Area Soccer Teams Will Compete in International Event

The Simi Valley Premier and the California Heat of Woodland Hills will represent the Valley area this week in the USA Cup 1990, the largest international soccer tournament in the United States.

The Premier, for players aged 14 years and under, and the Heat, for players 12 and under, will join 406 other teams from more than 25 states and 17 countries. Play begins Monday in the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., and each team is guaranteed four games in round-robin play.

“It’s a very unique experience for kids this age to travel out to an international competition,” said Premier manager Roger Alves. The team went 20-0-4 in El Camino League play this year.

The Premier is an advanced-level traveling team. The Heat is an American Youth Soccer Assn. club team.

“The team got together two years ago,” Heat manager Jennifer Witcher said. “We are not an all-star team and the people at the USA Cup assured me it was friendly competition. We won’t be losing, 20-0.”

The Heat spent five days each in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Philadelphia en route to Blaine.

“This is an educational trip,” Witcher said. “Soccer gave us the opportunity.”