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Green Forest’s Under-11 Little Tigers pulled off the improbable, beating teams from New Mexico, Tennessee and Alabama to win the 3v3 Live National Tournament that ran from Friday, Nov. 28, through Sunday, Nov. 30, in Panama City Beach, Fla.
To compete in the annual national tourney, teams must be ranked in the top three for their state. The Little Tigers qualified by winning multiple 3v3 Live competitions in Arkansas and Missouri over the summer and autumn. After winning a regional tournament in September, the Little Tigers were not only invited to the national event, but presented a Golden Ticket – paying their entry fees.
The national tournament kicked off on Friday with players from 250 teams participating in a variety of skills contests on 32 fields, allowing tournament officials to break the larger age groups into divisions based on team strength.
Green Forest 10-year-old Peter Bustamante stood out in Friday’s contests, earning a second-place medal for his goal-scoring abilities. The tournament’s Under-11 teams were then assigned to one of two categories – Premier and Championship.
The tournament began in earnest Saturday with the Little Tigers in the Championship Division. They stumbled in the opening round, losing 13-3 to the Ohio Beastmode. Then, they won 6-3 against Chivas Alabama, but seemed doomed to come home after falling 7-6 to the Illinois Triple Threat.
Sunday morning, however, they defied the odds and beat the New Mexico Wolfpack 4-3. They not only stayed in the tournament, but qualified for the semifinals where they walloped the Tennessee Gladiators 6-3, and advanced to the finals.
The Little Tigers’ longtime rivals Northwest Arkansas Chivas from Rogers also qualified for the finals over in the Premier Division. On Sunday afternoon, Rogers fell to an Illinois team 3-2.
Green Forest faced Alabama once again.
The Little Tigers defeated Alabama 6-4 for the 3v3 Live Under- 11 Championship Division national title.
The Little Tigers usually have 12-14 players on their roster when they compete in the Springfield Lake Country Soccer league and in games in Rogers and Fayetteville, but 3v3 Live tournament rules only allowed six.
Coach Daniel Gutierrez and assistant coach Eddie Merida decided on Green Forest Elementary students Edward Perez, Matthew Romero, Leo Saucedo, Damian Pedraza, Peter Bustamante and Gustavo Lopez.
The 3v3 Live organization runs more than 150 local tournaments across the country each year. Only the top 250 winners are invited to the national championship.
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