Bob Gray remembers how popular soccer was growing up in Trenton, N.J.

"There probably wasn't one high school soccer team in the state of West Virginia, yet we had four different classes of schools playing for state championships,'' said the Marshall men's soccer coach.

"We may have 30 kids try out for an 18-man roster [and] they would have 300. The Italian-Americans [and] the Polish-Americans, they all have clubs. There's professional clubs in the area. It's a way of life for them.''

It's one thing to overcome talent, but it's quite another to take on tradition.

Boys and girls soccer teams from West Virginia have been up against that combination for years in regional competition with very few positive results, but the gap is beginning to close. Solid coaching and a growing interest fostered by youth leagues at earlier ages is allowing the state to catch up.

"I think that was evidenced recently when we took our [Olympic Development Program] teams to New Jersey,'' Gray said. "The scores were much more competitive than they have been in years past. You saw a lot of one-goal games. There have been years where we tried to keep it under a touchdown.''

Mountain State squads will get another chance to test their mettle when the U.S. Youth Soccer Region 1 championships open this week in Barboursville.

The event will feature 280 teams totaling 5,000 players ages 12-19 from Maine, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

"Sometimes you don't measure it in victories, you measure it in how you compete that day,'' said Gray, who will coach the West Virginia Soccer Club Elite under-15 boys team based in Charleston. "I think there's a couple teams at least when Sunday rolls around, they'll still have something to play for.''

A team from West Virginia has won a regional title only once, when the under-12 boys team from Huntington accomplished the feat in 1997. The West Virginia Soccer Club under-12 girls squad advanced to the semifinals two years ago.

"We've been doing better every year,'' said Len Rogers, president of the West Virginia Soccer Association and chairman of the Region 1 organizing committee.

"We have 16,000 players [and] some states have 140,000, 145,000 players. When you have a bigger pool to draw from, you get better talent. Our players are just as good as any states - they've just got more of them.''

Better coaching has helped West Virginia level the playing field. 

"That's probably where we made the biggest in-roads,'' said Gray. "We're requiring a lot of coaches to have a minimal coaching license. We see more of them taking the coaching course. We're also getting a bigger influx from people in the community who have a soccer background. We've caught up quite a bit.''

Bob Gray remembers how popular soccer was growing up in Trenton, N.J.

"There probably wasn't one high school soccer team in the state of West Virginia, yet we had four different classes of schools playing for state championships,'' said the Marshall men's soccer coach.

"We may have 30 kids try out for an 18-man roster [and] they would have 300. The Italian-Americans [and] the Polish-Americans, they all have clubs. There's professional clubs in the area. It's a way of life for them.''

It's one thing to overcome talent, but it's quite another to take on tradition.

Boys and girls soccer teams from West Virginia have been up against that combination for years in regional competition with very few positive results, but the gap is beginning to close. Solid coaching and a growing interest fostered by youth leagues at earlier ages is allowing the state to catch up.

"I think that was evidenced recently when we took our [Olympic Development Program] teams to New Jersey,'' Gray said. "The scores were much more competitive than they have been in years past. You saw a lot of one-goal games. There have been years where we tried to keep it under a touchdown.''

Mountain State squads will get another chance to test their mettle when the U.S. Youth Soccer Region 1 championships open this week in Barboursville.

The event will feature 280 teams totaling 5,000 players ages 12-19 from Maine, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

"Sometimes you don't measure it in victories, you measure it in how you compete that day,'' said Gray, who will coach the West Virginia Soccer Club Elite under-15 boys team based in Charleston. "I think there's a couple teams at least when Sunday rolls around, they'll still have something to play for.''

A team from West Virginia has won a regional title only once, when the under-12 boys team from Huntington accomplished the feat in 1997. The West Virginia Soccer Club under-12 girls squad advanced to the semifinals two years ago.

"We've been doing better every year,'' said Len Rogers, president of the West Virginia Soccer Association and chairman of the Region 1 organizing committee.

"We have 16,000 players [and] some states have 140,000, 145,000 players. When you have a bigger pool to draw from, you get better talent. Our players are just as good as any states - they've just got more of them.''

Better coaching has helped West Virginia level the playing field. 

"That's probably where we made the biggest in-roads,'' said Gray. "We're requiring a lot of coaches to have a minimal coaching license. We see more of them taking the coaching course. We're also getting a bigger influx from people in the community who have a soccer background. We've caught up quite a bit.''

"Coaches that are there now have all played the game,'' added Rogers. "Kids that played for my team are now 27 years old. Some of them are getting back involved. I never played the game. There's only so much you can learn by watching. All of our ODP teams have college coaches working with them. We've turned the corner.''

Gray said states where soccer is a staple at the community level also have year-round programs.

"We have a lot of [our athletes] playing dual sports [and] not participating in the winter because of a lack of facilities,'' he said. "You've got to practice it and perfect it and do it year-round.''

Improvements in coaching and facilities can only take you so far.

"It's just a numbers thing now,'' Rogers said. "The numbers are just too big right now. We're growing a little bit each year.

"We're not going to go dominate a state that has twice as many players. Our coaches are teaching nice stuff and we'll come along nicely. I think our teams will compete well.''

Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at tatkin...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4811.

U.S. Youth Soccer Region 1 championships