The 13-and-under soccer team will be looking to continue its success from the district tournament to the state tournament this weekend in Dothan.

Earlier this month, the team won its district title, by defeating both Fort Rucker and Eufaula.

Now, the team has set it sights on the next championship to win and have been working hard to get prepared for what’s to come in Dothan.

“Practices have been going well,” coach Mark Salmon said Thursday night. “We have worked a lot on learning how to play the game better as a team and being the teammate’s trust with one another.

“There is a lot of talent on this team, but if we want to win [this weekend] this group has to play unselfish,” he added.

To help better prepare his team for what’s to come on Saturday, Salmon has made his team work on its passes to each other as well as different communication drills.

However, even with the district championship already won, Salmon believes his team has a difficult road ahead of them.

“I think we play in the hardest of the two pools,” the coach said.

“If we can come out of that pool, I think we have a great shot at winning the whole thing.

“But it is going to come down to kids keeping their heads in the game and staying focusing and not getting rattled,” Salmon added.

One thing the coach is curious to find out about is how his 18-player roster will do against its competition.

Usually, the rosters have around 15 players, but with the three extra, Salmon will be able to run to offensive lines throughout the course of the game.

“It will be interesting to see how [play two lines] works out for us against this kind of competition,” the coach said.

“We have a lot of really good and talented kids on this team, who all really love that game – and that says a lot about them.”

The team will open up state play on Saturday with a 9 a.m. game against Prattville followed by a 1 p.m. game that same day against Jacksonville.

If the team should make it to the championship game, it will play at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning.