MOUNT VERNON - When Greer Barnes travels for soccer games, the West Virginia second-team all-American usually needs a plane to get there. Being part of a team in the Big East Conference means she needs to go far for competition. But the Rye High School graduate clearly remembers when taking a trip to a faraway tournament with her club team, the Patriots, was a rare treat.

"It's great in terms of bonding," Barnes said. "You have your hotel, your car, it's a competitive atmosphere. You're away from your family, so you have other people to bond with."

Last week, Barnes was back at the Sports Underdome in Mount Vernon to visit her former coach, Steve Davis. Now the director of coaching for the Patriots Football Club, Davis helped hone Barnes - when she wasn't working with her high school team - into the player she is now.

At the Underdome, Barnes was able to see dozens of girls who will be following in her footsteps this week when they travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the Orange Classic, which will run from tomorrow through Dec. 30. The tournament is an opportunity for them to face high-caliber competition from all over the country.

Lexi Hijazi is a 12-year-old goalkeeper for the Patriots who went to the tournament last year. She said the experience brought her a lot closer to her teammates. But even better, meeting players from outside the Lower Hudson Valley tested her skills.

It also forced her into the position of scout. Since she didn't have any familiarity with her opponents, Hijazi closely watched other games to identify players who were accurate from a distance.

"It stepped up my game a lot when we played there," Hijazi said.

Playing on a travel team has become a rite of passage for athletes who show some promise in their chosen sport, and a trip to a holiday tournament is often one of the most-anticipated perks of the experience. Parents don't have to come, but some choose to go. Last year, the Patriots chartered a plane for all the players, families and friends who spent a few days watching the games in the warm weather.

Jill Dressler, 11, will be heading to her first such tournament this week, and she already has heard her teammates and other girls talking about the fun they will have.

"You get to hang out with friends and go to dinner, watch movies," Dressler said.

The Patriots FC was started in 1996 by Don Cupertino. The Bronxville High School girls soccer coach saw there weren't many high-caliber club teams for girls. With two daughters, he wanted to change that.

"There were a lot of boys teams, but I was always partial to coaching girls anyway," Cupertino said.

After starting with one team, there are now 160 players in the organization. And more organizations have sprung up, including travel teams that have raised the level of competition in the Lower Hudson Valley.

"The level of soccer is so different," Cupertino said. "The technical ability is night and day."

That's the kind of thing that can be better measured against teams from other regions, the kind of competition that comes with tournaments such as the Orange Classic. And that experience in turn, brings a better team back home.

Not to mention the lift that comes from a week spent in the sunshine on an outdoor field.

"They get to play outside in the wintertime," Patriots vice president of operations Thomas Reca said. "That's big."

By JANE MCMANUS
THE JOURNAL NEWS