News for the Week of Nov. 7, 2016

Program Notes for the Week of 11/7/2016:

25th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
The 2017 season will be the 25th year of Shoregal soccer which started with the 1993 season.  Watch for special events in the upcoming year and also special Shoregal wear to commemorate this season.


Academic All-American Award:
The Shoregals were once again awarded Team Academic All-America status for the 2015-2016 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 251 teams nationwide (about 5 per state) to receive this prestigious award and the team GPA was an excellent 3.25!

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 October of 2016.  

This year's team is also on track to receive Academic All-America status again for the current academic year in October of 2017.  That would mark the 8th year in row that the Shoregals have received this award as they have now earned it in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, & 2008.

Regional Soccer Update:
In Regional soccer action, District champion Avon was beaten by Brunswick by a score of 1-0 on a corner kick.  Also Mayfield, a team that we beat 1-0 during the regular season, reached a Regional Final ultimately losing to powerhouse Walsh Jesuit.

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:

STRENGTH doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from OVERCOMING the things you COULDN'T

Most important ingredient to winning: no personal agendas. The commitment has to be 'us' driven not 'me' driven.

Leadership must be demonstrated, not announced. – Fran Tarkenton - retired NFL quarterback

The enemy of the best is the good. If you're always settling with what's good, you'll never be the best. – Jerry Rice

When you are through trying to improve, you are through. – Vince Lombardi - Hall of Fame NFL football coach