SALT LAKE CITY - Two participants from Real Salt Lake's Team Championship competition on Sept. 24 have qualified for the Sierra Mist MLS Dribble, Pass & Score National Finals in conjunction with the 2005 MLS Cup at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Andrea Ortiz, a nine-year old from Avondale, Ariz., along with 13-year old Melissa Sands, from Lehi, Utah, finished in the top four in their respective age groups among all MLS teams. A total of 150,000 kids between the ages of eight and 14 nationally, including 1,300 youth in the RSL intermountain west region from Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming participated in the DPS program this year. As a part of the National Finals, the finalists will travel with a parent all expenses paid to Frisco, Texas, they will receive a medal, will have the opportunity to meet several MLS players, will attend MLS Cup 2005 and they will be featured in the halftime spotlight televised nationally on ABC Sports in the MLS Cup Championship game on Sunday, Nov. 13.</p>
The Sierra Mist MLS Dribble, Pass & Score program is a three-skill competition that includes dribbling through a slalom-style course of flags for speed, passing to zones for accuracy and shooting at a regulation size target goal for accuracy. The competition is divided into six separate boys and girls divisions. </p>
All first place winners from all local competitions had the opportunity to advance to sectionals. From sectionals, the top four individual scores per age and gender advanced to the Team Championship. It was during the Team Championships that Ortiz and Sands qualified for the National Finals and had their score compared with other participants in the remaining 11 MLS markets.</p>
