Peter Arroyo dreamed of being able to hoist a Tampa Charter Athletic League (TCAL) soccer championship before he graduated from Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes.
The eighth-grader’s wish was actualized when the school’s boys middle school program won its first-ever title earlier this fall.
“I’ve been waiting to get this since the fifth grade,” said Arroyo, a captain and one of the Dragons leading scorers and distributers.
Imagine School finished the year with an impressive 10-1-1 mark, plus the showy gold hardware.
They entered the TCAL playoffs as the No. 2 seed, behind Terrace Community Middle School — the lone team they lost to 2-1 in a regular season contest.
After defeating Lutz Learning Gate Community School in the TCAL semifinals 2-1, the Dragons had the chance to exact revenge on Terrace Community in the championship.
The Dragons initially fell behind 1-0, but soon rattled off four consecutive goals — two scores apiece from Arroyo and fellow eighth-grade striker Preston Russo.
Motivational words from Dragons head coach Henry Cheung helped spark the offensive attack, after the team trailed early on.
Cheung recalled the watershed moment, “I told the team, ‘Hey, we can beat them,’ and I told them, ‘Hey, we’ve got to focus. This is it, this is the last game for some of these (eighth-grade) players, we have to go all out…’”
Fifth-grade left-wing striker Julian Cash also recollected the title game’s swing in momentum.
“(Terrace Community) thought they would beat us because they beat us in the regular season and we were like, ‘That’s not going to happen,’ so they were like, ‘This is going to be easy game,’ and when they were up 1-0, they thought they were going to win, and then we come back, because they were (playing) lazy, right, thinking they were going to win.
“We come back, put the pressure on them, and win 4-1,” he said.
Altogether, securing the first title in team history “was kind of like really shocking and overwhelming,” Arroyo said, noting the weighty competition season long. “I’m still like shocked that we won,” he said.
Russo — who led the Dragons with 17 goals scored— likewise characterized the achievement as “hard to process.”
The banner campaign yielded more significance, given the program didn’t have a traditional season in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, they scheduled an informal tournament with a couple other local schools.
Aside from successes, simply returning to an organized soccer season offered a breath of fresh air. “It just feels good, with the pandemic and all that, we just need something back to normalcy,” said Cheung.
Progression, from start to finish
Despite the overall record and final outcome, the Dragons banner season was consistently a work in progress, from start to finish.
Cheung acknowledged the 16-member team’s talented group of fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.
But getting them to work together as a cohesive, selfless group was an early task.
“They have their experience, and individually, they’re really good, but it’s that working together that I have to build them up throughout the season,” explained Cheung.
“I’m glad it worked out, because in the beginning, we struggled a little bit, because everybody, they have their own, ‘I want to take the ball, I want to take the chance,’ but we have to learn how to pass the ball, work as a team to move forward.
“I think that’s the most important part as a team, that we have learned this season — we work united, as a team,” he said.
Cash observed the team’s evolution in a similar lens, “In the beginning, we all just wanted to score goals and we wouldn’t pass the ball, but when we started passing the ball we played much better.”
The team’s talent and soccer instincts were other guiding factors, added Arroyo.
“We have a lot of athletes, a lot of speed,” said Arroyo. “Everyone that contributed to most of the goals has an attacking mindset. Like, they all know how to create plays, they all know what to do, and especially on defense, too. They know what to do on defense, they know when to do it, so, it’s like very well-rounded team overall.”
Robust game planning was another component.
Cheung reviews film of all the team’s matches. He studies other opponents’ tendencies and varies formations from there, be it a defensive set or counter-attack. “We play two formations throughout the season,” the coach said.
Bittersweet memories
While Arroyo relishes helping make program history, it’s a somewhat bittersweet ending as he’ll soon embark on a new journey as a freshman at nearby Sunlake High School.
The team leader is going to most miss providing mentorship to the squad’s fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders.
“Playing with the younger kids, teaching them the ropes and how to do it, I’m going to miss that a lot,” he said. “Like getting all of the eighth-graders together that play soccer, and teaching the fifth-graders how to play, it was just like a guiding lesson.”
He added, “As soon as we get to high school, everyone’s going to be older than us…and it’s not going to be as fun.”
Russo acknowledged that advancing to the prep ranks will offer a different dynamic for him, Arroyo and the team’s three other eighth-graders.
“It’ll be kind of like a restarting from the bottom, from the ones being taught what to do and how to play,” he said.
Cash takes a more upbeat, yet philosophical view on the exodus of eighth-graders. “One day, they’re going to be seniors and I’ll be a freshman, and it’s going to be an all-over repeating cycle — they’re going to tell me what to do in high school,” he said.
Though the Dragons will be without its leading scorer and team captain, they do return several other impact players, including its primary goaltender.
Cheung also is looking forward to seeing the advancement of each grade level, as well as some fresh faces that’ll enter the program.
The aim, of course, is to win another title.
“We’re going to go for No. 2, for sure,” the coach said. “I know we’re going to lose some of our good players, but I’m excited for the fourth-graders coming into fifth-graders.
“We’re a strong team, still. I think we should be good.”
Meanwhile, Cheung otherwise gets a kick out of seeing his players’ passion and enthusiasm for the game, harking back memories of his childhood growing up in Hong Kong, China.
“When I played at their age, seeing them play on the field, reminds me of myself when I played as a kid,” he said. “I enjoyed the moment, and so I want them to enjoy the moment, as well, so that’s why I became a coach.”
Imagine School Land O’ Lakes boys middle school soccer
10 wins, one loss, one draw
63 goals scored
12 goals allowed
Three shutouts
Game-by-game results
Regular season
- Lutz Prep (3-1 win)
- Sunlake Academy (10-0 win)
- Henderson Hammock (7-1 win)
- Innovation Prep (8-0 win)
- Hillsborough Academy (2-2 tie)
- Trinity School (5-2 win)
- Terrace Community (2-1 loss)
- Union Park (6-1 win)
- Learning Gate (3-2 win)
Playoffs
- Learning Gate (2-1 win)
- Terrace Community (4-1 win)
Roster
Peter Arroyo
Mathew Broderick
Jay Capelo
Julian Cash
Alessio Cullinan
Luca Greco
Trent Hamuay
Tyler Hamuay
Reece Lawrence
Nathan Merriman
Adrian Morales
Ethan Palazzi
Preston Russo
Elijah Tigue
Aidan Soto
Sebastian Suppa
Head coach: Henry Cheung
Published December 22, 2021
