Sutton Middle School wins Metro Atlanta Soccer League title

For the third consecutive year, the Sutton Middle School boys’ soccer team captured the Metro Atlanta Soccer League title. Just as impressively, the team cruised to a 15-0 season after almost doubling the number of games from last year’s 9-1 championship season. The Cougars outscored opponents 76-8 and dominated in all but a handful of games, shutting out all three of their opponents in the playoffs including a 2-0 win over Decatur’s Renfroe Middle School in the championship game.

Here head coach Jay Bland explains how co-captains Daniel Adelman, Joshua Uribe and Ivan Ramirez helped lead the team to the title, and how vital they’ll be as eighth-graders helping out North Atlanta High‘s junior-varsity team when it begins action in February. Bland needs their help; he also coaches North Atlanta High’s varsity team, and after losing nine seniors from last year’s team, depth will be a concern. “The whole plan is to have players move all way through the ranks, play for me until they are seniors, and watch them graduate and hopefully go to college,” explained Bland, who works with JV head coach Michael Slack at North Atlanta High.

We also enjoyed talking to the three co-captains about how they juggle athletics with academics, because as Adelman pointed out, if you don’t keep up good grades, you don’t play!