Quick Update - Comanches Win against Eagles

Just wanted to provide a quick update on yesterday's match up between the Comanches and the Eagles. I'm told that A-team walked away with a 3-1 win while B-team remained scoreless up until the last 10 minutes when the Comanches overtook the Eagles with 2 unanswered goals.

For a look at the re-cap of games and win/losses, check out the Standings tab above (I keep it as current as possible).

Looking forward to re-match against both teams starting this coming Monday night against the Eagles.

GO HUSKIES!!!

Practice Reminder - Bring Water

It's beginning to get into the warmer period for Texas weather and while it's unpredictable, please be sure your player is prepared. As we're having practice today (the reminder), please make sure they have an adequate amount of water. Wed looks sketchy on the weather so please stay tuned for more updates there.

Today

Apr 29

87^°F

63^°F

Sunny

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

S at 15 mph

Details

Tue

Apr 30

86^°

65^°

Mostly Sunny

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

S at 20 mph

Details

Wed

May 1

82^°

49^°

Isolated T-Storms

CHANCE OF RAIN:

30%

 

WIND:

SSE at 14 mph

Details

(above snapshot taken at 10:00am on 4/29/2013)

For those interested, the Eagles (ISMS) and the Comanches (KMS) are matching up tonight for their first time starting at 5:30 and 6:30 for A and B matches respectively. Our practice runs up to 5:30 but for those interested in checking out their play, head on over.

A continued thanks to the refs that have been volunteering, especially from within the families of the Huskies! We certainly appreciate the earnest efforts and volunteer spirit you provide to make this club program function. And thanks to the parents/fans for supporting them with exceptional sportsmanship.

House Keeping Items

Just a few house keeping items to request of you and your players.

Water

For games and practices, please make sure your player has a sufficient amount of water, especially as the weather turns warmer. I've noticed that a few players either don't have water or an insufficient amount and are turning to other player's source of water to keep them hydrated. Not only is this unfair to those that are prepared, it poses a health risk that I'm sure no one wants among our club. As an example, my older brother's team "waterfalled" from squirt bottles (likely just drank directly from them) and passed around their saliva to the point he ended up with mono and was deathly ill for quite some time. Let's avoid this extreme risk by helping our players to be prepared.

Missing Ball
A few practices ago a player's ball went missing from practice. It was last seen in the hands of another player. I'm sure it was a mix up. It would be wonderful to have the missing ball miraculously make a reappearance.

Timeliness
Practices have been really good lately and I really appreciate the communication by each player when they're not able to attend or need to leave early. I especially encourage players to miss practice when catching up on homework. A simple note or face-2-face communication is greatly appreciated.

Plan to be on time rather than rushing to the games

As for games, yesterday was a little stressful as a good percentage of our A-team showed up right before the match, or shortly thereafter. Not only does this make planning of the match difficult for the coaches, it places a greater burden on those that show up early. The warm up period is an essential part of the game experience to keep players healthy and able to perform at a sufficient level of play. Please help you players to be on time (i.e. 30 min prior to the start of the game) or otherwise drop me a note and let me know of the circumstance in order to better plan the event.

As always, I'm open to suggestions and appreciate all of your support for our players.

Go Huskies!!!

No Practice this Wed - Time to Relax during STARR Tests

With yesterday's battles and a two great wins, I'm going to call off practice for tomorrow, 4/24 and hope to reduce stress a little during the STARR testing. We'll be back at it on Mon/Wed next week in prep for our 5/6 re-match against the Eagles from ISMS.

Congratulations to both teams for pulling off 2-1 victories over the Comanches. The coach of the Comanches approached the referee crew after the match to thank them and one of the first things he stated was, "while I hate losing, I hate losing even more to Coach Greg." Of course he chuckled while he said it and he's really good natured about the competition, I know it probably burns him inside.

Thanks for making my job as coaching your players an enjoyable experience. We're off to a great start and at the mid point having a perfect record is a wonderful position to be in. It also puts a huge target on our backs but I want the last two matches to keep the opposition right there, watching us from behind.

Congratulations again and see you on Monday!

Lineup for 4/22 Game against Comanches

Here's the lineup for today's game. Sorry for the late notice.



Name Suggested Placements
Ariohn (AJ) Gunn -  stopper
Cameron Coy - mid (wing)
Matthew Nuss -  mid
Jonathan - front
Jamire Virtue - mid (if healthy)
Colton - wing
Alexie - mid
Ryan Halford - defender
Mitchell - defender
Jackson - front
Calum - mid
Daniel - mid
Bryce - keeper
Shawn - front
Julian - sweeper/defender


Alternates

Matt
Dillon

B Team 

Conner Sampley - front
Sean Pham - mid
Quinton Bailey - defender
Jose - defender
Dillon Ogle - mid
Kevin Leiva - defender
Robert - front
James - mid
Kade - defender
Ryan Sickler - defender
Jason Tinoco - wing (pending clearance for concussion)
Kyle - front
Matt - front/mid
Bryan Ventura - defender
Alberto    - keeper

Injured List

Jaden Hanson

Practice Reminder & CHS Playoffs

Hopefully you've been enjoying a little downtime since the matches on Monday though if you're like me free time tends to get gobbled up quicker than people food left in front of dogs. We have another couple of practice this next week in preparation for the Comanches (KMS). I hope everyone is healthy and ready to keep moving forward.

Practice is going to start getting warmer. Please make sure your player stays hydrated and brings a bottle they can fill up at the school. While it's only an hour, they'll be sweating it out and dropping a bit of water. I want to keep each player in good health and have no concerns through the season.

If anyone has a decent camera (DSLR), would you mind letting me know if you'd be willing to take some photos, especially team photos that we can distribute to each player?

Keller Central’s Moses Gonzalez does a kick flip

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/03/30/4737985/keller-central-overcomes-arlington.html#storylink=cpy

For those following CHS boys soccer, they play their semi-final regional match against Coppell tonight at the Birdville ISD stadium - 6pm start time. For those attending CHS either next year or the year after, it might be a good thing to go show some support for the program you'll be entering into, maybe even get a chance to cheer them on to victory and show Coach Maher and the boys your support and excitement.

Lastly, I do have a little extra cash and I plan on putting this towards practice pinnies. If anyone has any objections, please drop me a note or call and we'll discuss. You can see the running total spend posted here.

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.

Exciting Opener

Congratulations to both A and B teams with wins in their opener against the Eagles. What an exciting night: new uniforms, domination on the field and a surprise visit by Principal Eckert. Thanks to all of the parents that made it out in support of the Huskies.

While the refs don't read this blog or receive the e-mails (although I'm sure some parents will be able to forward this on), I want to thank them for supporting the middle school program and donating precious time and energy in such a selfless manner. The games were controlled by talented and experienced referees and it made a huge difference from previous middles school programs!

Where the ball was placed for the Huskies most of the night

One of the best things about coaching at this age is there is little coaches need to verbalize during match play and last night exemplified this as the Eagles were rocked by the communication, the skill, the drive and overall depth of our squads. As I coach with the Eagle's head coach, the assistant coach and formerly the other assistant coach, I know their tendencies and mannerisms. The frustration build up was evident at 3-0 in the A-team match when the head coach, grasping for anything, starts snipping away about hands and arms knowing those trivial advantages don't make or break a game. I was sincerely grateful to be on the dominating side of the match.

Thank you to Coaches Jeremy and Kevin for leading the B-team on to victory. Despite a single yellow card for dissent (a little more serious than just arguing a call), I'm told the match was equally as engaging and certainly satisfying with a shutout win. Congratulations to both teams.

Lastly, I received a quick note from the KMS Comanches head coach later on in the evening in which he conceded the talent and depth of the squads. I think he was a little blown away. He's not one to hold his cards tight to his chest so I believe this is a good indication of success to come. As long as we stay humble, work together and continue on in the current structure pattern, we're going to have a great season.

Team Prayer Before Each Game

I did forget one thing in my last note and wanted to give everyone a heads up regarding a tradition and practice I hold important for my teams. Regardless of religious affiliation, I encourage my teams to pray and to pray vocally before each game. While this may seem odd considering the diversity of denominations and religions around, I have found the act of praying as a team to be a strength and unifying experience. As the club is technically not a UIL sponsored organization, I don't see there being any conflict in continuing forward with this practice. And if it were a UIL sponsored organization I would cite the high school soccer teams organizing themselves in prayer before matches, the football teams kneeling in prayer this season and other organizations that offer up similar acts of reverence.

I personally am a Christian and will pray accordingly but others not of my faith and belief have participated with my teams. I've enquired of those of the Muslim faith whether they would be offended by such a practice and was assured that participation would not be an issue and they would likely join in. Those without faith were confused at first but decided to participate as a team member and it helped to unify the team. Individuals of all faiths and non-faiths are encouraged to participate though are not required.

The tradition I've started with my teams follows the pattern of a coach leading the team for the first game and encouraging others to vocally pray on subsequent games. Please talk with your players about this experience and for those who may desire to lead the team in prayer, please have them speak up. I will never guilt or volunteer someone into praying as it is something very personal. I would expect others to treat individuals who do pray with respect as well.

If you have any concerns over this practice, please, as always, reach out to me personally and let's talk through it. As always, I'm hear to serve your players and do so with respect both as soccer players and individuals.

4/8 Team Lineups and a Few Reminders

As promised, here are the lineups for games tomorrow night. For alternates, Matt and Dillon, please, if possible, be to both A and B games. Depending upon attendance, groove and other considerations, I'd like to fill in some extra time on A as well as giving you majority time on B.

Please remember to have players to the Indian Springs Middle School main competitive football field no later than 30 minutes prior to the match. Tomorrow is especially critical as we need to distribute the jerseys.  All B-team players are encouraged to come out and support the A-team and A-team are encouraged to stay after to support the B-team. Just another reminder, black shorts and black socks along with the regular equipment (shin guards a must, and cleats). Please stock your player with sufficient amount of water. Transportation is not provided by the school so each player will need to be driven to the fields.

Tomorrow's games will be exciting and certainly not disappointing. Each player has worked hard to get to this point and the teams are really coming together in such a very short amount of time. Unfortunately, I'll not be in attendance for the B-team match as my older daughter has a match up in Lewisville for which I'll need to leave just after the A-team match. Thank you to coaches Gunn and Sickler for covering and supporting these teams.

As a courtesy and reminder, refs are to be treated with respect. Although we're not a UIL backed organization, please treat the referees as though
they are your own kids. Tomorrow night we'll have grade 8 and 9, USSF certified refs out on the field who are volunteering their time to support the program. They've been through the middle school program before and each have played at Central HS and one currently refs at the high school level (TASO ref core). Your support of their calls will also help show your players how to appropriately treat officials while maintaining the spirit of the game and helping to achieve the goals of the club.

I'm very excited for tomorrow's match. I met with the Eagle's (ISMS) coach tonight to get the jerseys, we talked some about players and how we're both very excited to get this underway. The field was being painted as we talked and everything is coming together. We certainly couldn't do this without your support so thank you for taking the time to support the club and your individual players. Hopefully we'll see that same support at the games cheering these players on.


Name Suggested Placements
Ariohn (AJ) Gunn -  stopper
Cameron Coy - mid (wing)
Matthew Nuss -  mid
Jonathan - front
Jamire Virtue - mid
Colton - wing
Alexie - mid
Ryan Halford - defender
Mitchell - defender
Jackson - front
Calum - mid
Daniel - mid
Bryce - keeper
Shawn - front
Julian - sweeper/defender
Alberto    - keeper

Alternates

Matt
Dillon

B Team 

Conner Sampley - front
Sean Pham - mid
Quinton Bailey - defender
Jose - defender
Dillon Ogle - mid
Kevin Leiva - defender
Robert - front
James - mid
Kade - defender
Ryan Sickler - defender
Jason Tinoco - keeper
Kyle - front
Matt - front/mid
Bryan Ventura - defender

Injured List

Jaden Hanson

Monday's Game

Thanks again for helping to support this club venture and helping our players move in the right direction towards their HS career in soccer. As you know we have our first game coming up and I don't know about you but I'm terribly excited. All games will be played at ISMS (see map below) with A-team starting at 5:30 and B-team starting at 6:30 (give or take a few minutes).



View Larger Map

Please have your player to the field no later than 20 minutes prior to the game in order to warm up, check in with the coaches (to reduce coach blood pressure and anxiety) and be ready to start on time. As this week each player will be receiving their jersey for the first time (be grateful it doesn't look like the one below), add in a little extra time.

For B-team players, I would encourage you to come early and take in the A-team match for the following reasons: 1) it's good to observe other's play and how they handle certain scenarios (like school work but more fun), 2) you may be playing on A-team soon, 3) having fans is cool and 4) who doesn't like more soccer. Same goes for A-team if you don't have to scoot off to club practice.

As for the lineups, I'll have the first game team break down by Sunday night so please check back.

Have a wonderful weekend, stay healthy and see you on Monday! GO HUSKIES!!!

Practice Canceled for Today - 4/3

With the amount of rain we've received over night, and the forecast showing rain in a high percent throughout the day, I'm going to take a stab at the field conditions and safety concerns and cancel the practice for today. Enjoy the day off and we'll see you on Monday.

Weather Policy

I'm sure many of you have looked at the forecast and have wondered, "Will Coach Greg really have practice tomorrow?" I haven't shared my policy on weather and how I arrive on cancellations so here goes.

• Inclement Weather: - defined as lightning in the area. As Hillwood and other middle school facilities lack lightning detectors, the policy is taking cover inside of the school or parent's (authorized carpool parents included) cars upon seeing a lightning strike. For most cases, thunder doesn't always justify a delay in either practice or a game but it's a good indicator. If we have lightning in the area (up to 10 miles away), we'll call the practice/game or wait the requisite 30 minutes from the last lightning strike.
• Rain: - I'm a Seattle boy (yep, northerner) so a little bit of rain doesn't faze me. However, most fields here in north Texas aren't equipped to handle a ton of rain without some time to settle, run off and dry. The root system is shallow and playing on the fields after hard and plentiful rains (or during) can cause field damage and lead to future player injuries. Also, most player's don't have sufficient "mudders" to allow them to play safely in these conditions. Heavy rains = practice cancellation whereas light rain = play on.

Communicating cancellations is tricky since I'm not with your players during the day as the athletic coaches are. I'll look into some sort of communication via the office and announcements as Ms. Eckert has been very accommodating thus far and since it's a safety concern I think she may be able to help. If in doubt, SMS me (please send me a separate e-mail to get my mobile as I don't really want to post it here).

Also, there is a free SMS service that allows me to group message anyone I set up in the group. If you'd like to be included in that group, please send me any numbers you want added to the group and I'll set this up this weekend. Please indicate whether the number is a student number or a parent number. I can set up a group with up to 50 participants so I may need to create 2 groups, 1 for parents and 1 for players. This is an opt-in only group message system so if you don't wish to receive messages, you don't have to do anything.

Lastly, I'm looking over tomorrow's forecast and it's looking pretty dismal. As with Texas weather, it's hard to estimate if it will blow over of dump on us. I'll make a decision on tomorrow's practice by tonight so please check your e-mail/this site tonight. If I haven't posted anything, please check back in the morning to be safe.

Practice and Jersey Update

Just a reminder that we have practice today from 4:30 - 5:30pm. Thanks to all that have been regularly attending practice in preparation for our first game in 1 week!!! I'm so very excited to take these players into their first match and let the huskies loose; should be a howlin' good time (pun intended).

As for the jerseys, they have arrived back from the distributor and are now at the printer. Unfortunately I don't believe we'll get these back before Wed's practice so I'll need to distribute them at that game on Monday night. There is a chance that the printer may not have them back by Mon. In the event they are late, please have your player wear the Hillwood athletic jersey (contingency plan). Please remember to have your player dressed in black shorts and black socks along with their regularly worn shin guards and cleats. The ISMS field will be painted on Friday so we'll have the game field prepped and ready to play with new nets as well.

Financial update: the cost of the printing will be roughly $100 so with the jersey cost along with the field paint, we're sitting just above $450. We have some extra funds along with some donations. I am leaning towards picking up a couple of game balls and some practice pinnies. If anyone has a strong preference on how the remainder of the funds should be distributed for costs and or rebates, please drop me a line to discuss.

Finally, thanks again to Coaches Jeremy and Kevin for helping out with practices. It's wonderful to see the teams come together and the coaches are putting in a significant amount of time. Stay healthy everyone, and avoid the situation below ;)