BRUNSWICK

Former Morse High School student/athlete Branden Noltkamper, a Bath native who played soccer for the Shipbuilders, is currently the assistant coach of the University of Southern Maine women’s soccer team and assistant coach of Seacoast United U17 girls.

Noltkamper, Seacoast and Brunswick High School standout Anna Cowan, are scheduled to compete in the Super-Y North American Finals in Bradenton, Fla., Dec. 5-9.

“This past summer the Seacoast United U16 girls — still the current team I am with now — won the New England A league championship for the second year in a row which qualifies us for the Super-Y North American Finals,” said Noltkamper. “We have recently started training as we head out in a little under a month.

“Last season this team lost in the national championship game and this year we look to win the whole thing. It would be great awareness for everyone to see how successful a team from Maine can be at the national level.”

Cowan scored two goals on July 14 for a 2-1 victory against the Ottawa Fury FC, which clinched the Northeast Division championship.

“There is a tryout process every year,” explained Noltkamper of the team’s roster. “And, Anna is a big player for us. She’s got pace, a good technical ability, understands the game and her individual responsibilities as a player very well. She’s very consistent as a player. You always know what you are going to get from Anna.

“It’s an awesome experience,” said head coach James Blackwell. “The girls have been researching our opponents so our opponents will be familiar to us at nationals. The girls are on a strict hour-to-hour schedule with time to do homework, train and relax on the Florida beaches.”

Because the girls also play for their hometown high schools, schedules have to be juggled accordingly,

“The commitment is a few practices a week with a few tournaments a year,” explained Noltkamper. “As a team, Blackwell has really gotten the girls to buy into a philosophy that has brought a lot of success on and off the field for them.

“We don’t really have a postseason. We play state cup which has the winner advance to the Region 1 tournament. This team has lost in the state cup championship over the last two years. Last year this team won the 2013 USCS Northeast Regional tournament in LeGrangeville, New York, to go to the U.S. Club Soccer National Championships in Colorado.”

Noltkamper has a long soccer history.

He graduated from Morse in 2006 after playing three years of varsity. He captained the team his senior year and was an All-Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference pick that fall.

Noltkamper also graduated from Saint Joseph’s College in 2011 with a bachelors of science in physical education. He played all four years “and during my time there I scored two goals and had an assist as a center-back and a fullback. We went to the GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference) championship my sophomore year and junior year.

“Sophomore year we lost to Norwich 2-1, but that gave us the sixth seed in the ECAC tournament where we lost in OT to the eventual tournament winner Coast Guard. Junior year we won against Emerson College 2-1 to get an automatic NCAA tournament berth, which was the program’s first in school history. We lost in the first round, 2-0.”

“I actually began when I was seven with Coastal Soccer Club, which was acquired by Seacoast several years ago,” said Cowan, a Brunswick senior. “I’ve played with some of these girls for more than half of my life actually, which is pretty crazy to think about. Even as a little kid, soccer was my favorite sport, and I was interested in playing at the higher level that Seacoast offered. I’ve stuck with this team ever since.”

Seacoast can be about commitment, Cowan added.

“Sometimes I feel like I live at our practice fields,” she said. “In the winter, spring, and much of the summer, our team has practices two-to-three times a week with games or tournaments pretty much every weekend. What would be a break in the fall is taken up by our high school soccer seasons. Overall, we play about 50 games a year.”

“This team has taught me so much,” added Cowan. “Each player has their own separate strengths, and so by playing with these girls I learn new techniques and ball skills I could never have taught myself. Also, there’s never a dull moment. It’s easy to get carried away by the intensity of playing club soccer, but the closeness of this team always eases tensions and makes playing soccer so much more enjoyable.”

Playing for any championship can be exhilerating.

“High school soccer may be an entirely different sport than Seacoast soccer,” said Cowan. “Obviously, there are aspects of both that I love, but playing high school has such a lower intensity than playing with Seacoast. Being so close to winning last year and falling just short makes this year’s preparation so much more purposeful.

“Even in the early fall, it wasn’t uncommon to hear ‘Florida’s only so many months away!’ at practices and scrimmages … everyone’s excited, nervous and prepared to play hard.”

Cowan is unsure about plans for next year.

“I debated playing soccer in college much of last spring, and at the end of it, decided that the sport has been too much of my life thus far to give it up. I have applied early decision with the hope of playing soccer next year, but where to is a secret for now.”

“I got involved with Seacoast after coaching small footskills clinics with Andrew Pelletier,” said Noltkamper. “But, I was with Velocity Soccer Club for three seasons prior. I stepped away from Velocity this summer for personal reasons.”

Blackwell approached Noltkamper after the Velocity resignation. “It was an opportunity I could not refuse … which was to assist this team with him.

“After losing in the National Championship game last year the girls are champing at the bit to get down there and make history,” said Noltkamper. “We want to do something no team from Maine has ever done before and that’s bring home a national title.”