May Newsletter 2025

Welcome to the Kings Hammer May Newsletter! This edition features Kings Hammer Supplemental Tryouts, KH ECNL and ECNL RL Teams make the Champions League and Playoffs, Kings Hammer is Competing at State Cups, and more! If you have a player, coach, or team to be highlighted in future newsletters, please send photos and stories to info@kingshammer.com. Each newsletter will be posted on our website as well as our social pages.

Juniors, Pre-Academy, & Pre-Elite Supplemental Tryouts: June 4th & 5th

Are you or someone you know interested in playing for Kings Hammer? We will be holding Supplemental Tryouts for our Juniors, Pre-Academy, and Pre-Elite programs. Come and join the KH Squad!

Cincinnati programs – June 4th – Warren County Sports Park

Northern Kentucky programs – June 5th – Town & Country Sports Complex

For more information, times, and to register, select from the links below:

Juniors (U7 – U9)

Cincinnati Juniors

Northern Kentucky Juniors

Pre-Academy (U10 – U12)

Cincinnati Pre-Academy

Northern Kentucky Pre-Academy

Pre-Elite (U10 – U12)

Cincinnati Pre-Elite

Northern Kentucky Pre-Elite

Free Sports Physicals with OrthoCincy

Our partner OrthoCincy will be hosting our Free Sports Physicals for players on:

Saturday, June 7th, at our Edgewood Office (560 South Loop Rd., Edgewood, KY 41017) from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 21^st, at our Anderson Office (7910 Beechmont Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45255) from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Athletes must fill out and bring the provided completed physical forms signed by a parent or guardian in order to participate!* Click here to find the correct forms for your state under the “Free Sports Physical” dropdown on the page.

All student athletes are welcome, and each participant will receive a free t-shirt! OrthoCincy is committed to supporting community activities in the areas of health and wellness, team sports, and civic engagement, and is hopeful that you’ll take advantage of this upcoming opportunity!

KH ECNL and ECNL RL Teams make the Champions League and Playoffs

We’re so excited to share the following achievements from our Elite program!

First up, a huge congratulations to our KH ECNL G11 and G09 teams who have secured their spots in the ECNL National Playoffs! Our G09’s had a great season this year, qualifying for Showcase Cup A. Our G11’s went all out, finishing in the #1 spot of their conference and earning a place in the Champions League. Speaking on the achievement, Elite Girls Director Paul Hennessey said, “We are excited that two of our teams will be competing at the Playoffs in late June. It has been a pleasure to work with them throughout the season.” These ladies will head to San Diego, California June 26th to July 2nd, 2025 to compete.

Another massive congratulations to our KH ECNL B09 team on a fantastic regular season and have earned their spot at the ECNL National Playoffs in Seattle. “These guys had a great season, I’m so proud with how they’ve played.” Said Elite Boys Director and Head Coach Alan Yost. “Excited to see how they do in the playoffs.” These guys will be traveling at the end of June in hopes of bringing home the title.

We also want to issue a big congratulations to our KH ECNL RL B11, G08 and G12 teams on their awesome regular season performance and cementing their spots at the ECNL Regional League Central Playoffs in St. Charles, MO! The teams will be traveling June 5th to compete June 6th through the 10th.

Congratulations to each and every one of you. Your hard work, team dedication, and determination has got you to where you are. Now let’s go out and finish the job together! Good luck

Called Up! Aniah Zembrodt heads to U14 USYNT National ID Camp

Another big congratulations is due to Aniah Zembrodt of our KH Elite G11 team who was called up to the U-14 Girls’ National Talent ID Camp in Chula Vista, California! Aniah has worked hard and attended a number of regional ID Camps this season, and will now have a chance to train alongside top talent in the country.

The camp will take place May 30th-June 4th. We’re so excited for you, Aniah, and proud of all the hard work that you put in!

Ashley Yontz Plays in Spain with ODP National Select Team

Check out this awesome playing opportunity for our very own Ashley Yontz! Ashley was invited to be a part of the ODP 2007 National Select Team taking part in a series of European friendlies earlier this month. She was featured in a game against Spanish side Villarreal C.F., putting in a great performance that ended in a 3-2 victory. The team then got to take in the sights and sounds of a game at Villarreal’s home stadium, the Estadio de la Cerámica! Congratulations to Ashley on her great performance!

KHA1 North G07 Qualifies for USYS Midwest Regional Championships in Kansas

Huge shout out to our KHA1 North G07 team who will be heading to the USYS Midwest Regional Championships in Kansas this June to compete with the top 200 teams in the region! After some stellar play to qualify, these girls are aiming for a spot at the National Championships! We want to invite the entire club to wish them some good luck. Congratulations and good luck, ladies!

Kings Hammer is Competing at State Cups

The USYS Kentucky and Ohio State Cups are happening now! We want to congratulate each of our teams who made it to the State Cup preliminary weekends. You really put in the work this season! We want to wish our KHA1 South G08, KHA1 G11 and KHA1 B09 teams good luck as the move onto the Kentucky State Cup finals, and our KHA1 North G07 good luck as the move onto the Ohio State Cup finals!

Our KH Pre-ECNL North G13 were named champions at the US Club Soccer Ohio State Cup earlier this month! The girls didn’t give up a single goal throughout the entire tournament, and played a fantastic final match, earning themselves a championship medal. Congratulations, girls!

KH Pre-ECNL South B13 named Champions at SuperCopa+

A huge congratulations are in order for our KH Pre-ECNL South B13 for their championship win at this year’s SuperCopa Plus tournament. After qualifying earlier this season, the boys traveled the Salt Lake City Utah to compete in the exclusive, high level event.

Click here to read more about this incredible experience for our Pre-ECNL South B13 team!

Called Up! Sydney Fredstrom invited to USYNT Regional ID Center

A huge congratulations to Sydney Fredstrom of our KH ECNL G11 team on her invitation to the USYNT Regional ID Center in Indianapolis this month! Sydney has attend 2 regional ID Camps for the USYNT this season. We’re so proud of you and all your hard work, Sydney!

Another Great Year Taking the Crown Challenge

This one was one for the history books! We had an incredible weekend in Cincinnati at this years’ Crown Challenge presented by OrthoCincy, full of teamwork, goals and fun! Kings Hammer Cincinnati had a fantastic weekend, with many of our teams showing up and taking home gold and silver medals! Thank you to all the teams, staff and volunteers who made the event possible.

Check out the video below to see the highlights!

May Education: Navigating Setbacks

I overslept this morning. The report due to my boss today is missing. My flight home got cancelled. I didn’t hit my quota this month. The promotion at work went to the other person. The dishwasher leaked water all over the kitchen. I wrecked the car last night. My company just announced more layoffs.

We all suffer setbacks in life. Some small and easy to manage. Some large and more life changing. Youth also face setbacks, disappointments, and failures throughout their lives. And if they play in a sport, they will likely suffer setbacks there as well…

Not having a good practice, or not being able to perform a desired move
Missing the game winning shot
Not making the desired team, or not making a team at all

This last one is timely, as the end of the Spring season often tends to provide more reflection on success and failure, achievements and setbacks. Many athletes have finished the Tryout/Team Formation portion of the club calendar and our older players are just beginning HS preseason and will be coming up on more tryouts for those teams.

So, how do we help them navigate and persevere through the ups-and-downs of soccer. Note the action is NAVIGATE, not AVOID. Like us, our children are going to suffer setbacks in their journey, whether we are ready for it or not. As parents, our goal should not be to protect them from setbacks, but rather to prepare them and help them grow from them.

Click here to read the full article!

KHFC Tickets Are Available Now!

Want to support your local soccer scene and the stars of tomorrow? Tickets for our KHFC Cincinnati USL League 2 and USL W League teams are on sale now! Home games are played at the Lindner Family Sports Complex on the campus of CHCA, and we’d love for you to come out and support the guys and girls this summer! Click here to buy your t ickets!

Staff Spotlight: Meet Octavia Saunders!

We’ve been so lucky to welcome Octavia Saunders to the KH family recently. Octavia is now working as the Director of Video Analysis and Data Analytics as well as a head coach to two of our elite teams. Click here to get to know more about Octavia!

Alumni Highlight: Aubrey Kingsbury moves to 4th all-time in NWSL Saves

The namesake for our Aubrey Kingsbury Kings Hammer GK Union Save of the Year Award passed Ashlyn Harris in career saves at 520 earlier this month! In doing so, Aubrey moved up to 4th on the all-time list! We’re so proud of Aubrey and all she’s done in her career as a KH alumna! Keep up all the great work, Aubrey!

GK Union Save of the Month

Stepping up for their teams! From a split save to end a breakaway to a full extension dive to stop a shot from distance, April GK Union Save of the Month winners were top notch! Congratulations to Lauren from Kings Hammer Cincinnati and Kamden from Kings Hammer Swan City on their outstanding shot stopping!

Did you make an incredible save or a game-saving block? We want to see them! Post your best saves in the Kings Hammer GK Union Facebook group. Be sure to share throughout the spring season and YOU could be selected for our Kings Hammer Save of the Month! GK Save of the Month winners will be announced the Friday of the first full week of the following month.

Monthly winners will be posted on the Kings Hammer social pages and on the GK Union page.

REP SOME KINGS HAMMER GEAR

Ready to hit the town in your Kings Hammer gear? We’ve added new fan gear to our Kings Hammer Shop that you’re sure to love! Now with extended sizing, we have Kings Hammer t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and more available at shop.KingsHammer.com. Check it out now!