Burnet girls soccer hosts summer league

CAPTION: Some members of the Burnet High School girls soccer summer league team include Vanessa Chavez (left), Valeria Lemus, Perla Rodriguez, Emily Montoya, Emma Warden, Erica Flores, Cheyenne Adams and Genesis Avila. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet Consolidated Independent School District girls soccer program is hosting a weekly 7-on-7 league each Tuesday in June beginning at 5 p.m. at the Burnet Middle School Stadium.

The league includes Lampasas, Marble Falls and Pflugerville Connally.

Lady Dawgs head coach Doug Ketcham, who serves as league director, said hosting the league for the third summer hits several goals for his players and for his neighbors.

First, they want to give athletes an opportunity to play, especially for those who may not be able to afford to play select soccer and travel for tournaments and practices in Austin and the surrounding area.

Second, the league allows teammates to compete together and build better team chemistry.

And third, while soccer season starts after the Christmas holiday, Ketcham noted that’s a long time to go without touching a ball.

“We’re trying to keep them in some sort of shape if they’re not going to summer (strength-and-conditioning) workouts, which most of mine do not,” he said. “This is mainly for those kids who aren’t playing outside of school.”

Close to 20 Lady Dawgs participated the first night, which allowed Ketcham to divide the group into two teams. He put his varsity players on one team and his underclassmen and freshmen on the other. That way, more Lady Dawgs could play.

The stadium field is split in half to allow two matches to be played at once. Matches are 20 minutes long with a five-minute halftime.

Coaches of the other programs were pleased with the number of participants, particularly those from Connally, who drove quite a ways to play.

“It was designed that everybody would have two teams,” Ketcham said. “But that didn’t happen, which, honestly doesn’t matter to me as long as they get to play. If you could make it no contact, that’d be terrific. But that’s just not soccer. We’re just trying to get them touches, kind of instituted a few rules to encourage them to not play long balls and build out of the back.”

Several of the Burnet and Marble Falls long-time veterans graduated, so this league gives other athletes opportunities to play and fine-tune their skills.

The Lady Dawgs finished the 2026 season 19-6-1 overall and 13-1 in District 25-4A play for second place. After starting district play with a 3-1 victory against Georgetown Gateway and a 6-0 loss to Liberty Hill Legacy Ranch, Burnet reeled off 12 wins in a row in district play to advance to the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. The Lady Dawgs lost in the first round of the Class 4A Division I playoffs to New Braunfels Long Creek.

CAPTION: Savannah Griffin plants before passing the ball to a teammate. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography