The COVID-19 shutdowns have stolen so much joy from everyone. The sports community of Long Beach felt that the most this summer when fields and courts across the city were left unused.
For the last decade, we have provided in-depth coverage of the incredible achievements of the elite Long Beach youth sports teams. We respect that those championships won and memories made can’t be duplicated and will last a lifetime.
Our updates on youth tournaments and For The Fridge features have celebrated those top teams and players who deserve a moment in the spotlight. Since there weren’t any additions to that storied history this summer, it’s the perfect time to relive the last 10 years of Long Beach youth sports with the Top 10 Teams Of The Decade.
We’re making a list of the most accomplished Long Beach youth sports teams since 2010, and we’re checking it more than twice to make sure nothing gets left out of this historic collection.
It feels wrong to just decide for ourselves, so we’re asking you the reader to nominate your favorite local youth sports team of the last decade. In the true spirit of youth sports, the winners will be announced in no particular order, and all nominees will at least make the honorable mention story available at The562.org.
Nominations can be sent to JJ@The562.org and the top 10 will be announced this month with stories including interviews with players and coaches.
The criteria is simple and the pool of talent is overflowing. We celebrate the high school and college teams with our All-City awards, and we meet the middle school champions crowned every year at the Long Beach Century Club banquet, but we’ve never taken time to celebrate local leagues and clubs as one entity.
This list will be solely made of up of organizations like Long Beach Little League, Los Altos Softball, Beach FC, Mizuno Volleyball, Shore Aquatics and other local leagues that create teams of athletes who are younger than 18 years old.
We’ve already received nominations online. One fan on Twitter @BarnabeeJoe nominated the 2014 AYSO 177 Long Beach Waves boys’ soccer U12 State Champions and even included a team picture. Another account, @classicsweendog, nominated the 2005 Long Beach Little League Dodgers. That team won the District 38 Tournament Of Champions and beat all but one opponent by mercy rule.
Do you want your kid’s team to be etched in history, or were you on a team that deserves to be included on this list? Please get involved and help us relive the youthful summers of our past while we wait for another one to come around.
Youth Sports
The City of Long Beach provided an update on Monday regarding youth sports and how they will be permitted to safely resume organized activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. While teams will be permitted to conduct conditioning and other individualized activities with their players, there will be no competition allowed for the time being.
