Oak Bay Turf Update

Looks like Friday night could end up being a mini-tournament including players from Gordon Head and Lakehill. So far we have six from the Storm, six from Gordon Head and seven from lakehill.

Those of you that are planning on attending should bring your white Storm jersey, but we may just split all the girls into three teams as we really want this to be fun event.

Let's hope the snow holds until at least Saturday! If in doubt please give me a call.

Ho Ho Ho!

Indoors at Oak Bay Recreation Centre

Thanks to Olivia's Dad, the Storm has access to two hours of indoor turf time this Friday (Dec 19) at Oak Bay Recreation Centre. I believe Rob has booked it for 6-8pm.

Please let Drew or Rob know ASAP if you can make it by way of the poll.

Team Photos

The team and individual photos have arrived and look very nice. If you would like to pick your package up I will have them with me at Lochside Park this Thursday at 7pm. Otherwise you can stop my house and pick them up. Just give me a call first to make sure someone will be home.

No Game Next Week

Our friendly game next Thursday against the Pumas has been cancelled. This means there is no schedule practices next week.

*** Reminder that our first game back is January 10 against Gordon Head. Please let me know if you are unable to attend so that I can pull-up some players from the Pumas or Chaos.

We may also have an exhibition game on January 6, but this game is not yet confirmed. Please keep checking the blog over the Christmas break for updates.

Please have a safe and Merry Christmas and New Years and we'll see you in 2009.

Winter Break

A quick note about the winter break. Our last game before Christmas is Dec 6th, but I am planning a scrimmage game vs. Pumas for Thursday Dec 11 . I will have more details by Thursday practice.

Our first game of the New Year is Jan 10 vs Gordon Head @ Lochside Park. In preparation, I am presently trying to arrange an exhibition game for Tuesday Jan 6 at Lochside Park. I hope to confirm our opponents this week.

Gordon Head 0 Storm 1

Congrats on your hard work today ladies. Of all games the ref decides to play extra time (I think we played 40 minutes in the first half, 35 in the second) he chooses the game where we have a short-bench. Despite the handicap of having only one substitute we came away with the win and plenty of positives to take into our last game before Christmas.

Some of the positives are obvious - Chloe's goal (a bullet from eighteen yards!); our fourth consecutive clean-sheet; our passing and movement (particularly in the first-half); as well as the desire and hustle we showed all game. Other positives were more subtle - getting first to the ball (Holly, Lily and Annabel in particular); players soldiering-on despite suffering cold and flu (Olivia and Kristina); very assured clearances from our keepers (Emma and Leah); and headers (Holly again, along with Kristina). And special mention of the two Chaos kids - Mara and Erin. Both of them had a long, tiring game earlier in the morning and they didn't look out of place amongst all of the "bigger" players.

Hopefully next week we will be back to our full quota of players for the visit of Bays United.

Storm 0 Lakehill 0

I cant fault your endeavour today - each of you worked very hard and put your self about, but in the end there wasn't much end product to all our huffing and puffing. We got some good looks at goal, hit the upright, shot over from distance, but in-close, we either didnt battle hard enough or anticipate the shot, rebound or pass.

Lakehill came to close us down and they did a good job, particularly their back line who were first to most of the ball played in their end. Our defense wasn't too shabby either, and I thought we looked more assured on the ball today than we have perhaps in any other game so far this season. We fielded several different defensive combinations and each one did their job very effectively. Our goalkeeping was also very good, with excellent handling and distribution from both Marissa and Mia. That's three straight shut-outs and we should be very proud of that achievement.

Going forward we didnt look as good as we did against Peninsula. We had our moments with some good wing-play, but the Lakehill defence did a good job of getting into the passing lanes and just generally disrupting our attacking game. It seemed at times we forgot we had a midfield (or the midfield forgot it's game) and the ball ping-ponged back and forth between opposition defenders. We have to get the ball down and play our way forward to have success and we didnt do enough of this today.

Next up is Gordon Head. We haven't seen them since the Tourney on the Turf, but we will be playing them twice in short order - once this weekend and again January 10th at Lochside Park.

Congratulations to Paige!

My congrats to Paige on being identified as a player of interest at the recent Whitecaps Prospect Camp at PSIE. Not sure when she registered at Juan de Fuca but she played a stormer for us today against Peninsula so I'll have to thank them for loaning her to us for the day!

I also didn't realize that LISA Metro teams were officially known as "Metro/Selects" - seems a contradiction in terms to me. Oh well, you can add that to a very long list of things about both LISA and Metro that puzzles me!

Click on the linky for the article from the LISA website: http://www.lowerislandsoccer.com/

Storm find their feet on the Turf!

What a perfect result for our inaugural game on our new turf! In many respects it felt like the start of the new season rather than the middle of November. How can it be the middle of November with weather like what we had today. Amazing!

We challenged you before the game to match your skill with an equal amount of desire and you responded by putting three goals past the current league leaders. If you can consistently find the energy and commitment you showed on the pitch today then you will always win more than you lose. It's really that simple - keep your approach to the game simple, work hard and make quick, smart decisions and the results will follow.

Now the challenge for you is to keep-up that tempo and desire next game, and the game after that, and so on. But first we're back on Turf for more fitness training and ballwork on Tuesday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and we'll see you at 5:30, sharpish.

Storm Photos

Storm photos (team and individual players) are scheduled for this Saturday at Lochside Park. Please be there for 11:30am.

Gorge 0 Storm 0

Frustrated. That's a word I find myself repeating to both myself and others when I analyze our games. Frustrated that we don't turn our chances into goals, frustrated that we "switch-off" on throw-ins and other dead-ball situations, and frustrated that we often seem to play to the level of our opposition. No, I'm not saying Gorge is a bad team. More that they didnt play well either and if we had applied our skills a bit better we could have been celebrating a win instead of a draw.

Unlike last week's game against Juan de Fuca where there was little to choose between the teams, we dominated Saturday's game for long stretches and deserved the win. Put simply, we created more than enough chances to win, but we failed to take them. I dont think Gorge had the ball in our end and under control more than five minutes in the second-half. But despite all of the play being in their end, too often we were late getting into the box for the cross or closing down the defender. Gorge defenders did well clearing the ball, but on many occasions we made it easier for them by not putting any pressure on them.

What's a bit more worrying was that we rarely strung more than one or two passes together all game. One of the hardest things to do against a energetic team like Gorge is to keep your composure and play simple balls. We didnt do enough of either and it seemed we were a tad tired or uninspired. Whatever it was we never reached the tempo at which we are capable of playing. And that's very frustrating as a coach when you dont feel your players left it all on the field. Be very sure that we will spend most of this week practising and re-discovering our passing game.

Next up is Peninsula. The good news is that our first game back at Lochside will be on turf. The flip-side is that we will need a much-improved performance from all players if we hope to take all three points on offer.

See you all at practice on Tuesday.

Game On!

Gorge has opened Upper Hampton so the game is a go!

Storm 0 JDF 1

I felt there was very little to choose between the teams today. Neither team created much in the way of good scoring opportunities with defenders dominating the forwards at both ends of the field. I think 0-0 would have been a fairer representation of the play and possession, but a communication breakdown at the wrong time and in the wrong place allowed their forward to steal-in and score the winner. Ouch! One mistake and we get punished for it. These small mistakes are happening less and less as the season progresses, but that doesn't make the loss any harder to swallow. But our luck must surely turn soon so we need to keep our head's up and work harder the next time.

Oct 28 Practice Cancelled

Tuesday Practice Cancelled.

Where's Margaret Poll Result

A close return this week with a tie between training with Cirque du Soleil and trapped in the Eiffel Tower. Thanks to everyone for voting. Hopefully we'll find out real soon where Margaret has been these past two months.

Danone Nations Cup Tryouts

The tryouts for the Danone Nations Cup are being held Saturday November 22. This is an International Tournament open to all soccer players both male and female in the U12 (1997) age group. I recommend that all of the Storm 97's should attend. I've received conflicting information that this years sessions are open to U11's as well, so I will confirm that ASAP.

All training camps and tryouts are FREE all you have to do is register online. The players chosen will play off against Danone provincial teams from across Canada, and the winning team will take an all expenses paid trip to FRANCE to Compete in an International Tournament the following summer. This is a very exciting opportunity that all players should have the chance to attend. The camps are full of fun, prizes, yogurt and lots of soccer. More information is available on the website http://www.coupedanonecup.com/. Be sure to register early as spaces are limited.

Where's Margaret?

This week's poll asks "Where's Margaret?" Dispatches from foreign correspondents tend to indicate Margaret could just about be anywhere. Which one do you think is correct?

Thanks to everyone for participating in last weeks poll about Olivia's dog. Final tally was a tie between Barbie Accessory and Appetizer.

Bays 1 Storm 1

A 1-1 draw against the league leaders is never a bad result, but I think we did enough to win the game so it feels like a little bit of a let-down. At 1-0 I thought we had a good chance of scoring the next goal but instead they equalized and we lost momentum.

Our goal today was excellent. Chloe won and kept possession on the far right, played a short ball into space for Annabel who then knocked a low pass/shot across the top of the six yard box that was thumped home from Brooke E near the far post. Brooke's timing running onto the cross was perfect and was great reward for a hustling performance. Way to go to Brooke E! We had a couple of other chances from crooses/shots after strong runs by Chloe and Brooke G, but we didnt connect with our shots when they mattered. I think the long grass had quite a bit to do with our soft shots.

Their equalizer was frustrating because we failed to put any pressure on the ball carrier higher up the field. This allowed their player to dribble to our penalty area and then lay-off a ball for a good shot to the corner. We had defenders and midfielder on that side of the field at the time but they backed-off the ball too much and invited the Bays player to get closer to our goal. Remember we always need to put pressure on the ball carrier. Their goal changed the game and for a period we lost our shape and possession of the ball. That's what happens - goals change games - and we proceeded to spend too much time on the back foot and this seemed to zap our energy levels going forward. That said, our defending was solid, and all of our defenders did well clearing the ball upfield when we were in trouble. Thanks to Mia it stayed 1-1 as she made two great saves late on - the first off a shot at the near post and another diving low to save a shot to her right corner.

Remember next time we play on a short or narrow field that it's absolutely critical our wide players stay as wide as possible. When we did this today I thought we looked like we could get around their defenders easily. However when play became scrambly our wide players ventured too far into the middle. This resulted in us bunching up, and when we did get possession and made passes out wide often no one was there.

We also need to keep our eyes on the ball when kicking - there were too many soft passes and mis-kicks today from us. Some of this was from mental and physical fatigue of playing six games in one week.

Our next game is Juan de Fuca on our new Turf. For anyone considering turf shoes I recommend the Nike Tiempo. Turf shoes are not required - multi-stud work just fine - but if you have blade-styles cleats you may want to consider a pair of turf shoes instead. All of our practices from November onward will be on turf.

Only 3 days left to vote!

So far this poll has stimulated more excitement than Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Stefan Dion combined! Although the author of this blog is not surprised in the least, many media pundits were calling for a much tighter race, especially in the northern part of the Storm riding where there appears more sympathy to, well, white fuzzy things.

Presently the poll has Barbie Accessory and Appetizer running neck and neck, but the voters appear very fickle so plenty could change in the next 24 hours.

Stay tuned!

Tomorrow's Game

Tomorrow's game against Bays United is 12:30pm at Pemberton Park. Pemberton Park is located across from Glenlyon-Norfolk School in deepest, darkest Victoria. Here are the instructions from the BUYSA website:

Pemberton Park
Located in south-eastern Victoria at 1800 Richardson Street, which is the intersection of Richardson and Gonzales Avenue. Parking is available on the east side of Gonzales Avenue adjacent to the playing field.

REMINDER: White Jerseys

Remember that we are wearing our white jerseys for the Bays Game.

Stormy Weather at Lakehill Tournament!

Goals from Marissa, Paige and Chloe held off a determined Lakehill Reds in the final of the 2008 Lakehill Fall Classic. It looked dicey for a couple of minutes before and after their penalty-kick, but a superb interception and pass from Mara set up Chloe for our insurance goal and victory was ours! Mia was a standout in goal - her handling and distribution were excellent in the slick conditions.

We started the weekend with battling performances against Juan de Fuca and Lakehill. Our performances in these two games set the tone for the weekend and allowed us the comfort of two fairly easy victories on the Sunday. Both of our Sunday games we were expected to win, but Friday and Saturday were games where it could have gone either way. As it was we ground out draws against two very good teams.

So congratulations to all Storm players on their performance this weekend. Five games in three days is a tall order but we still showed plenty of energy and enthusiasm in our last game. As much as everyone contributed to the tournament win, I would like to give special mention to Lily, Brooke G, Paige, Chloe and Olivia for their particularly strong play over the five games. I would also like to thank the Pumas - Sarah, Nicole and Leanne - and of course Mara from the Chaos.

Thanks also to those thoughtful parents that step up and help with running the lines, as Derek and Josh did on Friday and Saturday. I really appreciate your effort on my behalf. Rob Swinton also deserves special mention for purchasing our funky tent.

And final thanks to Rob Kobenter for the pictures.

Positional Play, Playing Time and Patience

I would like to thank all the parents for their patience as we move players around through different positions. I appreciate every parent has an opinion as to which position their daughter is best suited and that's fine. Sometimes however that won't match up with with the coaches view of that player or the dynamics of that particular game. Please remember this is U13 so is still considered a development year and thus too early (IMHO) to specialize in one position.

I would also like to clarify the issue of playing-time. Each player is guaranteed half a game, but other players may play most or all of the game at the coaches discretion. Playing time is based on attendance and performance at both practices and games.

If you have concerns with how your daughter is being coached or what positions she is or isn't playing please feel free to speak with me. It's better that you address your concerns with me directly. You are also welcome to consult with our Technical Director (Brett Hyslop) about any matter.

And the vote is...

...no game on October 25th. Thanks to everyone for participating in the vote.

New uniforms have arrived!

Our change (all white) uniforms have arrived. Cost is $30 and they are yours to keep.

I will bring them Friday evening so perhaps we can wear them for one of our games this weekend.

New Tournament Schedule

Friday October 10 - 6:45pm vs Juan de Fuca @ Braefoot #1
Saturday October 11 - 5:40pm vs Lakehill @ Braefoot #1
Sunday October 12 - 11:50am vs Port McNeill @ Braefoot #1
Sunday October 12 - 3:20pm vs Juan de Fuca @ TBA

Monday Game would be 9:45am @ Braefoot #1

Lakehill Tournament Schedule

The tournament schedule is being revised due to some late team cancellations.

The latest draft I viewed showed one game on Friday evening, one on Saturday and two Sunday. And there is the possibility of one further game on Monday morning.

Hopefully I'll have a confirmed schedule by tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Lakehill 0 Storm 5

Congratulations ladies! That was an excellent team performance in some pretty miserable weather. We did many of those things that you need to do to win games - first to the ball, playing the way you're facing and keeping your play simple. When we had the ball I thought some of our approach play was excellent - especially from wide positions where Chloe, Brooke G, Olivia and Krsitina showed some great dribbling and imagination. I think each of our goals came from balls played into the penalty area from wide areas where we were either first to react to the ball or we got away great shots when the ball was only half-cleared. As I recall events Chloe's, Olivia's first and both of Paige's goals came from this situation. It really was a pleasure to watch.

I also thought we defended well. When Lakehill did manage to get the ball through our midfield, I thought our centre-backs and fullbacks dealt with everything very comfortably. Lily, Leah, Holly and Annabel all had especially good games, showing great composure and reading of the game. And in goal both Emma and Marissa's positioning, handling, distribution and confidence was excellent. I'm just as happy we came away with a clean sheet - also a first for this season.

We have four games this weekend in the Lakehill Tourney and our first - noon on Saturday vs. Gordon Head - is a league game. If we show the same energy, enthusiasm and dedication to keeping our play simple then I think we should do fine.

Check the blog for updates on our other three games this coming weekend.

Peninsula 3 Storm 2

Another good performance and another narrow loss. I thought we were much better this week than we were against Gorge. In our game at Claremont I felt we were a bit flat and lacked some of the zip we had against JDF. However in our game last Saturday we came out flying and were well worth our 2-1 lead at half. It was a pleasure to watch. We won plenty of loose balls in the midfield, our decision making was good and our passing was quick and strong. I was especially pleased how we didnt let their first goal affect our game - we came right back down the field and replied with our second goal. In fact we probably could have and should have had a bigger lead at half, and that would have been nice considering our lack of substitutes.

I thought this was the biggest deciding factor in the outcome of the game. In the second-half our energy sagged and they took full advantage to score two goals to take victory. Even so we had a couple of good chances at 2-2 to score and missed them both, so we will spend some more time on finishing at practice this week.

We have Lakehill next Saturday at Braefoot and I expect another tough opponent. If we can find and keep the same tempo and passing game we had against Peninsula for the first 30 minutes then I think we'll be fine.

Thursday Practice

We couldn't get the field for 5:30pm tonight so practice is still 7pm.

Storm 0 Gorge 1

Much of what we did well against Juan de Fuca deserted us against Gorge. We just didn't seem to have the zip and confidence we showed against JDF and despite having possession in their end for good stretches of play we didn't once seriously trouble their keeper.

And once again we got punished for one moment of lack of concentration. That's pretty rough-justice considering Gorge didnt get another shot on goal, but luck has a way of evening itself so I'm sure we'll be rewarded for our play soon enough.

I was very pleased with our defense - in particular I thought Lily, Holly and Emma were very strong - but we didn't win enough of the ball in midfield and when we did we didn't make the right pass or decision often enough. We were also slow to close-down their players. On the plus-side I thought we carried most of the play in the second-half, which is amazing considering we had one sub and they had four.

Their goal was a classic example of losing posession of the ball in midfield and five seconds later watching it go into your net. Actually we didn't really have possession, but we should have. Instead our communication was very poor and our indecision allowed a Gorge player to gain possession and put a thru-ball for their forward to run onto. Not sure how the ball managed to squeeze between our defenders and Leah, but that seems to be our luck at the moment. One shot all game and they score - that's hard to stomach! But make no mistake, the actual damage was done when we lost possession. Remember - if we have the ball, the other team cant score.

This Saturday we have Peninsula at Blue Heron Park. Consensus among other U13 coaches suggest they're one of the teams to beat along with Bays United. We did well against Peninsula last season without getting the result our play deserved. Let's make sure we bring our "A" game this weekend and leave Blue Heron happy.

Juan de Fuca 2 Storm 0

As dissapointed as we might be with the result,

our first game of the season was an excellent performance. Our energy was excellent, our passing was good, and we kept our shape very well. What was needed was the finish to our approach play and I'm quite sure we would have had a different result. On another day against another gaolie I think we would scored easily.

Looking at the goals we conceded I was struck by how simple they were and how each was typical of goals scored at this level.

For the first we failed to deal with a cross from a indirect freekick and from there it was a simple tap-in amid the chaos of a goalmouth scramble. We must become accustomed to dealing with high balls into our penalty area from free-kicks and corners. We do this by ensuring we are always first to the ball, especially in the air where we must be fearless and get our head on the ball. Unless you are under no pressure, defenders or goalkeepers should never wait until the ball hits the ground. Remember, there is nowhere on a soccer field where communication is more important than the penalty area.

Their second goal was a long-ball which we didnt deal with at all. Their player did a good job of guessing our centre-half had misjudged the flight of the ball and ran onto the ball for a breakaway. This wasnt the first time it happened - Mia made some great saves prior to this - so it shouldnt have come as a surprise. Long balls can be combated by putting pressure on the passer and the centre-halves sitting deeper on the field in anticipation of the kick. As with high balls into our penalty area, with more experience it becomes easier to deal with the long-ball game.

In between their goals we played some very nice soccer and I'm sure any neutral would have been surprised we weren't winning. But its goals that win games, and the sooner we learn to take our chances the better.

Gorge Home Game

This Saturday's game is 12:30pm at Claremont Secondary. Please be there for 11:45am.

Saturday's Game

Location for our game is Juan de Fuca Field #1. Game time is 12:30pm so please be there for noonish. Here are directions:

Juan de Fuca Fields
Go south on Old Island Highway. Pass McDonald's on your right. Turn left at Ocean Drive (there are lights here) and then turn left again almost immediately. The skating arena should be on your left and you will come to an intersection. Turn right, go down the hill and you are there. Look for our white tent on the first field on your left.

Reminder to bring plenty of water and sunscreen. Saturday is supposed to be a scorcher so we need to ensure we stay hydrated and out of the sun as much as possible.

And get a good night's rest - NO SLEEPOVERS!

Tuesday Practice Time

Tuesday practice is 5:30pm, and not 7pm as previously shown.

Location remains Cordova Bay School.

Girls U13 Gold Schedule Released

LISA has released the Girls U13 Gold Schedule. All games are 12:30pm kick-off and halves are thirty-five minutes. Game location is usually confirmed the Thursday prior. Below are our games for the first round.

Sep 6 - no scheduled game
Sep 13 @ Juan de Fuca
Sep 20 vs Gorge
Sep 27 @ Peninsula
Oct 4 @ Lakehill
Oct 11 vs Gordon Head
Oct 18 @ Bays United

Thursday Practice

Tomorrow's practice is 5pm at Lochside Park.

Tourney on The Turf Schedule

Once again we play as Argentina. Here are our game times:

Saturday 10am vs. Juan de Fuca and 1pm vs. Gordon Head
Sunday 12pm vs Bays United and 3pm (Final).

The ten players confirmed that have confirmed are:

Annabel, Chloe, Emma, Leah, Lily, Margaret, Marissa, Mia, Olivia and Paige.

Tournament fees are $30/player so please bring your money on Saturday.

PS. I am also putting together a U12 squad for any 1997 girls that might be interested.

Practice Time Changes

I have soccer-related meetings Tuesday and Thursday so practice times this week need to be moved-up. Tuesday's practice is 5:30pm and Thursday's is 5pm. Both practixes are at Claremont Secondary on the bottom field.

Practices in September might also need to be earlier than usual due to the fact we will have only one lit field until October. This may mean more 5pm practices. We can discuss at practice this week.

Sunday Game Cancelled

Sunday Exhibiton Game

Confirmation that our exhibition game this Sunday is 10am at Finlayson Park. Please be there for 9:30am. I will bring uniforms to wear.

Good Workout Ladies!

Tonight was the best practice so far. Not really be a surprise though as we finally had proper soccer weather!

Thursday we revert back to our usual 6pm practice time. Hope to see you all there.

Practice Time Change

Next Tuesday's practice will be 5:15pm instead of 6pm. The reason for the time change is that I have a President's Meeting to attend at 7pm in Esquimalt. This will be one-time only, Thursday's practice will be 6pm.

Labour Day Tournament

Who should we be this year? Brazil? Italy? Angola?

Last year we played as Argentina and narrowly defeated Brazil (Lakehill) in an absorbing, action-packed final. Is a repeat final on the cards?

Only five spaces are left for the Tourney on the Turf this coming Labour Day Weekend. Fees are $30 per player, payable in advance to Drew. All players receive a T-shirt of the country our team chooses.

So far I have commitments from the following: Chloe, Emma, Lily, Olivia and Paige.

Practice Reminder

A quick reminder of our practices next Tuesday and Thursday, 6pm at Lochside Park. All 1996 and 1997 players are welcome to attend next week's practice sessions and should come prepared to do some light running, so bring runners as well as cleats }:)

Busy Week at Lochside

Another week of progress on the Turf Field. We're pretty much on schedule and still looking good for September 27th kick-off!

Last saturday 25 truckloads of gravel base were delivered and graded and several volunteers hand dug a 75 foot silt-fence running parallel to the creek. After the hard work the volunteers were provided with burgers, drinks and fresh fruit for their efforts. We've also been supplying the truckers with drinks, donuts and burgers. Most of the truck drivers are donating their time so they're appreciative of the club's efforts.

Monday attention tuned toward completion of the concrete retaining wall on the west side of the field. Wednesday saw the removal of topsoil and vegetation from the east and south sides of the field in preparation for the concrete mowing strip and fencing, and on Thursday the south end concrete retaining wall was poured and trees removed that interfered with the western retaining wall and manhole covers.

Thursday also saw a slight change to the field plans, as we decided to keep a shallow triangular piece at the south end for spectators so that they can watch small-sided games (see picture above).

BC Summer Games Team

Good luck to the Zone 6 U12 Girls in the BC Summer Games being held this weekend in Kelowna.

Zone 6 represents the Island and Central Coast and there are a number of local players including Monique (Lakehill), and Chloe, Sydney and Alynn (Peninsula). Of course our own Paige was one of the alternates and by all accounts was desperately unlucky not to make the final squad.

Zone 6 has two games Saturday against Vancouver-Squamish and Fraser River-Delta, followed by one game against the Kootenay representative. The final is played on Monday.

Game results are available here

http://www.kelowna2008.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=34

Turf Update #3

As you can see from the first picture, Lochside still resembles a beach.

However plenty of work has been completed and the project remains on-schedule. The topsoil has been removed, new underground drainage has been installed and manhole covers placed just outside the fence-line. In addition, electrical conduits have been built to allow for increased amperage to the existing lights as well as for a new light standard at the southeast corner of the park.

Concrete forms have been prepared for the north side of the field. Forms for the west side will be completed Thursday and then on Saturday comes 250 tonnes of gravel base.

Argentina Coach

This past week Emma and Erin attended a World Cup Academy Summer Camp where the guest coach was Jorge Raffo, a renowned Argentinian coach who runs a prestigious (and unique) youth soccer academy in Buenos Aires (http://www.cefar.com.ar/en_index.php)

His academy ("CEFAR") is affiliated with Barcelona CF, one of the largest and most succesful soccer clubs in the world. Each year "Barca" (as they are known to their fans) pays Jorge to find and train the best 10-16 year old boys from around South America. Often, they come to live with him at his hotel and training facility (click link for pictures). His teams play friendly matches against the biggest professional club youth teams (e.g. Boca Juniors, River Plate, Independiente) from around Buenos Aires (pop. 13,000,00) and they routinely defeat these teams. Once his boys are old enough to sign professionally, the best go to Barcelona in Spain, while many others continue to play in Argentina professional futbol.

I'm not sure how much the girls soaked in, but I was hugely impressed with Jorge and his passion for futbol, to say nothing of his soccer knowledge and teaching ability. His drills were at once complex and simple, and focused on ball possession, quick passing and movement off the ball. He was a very hard coach with high expectations but I think all 50 or 60 players will long remember his sessions. Hopefully he'll be back next year!

We will see alot of Jorge's drills this fall as Brett and Steph intend on incorporating much of Jorge's Argentinian-style for our club.

Girls Only Soccer Camp - Aug 11-15

I strongly recommend this camp to any Gold-calibre players who want to get ready for the upcoming season. Consider it a mini boot-camp. I expect there will be a strong fitness component and a lot of ball-work (passing and receiving the ball, movement, quick tempo decision making) so anyone considering registering should be prepared to work hard.

I know 3 or 4 Storm players have already registered but the more the better.

Turf Project - Day 5

Taking down the fence wasn't as easy as expected. That's me battling the fence - and losing.

Note the guy with the axe. I'm happy to report there were no casualties.

The fencing is down and vegetation removed. Next up - chopping down some trees! But before that someone should really close that gate - we wouldn't want the deer getting in would we?

Wow, people weren't kidding when they referred to Lochside Park as "The Beach"!

We ask strikers to run in "the channels" but this is crazy!

Turf Project - Day 2

Day 2 and the digging has begun. A grader spent most of this morning removing the top 8 inches of topsoil and this afternoon dump trucks began hauling the dirt off to a construction site. We dont pay for the dirt removal because construction companies need it for projects around Victoria. So we get the labour free, and the companies don't have to pay for topsoil!

This weekend we will start hauling in crushed gravel for the drainage ditches. After all is said and done we'll have raised the base of the far field 4 inches higher than the middle field.

Turf Update

Work on installation of the new artificial turf field at Lochside Park begins this Wednesday.

The club is looking for adult volunteers to help clear vegetation along the east and south fence lines. If you look hard enough at the picture above you can see the weeds growing through the fence.

So if you have a couple of hours to spare and are looking for a good work-out, bring your weed-whacker, shovel, axe, wheelbarrow or garden shears down to the park Friday July 18, 5-9pm or anytime Saturday July 19 between 9am-6pm.

We'll supply the pizza and refreshments if you can supply the labour!

More information will be posted on the club website or contact Drew.

Summertime!

Hope everyone has a fantastic summer!

Keep checking the website for updates and we'll see you on the turf in August.

Great Game! Great Party!

What a great end to our spring league season. A spirited performance against a very talented select team and then a pleasant afternoon on the beach - all under clear skies and warm weather!

After watching the morning game between WCA and Langley I was a little apprehensive about how the girls would respond to Langley's physical play and fitness levels. I was also concerned about numbers, as I knew we would be missing Paige, Mia and Leanne from the regular Monster's line-up. As it was Olivia, Monique, Chloe and Sophie offered to play an extra game Sunday so that eased my concerns about players tiring in the midday sun. We had plenty of subs and I knew we would make use of them.

Then it became a question as to whether the Monster's could compete with our guests for seventy-five minutes. The answer to that was a resounding "yes".

We had a rocky first couple of minutes, but after that I thought we were the better team throughout. Our commitment to getting to the ball first was excellent, our decision making was good, we showed good patience when defending and we kept our shape very well. In fact many of you had your best games of the season against the very best team we played over the twelve games. That speaks volumes about your ability to raise your game - something we'll be looking for more of during fall-winter soccer.

Their two goals were of our own making - classic examples of poor-decision making which is natural for 11 and 12 year old soccer players. But when I look back, they were probably our only two real mistakes over the entire game. Beside their goals I cant remember any shots on our goal and I think the worst was when Margaret and Emma clashing knees and heads in the first-half.

At the other end of the field we definitely out-chanced them and 2-2 was the least we deserved. Both Chloe and Leah hit strong, low shots to the bottom corner that gave their goalie no chance. And in-between our goals, Annabel, Olivia, Marissa and Lily all had efforts saved or blocked where a goal looked likely.

In the midfield trenches I thought Leah and Lily both brought their "A" game. Leah in particular who seemed to be everywhere and thoroughly deserved her game-tying goal.

However being the soccer geek that I am, I was most pleased with one play in the second-half.

Our striker received the ball with her back to goal about half-way up the pitch. They then played the ball the way they were facing to our midfielder, who then passed back to our sweeper, who then controlled, moved the ball across her body and passed to her left defender who then passed upfield to the left forward, who then turned and fed a cross into the striker for a shot on goal. We didn't score a goal, but we kept possession, we kept play simple and kept the ball on the ground. No hit and chase, no panic, just good decision-making and movement off the ball. Awesome stuff!

So well done to the Monster's and a big thank you to Chloe, Monique and Sophie.

Now I hope that everyone gets a good month's rest and comes back raring to go in August. For those of you not quite ready to hang up the boots, WCA has a couple of excellent sessions in July for the very, very motivated. I believe Lily and Emma have already registered for another round of punishment but there's always room for more :)

See everyone in August!

Monster's End

A 4-1 thrashing of Sky Blue ends the spring league season for another year. Goals from Paige (2), Lily and Annabel seals our fourth win in a row and sixth overall. Overall our league record ends with 6 wins and 4 losses, with 22 goals for and 19 against. Not a bad record considering we were often playing against older players and trying to gel as a team at the same time. Paige takes home the Golden Boot as leading scorer with seven goals.

We certainly came a long way from our first game against Royal's where we looked disjointed and confused. That was probably the only game where we were outplayed and out-thought. Otherwise I felt we dominated most of our games, and our only real struggle was converting chances into goals. I can remember a number of games (Reds, Silver and Black) where we could have easily had 6 or 7 goals, but had to settle for one or two. And many of the games we lost could have easily gone the other way had we scored on even half the chances we had.

Defensively we were pretty solid, especially after the midway point of the season. We shipped 14 goals in our first five games - 5 in the last five. This may have had something to do with players coming to understand the "system" and the fact we became more comfortable playing with each other (that's the "team" part). However I also think each of you became better players individually. In particular I thought you all became more accustomed to the speed and the bounce of the ball on turf, something that should really help when we start playing U13 games on the new turf at Lochside Park.

In fact many of our games next season are going to be turf from as Gordon Head, Lakehill and Prospect lake will all have turf fields for next season. That is going to be way cool!

One more exhibition game to come and then the beach party. See you first at Finlayson Turf on Sunday. Kick-off is 12:30.

2008-09 U13G Team Formation

Thanks to all the girls for their attendance and efforts at assessments this past Thursday and Monday.

Players are reminded that they will be receiving a phone call over the next 7-10 days advising them which team they will be assigned to. Shortly afterward they will be contacted by their coach regarding practice schedule leading into next season.

In the meantime players or parents can call or email me if they have any questions.

For girls selected to the U13G Storm, practices are scheduled to begin the second week of August (11-15), location TBA. Tentative plans for August also include exhibition games and a tournament the Labour Day weekend. League play is expected to begin September 6.

Game vs. Langley Academy U11

Just a reminder to be at Finlayson Park for Noon next Sunday. Kick-off will be about 12:30.

You might want to come a bit early to scout the opposition as they play the World Cups Academy at 10:30. The WCA includes fellow Stormer's Holly and Kristina, as well as Emma and Lily.

This is a select team so the competition should be stiff!

Second Assessment Date - June 16

Good work-out tonight ladies! Everyone came with an excellent attitude and it was cool to see how much you've improved since the end of the winter season. Now if we could only do something about that goat pasture the school district calls a soccer field! No matter, we'll have turf soon enough.

A gentle reminder that we have scheduled another session for Monday June 16, 6-7pm at Claremont Secondary. This replaces the session that was cancelled this past Monday. All 1996 and 1997 players are invited to attend.

We're also on the lookout for more soccer players. So if you know any Grade 6 or Grade 7 girls who might be interested in playing soccer, let them know they're welcome at Cordova Bay. And remember that anyone who recruits a new player gets $20 off any club gear (e.g. t-shirts, hoodies, track suits, etc.). Cool huh?

June 22nd Game

A slight change to plans for our Beach Party on June 22.

We now have a game 12:30pm @ Finlayson Turf against Langley Academy U11. After our game is finished we will head straight for Parker Park for the beach party.

Please let me know if you cannot attend the game and/or party.

Rockem, Sockem Soccer!

Did any of you play with toys like this when you were younger? Perhaps some of you had older brothers or even dad's that did? If so, don't you agree tonight's game left you with the feeling like you just finished a boxing-match? That wasn't one for the faint-of-heart, that's for sure! I also can't recall a game where so much of the play was along the boards with players holding onto the fence and kicking for dear life!

OK, I'm guessing (and hoping) not many of you have actually been in a boxing match, but that's how it seemed to me. Two of the best Spring League teams having a good go at each other - a "grudge" match!

We didn't play much "football" tonight, but it was never going to be one for the purists when you put sixteen players on a field as small as "The Cage". The Royals are a fast, physical team, and we rarely got more than a nanosecond on the ball all game. But we matched their physical play and won more than our share of 50/50 challenges, which is what playing in the cage is all about. Getting to the ball first, winning the ball, moving the ball and getting forward.

The Cage is always an exciting game, but so is our team scoring race! With two goals each tonight, both Marissa and Lily move within touching distance of team leader Paige. Looks like next week's game vs Sky Blue will determine who takes home the Golden Boot as scoring champion. And still one more opportunity for several others (not naming names) to get their first of the season.

No POG tonight (not again!!!!) as play was far too frantic and I spent far too much time substituting players on and off. Still, there wasn't a weak performance on view so everyone should be very happy with their contributions to the win. And thanks to Olivia for her guest appearance. And remember Olivia, no goals = no appearance money!

PS. Paige, I actually wont have a Golden Boot to give away so don't obsess about it :-)

Summer Soccer Camps

There are a wide variety of soccer camps available to choose from this summer. Here's a sample of the summer soccer camps available in July & August:

• World Cups Academy; July 14-18 Gold-level only featuring Jorge Raffo (professional coach from Argentina).
• World Cups Academy; July 28-Aug1 @ Royal Oak Middle School
• World Cups Academy; Aug 11-15 Girls Elite @ Finlayson Park

In addition both Soccertron and University of Victoria offer excellent soccer programs.

For more information on these programs please consult the links on the right side of the blog.

Any players anticipating trying-out for a Gold team should consider attending one of these camps. Gold team evaluations will be conducted in mid to late August.

Busy Week of Soccer!

A busy week of soccer for the girls. 2008-09 player assessments are Monday and Thursday, 6-7pm at Claremont School and Tuesday is our next-to-last Spring League game - 7pm in The Cage. Let's hope we get some summer weather - soon!

Beach Party!

Our annual season-end Beach Party is planned for Sunday June 22nd, 1pm at Parker Park (end of Parker Road). All Storm, Hornets, and Monsters players are invited to attend.

Drinks and hot dogs will be provided by your hosts. Please bring munchies and treats to share with everyone.

Please let me know by next Tuesday if you're able to attend. I'm told we may even have some trophies and other goodies to hand out!

Monsters 1 Whites 0

A good team performance combined with Leanne's second goal of the season was enough to seal our second consecutive 1-0 win. It was a bit scrappy, but I thought our commitment in the tackle was pretty good and I saw flashes of the pass and move game I want us to play. I also heard you talking to each other more, and that's awesome. When we keep our play simple, do our jobs defensively and communicate with each other, we are a very hard team to beat. Overall I would give our team efforts a 7 and our opposition a 3 on a scale of 1-10.

Once again there were no shortage of candidates for POG. This time I'll plunk for Lily and Paige, with honourable mentions going to Leah, Annabel and Leanne (I'm in a generous mood :-) Lily and Paige have both been doing extra soccer this spring, Lily with Brett Hyslop's Academy Team and Paige with the Island BC Summer Games Team, and it shows in how they read the game, their positional play and their fitness levels. Leah, Annabel and Leanne also had strong games - winning and keeping possession of the ball and making the correct decision more times than not.

Next up are the Royals, the team we lost to 3-0 in our first game. I'm sure if we come-out with the same attitude and commitment we've shown in our last couple of games we'll continue on our winning streak. Game time is Tuesday 7pm in the Cage.

Monsters 1 Emerald 0

A well deserved win this evening for the Mighty Monsters! And it's about time. We've been playing well recently but not getting any reward for our play.

Once again we have Paige to thank for her cool finish to the corner, but prior to that Leah, Annabel, Mia, and Marissa all had great chances to open the scoring. And soon after Paige had scored, Nicole forced their keeper into two great reflex saves.

I was really impressed with some of our approach play (passing and movement going toward their goal). Some of it was excellent - the only thing missing was the final shot, where too often we rushed our shot when we had more time to set ourselves for the shot. This isn't always the shooters fault. As team mates we must help the shooter by telling them they have "time" to get their head-up and have a look at where the goalie is (or should I say isn't). And if I was being really picky I might remind forwards that we need to attack the ball when it's delivered into the box from midfield or the wings. I thought our corners were excellent tonight and all we needed was someone prepared to get their body on the ball and blast it into the net!

At our end of the field they rarely got a shot away thanks to some good defensive work, especially from Margaret, Leah, Paige and Marissa. In fact I cant remember a game where our keepers had so little to do. One thing we didn't do enough of was attacking the ball, preferring to wait for it to stop bouncing. This is a bad habit to get into, so try and judge the bounce so that you can get to it before your opponent. And get more physical! We must be the only team who doesn't use our arms and shoulders on opponents when taring to win possession of the ball.

There was no shortage of candidates for Player of the Game. IMHO most of you had your best game so far in Spring league. As a result i don't think it would be fair to name just one player when everyone contributed so much for the win. Good going!

Next game is 6:30pm Monday against White. Three games left - still plenty of time for Nicole, Emma, Margaret, Brooke, and Madeline to get a goal!

2008-09 Player Assessments

Player assessments for all 1996 and 1997 girls will be held June 9 and 12, 6pm @ Claremont School.

The assessments are held for two reasons. Firstly, they serve to indicate how many girls are intending on playing next season which the allows the club to make decisions on how many teams we will forming at U12 and U13 for 2008-09. Secondly, the assesments are used to determine which girls are invited to Gold team try-outs. This year we expect the try-outs will be held in mid to late August.

As a result it is important for all players to attend at least one session.

For more information on planning for the upcoming season please consult the club website
http://www.cordovabaysoccer.org/

Please note that U12 assessments are also open to any players born in 1998.

Soccer Glossary - Part 1

"Away!" - indicates that you are under pressure and should clear the ball quickly; typically shouted at defenders in and around their penalty-area. As much as possible I want us to pass our way of dangerous areas, but playing against larger and stronger players some times we just need to clear the ball from danger.

"Man On!" - indicates that an opposing player is fast approaching you. It is most commonly used when a player is approaching from behind or beside a player and they cannot see them. "Man On" should be one of the first phrases you learn to use in a game or practice.

"Movement!" - I shout this if I feel our players aren't moving into positions to receive the ball from the ball carrier. Not all movement off the ball results in that player receiving a pass. Instead the movement may help in creating space for the ball carrier to continue in possession. A good example of this are the diagonal or corner runs I ask you to make when the midfield is coming forward with the ball. This movement creates both a passing option and space for the ball carrier.

"Send It" - usually used to urge the player in possession of the ball to pass the ball forward quickly, usually into space behind the defenders or into the path or feet of our forward. Quick movement of the ball is key to attacking space and getting behind defenders. HINT: Remember that the ball moves quicker than any player can run.

"Time!" - tells you that you can settle the ball, compose yourself and get going because there is no immediate pressure from the opponents. Similar phrases include "take your time" or my own personal favourite "buckets" as in "buckets of time". What we hear too often (especially from coaches!) is "you had more time", which indicates that you panicked when you didn't need to.

Monsters 0 Black 1

Our game versus Black was definitely a case of deja vu all over again! Once again we played well, had plenty of scoring opportunities and dominated play for long periods of the game, but in the end all we have is a narrow defeat for our efforts.

What let us down was our attacking play in the final third of the field. Outside of Paige's boomer off the upright, I thought our efforts on goal did very little to trouble their keeper. This had been a reoccurring theme in many of our SL games - we're doing the hard work winning the ball and we're getting the ball forward quickly, but our final pass, cross or shot isn't good enough. This is something I'd like us to work on in our remaining games. So when you get an opportunity to shoot pick your spot, get your head down and follow-through with your foot.

Player of the Game was Paige with honourable mentions going to Leah and Mia. Paige was her usual peppy-self, dashing and darting everywhere, and getting some solid efforts on goal, including the one that belted the upright late in the game. An inch or two the other way and it was in. Ugghhhh! Leah was rock-solid as sweeper in the second half, mopping up confidently behind her defenders. And Mia was great in goal, making a couple of key interventions to thwart the Black forwards when they did get into our end.

Next up are Emerald on Wednesday. We welcome back the camping crew (Leanne, Marissa and Brooke), fresh with their bug bites and scarry bedtime stories, but lose Lily and Emma to academy. Let's come-out fired-up and ready to play!

Monsters 3 Maroons 5

We did very well to come back from two goals down to tie the game, but the Maroons scored a pair of scrappy goals in the last five minutes to take the victory. On balance I thought a draw would have been a fairer result but in the end they took more of their chances than we did. Congratulations to Marissa, Annabel and Paige on their goals.

Along with our strong play come lots of candidates for Player of the Game. For me Annabel just shades the Player of the Game. A thirty-yard chip shot over their keeper and defender capped a hard-working performance. Honourable mentions go to Brooke and Lily. Brooke did well at both sweeper and midfield - two very tough positions considering the quality of the opposition. Lily continued her fine play of late, and her through-pass for Paige's goal was excellent.

Our next game is 6:30pm Wednesday vs Black. I have no scouting report on Black, but I expect they'll be another hard-working team full of U13 players.

We'll be short on players as school track, camp and music events means Brooke, Marissa, Leanne , Madeline, Annabel and Emma will be absent. As a result there's a good chance we'll have to recruit one or two players from other teams. Stay tuned!

2008-09 Registration Open

Registration for the 2008-09 Season is now open. Online registration is available from the following link:

http://www.cordovabaysoccer.org/cbsa_pages/registration.php

Please remember to register early. Not only does it save you $ when you register early, it better allows the club to get a head-start on team formation planning.

Next season promises to be one the most exciting in years with a new Turf Field and other off-field developments. Don't miss it!

Monday Night at The Cage

Well, who needs the NHL playoffs when you've got "sockey" in The Cage? There was as much hitting and tripping on our game tonight as you'll see in just about any hockey game! But that physical play becomes more prominent as you get older, so as long as no one got hurt we can chalk it up to experience.

So in the end we lost 4-3. Ho hum. I'm sure everyone wanted the win or tie, but we have to remember that when playing in the cage it's not always the team who plays best who wins. Sometimes it's the team that's bigger and more aggressive that wins.

So it was tonight. Their game plan was to kick the ball up front as quickly as possible to their forwards and then pressure our defence. As a result most of their goals came from rebounds after they "crashed" our goal. This will work on a small field where the ball never goes out of play, but on a larger field (especially one without a chain-lick fence surrounding) most of their big boots would have been easily dealt with by our defenders or even gone straight-off the field of play. That's why I was really pleased you tried to do all the things we talked about before the game. We did have to rely on some big kicks late on in the game, but for the most part we tried to pass and move. The only thing I could have wished for was a ref who knew what his whistle was for!

Goalscorers were Leanne (1st of the season), Marissa (1st of the season) and Paige (3rd and team leader).

Picking the Player of the Game is tricky because everyone contributed. But if I'm to pick one player I'll go with Marissa. Marissa (I'm told only her bestest friends get to call her "Mar") scored, ran hard, tackled hard and showed some real grit and intensity. She pretty much played every position on the field.

Honourable mentions go to Leanne and Lily. I don't recall seeing a bigger smile on a player's face than Leanne after she scored her goal tonight. Leanne's worked hard every game this year so to see her score her first goal was well worth the wait! Lily had some great 1 v 1 battles with some very aggressive players (what did that blonde-haired girl say to you?). Not surprisingly, Lily didn't back down. All of that extra strength work your doing with Sean and John came in handy tonight didn't it!

Not much of a turnaround time before Thursday's match vs Peninsula Maroons. Rumour has it they're one of the teams to beat so let's make sure we bring the same intensity and desire we had tonight.

Two Games This Week!

I obviously can't read schedules properly! I've been informed (Thanks Jon) that we have two games this week - one Monday and the other Thursday.

Monday's game is our first game in "The Cage". We play the Silver team who I understand are a U13 team from Gorge. Kick-off is 7:30pm.

For those unfamiliar with "The Cage", soccer in the cage is a combination of indoor soccer and ice hockey - so come prepared to play a fast-paced, all-action game.

Thursday's game is 6:00pm.

Monsters 3 Reds 1

Well we made it harder on ourselves than it should have been, but in the end we got the goals to defeat a spirited Reds team. We lacked the zip and intensity from our last game but once we rediscovered that things started to roll for us. Our passing, movement and hunger for the ball was much better in the second half and Mia, Lily and Leah scored to turn-around a 0-1 halftime deficit versus the Reds.

We had chances in the first half, but we either found the side-netting or were stoned by the Reds keeper. Nicole, Marissa and Leah all had good chances but it was the Reds who scored off a nice three-way passing play. The goal itself was a boomer and didn't give Emma much of a chance, but our marking leading up to the goal was very, very slack and we weren't really paying attention to the play. Sometimes it seems we need to be scored on to wake up, and I thought this was the case in this game.

As a team I thought we played the ball the way we were facing (more times than not) and our communication was pretty good. We switched play and our coners (short and long) were good as well. A couple of things we need to work on include moving up and down the field as a unit and our shooting. Too many times our defenders were too far behind our forwards and midfield which means we missed chances to win the ball back and support the attack. As for our shooting, we need to try and hit shots hard and low to the corners.

Player of the Game was Emma for her crunching tackles, great passing and hard work all over the field. Emma also had a great shot saved by the Reds keeper and generally made a nuisance of herself whenever they had the ball. (There you go folks, I can say something positive about my daughter!)

Honourable mentions go to Lily and Nicole.

Lily got her first goal of the season - a booming shot from just outside the penalty area that literally tore the net off the goal! It was such a nice goal Lily says she wants to know if anyone took a video! Well, actually it was a tap in after the goalie fumbled her shot, but I think everyone would agree we're splitting hairs here. Besides, it was the game winner!!

This is Nicole's first year playing soccer and she's making great progress. What I like most is Nicole did a great job of making safe, smart decisions whenever she had possession of the ball. Soccer is a game of making decisions and last night Nicole did that well. In addition, she showed some speed and nifty dribbling skills.

Next week's game is Thursday 6pm on Field K1. Our opponents are the Maroons and they appear to have a fair number of Peninsula U12 Gold girls. This means we'll have to be on our game right from the start.

See you there!

Monsters 2 Sky Blues 1

We really need to find a name for our Spring league Team. Perhaps something along the lines of CB Forest or Green Monsters. I'll leave that up to you girls.

That was a very good performance last night, full of both great individual and team play. Considering it was only our second game as a team I was chuffed (chuffed adj. slang for delighted).

Our first game versus the Bays Royals was quite chaotic and uninspired, but everything we didn't do in our first game we did last night. I was particularly happy to see everyone adapt to the pace of the game and the size of our opponents. Prior to the game I said that we needed to be quicker to the ball and tougher in the tackle and that's exactly what you did! We looked like a team out there - our passing and movement was good, our positional play was solid, our intensity was excellent and our decision-making was superb.

I think I've run out of adjectives! Now the challenge is to try and keep that up for the rest of our games.

Player of the Game was Paige for her two goals and battling performance against the Sky Blues tall and menacing blonde-haired midfielder. Keep that up Paige and I'm sure you'll make the Island Zone Team for the BC Summer Games! Good luck!

Special mentions for Leah and Shanarra. Leah did very well all game but left her best for her 10 minute goalkeeper cameo in the second half, making some great saves to deny the Sky Blues forwards. Well done. Shanarra was full of fire up until an unfortunate trip injured her knee. Hopefully things are OK and we'll see you on Monday.

A reminder that our game Monday is 5:30pm against Lakehill Reds on Field K1. We should have Lily and Emma back, but Paige will be at recital (boooooo!!!).

The pre-game goalkeeper coin toss will commence at 5:25pm, exactly. Don't be late!

First Spring League Game

Reminder of our first Spring league game tomorrow at Hampton Park. Kick-off is 6:30pm so warm-up will begin at 6pm. Our first opponent are the "Royals" who appear to have a fair number of players from Bays United U12 Gold.

Schedule for our first four games:

April 21st - Bays United "Royals", 6:30pm
April 30th - "Sky Blues", 6:00pm
May 5th - Lakehill "Reds", 5:30pm
May 15th - Peninsula "Maroons", 6:00pm

Every player will play goalie at least twice - there will be no exceptions!!

Storm Warning! Gordon Head Jamboree

This was great weekend of soccer and a wonderful way to end our Storm season. It didn't end quite the way we wanted but we definitely gave the North Shore Renegades a scare in our final game. The final scoreline flattered them (5-2). If only the referee had given us a penalty-kick when Olivia was fouled then who knows how the game would have ended (how that ended up being a goal-kick was beyond my comprehension). As it was they proceeded to go down the field and score their fifth goal - aargh!!!!

Thanks to the Peninsula trio - Chloe, Shavonne and Lara - for their efforts and enthusiasm this weekend. It was great having you play with us. Now that you know our secrets you have to promise not to share them with your coaches, right?

Final scores and scorers from the weekend's games:

Storm 1 (Marissa) Gordon Head 1
Storm 2 (Olivia, Shavonne) Comox Valley 0
Storm 2 (Olivia 2) Lakehill 0
Storm 2 (Shavonne 2) North Shore 5

See you all at Spring League or World Cups Academy!

LISA Full Field Tournament Wrap Up

Hope everyone enjoyed their games this weekend - you all played very well!

Between the Storm and Hornets we won two, tied one and lost one - not a bad record overall- but I'm sure everyone who played in the tie vs Gorge and the loss to Lakehill will wonder how we didn't win both of those games :-( However this tournament was more about continuing to learn and adjust to the 11-a-side game, and on that score I thought we did very well.

In our first game against Lakehill it took a while for us to get going, but I thought we dominated possession for large parts of the game and moved the ball quite well. I felt their winning goal came against the run of play and goes to show that you cant switch-off at any time, but to your credit you kept plugging and we had some great chances to level the score near the end. Positives from the Lakehill game include our ball movement, running into space, and desire. On the flip-side, this game showed how important it is to make the most of your goalscoring opportunities, on being first to the ball, and in keeping the correct defensive positioning when we don't have possession of the ball. I think we've had enough of late goals being scored against us - I know I have!

Take away the last five minutes of the Bays United game and I think everyone would agree that was the best we've played for a long while. We were all over them and some of our attacking play in this game was fantastic, particularly in the second half when the ball seemed permanently in their end. I also thought our defenders and midfield did a great job shutting down their attack, that is up until those last five minutes when we seemed near panic stations after their penalty shot goal followed by a shot cleared off the line (great hustle Leah!).

It was nice to score some goals and I thought each of them was different. Brooke G's was a well taken shot from distance after good passing from Olivia and Brooke E; Kristina's was more of an individual effort, getting into the box and the zig-zagging her way past defenders and placing the ball wide of the goalie, and Marissa's was what I refer to as a poacher's goal - being in the right place and right time to put away a rebound. We could have, and should have, scored more - no names mentioned - but lets hope you're just saving the goals for the GH Jamboree in two weeks time.

Positives from this game include some great passing and movement, excellent awareness and patience in attack, some great crosses into the box, and good decision making. There wasn't too much negative from this game, but i did notice we often seemed in a rush to pass when the better option was to dribble. Also, our defenders need to move up the field to support our midfielders (when we have the ball) and to ensure we get to through-balls (when we don't).

No practice this week but we'll work on getting a game or practice for next Tuesday. Stay tuned.

Gordon Head Jamboree Game Schedule

Here are our game times for the Gordon Head Jamboree:

• Gordon Head Bulldogs - Friday April 11, 5:45pm @ Lambrick Park School Field
  
• Comox Valley Crimson Crush - Saturday April 12, 1:30pm @ Braefoot #3
• Lakehill Reds - Saturday April 12, 5:15pm @ Lambrick Park Field Hockey
• North Shore Renegades - Sunday April 13, 1:30 @ Reynolds School Field #2
  

USS Spring League Team

Thanks to everyone who returned their Spring league registration forms. League play begins April 14 and the game schedule should be released next week.

Here is our squad of twelve players: Brooke E, Emma S, Leah R, Leanne B, Lily H, Madeline L, Margaret M, Marissa D, Mia B, Nicole A, Paige M, Shannara E.

LISA Tournament Teams

Teams for the game four games this weekend:

SATURDAY
U12S Hornets vs. Gorge (2pm @ Beckwith): Annabel T, Ashley M, Brooke G, Emma S, Erin S, Jenessa J, Leah R, Lily H, Lista S, Madeline L, Madison R, Mara M, Megan E, Nicole A, Shannara E

U12S Hornets vs. Sooke (4pm @ Adam Kerr): Annabel T, Ashley M, Jenessa J, Kristina W-S, Lista S, Madeline L, Madison R, Margaret M, Morgan D, Nicole A, Olivia S, Paige M, Shannara E

SUNDAY
U12G Storm vs. Lakehill (10am @ Beckwith): Brooke E, Brooke G, Emma S, Kristina W-S, Leah R, Lily H, Margaret M, Mara M, Marissa D, Megan E, Mia B, Olivia S, Paige M, Rachel J

U12G Storm vs. Bays United (Noon @ Beckwith): Annabel T, Brooke E, Brooke G, Emma S, Kristina W-S, Leah R, Lily H, Margaret M, Mara M, Marissa D, Mia B, Morgan D, Olivia S, Paige M, Rachel J

World Cups Festival

My thanks to Monique's dad for snapping this picture following a action-packed finale between Scotland (Paige, Olivia & Margaret) and New Zealand (Lily and Emma). In the end only a goal separated two evenly-matched teams - with Paige scoring for Scotland and Lily notching the winner for the "Swans". There was lots to talk about after the game, especially a handball incident in the first-half!

In other final games Canada (Madeline) edged South Korea (Brooke G) 3-1 and Argentina (Rachel, Leah, Mara, and Morgan) defeated Nigeria 2-0.

For more snapshots from the weekend tournament please visit the Lakehill Reds blogspot

USS Spring League Update

A reminder that I need your registration forms (and cheques) for the USS Spring League.

Registration deadline is fast approaching and so far only the following players have returned their forms: Emma S, Leah R, Lily H, Madeline L, Nicole A, Paige M and Shannara E.

We're only carrying twelve players on the team so don't wait too long or you could miss out!

LISA Full Field Tournament - Game Schedule

LISA has announced the game schedule for the eleven-a-side tournament set for March 29/30.

Both of our games are on the Sunday at Beckwith Park - 10am vs. Lakehill and Noon vs Bays United Szwender.

Meanwhile the U12 Silver "Hornets" have games on the Saturday, 2pm @ Beckwith Park vs. Gorge United and 4pm @ Prospect Lake School vs Sooke. I expect that the Hornets will need a couple of Storm players for both games so if you're interested let me know.