LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --
Laughlin Football Club, a soccer team from Laughlin Air Force Base, recently competed in the Defender's Cup, an annual military soccer tournament, over Labor Day weekend.
Laughlin competed with 37 other teams at the South Texas Area Regional Soccer Complex in San Antonio Texas, and ranked fifth out of 38 teams for their first ever competition as a team.
"The games weren't easy," said 2nd Lt. Garret Getschow, 47th Student Squadron student pilot and team captain of the Laughlin Football Club, "But we definitely played like a team that wanted the championship."
Before playing as a team, Laughlin FC started as a small group of friendly soccer fans.
"We started as a small group of eight to 10 people who wanted to play soccer and grew to about 24 or more," said Senior Airman Evens Perjuste, 47th Civil Engineer Squadron Engineering Journeyman and secondary team captain. "We finally decided we wanted to compete and found out that the tournament was a few weeks away."
Issues for the team consisted of getting enough people who wanted to go together and getting the funding for the tournament and uniforms in a short time frame.
"A group of student pilots fronted the tournament fees allowing Laughlin to put forth a team of competitors," said Getschow. "After the funding was balanced and everyone heard it'd be less than $100 per person, the team just fell together."
The Laughlin based soccer team went on to win their first five games against Eglin AFB, Fort Sam, Fort Sill, Hill AFB, and Lackland AFB, before meeting Hawaii.
"Hawaii was a good team and it could've gone either way," said Getschow. "They beat us 2-0, but the important thing is, we as a team had a good time working and playing together on the field."
With a tournament under their belt, Laughlin FC looks forward to more games and competitions in the future.
"As a team, we've found an opportunity to promote good morale and welfare in a professional environment," said Getschow. "We want to keep the team going and keep Laughlin FC competing at the Defender's Cup in the future."
Laughlin FC is open to all members of Laughlin AFB wanting to play soccer. For more information please visit https://www.facebook.com/LaughlinFC.