News for the Week of March 18, 2013

Program Notes for the Week of 3/18/2013:

Coaching News:
It's official now and was what we expected - Daegen Duvall has been hired as Head Coach for the 2013 season.  Daegen will also be pursuing his "A" license this summer which is the highest level license a U.S. coach may receive.  Also, Jessica Carey will be returning for her third season with Shoregals.  Todd Kauffman will be returning if his schedule permits - he is interviewing for full time employment and may not be available in the afternoons any longer.  Congrats and best of luck to our coaching staff!!


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 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC).

The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) is made up of 15 schools primarily in West Virginia with a few in Pennsylvania. Of the 15 schools, 11 currently field women’s soccer teams. All the schools are NCAA Div. 2 programs which means that athletic scholarships are available. The schools are as follows:

Wheeling Jesuit Univ.
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Seton Hill Univ.
Concord Univ.
Shepherd Univ.
Davis and Elkins College
Univ. Pitt-Johnstown
Univ. of Charleston
Ohio Valley Univ.
Alderson- Broaddus College
West Liberty Univ.

The profile for these colleges are that they are small schools with a strong Christian influence. The schools range in size from 600 – 1,000 students. Avon Lake High School has roughly 1,200 students in comparison with an average class size of 300. So these colleges are anywhere from half the size of ALHS to close to the size of the high school. Many of the schools have a strong Christian influence even to the point where bible study classes are a required part of the curriculum and regular attendance at chapel services is also required. As a parent, you can expect many of these colleges to have “dry” campuses. This may be exactly the kind of environment that you are looking for your daughter’s college experience. Other positive attributes are if your daughter likes outdoor activities such as skiing, camping, hiking, whitewater rafting, then you are in one of the best locations in the country for those types of activities. The recreational opportunities are outstanding and that hopefully overrides the urge for partying. On the soccer side, competition for scholarships is going to be limited because of the small size of the schools which increases the likelihood of your daughter receiving money. Also, the remaining 4 schools without women’s soccer programs probably will start programs in the near future which means more chances to play and more scholarship money available. These are definitely programs where Avon Lake girls can succeed. You would need to visit to see if they may be right for your daughter.


Video of the Week:
We are going to continue to add new videos each week and this week we are featuring the Senior Night game from last season against Midpark which was played to 1-1 draw. This game was highlighted by an excellent goal off a free kick from Kailey McClain.  Her goal is at the 16:00 min. mark in Part 3.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz6j-jW5q1L0PbFYpAkY_COYf6rO3Qp7a&feature=view_all

Look forward to us adding more games in the coming weeks.


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:

I always want to give more than I gave yesterday. -Allyson Felix (track & field)

You can either throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off your face

Reaching my goal doesn't prove what I'm made of. NOT QUITTING does

You have to believe in yourself when no one else does - that makes you a winner right there. - Venus Williams

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

There are always new, grander challenges to confront, and a true winner will embrace each one. - Mia Hamm (soccer)


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.