More importantly, they earned a berth in the Kickit World Championships in January back at Disney.

U-13 Dynamite

Kaylee Herrera and Caitlin McGlynn: Our games today were challenging. Our first game we were playing a team (Al Surge) that has won the championships for three years in a row, and haven’t been scored on in five years. We scored the first goal in less than a second. We were really happy!

We were winning 2-0, but ended up losing 6-2. It was one of the best games we have ever played. They played a good game, too.

Our second game we were down 3-0 at halftime to the Huskies Red. They scored another one, to lead 4-0, but then we scored three. With 10 seconds left in the game we were really nervous, and trying our hardest, and we missed the (tying) goal by a foot to lose 4-3. So at the end of the day we were fourth at the Nationals!

We are so exited to get fourth! We all want to thank our amazing, awesome coaches – coach Brad Herrera (Kaylee’s dad), coach Ed McGlynn (Caitlin’s grandfather) and coach Chris Rogers (Ashley’s dad).

Thank you so much to the people who came to support us! WE MADE IT TO WORLD CUP!!!!!!!!!

Sarah Morin: Today was a very challenging, tiring day! We lost our first and second game, but they were both really good games.

Our first game, we played (Al Surge) that has been together for five years and in the past three years no one has ever scored on them, except for today. I was the first one who scored on them so I was pretty proud of myself for making that first goal. The final score was 6-2, but it was an awesome game.

Also the second game was a good game too, the score was 4-3 and was really close. It was also very, very hot which made it even harder to play. We played great as a team today even though we lost, but it’s okay because we had a lot of fun. The teams we played were hard, but we gave 150 percent of our effort into it.

Dynamite got fourth place, but I am still proud of that because we tried our very best, which is why we made it into World Cup that will occur in January, 2010. I am so excited for that. It’s going to be a blast just like this tournament was!