Wichita girls club soccer team chasing Presidents Cup national title to honor teammate
The No. 7 jersey still comes to every soccer tournament with the 2006 Kansas Rush Wichita Academy team, a reminder for who the girls are playing for.
Kilar Gillespie died two years ago at the age of 15 but remains a steady presence on the club team she played on for years. Every player wears a black “KG7” band during games and the jersey she once wore accompanies the team to every game.
After winning the Midwest regional tournament to punch their ticket to the 2023 U.S. Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup, the prestigious youth soccer tournament which kicks off Friday at Scheels Stryker Soccer Complex in Wichita, the team posed for the championship picture with Gillespie’s jersey in the front row.
“She has been our drive ever since,” said Milan Hunter, who was best friends with Gillespie and now wears No. 7 for Rush on the field in her honor. “We all think about her before every game. We pray for her to be on the field with us and we all want to win for her since she’s not here to do it with us anymore. We want to make her proud and honor her.”
More than 100 youth soccer teams from all over the country will compete across seven different age divisions for both boys and girls to decide national championships in Wichita over the next five days. Group play is slated for the weekend with the top two teams in each group advancing to Monday’s semifinals with the finals being played Tuesday morning. All games are free to attend.
The 2006 Kansas Rush Wichita Academy girls team is one of just four total Wichita teams in the field. The team plays group-stage games at 10 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the under-17 division.
“We all really loved (Gillespie) a lot and it’s important for us to keep her memory alive and play the way she would play if she were still here,” said Rush standout forward Izzy Sandoval. “We want to win it all, not only for her, but for ourselves. We want to prove to everyone that we’re just as good as all of these other teams from all over the country. We’re here to fight and prove ourselves worthy of the championship.”
The 2006 Kansas Rush Wichita Academy team is made up of some of the top players in the Wichita area, most of whom are entering their senior years of high school. The team includes standouts from Andover (Cate Johnson), Andover Central (Avery Mason, Reese Fleming), Circle (Hunter), Derby (Cassidy Boyer), East (Amiyah Hamilton-Arevalo), Eisenhower (Carly Hummell, Madeline Bracy), Kapaun Mt. Carmel (Sophia Fury, Carson Sloan, Bridget Sherman), Maize South (Genevieve Lamarche), Newton (Sandoval), Northwest (Anahi Ibarra-Arevalo, Merari Flores, Raylen Grant) and Southeast (Kayla Methman, Shirdaria Pottard).
There is a core group of players who have been together for nearly a decade playing soccer for the same club team. The team’s coach, Adam Hunter, who is also the head women’s soccer coach at Butler Community College, said the tight-knit group will be playing with a special focus when play kicks off Friday.
“Kilar was a very bright individual who brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people and she touched a lot of peoples’ lives,” Adam Hunter said. “Whenever we win a big event, we make sure to always have Kilar’s jersey in the picture so we can send those to her parents to let her family know that Kilar will not soon be forgotten and that we have a little part of her with us every time we step out on the field.”
Kansas Rush Wichita Academy qualified three of its girls teams in the championship field, while Azteca Academy is the lone qualifier on the boys’ side with Andrew Silva coaching an under-14 team.
The under-16 girls team coached by Travis Stipp for Kansas Rush Wichita features Emma Bachman (Eisenhower), Brynn Bachura (Andover Central), Heide Bartel (Kapaun), Victoria Berends (Kapaun), Ellie Bower (McPherson), Avery Cantwell (Circle), Parker Clark (Maize), Caleigh Cross (Valley Center), Teaonna Gitahi (Campus), Haley Green (Trinity), Brinley Hedden (Goddard), Amelia Leggett (Derby), Itzelle Lumbreras (Bishop Carroll), Mia Powell (Southeast), Bailey Stanley (Manhattan), Ashlynn Stipp (Circle) and Xaydi Valdivia (Newton).
The under-13 girls team coached by Sean Winterburg for Kansas Rush Wichita features Abigail Diefenderfer, Allora Tiemstra, Andrea Vielmas, Arianny Cruz, Baby Rueda, Brinley Woydziak, Brooke Blasi, Haylee Henderson, Jayssa Denesongkham, Katelyn Moungvoung, Kimberly Aguero-Romero, Lexy Rapp, Madison Winterburg, Maleigha Schmidt, Presley Morris and Yasmin Lira.
“For Wichita to host an event of this magnitude, which is truly a national tournament that features teams from all over the country, I think it says a lot about Wichita and the city’s commitment to put money into Stryker to bring events like this to Wichita,” Adam Hunter said.
