The GR Crew Girls U10 Silver team played with hearts of gold in the Novi Invitational tournament to the delight of their fans on Mother’s Day weekend 2010. After struggling through the Crusader Cup tournament just a few weeks before, the kids taught their parents a valuable lesson in what it means to never stop competing. Undeterred by the elements, the girls played like it was sunny and 70, meanwhile any of the fans would have told you the temperatures were in the 40’s, the rainfall was relentless and the winds were swirling with gusts upwards of 40 mph.The girls started off with a thrilling 2-1 victory and followed it up with a convincing 10-0 win during Saturday’s action. Team spirit was at a fever pitch after Saturday’s games and they enjoyed some time off the field before calling it a night. Sunday morning’s action kicked off at 8:20 under sunny skies but a bone chilling 39 degrees. The girls played hard but came up short in a 2-1 loss.

The team gathered to cheer on the Girls U8 Crew team while they waited for the tournament officials to determine whether or not they would play on. The girls cheered like champs when it was announced they would be playing in their first ever semi-final game. After a quick lunch the Crew Girls came out strong and finished with another convincing victory, beating Pinckney 3-0 and moving on to the final. Once the championship game started it was clear the girls weren’t experiencing the same pre-game jitters their fans were feeling and they played hard against the Novi Jags. The first half came to an end with the Crew down 1-0. Amazingly both teams came out strong in the second half of their fifth game in just over 24 hours. The Crew Girls Silver team defended their goal with pride in the second half but couldn’t get a ball in the back of the net and fell 1-0. The team met at a local Dairy Queen after the game and shared their excitement after a great tournament run.