Welcome to the Storm!

A couple of our recruits for the weekend jamboree may be at practice Tuesday. So please remember to give Katherine and Kyra a warm welcome when you see them. Katherine and Kyra play with the Bays Silver team that defeated Gordon Head in the District Cup and subsequently gave Juan de Fuca a hard game in the semi-finals.

Speaking of Juan de Fuca, a couple of the Warriors will be joining us for the tourney as well. We've had excellent battles against JDF this season, so it will be nice to have Bri, Cassie, Jessica, Maddie and Marissa on our side for a change! They have their District Cup Final in Sooke early Saturday afternoon, so hopefully they can make the other three tournament games.

We're also being joined by Sydney from Gorge. Sydney is an all-action player who always impressed me when she played against us. Sydney also goes to Royal Oak and attends DDC so she shouldn't need much introduction to several Storm players.

A warm welcome and thanks to all our recruits - I hope you enjoy your weekend of soccer with us!

More Changes to Jamboree Schedule

Here is our new game schedule:

Friday - Gordon Head @ UVic, 7:35pm
Saturday - Coquitlam @ Torquay School, 11am
Saturday - Dunbar @ Lochside, 5:15pm
Sunday - TBA @ 12:15pm, either Lambrick Park or Reynolds Field

Reminder to everyone to bring their $25 to practice tomorrow or to our game on Friday night.

What a game!

I think everyone would agree today's game against Bays United just about sums up our season. Once again we out-play our opposition, dominate possession, do everything but score, but end up losing to a single goal. And in this case, it sounds like the goal should have been called back. Marissa apparently had both hands on the ball but the Bays player kicked it in anyway. When I asked the ref at the end of the game what he saw he said he didn't see anything. Funnily enough, that was the answer I was expecting!

As Rob said to me after the game, why would we expect anything to change now? We've had so little luck this season it's not even funny.

Bays didn't know what hit them in the first half. Right from the kick-off we swarmed all over them and they never got into their stride. What I really liked was how high up the field we played. As a result we won many second balls and intercepted many of Bays defensive clearances. We had some good looks at goal but their goalie gobbled everything up when she had to.

In the second-half we were doing fine until their goal. The wheels fell-off for a while as we struggled with positional play, but we found our rythym again and had some pretty good chances late on. I know Olivia would probably like a do-over for that free kick, but we had chances after that we just couldn't squeeze-in. At the final whistle you were still running and competing hard. You left absolutely everything on the field today and that's all any coach can ask. So if one can be happy with a loss, then that's how I feel right now.

Next up is the Gordon Head Jamboree with a game against Lakehill on Friday at UVic. But first a practice Tuesday at Lochside at 6pm.

Bays United Game Location

Our game this weekend is at Glenlyon-Norfolk Turf Field, 12:30pm. We have received very specific instructions as to where we can park:

All parking, drop-off and pick-up must take place at the schools Maddison Street parking lot as shown on the attached sketch map. DO NOT use the following neighborhood streets - Somenos, Bank, Maddison and Laurentian to parking, drop-off or pick-up.

I will send out an email with an illustration of where we can park.

Hope to see everyone there around Noon. We will be wearing our maroon uniforms.

World Cups Festival Reminder

Reminder of the World Cups Festival Apirl 10-11-12 at Lochside Park. Online registration is available here http://worldcups.cordovabaysoccer.org/index.php?fuseaction=league.form&league=World%20Cups

2009-10 Player Assessments Schedule

Listed below are the dates for 1996 (U14) and 1997 (U13) player assessments in preparation for the 2009-10 season and playing under the name of the newly-formed Saanich East Soccer Club. Existing players from both Cordova Bay and Gordon Head soccer clubs are invited to attend these assessments.

Players must register prior to attending registrations. I will post a link to online registration once registration is open (hopefully late this month or early April).

Girls U14 (1996) - April 15 @ Tyndall Turf, 6-7pm and April 20 @ Lochside Turf, 6-7pm
Girls U13 (1997) - April 6 @ Tyndall Turf, 6-7pm and April 8 @ Lochside Turf, 6-7pm

Let me know if you have any questions.

Gordon Head Jamboree Game Schedule

Here is our game schedule for the Jamboree April 3-4-5.

April 3 - 7:35pm vs. Lakehill @ UVic Turf 2A
April 4 - 9:45am vs. Gordon Head @ Lambrick Park High School
April 4 - 1:30pm vs. Dunbar Tigers @ Upper Lambrick
April 5 - 8:30am vs. Coquitlam NCUS @ Lochside Park

Cost is $25 per player.

No Game Saturday

Our game against Peninsula set for this Saturday has been cancelled.

I hope everyone enjoys their Spring Break and we'll see you back on the turf March 24.

District Cup Draw

We received the first round bye so our first game will be March 28 away at the winner of the Gorge vs. Bays United game.

The other side of the draw sees Lakehill host Juan de Fuca and Gordon Head host Bays Utd K-os (the latter are the Silver Division Champions). The Lakehill vs. Juan de Fuca game appears the pick of the first round games, especially as both teams have ended the league season on winning runs. Should be a good battle at Beckwith Park.

Tuesday Practice Cancelled

Tonight's practice is cancelled due to cold - both of them.

It's expected to get as cold as -6 this evening and, combined with several players feeling a bit under the weather, I think it's wise if we cancel.

Hopefully it warms-up and everyone is feeling better on Thursday.

A Day at The Beach

I was very pleased with your performance today. Once again, you did everything but score. You battled well, passed the ball well (that is when we could get control of the ball on that potato patch of a field), shot well (nice 40 yarder Lily) and we threatened their goal on numerous occasions (by the way, how is that stomach of your's Kristina?). Everyone competed well.

Unfortunately we ran into a goalkeeper that made saves when she needed to and dealt with all of our crosses very well. I felt she was the difference in the game, as she was in our previous 1-0 loss at Claremont. Obviously they took their chance and we missed on ours, that's also a good reason we lost! No complaints from me. However it would have been nice to have played Juan de Fuca this season on a better playing surface, one that suited our passing game such as turf, but such was not our fortune.

We've had very little luck in our last two games, perhaps it will return in our district cup game. I will find out Tuesday afternoon who/when/where we play. What I do know is several Storm (Marissa, Holly, Annabel - am I missing anyone?) will be off on Spring Break holidays, so hopefully we have enough to field a team.

Makes no sense to me why they didn't schedule cup game before Spring Break. After all, today was a meaningless exhibition game. No, that would make too much sense. Far better to play cup games when most everyone is off on holiday. Rant over.

Have a great weekend everyone. Wax your cross-country skis (if you've got 'em)!

Juan de Fuca Reminders

Please remember to check the club website for field updates. They are calling for snow overnight so there is a small chance our game might be cancelled.

Also, please bring both the maroon and white jerseys to the game. We will decide which jersey we're wearing just before game time.