Members of UFA South Georgia 98 Premier

TIFTON, Ga. — Look out state, UFA South Georgia is on its way.

United Futbol Academy South Georgia 98 Premier, an area under-17 girls team, is headed to Statesboro Saturday as one of the final four soccer teams in the Georgia State Cup.

This is history for them, according to team manager Lee Blenman. “This is the first time for a South Georgia team in the final,” he said.

The tournament will take place at Georgia Southern University. Opening ceremonies are tonight at 6 p.m.

The practice period has not been long for the team.  “They came back after high school,” he said. Tift County’s last day of school was May 20. “We’ve had a few weeks back together.” They played a tournament game Monday and were to practice at Tifton’s Friendly City Park twice this week before departing for the final four.

A shortened practice schedule may seem like a difficult obstacle, but most of the players have known each other for years. Blenman asked a few players how long they had been together. Since they were 13 years old was the most common answer.

And while UFA South Georgia represents a large area, they have competed on the same fields, either as teammates or rivals. Players come from such towns as Tifton, Valdosta, Thomasville, Albany, Sylvester and Leesburg.

Local players on the roster are Abby Kay Choate and Emmalee Miller. Jamey Medders and Kennedy Rutherford play at Worth County High. Emmy Copeland suits up at Georgia Christian. Thomas County Central is the home of Jade Guyton, Cara Eaton and Lauren Pearson.

To get this far was a long journey for the team.

Blenman said that despite being an under-17 team, they competed against a higher age group during the fall of last year. They were not always successful in their endeavors, he said, finishing “mid-table,” either fourth or fifth.

The finish meant that they took a No. 18 seed in this year’s tournament and needed to win a play-in game. Blenman said the ranking was misleading, but “it worked out for us.”

Playing up has helped them, he thinks. Against teams their own age, they “definitely had experience.” That showed in the tournament. In four games, they have surrendered a single goal. The goal came in their closest game, a 2-1 victory over SSA Chelsea 99G Elite in the second round, a team that was ranked second in the bracket.

To reach the final four, they took three wins in three days. Following the SSA Chelsea game was a 3-0 win over Augusta-based AASC Arsenal Gunners 99 Gold and a 4-0 defeat of UFA 99 Gold Monday.

Taking the state cup will take two more wins. Saturday will see them face someone very familiar: UFA99 Premier from Atlanta. This UFA team has yet to give up a goals in their three games.

The other half of the semifinals features NASA G’17 Elite and Concorde Fire South Black. Both of these teams are from Atlanta as well.

If they can make it through the single elimination state tournament, their next step would be regionals, Blenman said.