News for the Week of May 14, 2012

Program Notes for the Week of 5/14/2012:

Some Soccer Thoughts:
I hope you got the chance to see the various English Premier League games telecast on the Fox & ESPN on Sunday morning, especially Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers (QPR). What a game!! - in a game that Manchester City needed to win to earn the league championship and QPR battling to avoid relegation, QPR took a 2-1 lead into 5 minutes of injury time.  Then City pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in EPL history as they scored twice in the injury time to win 3-2 and secure their first EPL championship since 1968.  Amazing sight to watch that stadium erupt after the winning goal.  As for QPR, after Irish National team goalie Paddy Kenny, who is my favorite player for obvious reasons, made some outstanding saves during the game, they were able to hang on to the last spot above relegation despite the loss and will be back in the EPL next year.   The other games shown on the other channels were good as well as teams were fighting for Champions League spots or to avoid relegation. This is the kind of excitement that soccer can generate and what makes it fun to watch!


20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.

This week we are going to spotlight Joe Bradley:

Joe was a key figure in the formulation of both the boys and girls soccer programs in Avon Lake.  In 1977, he started the Avon Lake youth soccer association.  A program which today has grown to serve over 800 kids each year and is the main feeder system for our high school teams.

Joe continued his association with soccer by becoming the Shoremen head coach in 1985. During his 7 year tenure, he developed a program which had never had a winning season into a perpetual winner.

Joe would find himself back on the sidelines again in 1995 as head coach of the Shoregals soccer team.  Once again, during his 4 years as head coach, he took a program which had little success and turned it into a consistent winner.  He took the girls to their first District final in 1996. All together, Joe amassed more than 100 victories with boys and girls teams combined. Along the way, he was named Southwestern Conference Coach of the Year three times, once with the boys and twice with the girls.

In the years before his sudden death from a heart attack in 2007, Joe contributed his talents to the program as the "Voice of Avon Lake High School Soccer" as he handled the announcing duties for the boys & girls teams.  His smooth style and distinctive countdown to the end of the game will be long remembered.  If anyone could be called the "Father of Avon Lake Soccer" that person would have to be Joe Bradley.

Joe was also a beloved basketball coach in Avon Lake. He was one of the founders of Avon Lake youth basketball.  However, his signature accomplishment was the 21 years he served as the Learwood Middle School 7th grade boys and girls basketball coach.

Joe continues to be remembered fondly by all those whose lives he touched!!



Soccer Site of the Week:
This week we would like to feature a site called "The Car Ride Home" which can be found at:

http://thecarridehome.com/

This website features a book by Mike Bergstrom which is intended to be a gentle reminder of the things we as parents should already know, but sometimes lose sight of.
It is a quick read and is only $7.95 and can help you put perspective back into your relationship with your child regarding athletics.

News for the Week of May 7, 2012

Program Notes for the Week of 5/7/2012:

20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations.   Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.

This week we are going to feature the inagural season of 1993:

History was made in 1993 as Avon Lake produced its first ever varsity soccer team.  There was such a large response to the new program that the ALHS was able to field two full teams.

The Shoregals finest effort of the season came against state power and conference rival Westlake.  Despite losing 4-1, Avon Lake controlled the tempo of the game and was down by only one goal at halftime.

The Shoregals dominated both ends of the field as they defeated Villa Angela - St. Joseph by a score of 5-0 and achieved the Shoregals first soccer victory.  Another highlight of the season was a 1-1 tie with Midpark, in a game that was ended due to a thunderstorm.

Leading the Shoregals in their inagural season were co-captains Laura Mollinger and Julie Schmitz.   Lindsay King was awarded most valuable player and Laura Mollinger received the scholar athlete award.

Diane Cover served as the first coach in program history and coached in the '93 & '94 seasons.


Soccer Pic of the Week:

It seems that everyone - man or beast is now playing soccer!! Looks like this elephant may have been getting some footskills lessons on the side from Kiko!!


Shorty Sez:
We are going to conclude our 4 month series on the teamwork philosophies from Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski who is a pre-eminent expert on leadership and teambuilding.  Hopefully, some of his teachings struck a chord with you and will enable you to look at team sports in a new way. This week, we will present "Every Season is a Journey":

"I look at each year in basketball as an integral part of life. Every season is a journey.  Every journey is a lifetime.

Nobody can predict what's going to happen along the way.  Some bad things may occur, some great things may come to pass.  But whatever happens, like life, the journey should be enjoyed.  We ought to soak up the moisture that falls daily and not allow ourselves to get bogged down in our original plan without adjusting to whatever occurs along the path.  That way, we look forward to success on a year-to-year basis.

During the season, the team should be led with exuberance and excitement.

You should live the journey.
You should live it right.
You should live it together.
You should live it shared.
You should try to make one another better.
You should get on one another if somebody's not doing their part.
You should hug one another when they are.
You should be disappointed in a loss and exhilarated in a win.
It's all about the journey.
It should be honest and it should be real.
It's not about winning games or what other people's expectations of us may be."

-- Coach K

News for the Week of April 30, 2012

Program Notes for the Week of 4/30/2012:

Shoregals in the News:
Karen Krause was voted Captain of the ALHS dance team for the 2012-2013 season based on her tryout score and leadership shown the last two years.

Also, Karen was selected as a student/athlete representative by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Cleveland to meet with a member of Congress this summer to explain the challenges Type 1 Diabetics face daily to monitor their changing blood sugar and how that affects their daily lives as students and athletes in an effort to increase funding to the research foundation.  Congrats to Karen on these noteworthy accomplishments!

Sarah Nasr and Clare Adams play on the Cleveland United U15 Midwest Regional League (MRL) girls team which placed 2nd out of 40 teams (some nationally ranked) in this past weekend's Crossroads College Showcase in Carmel, Indiana. This is one of the top ranked college showcases in the United States.

The team scored 8 goals and gave up zero all weekend. Sarah was the starting central fullback for each of the victories and Clare played at the midfield position.

The team is currently undefeated in their MRL division and have conceeded zero goals thus far. Should they hold on to the first place position in the next few weeks, they will be promoted to the Premier division next Spring.  Great to hear that they are doing so well!


 
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations.  We have won over 60% of the games we have played in the last 20 years and our girls have compiled an impressive amount of academic awards as well.  We have had valedictorians, salutatorians, and many girls in the top ten of their class along with our three Adidas Team Academic All-American Awards. 

So, we hope that our parents understand and the girls come to realize that it is an honor to be involved with the Shoregal soccer program.  The girls' accomplishments have been underpublicized over the years, but that does not diminish the fact that it is a big deal to be on the ALHS soccer team.  We may not have won a lot of championships - one District title and one SWC title, but a number of the girls have gone on to become successful collegiate players and many, many more have gone on to achieve great academic success in college.

Our former Shoregal players are now successful in their careers and have become solid citizens and quality people and over the long run that is more important than a case full of trophies.  Our current group of girls continue that tradition with an impressive array of extracurricular activities and outstanding classroom performance. 

In coming blogs, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over the last 20 years.


Shoregals in College:
Recently, Jillian & Dana Strimbu signed to continue their collegiate careers at Otterbein University in Westerville Ohio which is a suburb of Columbus.  The Otterbein women's team is a powerhouse in Division III soccer as they have won the OAC conference championship 6 times in the past 10 years and have also made six trips to the NCAA postseason tournament in the last 10 years.  In 2010, they advanced to the NCAA Final Four.
 
Jillian finished her high school career at ALHS ranked in the top 10 all-time in goals, assists, and points scored and was named second team All-Ohio this past season.
 
Dana recorded 14 shutouts during her career which is 5th all-time at ALHS and was named SWC Goalie of the Year this past season. Best of Luck to Jillian & Dana in their collegiate careers!
 
Shorty Sez:
We continue to feature the teamwork philosophies from Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski who is a pre-eminent expert on leadership and teambuilding. This week's idea to reflect upon is as follows:

"Never set a goal that involves number of wins - never.  Set goals that revolve around playing together as a team.  Doing so will put you in a position to win every game."

-- Coach K

News for the Week of April 23, 2012

Program Notes for the Week of 4/23/2012:

Parent Meeting:
There will be a mandatory parent meeting this week on Thursday April 26th at 7:30 p.m. at ALHS.  The coaches will be going over the summer calendar in detail and will have sign ups for the various soccer activities.


Summer Calendar:
The summer calendar is now out and you should all have received a copy via e-mail. Some key dates are as follows:

June 11 - 14  Coaches contact days at Troy - 7:00 - 8:30 am each morning

June 15 -17   Father's Day Tournament

June 23         Ohio Northern 8v8 Shootout

July 14          Alumni Game

July 16 -18   Coaches contact days - two a day practice sessions - 7:30 - 9:00 am and 3:30 - 5:00 pm at Troy

July 20 - 22  Strongsville Showcase

Aug. 6         First official day of practice

Aug. 18 - 19 Team Bonding weekend

Aug. 22       First day of school


Shoregals in the News:
This week we would like to mention some recent accomplishments by senior Lindsay Quintero.   Lindsay is the captain of the ALHS Scholastic Quiz team this year and so far they have beaten both Lorain and Columbia high schools to reach the semi-finals.  In the Columbia match, Lindsay was named "Standout Scholar" of the match as she led her team to victory.  This honor goes to the student who contributes the most to their team during the match.  Congrats to Lindsay and her teammates and best of luck in upcoming matches!!  To read more about the Scholastic Quiz team, visit:  http://avonlake.patch.com/articles/avon-lake-high-school-is-first-semifinalist-on-scholastic-games-program?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001


Shorty Sez:
We continue to feature the teamwork philosophies from Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski who is a pre-eminent expert on leadership and teambuilding. This week's ideas to reflect upon are as follows:

"Whatever a leader does now sets up what he does later.  And there's always a later."

"Every long term strategy must be adjustable and people on the team must be prepared accordingly."

-- Coach K

News for the Week of April 16, 2012

Program Updates for the Week of 4/16/2012:

Welcome back to everyone from Spring Break!!

Soccer Site of the Week:
This week we continue with a series of articles from the OYSAN - North site which can be found at:

http://www.oysan.org/Assets/WSF.+Women+in+Sport.pdf

This week's article is from the Women's Sports Foundation and is entitled "Her Life Depends On It"  It is a lengthy article that deals with the many positive benefits to girls who participate in sports.

Shorty Sez:
We continue to feature the teamwork philosophies from Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski who is a pre-eminent expert on leadership and teambuilding. This week's idea to reflect upon is as follows:

"If you're always striving to achieve success that is defined by someone else, you'll always be frustrated. Define your own success."

"Success is a matter of preparing to win."

-- Coach K

News for the Week of April 9, 2012

Program Notes for the Week of 4/9/2012:

A quiet week as our players and families enjoy their Spring Break.  Just a couple of items to reflect upon:


Soccer Site of the Week:
This week we are going to feature an article from a CNN blog by Dr. Sanjay Gupta which deals with the concept of enhanced thinking abilities in soccer players.  The article may be found at:

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/04/soccer-players-show-enhanced-thinking-abilities/?hpt=hp_bn12


Shorty Sez:

We continue to feature the teamwork philosophies from Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski who is a pre-eminent expert on leadership and teambuilding. This week's idea to reflect upon is as follows:

"You develop a team to achieve what one person cannot accomplish alone.  All of us alone are weaker, by far, than if all of us are together."

-- Coach K

News for the Week of April 2, 2012

Program Notes for the Week of 4/2/2012:

Shoregals in the News:
Accolades continue to roll in for our players and this week we would like to mention that Emily Peterson was elected Vice President of the ALHS Key Club which is a service organization for high school students.  Congrats to Emily! 


Soccer Site of the Week:
This week we continue with a series of articles from the OYSAN - North site which can be found at:

http://www.oysan.org/Assets/2011+Parents+and+College.pdf

This week's article is entitled "College Scholarships: The Parents Guide to Coaching Assessment and the Player Development Process".   It is written by Dr. Tom Turner who is the Director of Coaching for OYSAN.  He packs a lot of info. into anything he writes and it can be rather long and this article is no exception, but it brings up a lot of good points.  Once again, we don't present these articles as this is what our coaching staff believes or agrees with, we present these as information to consider and reflect upon in the course of your soccer experience with your daughter.


Shorty Sez:
We continue to feature the teamwork philosophies from Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski who is a pre-eminent expert on leadership and teambuilding. This week's idea to reflect upon is as follows:

"A real winning attitude is about standards of excellence - which are variable from year to year, from team to team.  Being the best you can be - and doing the best you can - are the constants."

-- Coach K


Happy Easter and have a great Spring Break to all our ALHS families!!!