News for the Week of Feb. 18, 2013

Program Notes for the Week of 2/18/2013:

College Soccer Section:
We have been presenting some information related to playing soccer in college and we will continue that over the next few weeks. This week we are going to present some information on the Mid American Conference (MAC).

The Mid-American Conference is made up of the following 12 schools:

Ball State Univ.
Univ. of Toledo
Northern Illinois Univ.
Bowling Green State Univ.
Eastern Michigan Univ.
Central Michigan Univ.
Western Michigan Univ.
Univ. of Buffalo
Ohio Univ.
Kent State Univ.
Miami Univ.
Univ. of Akron

These schools are very familiar names to most of us as either we attended them or our children have attended them. They have a decent nationwide athletic profile in most sports. Miami Univ. won the 2012 MAC championship and played in the NCAA tournament and the Univ. of Toledo has had a dominant women’s soccer program over the past several years. The MAC features many positive aspects such as  geographic closeness and reasonable tuition - Toledo, BG, Kent, Akron, Miami, & Ohio all will have in state rates for Ohio residents. Once again they are D-1, so athletic scholarships will be available. Academic scholarships are plentiful and our girls have a very high academic profile, so they will be eligible for money wherever they go. Soccer wise – their rosters are loaded with SWC and Greater Cleveland area players. As always, with hard work and dedication, you can earn an opportunity to play at these schools.

For our more highly skilled type players, we would recommend that you look into these schools. It is Division 1 soccer – the highest level available. The schools are close by; the competition level is realistic for the Avon Lake player; and there is the beginning of a history of success for our girls at these schools. All the soccer programs can be accessed through the school website. Also, if interested in these schools, don’t forget about attending their summer camp if they have one.

We have had two of our Shoregal alumni play in the MAC.  Jeannie Stuckey played at the Univ. of Akron in the early 2000's and still holds most of the main offensive records at Akron including career goals scored.  Sarah Richardson was a defender at Akron who graduated in 2011.

So keep these schools in mind for your college visits and for furthering your soccer career.


Shoregals in the News:
We would like to mention that on National Signing Day earlier this month, Abby Rogers signed to play softball at Otterbein University.  Abby was also a Varsity goalie for the Shoregals during the past season.  Best of Luck to Abby!!


Kiko Lopez Footskills Sessions:
For those who may be interested - former ALHS girls coach Kiko Lopez is holding footskills as listed below. Kiko is very well known and well thought of for his footskills instruction and has been doing it for decades now. I have provided some basic details below and for more information, visit his website at:

http://www.kikosoccer.com/

Indoor Footskills Session III will begin March 4th through March 29th 2013

Weekly 1 hour sessions will be held Monday - Saturday at – 1200 Chester Industrial Parkway Avon, OH 44011

Cost:

$52 for 4 classes for ages 9-12 ($13 per class)

$64 for 4 classes for ages 13 & up ($16 per class)

** Make checks payable to Kiko’s Dribbling. Checks are to be paid in full no later than the second class.

Please indicate your preferred days by checking off your first and second choice etc. Also please indicate your time preference of each day on the right.

( ) 4:00 - 5:00 ( ) 5:00 - 6:00 ( ) 6:00 – 7:00

( ) 7:00 – 8:00 ( ) 8:00 – 9:00pm

( ) Monday: Mar. 4,11,18,25 Time: ______________

( ) Tuesday: Mar. 5,12,19,26 Time: ______________

( ) Wednesday: Mar. 6,13,20,27 Time: ______________

( ) Thursday: Mar. 7,14,21,28 Time: ______________

( ) Friday: Mar. 8,15,22,29 Time:______________


Shorty Sez:
We are going to continue presenting motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Sports which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports

Once there, here are some selected examples of tweets over the past week. Hope that you find something that inspires you here:

Self-discipline means doing what you SHOULD do rather than what you WANT to do.

Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself. - Gail Devers (track & field)

There are no mistakes in life, just lessons.

You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off. - Mary Lou Retton

If you really want something, & really work hard, & take advantage of opportunities, & never give up, you will find a way. - Jane Goodall

It is not how big you are, it's how big you play. -Unknown

The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours. - Peggy Fleming (skating)


Shoregal Website:
Don't forget to visit our Shoregal website at:

www.alshoregalsoccer.org

There you will find more in depth stats and stories than we can fit on our blog.