Under the leadership of both Carlos Betran and Vitor Ortiz the Federation is sending two youth teams (11U/12U) to play in the highly competitive Maryland Invitational Tournament "MIT" in February. Some of the top elite travel teams will participate in the event including DC Assualt, KSK and other top programs from across the USA.
In past years the Federation has sent teams to Argentina and Cuba. For many players this will be the first time they get a chance to play at this level. The opposing teams will have kids who are bigger, stronger and more athletic. Said a parent whose son has played AAU and against some of the teams in South America, " A number of the kids on both teams have never played at this level. The biggest challenge for them is going to be the level of contact. Since we play over 90% of our games locally on concrete and referees are forced to protect players form injury our kids are going to be really surprised at how the games are called. Clearly our kids are further along in their development but this will be a big test for many of them."
