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.