See you Tuesday 6:30PM at the Club...

Guys,  nice work-out last night, I enjoyed it very very much... great surface to play on and the turn-out and effort was excellent... thanks!

Enjoy your holiday weekend and sleep in on Sunday!!!!!

See you on Tuesday night on Field 6C at WSC...

Well done boys
Coach Jim

Exhibition Game Friday PM

Hi everyone, please click here for a google map for the directions to the Kiwanis Field in St Catharines where we will play our Exhibition Game tomorrow night.  It is a turf field directly behind the hockey four pad off of St Paul Street West in St Catharines.

Please arrive no later than 6:15pm so that we can have a quick warm-up and then start our game at 6:30pm... Let's wear our "Greens" since we don't wear them often!

See you tomorrow night!
Coach Jim

11th Win Shows Tons of Character!

Welland 3 : 2 Roma

Boys, our 11th win (League and Tournament wins) tonight showed me alot... it's easy to win blow-outs but it's a whole other matter to dig deep in a close game, when things don't go your way, keep your discipline on the field and finish the game strong as a team...

Your Welland Goals brought to you by Matthew, David and Juan... how sweet is that? ... three goals by three different players!

Let's face it... we had a few calls go against us, we hit two posts - we had lots of reasons to get frustrated... but you kept your heads in the game, you worked hard and you beat Roma on their homefield for the second time in five days... they played well and wanted to win badly, but you matched their desire and out-played them at critical times...I am extremely proud of you! Well done!

You earned a Sunday morning off - NO PRACTICE SUNDAY MORNING!

See you Friday night at our Exibition Game v the U12 Niagara District Girls Team... Parents, I will send the details tomorrow...

FUN FACT: we have now had 12 different players score 72 goals in NYSL and Tournament play!

Thanks boys... and thank you Parents -  we hear those cheers all game long!
Coach Jim

GAME DAY: @ RomaTonight - 5:30pm (early start)

Hi everyone, players must be at the Roma Field at 5:30 for warm-ups.  We are wearing our "Reds".

Players: IT WILL BE HOT, make sure to pre-hydrate: drink one 500ml bottle of water between 2:30-3:30pm, then another glass of water between 4:30-5:00pm.... eat a light snack of nuts, granola bar, trail mix, dried fruit, or my favorite choice - a banana) ... Have a full supper after the game… ***I recommend a large cold glass of chocolate milk after the game!...

As always, remember to bring lots of your own water for sipping and splashing on your head during the game!

See you at 5:30pm!
Coach Jim

Congratulations 2011 TiAmo Festival Cup U11 Premier Division Finalists!

Boys, you had a great weekend! Be proud or your accomplishments...in the round robin we went 2-1-0 with a 4:3 win over Roma, 3:1 win over Niagara Falls and a 0-0 draw, the shortest game in history, with Richmond Hill... you competed and gave Richmond Hill a run for their money as they narrowly beat us in the Championship Game.

Boys, we showed we can play with anybody. Beating all our local rivals and going neck and neck with a Toronto team is a hugely successful result!  Remember those Soccer Moms from Scarborough that were cheering us on against Roma?!!  One of the best compliments we can have is that parents and players from our Roma and Niagara Falls rivals came to watch and cheer us on in the finals. The Tournament Chair told me this: "your a team on the rise, keep up the hard work and see you next year"...

A standing ovation goes to Liam with 5 goals in the tournament! Matthew, Juan and David each scored as well, and Colton was superb in net, especially in the Championship Game, coming up big time and again!  Youtube Hi-Lites are courtesy of Matthew's Mom Iwona!

Of course it's very dissappointing  to be so close and to come up a little short.  Keep your heads up... I admire your efforts... Experiences like this weekend will help us grow as a team and help you grow individually as well... You know how hard you have worked, and you know there is more work to be done... we know what needs to be done and we will get there... next year that Trophy is OURS!

So, let's have a great practice tomorrow, concentrate and clean-up a few things that we need to work on and get read to play at Roma again on Wednesday night in League play!

Congratulations Boys
Coach Jim

TiAmo Festival Cup Schedules and Maps

Hi everyone, the complete schedule for our Division can be found at this link.   Our games are listed below - I have added Google Maps Hyper-Links to the field names.


SATURDAY

1. v. Roma - 11:15am at the Club Roma field. Players need to be at the field by 10:45am at the latest.
2. v. Niagara Falls - 3:35pm (although the schedule says AM!?) at the Woodgale Field. Players need to be at the field by 2:55pm at the latest.

SUNDAY

1. v. Richmond Hill 10:10am at the Woodgale Field. Players need to be at the field by 9:30 at the latest.

Semi's and Finals take place Sunday afternoon starting 1:25pm at the Roma Field.

UNIFORMS:
We will wear our "REDS" - but pack your "GREENS" just in case!
So boys, there it is... the road is clear... let's go compete with all our hearts and bring home our first Trophy! Parents please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks
Coach Jim

GAME @ WEST LINCOLN TONIGHT CANCELLED

We will reschedule... rest up for the weekend boys!  It's Trophy Time!!

Coach Jim

@ West Lincoln Thursday 6:00PM

Hi everyone, players must be at the Leisureplex at West Lincoln no later than 6:00pm for warm-ups.  Give yourselves at least 45 minutes to drive there from Welland. We are wearing our "Reds".

Parents: please read the OSA Heat Alert Bulletin... lots of good info... I will make substitutions as much as possible and will have a big cooler of ice water and towels for the players to use to drape on their heads and back of their necks...


Players: make sure to pre-hydrate: drink one 500ml bottle of water between 3:00-3:30pm, then another glass of water between 5:00-5:30pm.... eat early and light (e.g. small serving of pasta and lean meat, or snack of nuts, granola bar, trail mix, dried fruit, or my favorite choice - a banana) ... Have a full supper after the game… ***I recommend a large cold glass of chocolate milk after the game!...


As always, remember to bring lots of your own water for sipping and splashing on your head during the game!

Players: watch this youtube highlight of Cristiano Ronaldo's goal last weekend vs the LA Galaxy... unbelieveable... step-overs, feints, inside/outside of foot, laces, balance, on his toes, quick hard turn and deadly left foot shot!


See you at 6:00pm in Smithville !


Coach Jim

Welland 6 : 1 Lincoln

Wizards Roll on the Road! Congrats boys on another great performance, a 6:1 win at Lincoln...

Your Welland Goals brought to you by Matthew, Juan, Mitchell, Devin with his fist of the year and Mackenzie with his fist double!

6 goals from 5 goal scorers! We have had 12 different players score 61 goals this year! Very impressive...

See you Thursday at 6:00 in West Lincoln!!!!

GAME DAY: @ Lincoln Tonight - 6:00pm

Hi everyone, players must be at the Lions Park 4 no later than 6:00pm for warm-ups.  We are wearing our "Reds".

Players: IT WILL BE HOT, make sure to pre-hydrate: drink one 500ml bottle of water between 3:00-3:30pm, then another glass of water between 5:00-5:30pm.... eat early and light (e.g. small serving of pasta and lean meat, or snack of nuts, granola bar, trail mix, dried fruit, or my favorite choice - a banana) ... Have a full supper after the game… ***I recommend a large cold glass of chocolate milk after the game!...

As always, remember to bring lots of your own water for sipping and splashing on your head during the game!

See you at 6:00pm!
Coach Jim

BIG WIN - Practice & Game Update - TiAmo Schedule

Hi everyone, Coach Marty and I are so happy for the boys – what a great win!  Coming back from a loss in Fort Erie and playing your hearts out the next night to win a tight game against Grimsby showed a lot of character! Well done boys – we have never been more proud of you!  We are 7-3 and in second place in our division, having scored 55 goals!  Take pride and be proud of your accomplishments… the best part is we are only scratching the surface with 2 Tournaments, 8 league games and the Billy Gray Cup left on our schedule…

SPECIAL GUEST COACH SUNDAY PRACTICE

This Sunday AM, Coach Lubos, the Great Goal Keeper from the WSC PSL Senior Men’s Team will be joining us at practice to run drills for keepers and to teach us some defensive strategy.  Make sure to be at practice before 8:00am… Many of you will remember Coach Lubos from when we watched him win a Penalty Shoot-out in the Ontario Cup Game at WSC.  We are lucky to have him come out a share his knowledge with us!  I’m proud to show-off my team to him!  PRACTICE LOCATION: GLENDALE

TWO ROAD GAMES THIS COMING WEEK

On Tuesday night we will be playing at Lincoln… make sure to be there and ready to play at 6:00pm

On Thursday night we are playing at West Lincoln, again, make sure to be there and ready to play at 6:00pm (this is the rescheduled first game of the season).  Let’s go collect  our 8^th and 9^th Wins of the season!

TIAMO FESTIVAL CUP

This morning I received our schedule for the TiAmo Festival Cup Tournament! Click here for the schedule. I will link the google map locations and tournament info to our schedule on right hand side column of this blog… On Saturday July 23 we play  Roma at 11:15am and Niagara Falls at 3:35pm… On Sunday we play Richmond Hill at 10:10am… The Semi’s and Finals will start at 1:25pm on Sunday…  Boys, let’s go and collect ourselves a Championship Trophy!

GENTLE REMINDER: Parents please bring the $55.00 for Tournament and Practice Field Fees as soon as possible…

Thanks and see you Sunday, 8:00am sharp at Glendale...

Coach Jim

GAME DAY: WSC Field 7 at 6:00pm

Hi everyone, players must be on our home field no later than 6:00pm for warm-ups.  We are wearing our "Reds".

Players: make sure to pre-hydrate: drink one 500ml bottle of water between 3:00-3:30pm, then another glass of water between 5:00-5:30pm.... eat early and light (e.g. small serving of pasta and lean meat, or snack of nuts, granola bar, trail mix, dried fruit, or my favorite choice - a banana) ... Have a full supper after the game… ***I recommend a large cold glass of chocolate milk after the game!...

As always, remember to bring lots of your own water for sipping and splashing on your head during the game!

Let's show them who we are and get our 7th win!
See you at 6:00pm!
Coach Jim

GAME DAY: @ Fort Erie Tonight - 6:00pm

Hi everyone, players must be at the Ferndale Park no later than 6:00pm for warm-ups.  We are wearing our "Reds".

Directions via QEW:

·        QEW to Fort Erie - take Gilmore Road Exit

·        Cross Gilmore Road and continue straight onto Pettit

·        Turn right onto Garrison (Hwy 3)

·        Take first left onto Ferndale Avenue

·        Soccer Fields are on the right side - Bertie Centennial Park  (Ferndale and Bertie Centennial Park are the same)

Players: make sure to pre-hydrate: drink one 500ml bottle of water between 3:00-3:30pm, then another glass of water between 5:00-5:30pm.... eat early and light (e.g. small serving of pasta and lean meat, or snack of nuts, granola bar, trail mix, dried fruit, or my favorite choice - a banana) ... Have a full supper after the game… ***I recommend a large cold glass of chocolate milk after the game!...

As always, remember to bring lots of your own water for sipping and splashing on your head during the game!

See you at 6:00pm!
Coach Jim

Soccer Home Work: Defensive Principles

Hi Players, below are the defensive principles we have been working on in practice (I have added to the sheet I handed out tonight)... please make sure you understand them and let me know if you have any questions...

Defensive Basics

• when the other team has the ball EVERYONE IS A DEFENDER
• The player closest to the ball (first defender) challenges, second man supports the first defender, 3rd/4th man provide balance and shape
• Communicate with your teammates, work together
• Keep your knees bent, lean forward, keep your balance
• Jockey side-to-side, quick feet, on your toes
• Challenge Attacker but do NOT charge full steam at the attacker– attacker will be able to blow past you with one move
• Always challenge on an angle – do NOT square up on Attacker – you will get "nutmeg-ed" and not be able to turn
• Be patient – wait for Attacker to make move and then time your move to threaten the ball
• Use the Sideline as your partner – steer Attackers out-of-bounds
• Keep your Eye on the Ball
• Keep the play in front of you
• If/when you get beat make a quick Recovery Run to get between the Attacker on our Goal- this is “GOAL SIDE” (don't worry about getting beat by an attacker - it will happen from time-to-time - it happens to the best players in the world)
• stay compact in our defensive zone
• block shots - take one for the team!

See you tomorrow night!

Coach Jim

Practice Tuesday PM , WSC Field 6C, 6:30-8:00pm

Boys, this is our final tune-up before we face Fort Erie and Grimsby this week... be on time - practice starts at 6:30pm... 

SPECIAL GUEST COACH: I have arranged for Coach Rob Lalama, our Club Technical Director, to join us at practice to continue building on our defensive shape and positioning...

See you tomorrow!
Coach Jim

9:3 is SWEET to me!

Congrats boys, you played strong throughout the game and to get a very well deserved 9:3 win tonight in Port Colborne... what a great 6-2 start to the season!

Your Welland Goals brought to you by Matthew (3), Juan (2), Lucas (2) and Dino (2)... and Colt was outstanding in net!   Click here for the youtube highlights courtesy of Matthew's Mom Iwona!

CHECK THIS OUT: the coaches from the Niagara Falls Girls team (that went on the field to play after us) stopped by to tell Coach Marty and I how impressed they were with you... the one coach said:

"your boys pass extremely well and controlled the game beginning to end. I try to get my girls to play like that and I was telling them to watch how your guys play"

I really put alot of stock in that - another coach who just happened to be watching us stopped by to give us those words... and they are 100% on the mark!

NO TIME TO REST: we have the two most important practices of the season coming up on Sunday AM and Tuesday night... come prepared to work hard and learn from our mistakes so that we can become as good as we can possibly be...

Well done boys!
Coach Jim

@ Port Colborne Thursday - 6:00pm

Hi everyone, players must be at the Elizabeth Street Field in Port Colborne (Sportsplex) no later than 6:00pm for warm-ups.  We are wearing our "Reds".


Make sure to pre-hydrate: drink one 500ml bottle of water between 3:00-3:30pm, then another glass of water between 5:00-5:30pm.... eat early and light (e.g. small serving of pasta and lean meat, or snack of nuts, granola bar, trail mix, dried fruit, or my favorite choice - a banana) ... Have a full supper after the game… ***I recommend a large cold glass of chocolate milk after the game!...


As always, remember to bring lots of your own water for sipping and splashing on your head during the game!


See you at 6:00pm!


Coach Jim

Practice 2NIte, WSC Field 6C, 6:30-8:00pm

HI guys, see you tonight for practice on Field 6C (beside the bushes)... as always, make sure to wear WHITE shirts, proper shin pads and bring lots of water!

Coach Jim

Sunday AM Practice @ WSC Field 7

Hi everyone, I received permission from the Club for us to practice on Field 7 (our home game field) tomorrow morning.  As always, 8:00am to 9:30am, wear proper shin gaurds, white shirts and bring lots of water... BE ON-TIME!

Thanks
Coach Jim