The Mighty Bluebird Black soccer team had a great showing in Jackson, MS for the MS United Spring Classic. The Black team is a true U-10 team that was playing up in the U-11 Classic bracket. Despite being the smallest team in the tournament the Bluebirds proved that they had the most skill and that skill is more important than size. The Bluebirds won their first game over Jackson FC Green 2-1 with the first goal coming from Haley Hatcher and the game winner from Larkin Hatcher. In game two the Bluebirds defeated MS United Blue 6-2 with the Bluebirds jumping out to 6-0 lead before allowing their opponent two goals in the final three minutes of the game. In this game Macey Burr had three goals, Haley Hatcher two, and Larkin Hatcher one. In game three the Bluebirds had another tough contest defeating Gulf Coast United West Blue 3-2. Haley Hatcher had the first two goals of the game before Brooke Wendl scored the game winner with just a few minutes to go while Adam May filled in as coach and got his first victory as a Bluebird Head Coach. In the finals the Bluebirds played a team that had players 30% larger than all of them. Despite the size advantage and intimidation on the first tap of the ball Haley Hatcher took the ball through the entire defense, shot, the ball bounced off the goal keeper and Brooke Wendl smashed it in to give the Bluebirds a quick 1-0 lead. The Bluebirds went on to win 4-1 with Haley Hatcher scoring the next three goals to close out the scoring.
The Bluebird defense was superb with Whitney Beals doing a great job at goal keeper all tournament giving up only goals that were earned while Annie Sixbey, Elizabeth Freeman, and Jo Bentley were an extremely tough defensive presence in the back of a diamond. Olivia Caillouet, Leah Riner, and Haley Filat played a variety of positions for the Bluebirds over the course of the weekend and provided substantial depth on defense and offense. The forwards of Larkin Hatcher, Haley Hatcher, Brooke Wendl, and Macey Burr often referred to as the four midgets were more than these big teams could handle with their passing, dribbling, and shooting. The Mighty Bluebird Black added the MS United tournament to the number of championships they've won while playing up.