When the Green Bay Metro and Green Bay Thunder soccer clubs merged to form FC Green Bay last year, organizers were optimistic the joint venture would produce something big.
Last month, FC Green Bay's Under-18 orange team won the State Premier League championship with a 7-0 record in league play — making it the first area club team to do so at the U-18 level.
When the clubs merged, the aim was to elevate the level of soccer in Northeast Wisconsin to compete with traditional powerhouse regions like Milwaukee and Madison. The other goal was to garner more collegiate attention to players from this area.
With nine of the 14 players expected to play collegiate soccer this fall and a league championship in the books, it seems like mission accomplished.
"It's starting to show that we have some high-level kids in the Green Bay community," said University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men's soccer coach Tom Poitras, who is a technical coordinator for FC Green Bay.
"It's a great accomplishment for those guys to compete against some of the best teams in the state and in the Midwest and really hold their own."
Three players from the team — Josh Chamberlain, Mike Ohnesorge and Travis Meikl — will play for Poitras at UWGB.
Dennis Detrie, a former UWGB player who coaches the St. Norbert College women's team, led the U-18 team to the championship. The team allowed five goals in seven league games.
FC Green Bay's junior program ranges from U-11 to U-18 boys and girls teams. Detrie will have to start over with a new group next year, but that doesn't mean he will forget this season any time soon.
"They were kids that really loved to play," Detrie said. "With our surrounding population, we have a lot of great athletes here, especially those who play soccer. When you can go to these other cities and show that, it's a great thing not only for the city, but especially for the club."
