CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

WATERLOO – North Tama rising freshman Josie Monat (back row, far left) closed out her middle school soccer career on a high note after being invited to play alongside her cousin Brinley Girsch (front row, fourth from left) as a guest player on the Cedar Valley Soccer Club Dike-New Hartford 15U girls recreation team during last week’s 2026 CV Cup championships played in Waterloo. “We thought it would be fun for the girls to play together one time,” Josie’s mom Amber Monat told the newspaper. DNH earned silver following the three-day tournament, just behind tournament champions Aplington-Parkersburg. Gladbrook-Reinbeck came in third followed by Grundy Center in fourth and Cedar Falls in fifth. Josie is the daughter of Jeremy and Amber Monat and will play for Union-North Tama girls soccer this coming school year. While she played mostly defense for DNH, she is primarly a midfielder. Brinley, also a midfielder, is the daughter of Randy and Brandy (née Monat) Girsch and is a rising eighth grader at DNH.