News for the Week of April 27, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 4/27/2015:

Schedule for the Week of 4/27:
This week there will be meetings for both players and parents as follows:

Player Meeting ~ Wednesday, April 29th at 3:30 PM in Room 114 @ ALHS


Parent Meeting ~ Wednesday, April 29th at 8:30 PM in Room 114 @ ALHS


Shoregals in the News:
From time to time we like to recognize the accomplishments of our Shoregal soccer players.  During the Winter sports season two of our soccer players were on the Varsity Basketball team.  Juniors Casey Baughman and Maggie Moore played on a very successful team with a 16-7 record.  Maggie Moore garnered All SWC Honorable Mention and All Lorain County Honorable Mention awards.

Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we have one which shows some moves in slow motion .  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6dx--8x-K8&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

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

Don't let perfect get in the way of progress. The key to moving ahead is following through.

You've got to be able to adapt from game to game and year to year. Something in your game has to improve.

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.

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

There are 2 types of athletes: Those who truly desire success and those who are trying to avoid failure. Which one do you want to be??

News for the Week of April 20, 2015

Program notes for the Week of 4/20/2015: 


JV Record:
This past 2014 season, the Shoregal JV team compiled an undefeated season with a 13-0-3 record. So the natural question that would arise is if this was the best JV record ever.  JV records are notoriously difficult to track down because they tend to get lost in the shuffle rather quickly. However, we have made a reasonable attempt to search back through the 22 year history of the Avon Lake program to uncover JV records from past seasons.  So, with reasonable confidence we can say that last year's team did have the best JV record in program history.  Congrats to the girls and Coach Caleb Reutter on such an impressive season!!  There was another undefeated team in 2008 which finished with a 11-0-5 record - very good, but not quite as good as this year.  Here are JV records from the past few seasons:

Year         W    L     T         Pct.
2007 11 2 2 0.800 
2008 11 0 5 0.844 
2010 9 5 2 0.625 
2011 11 4 1 0.719 
2012 9 5 2 0.625 
2013 10 1 5 0.781 
2014 13 0 3 0.906 

I think this shows that the future of our program should be very bright indeed......

Women's World Cup:
We will remind everyone again this week that the Women's World Cup will be held this summer running June 6th through July 5th - less than 50 days from now.  The host country will be Canada and the matches will be at various locations throughout the country.  You can follow all the action at the FIFA website which can be found at:

http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/

The schedule for the United States Women's team group play is as follows:

June 8th vs. Australia at 7:30 pm

June 12th vs. Sweden at 8:00 pm

June 16th vs Nigeria at 8:00 pm

The rest of the schedule will be dependent on how group play turns out for the U.S.  I am sure that these games will all be televised on one of the ESPN channels.

You can also follow the Women's National team at:

http://www.ussoccer.com/womens-national-team

I would highly encourage the girls to watch as many matches as possible to continue to observe and learn the flow of the game.


Parent Corner:
This week we will post an article on an interesting topic - could turf fields pose health hazards to players?  This particular article comes from USA Today by author Thomas Frank.  While there is no definitive answer at this point, it certainly gives you something to think about. I would think a prudent strategy would be for proper bathing and washing of soccer kits after practices and games to mitigate some of the inherent issues with turf fields.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/15/artificial-turf-health-safety-studies/24727111/


Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we have a compilation of several girls.  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsToOd9PVuk&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

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

You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims.

A determined person doesn't find it hard to succeed; they find it hard to stop trying.

What comes easy won't last, what lasts won't come easy.

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

How you make others feel about themselves, says a lot about you.

Play like a champion. Train like an underdog.

News for the Week of April 13, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 4/13/2015:


Women's World Cup:
Just a reminder to everyone that the Women's World Cup will be held this summer running from June 6th through July 5th - just 55 days from now.  The host country will be Canada and the matches will be at various locations throughout the country.  You can follow all the action at the FIFA website which can be found at:

http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/

The schedule for the United States Women's team group play is as follows:

June 8th vs. Australia at 7:30 pm

June 12th vs. Sweden at 8:00 pm

June 16th vs Nigeria at 8:00 pm

The rest of the schedule will be dependent on how group play turns out for the U.S.  I am sure that these games will all be televised on one of the ESPN channels.

You can also follow the Women's National team at:

http://www.ussoccer.com/womens-national-team

I would highly encourage the girls to watch as many matches as possible to continue to observe and learn the flow of the game.


Women's Professional Soccer
Another reminder that the Women's Professional Soccer is back again this year.  The National Women's Soccer League began play over the past weekend. You can follow the league at its website:

http://www.nwslsoccer.com/

The league consists of nine teams and its season runs from April to September followed by playoffs. The nearest team to us would be the Western New York Flash which is based out of Rochester, NY. Their website can be found at:

http://wnyflash.com/home/

It might make for a nice weekend family outing to catch a game.  There is plenty to do in the Rochester/Buffalo area.


Parent Corner:
The never ending debate is whether to specialize in a sport or to play multiple sports. We have Shoregal soccer players who both specialize and play multiple sports. There is no right or wrong, black or white answer. It really depends on the aspirations of the individual player and what they are comfortable with.  Below you will find an excerpt form the book Positive Sports Parenting by Jim Thompson that lends some insight to this topic.

http://t.co/ozWwHSvulY


Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we will feature another one with English freestyler Sheuneenio.  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuZKcY7aDeQ&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

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

Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.

Life is meant to be a challenge, because challenges are what make you grow.

The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.

The main purpose of a team is for the strengths of the whole to offset the weaknesses of the individual.

Trying times are not the times to stop trying.

The discipline you learn and character you build from setting and achieving a goal can be more valuable than the goal itself.

News for the Week of April 6, 2015

Program Notes for the Week of 4/6/15:

Happy Easter to all our soccer family and friends!!  For the Avon Lake players and families - have a safe and fun filled Spring Break!!


SHOREGALS RECEIVE POSTSEASON HONORS
Before we move forward to our new season we would like to formally close out the past season.  A short recap of the season including the numerous awards earned by the girls is as follows:

The Shoregals soccer team made history during the 2014 season for their amazing defensive exploits while compiling a 7-7-4 record. They set a school record for goals scored against them in a season with only 12 given up in 18 games. They also compiled a streak of 9 consecutive shutouts which was also a school record and encompassed 814 minutes of field time or 13½ hours – Wow!!! The shutout streak also ranked 7th all time in the state of Ohio.  Best wins of the season were 1-0 over Westlake, a 1-0 victory over Amherst where the girls played over 60 minutes of the game down a player, and a 2-1 overtime playoff win vs. Avon.  Not to be outdone, the JV team compiled a 13-0-3 record and may have been the only undefeated JV team in program history.

Several Avon Lake girls soccer team members were awarded All-Ohio status by the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association, All-County status by the Lorain County Scholastic Coaches Association, All-Conference status from the Southwest Conference (SWC) coaches, and All Greater Cleveland recognition for their performance from the just concluded season.  Those receiving awards are as follows:

All Ohio Second Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)

All Lorain County First Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)
All Lorain County First Team - Elise Duvall (Jr.)
All Lorain County First Team - Olivia Siko (So.)

All Lorain County Second Team - Lindsay Butler (Jr.)
All Lorain County Second Team - Kellie Norris (So.)

All Lorain County Honorable Mention - Clare Adams (Sr.)
All Lorain County Honorable Mention - Addy Poole (Jr.)

In addition, the following Seniors were selected to play in the Lorain County All-Star game which was hosted by Avon Lake in Memorial Stadium:

Clare Adams
Rada Zunich


From the Southwest Conference:
All SWC First Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)
All SWC First Team - Elise Duvall (Jr.)
All SWC First Team - Olivia Siko (So.)

All SWC Second Team - Kellie Norris (So.)

All SWC Honorable Mention - Clare Adams (Sr.)
All SWC Honorable Mention - Lindsay Butler (Jr.)


And from the Greater Cleveland Scholastic Soccer Coaches Assn:
All Greater Cleveland First Team - Rada Zunich (Sr.)

All Greater Cleveland Second Team - Elise Duvall (Jr.)

All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Clare Adams (Sr.)
All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Lindsay Butler (Jr.)
All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Kellie Norris (So.)
All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention - Olivia Siko (So.)

In addition, the following Seniors were selected to play in the All-Greater Cleveland Senior All Star Game

Clare Adams
Rada Zunich

All-Greater Cleveland All Academic Team (Seniors):   
Clare Adams
Esther Killius
Kayla Kress
Sarah Nasr
Rada Zunich


All-Greater Cleveland All Academic Team Award:        Fall 2014 Varsity Roster

Congratulations to these Shoregals on their well deserved awards!

In addition, the Shoregals were once again awarded Team Academic All-America status for the 2013-2014 school year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).   This is the highest academic honor that high school soccer teams may receive in the country.   Avon Lake was one of only 194 teams nationwide (about 4 per state) to receive this prestigious award and the team GPA was an excellent 3.42!

Also, Avon Lake was the only Lorain County school to be awarded Team Academic All-America status.  To qualify for the award, a team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.25 for the entire academic year.   The way that this award is figured is based on the fact that a number of states play Spring soccer only and in order to include all states the NSCAA waits until after the Spring season is completed to determine the award winners.  That is why the award for last year was just announced in late November of 2014.  This was actually last year's team that won the award and would include last year's 9 graduated seniors.

This year's team is also on track to receive Academic All-America status again for the current academic year in November of 2015.  That would mark the 6th year in row that the Shoregals have received this award as we have now earned it in 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, & 2008.

2015 Shoregals College Prep Guide: 
Just another reminder that once again this year we have put together a relatively comprehensive guide regarding what is involved in college soccer and how to prepare to play at the next level.  It was e-mailed to our player families already and we have posted it here also under the Pages section on the right hand side of the blog.  Hope you find it useful.


Freestyle Soccer Video:
Soccer is not just about training and games and tournaments - it is meant to be fun and it should be fun to play.  Along those lines, we have been posting freestyle videos and this week we will feature English freestyler Sheuneenio.  Challenge yourself to see if you can do some of these skills - you might even be able to use them in a game some time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUOegdz8KoA&feature=player_detailpage


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivational sayings coming from the Twitter sites called Women Love Sports and Coach K which may be found at:

https://twitter.com/Women_Sports
https://twitter.com/CoachKWisdom

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

"With every passing minute is a chance to turn it all around" - from the movie Vanilla Sky

Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and your actions be louder than your words.

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than they think they can.

One good wish changes nothing. One good action changes everything.