RM United History

RM United - Fall 2005  State Games - Outdoor Soccer - June 2001

From the beginning...

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In 2000, Mauricio Morales recognized the early talents of numerous kids playing recreational soccer at the Rocky Mount Area Youth Soccer Association. At that time, he decided to pick an elite group of players, and work with them with the idea of playing together in tournaments. He asked Will Williams and Ed Naylor to help with coaching, and RM United was born.

Many of the kids played together for the first time in an indoor soccer league in Raleigh for the winter 2000-2001 season, a season that saw RM United enjoy its first success with an 8-1 record and first place finish! 

RM United next appeared at the 2001 State Games, where a series of great performances in outdoor soccer ended with a heartbreaking overtime loss to Fuquay-Varina in the gold medal game. Revenge was sweet, though, when RM United won the gold medal in indoor soccer at the State Games just a week later by beating Fuquay-Varina in a PK shootout. 

As the State Games ended, Morales decided it would be fun and the development of the players would be enhanced if the team stayed together. Recognizing the time demands that would entail, he asked Wayne Gibson to become Team Manager.

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2001-2002

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RM United took a U-9 team and played a U-10 schedule at CASL in the fall of 2001. RM United enjoyed tremendous success with a 9-0 regular season record, and was victorious in the CASL Columbus Day tournament with a 6-3 overtime win in the championship game. 

At the conclusion of the fall season, RM United finished second in the Chevy State Cup, losing 2-1 in the final game to a team it had defeated in the regional championship.

RM United’s strong performance at CASL continued in the spring, as the team finished the season with a 7-2 record. 

RM United participated in the Wrangler McDonald’s Cup in Greensboro in May 2002, where they tied the eventual champions but were upset in another match and were relegated to winning third place. 

Players on the 2001-2002 teams were: Matthew Berry, Thomas Berry, Evan Brondyke, Seth Davis, Eliseo Feria, William Gibson, Mark Gray, Randy Kenyon, Spencer McAvoy, Andrew Morales, Jonathan Naylor, Ian Taylor, Usiel Velasquez, and Matt Williams. 

In the summer of 2002, RM United captured the gold medal in outdoor soccer at the State Games, beating Fuquay-Varina in the championship game.

 2002-2003

The fall of 2002 saw RM United with a U-10 team playing “up” to U-11. Total domination is the only word to describe RM United’s performance, as it outscored its opponents 61-3 in sweeping all 9 regular season games. 

That fall’s Chevy State Cup led to high expectations that were shattered by weather misfortunes. In the regionals, RM United won by scores of 3-1, 10-0, and 5-0 to advance to the championship weekend. RM United advanced to the championship game by winning 8-1, 2-0, and 3-0. Drenching rain, though, had made fields unplayable, and RM United fell in the championship game in a PK Shootout to a team it had beaten twice in the previous 8 days in a shortened match played in 45-degree weather on Astroturf. RM United concluded its fall play with a record of 15-0-1, outscoring its opponents 92-5.

It was apparent that the development of the players would be hampered by continuing to play the same Recreation-level opponents as during the fall, so RM United moved up to the Challenge level for the spring 2003 season. After opening with three losses while the players adjusted to the rigors of playing at the Challenge level in an older age group, RM United closed the spring season with five consecutive wins.

Once again, RM United participated in the Wrangler McDonald’s Cup in Greensboro in May following the spring 2003 season, and once again bad weather forced a modified tournament schedule. After racing past two opponents to move to the semifinals, tournament officials decided that all semifinal games would simply be PK Shootouts rather than being played, and RM United lost in the semifinals.

Players on the 2002-2003 teams were: Matthew Berry, Thomas Berry, Evan Brondyke, Seth Davis, David Deans, Eliseo Feria, William Gibson, Mark Gray, Spencer McAvoy, Andrew Morales, Benton Moss, Jonathan Naylor, Ian Taylor, Usiel Velasquez, Adam Wesche, and Matt Williams.

2003-2004

During the fall season of 2003, for the first time RM United played against its natural age group as a U-11 Challenge team. 

RM United opened the fall 2003 season by playing in the CASL Labor Day Kickoff. RM United advanced to the championship game, which was rained out. RM United did prove who the champion of the tournament was, though, when it beat its opponent in the regular season 5-0 a week later. RM United followed that by rolling over 10 regular season opponents by a combined score of 41-5.  

At the conclusion of the fall season, RM United traveled to Myrtle Beach for the Great Carolina Shootout. Playing a mixture of Challenge and Classic teams, RM United took the championship by shutting out all four opponents. Thus, RM United concluded a 17-0 fall season in which it outscored its opponents 66-6 and recorded 11 shutouts.

The coaches decided to take the next step forward and moved the team up to the Classic B level for the spring season. RM United opened its spring play with a championship in the Beast of the East tournament played in bitter cold weather and harsh winds in Greenville, NC.

The team then ran through the regular season Classic schedule with a 7-0-2 record, running its overall streak to 30 games without a loss.

Players on the 2003-2004 teams were: Adam Bayless (fall only), Lucas Bayless, Matthew Berry, Thomas Berry, Evan Brondyke (spring only), Seth Davis, David Deans, Eliseo Feria, William Gibson, Isai Gonzalez (spring only), Mark Gray, Ashton Love (fall only), Lee McAvoy, Andrew Morales, Benton Moss, Jonathan Naylor, Ambler Speight (fall only), Ian Taylor, and Matt Williams.