BELLINGHAM - Gus Diehl knows all about what it means to "play up" at the age of 11.
Not only is the spunky sixth grader playing up on the Whatcom FC Rangers U13 gold team with talented boys such as Ben Peterson and Mason Rathkamp who are a year older, but the entire team is playing in the top division after earning a promotion by winning the second division in their first season together last fall.
That's why games such as the Rangers' 4-2 loss to Snohomish United on Friday, Aug. 26, are all part of a learning curve that the three boys hope will lead to success in one of the state's high school soccer hotbeds.
The Rangers will play two more games Saturday in the annual Puma Pacific Coast Challenge at Northwest Soccer Park, hoping to qualify for the semifinals Sunday. If the U13 club plays as hard as it did in the second half against Snohomish, the Rangers may have a shot at beating Seattle United (9 a.m.) and Surrey Arsenal (3:30 p.m.).
The boys can't say enough about how much they're learning from coach Kyle Langowski, who served as Western Washington University's goalkeeper coach for five years through the 2010 season. Langowski, a newlywed, now must commute from Seattle to coach the boys.
"He's the best coach. He likes to make it fun for us," said Diehl, who motors pretty well around the field, befitting a member of the well-known Bellingham auto dealer family. "He really makes you want to be good."
"He's the best coach I've ever had," said Peterson, a quick striker who is the team's scoring leader. He scored both goals on perfectly placed kicks, the second on an assist from Diehl, in the second half to pull the Rangers (8-5 in summer tournaments) into a 2-2 tie before Snohomish secured the victory with two goals in the final 10 minutes.
"He's an amazing coach," said Rathkamp, a center midfielder with a penchant for fine footwork. "He can control everyone without overdoing it like some coaches do."
Indeed, Langowski calmly takes each boy aside when he has something to say during a game.
Langowski doesn't sugarcoat things, either.
"This was probably our most disappointing loss of the summer," he said. "We got a little outworked early in the first half, but we came back strong.
"We've played in three (previous) very tough tournaments," the veteran youth coach said of the Rainier, Crossfire and U.S. Club classics in the Seattle area, explaining why the U13 boys haven't appeared in any tournament finals this summer.
The boys were excited when they earned their promotion after their first season together.
"I was very happy to see us promoted," said Rathkamp, whose penalty kick in the final minute of the last spring league game helped the Rangers finish in the top half of the top division league. "Just being able to play against top-notch clubs and knowing we were good enough means a lot."
Diehl nodded his head in agreement.
"We earned that promotion," Diehl said. "I like playing up. If you're not playing against the best teams, you don't get better."
These are exciting times for Peterson, who not only has enjoyed an outstanding year in soccer and other sports, but is looking forward to attending the rebuilt Whatcom Middle School as a seventh grader next month.
"I think the school looks great," he said of the reconstruction project following a fire nearly two years ago. "I'm really excited about it."
Eleven other boys also participated in the tournament opener, including Wiley Suda, Spencer Sumpter, Cole Nielsen, Adam Barenchi, Caleb Hicks, Sam Boulos, Anders Mittet, Connor Miller, Beck Werny and guest players Josh Garza and Kevin Sun. Dominick Van Veen, Ethan Norgard and Stefano De Angelis are other regular members of the gold squad.
"More than 60 U13 boys are playing soccer and we have four Rangers teams," said team manager Darin Barenchi, pointing out how healthy the interest in soccer is among Whatcom County middle school boys.
Langowski is gratified by the attitude his boys show.
Getting them to embrace being challenged is such a good thing," said Langowski, who also coaches the U13 Blue team.
"The kids were very proud of themselves when they got promoted," said the elder Barenchi, pointing out the boys have already played nearly 50 games since forming their basic team as U12 players.
