News for the Week of February 17, 2014

Program Notes for the Week of 2/17/2014:


Player Evaluations/Meetings:
Parents - please remind your daughters to pick up their evaluations from Coach Daegen in Room 179 attached to the Media Center and also remind them to sign up for a meeting time which will also be held in Room 179. 

 

Scholarship Time:
We want to remind all our graduating Seniors of $2,000 in scholarship money that is available to soccer players at ALHS. One of the scholarships is the OHTSL/NOGSL scholarship which is explained in more detail below. Three years ago Maddie Bernard received this scholarship from the NOGSL, then two years ago Annie Lyons was awarded one, and last year Claire Jones received one, so you can see that it can be won by our girls.

2014 NOGSL SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
The Ohio Travel Soccer League (OHTSL) is offering a scholarship program for the girl's and boy's division of OHTSL. Four (4), $1000 scholarship will be awarded in each division. Please see the cover letter for eligibility requirements. The completed application must be post marked by April 5, 2014. Recipients will be announced on the web site after May 3, 2014 and presentation of the scholarship will at the OHTSL All Star game on May 17, 2014.
Cover letter and application can be found under General->Scholarship tab, or you can click on these links:

 

• Cover Letter
• Scholarship Application

Please direct any questions, to Debbie at treasurer@ohtsl.com

The other scholarship is the Gino Strippoli Memorial Scholarship which is valued at $1,000. Applications for this scholarship are part of the Common Scholarship Application process and are available in the Guidance office at ALHS. Deadline is 2/28/14 at 3:00 p.m.  


Conditioning Videos:
Last week we introduced Shoregal alumnae Hilary George who is now entering her third year as assistant coach at the Univ. of South Carolina - Beaufort and 9th year overall on a college level. Hilary is also a certified strength & conditioning specialist.  As promised we will continue to present videos of the USCB Sandsharks each week for you to enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gHFuTyXmKsc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dAdwZFq0T3o

Keep in mind that these workouts can be copied and performed in the ALHS weight room or at the home of the player.


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Love 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 you find something that inspires you here:

Train insane or remain the same.

The 3 H's for Athletes:
  1) Hard Work
  2) Heart
  3) Hustle

Win or lose you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined or focusing too much. -John Smith

It WILL hurt. It WILL take time. It WILL require dedication and sacrifice. But it WILL be worth it.

Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it. - Mia Hamm

I'm not sure what my future holds... But I know who holds it.

News for the Week of February 10, 2014

Program Notes for the Week of 2/10/2014:

Is everyone as sick of shoveling snow as I am??  The groundhog says 6 more weeks of this mess - don't know if we will ever get that Spring outdoor season underway.


Scholarship Time:
We want to remind all our graduating Seniors of $2,000 in scholarship money that is available to soccer players at ALHS. One of the scholarships is the OHTSL/NOGSL scholarship which is explained in more detail below. Three years ago Maddie Bernard received this scholarship from the NOGSL, then two years ago Annie Lyons was awarded one, and last year Claire Jones received one, so you can see that it can be won by our girls.

2014 NOGSL SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
The Ohio Travel Soccer League (OHTSL) is offering a scholarship program for the girl's and boy's division of OHTSL. Four (4), $1000 scholarship will be awarded in each division. Please see the cover letter for eligibility requirements. The completed application must be post marked by April 5, 2014. Recipients will be announced on the web site after May 3, 2014 and presentation of the scholarship will at the OHTSL All Star game on May 17, 2014.
Cover letter and application can be found under General->Scholarship tab, or you can click on these links:

• Cover Letter
• Scholarship Application

Please direct any questions, to Debbie at treasurer@ohtsl.com


The other scholarship is the Gino Strippoli Memorial Scholarship which is valued at $1,000. Applications for this scholarship are part of the Common Scholarship Application process and are available in the Guidance office at ALHS.  Deadline is 2/28/14 at 3:00 p.m.  Past winners of this scholarship include:

2013 - Claire Jones
2012 - Jocey Spitz
2011 - Sarah Hudson
2010 - Bridget Lyons
2009 - Laura Rickey
2008 - Sammy Stewart
2007 - Sarah Lyons

Shoregal Alumni Update:
Coach Daegen ran into an old Shoregal alumnus a few weeks ago and we would like to update everyone on what she is doing right now.  Her name is Hilary George and here is a short bio on her.  Hilary could be considered the greatest goalie to ever play for the Shoregals.  During her high school career, she recorded 30 shutouts and is our all-time leader in that category.  She played 4 yrs. on the Varsity from 1996 - 1999. 

After high school, she was awarded a scholarship to Gardner-Webb Univ. in North Carolina which is a Div. 1 college.  She played on the Varsity from 2000 - 2004 and during her time she recorded 14.5 shutouts which ranks second all-time at the school.  She was also named a first team All-America selection by the National Christian College Athletic Assn.  Hilary completed both a bachelor's and master's degrees at Gardner-Webb.

After college, she served as assistant women's soccer coach at Armstrong Atlantic State Univ. in Savannah, Georgia for 6 years.  She is now entering her third year as assistant coach at the Univ. of South Carolina - Beaufort. Hilary is also a certified strength & conditioning specialist.  She is talking about coming up to Avon Lake this summer and running some conditioning sessions with the girls - hopefully that will happen.

It is great to see that Hilary continued her playing career while getting an education and has now moved into the coaching ranks.  A great role model for young Shoregals!!

Here are some videos of the USCB Sandsharks for you to enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OlGTUA0LESs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o9NQ7T8-7jk

I will also be posting some of Hilary's conditioning videos over the next few weeks.


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Love 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 you find something that inspires you here:

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. - Pele 

Talent wins games, but teamwork & intelligence win
championships. -Michael Jordan

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. 

One of the trademarks of a champion is that he can outlast you.  -Lou Brock

Those at the top of the mountain didn't fall there.

News for the Week of January 20, 2014

Program Notes for the Week of 1/20/2014:

M.L. King Day:
This is traditionally an off day from school and for some people an off day from work. For those who may want to take a few minutes aside to honor Dr. King's life you can view his most famous "I Have a Dream" speech at -

http://youtu.be/smEqnnklfYs.

It is only about 17 minutes long or you can view a complete transcript at -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-speech-text_n_809993.html


Coaching News:
We are pleased to announce that an old friend will be rejoining the coaching staff this year as Caleb Reutter will return to handle the JV team coaching duties this fall.  Coach Reutter was Head Coach of the girls program for 4 years from 2004 to 2007.  He compiled a 40-22-12 record during that time and led the Shoregals to their only District championship in 2006.  He is also a popular science teacher at Avon Lake HS.   Play the "Welcome Back Kotter" theme as we welcome back Coach Reutter!

Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Love 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 you find something that inspires you here:

Live without pretending, Love without depending, Listen without defending, Speak without offending.

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. - John Wooden

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. - John Wooden

Winners, imagine their dreams 1st. They want it with all their heart & expect it to come true. There's no other way to live. - Joe Montana

News for the Week of January 13, 2014

Program Notes for the Week of 1/13/2014:

Happy New Year to all our soccer families and fans!  Best wishes for 2014!

With the new year we will start back up with weekly updates on the Shoregal Soccer blog - check back each week for new info!!


Another Postseason Award:
Our Shoregals received another award for the past season as indicated in the e-mail below:

Coach Duvall,

I would like to congratulate your team and yourself in winning the
NSCAA Bronze Award Team Ethics Award of Merit for High School Teams.
This is very difficult to achieve and really shows yours commitment to
the integrity of the game.

On behalf of the NSCAA and the Ethics committee we would like extend
our appreciation to your team for fair play and great character on the
field. Your team has been chosen for their fair play and character
they show in every match.

Congratulations again and keep up the good work.

Coach Scott Fridley

NSCAA Ethics Committee


Shoregal Alumni in College Update:
Recently, I was made aware that Claire Jones - Class of 2013 was a walk-on to the University of Kentucky's Women's soccer team last Fall.  Congrats to Claire and continued success with the team!


Shoregal Statbooks:
There will be stat books from the 2013 season - I am working on the final touches and they will be available soon.


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Love 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 you find something that inspires you here:

I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end. -Larry Bird

You can feel sore tomorrow or you can feel sorry tomorrow.

Think big, believe big, act big, and the results will be big.

News for the Week of November 25, 2013

Program notes for the Week of 11/25/2013:

Happy Thanksgiving to all our soccer families!!


Team Academic All-America Award 2013:
There was an academic award announced last week after the awards assembly had taken place that we want everyone to be aware of:

We are very excited to announce that the girls were awarded Team Academic All-America status for the 2012-2013 school year this past week 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 224 teams nationwide (about 4 per state) to receive this prestigious award and the team GPA was an excellent 3.44!

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 is just being announced in late November of this year. This was actually last year's team that won the award and would include last year's 7 graduated seniors.  This year's team is also on track to receive Academic All-America status again for the current academic year next November. That would mark the 5th year in row that the Shoregals have received this award as we have now earned it in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, & 2008.

Congratulations to all our Shoregal scholars!!  It is a pleasure to be able to report not only successes on the field but also in the classroom as well.  The girls soccer program has a legacy of achievement that continues with each new generation of players and is truly something to be admired.


Shoregal Alumni in College Update:
The college season has concluded for our Shoregal alumni and let's give an update on how their seasons went:

At Otterbein University, sophomore Dana Strimbu played goalie in all 20 games with 19 starts and was the primary goalie. She had a record of 10-6-1 with 5 shutouts and 55 saves. She allowed only 15 goals the entire season.

Her sister and fellow sophomore Jillian Strimbu started all 20 games.  She was the team's leading scorer with 10 goals including 5 game winners and contributed 2 assists. Otterbein finished the season with a record of 12-7-1.

At Cleveland State, senior Taylor Miller played in 11 games and had 1 assist  for the 8-9-1 Vikings.

At Butler University, sophomore Rachel Gates plays for their club soccer team for which she is a vice-president.   Their record was 2-7-1 and was difficult to find any stats.

It sounds like our Alumni are representing the Shoregals very well at the next level.


Shorty Sez:
We continue with our collection of motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Love 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 you find something that inspires you here:

You are successful the moment you start moving toward a worthwhile goal.

Wake up with DETERMINATION. Go to bed with SATISFACTION.

Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. - George Halas

Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.

Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. -Mike Singletary

News for the Week of November 18, 2013

Program notes for the Week of 11/18/2013:

Team Awards Night:
The Shoregals soccer awards night will be held on Wednesday Nov. 20th at 7:00 p.m. in Room 114 at the high school.  Individual awards for both the JV & Varsity teams will be presented.


Lorain County All-Star Game:
A great way to end their high school careers for three of our seniors last Saturday at the Lorain County Soccer Coaches Assn. senior all-star game.  Amy Crooks, Emily Peterson, and Ali Robinson all played for the victorious White team which beat the Purple team by a score of 2-0.  Kayla Zingale of North Ridgeville scored both goals for the winners and we remember her well as she scored the only goal in a 1-0 loss to North Ridgeville this past season.  In goal for the White team was our very own Amy Crooks who ended her career with a game winning shutout!

In other news at the game, Emily Peterson was one of three recipients of a $500 scholarship from the Coach's Association.   Congrats!!


State Championships Results:
The really big news this year was that Rocky River won a Division II State Championship - their first in program history - with a 3-1 victory over Granville.  This was just an amazing team that finished with a 22-0-1 record with the tie coming to an out of state team at an early season tournament.  They scored 128 goals during the season which is an average of almost 6 per game while only giving up 11 goals.   This was a season for them that will live on in legend for years to come.  Congrats to the Lady Pirates!


Shorty Sez:
We are bringing back our collection of motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Love 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 you find something that inspires you here:

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

There is one thing in this world that has the ability to change our whole life in an instant... IT'S ACTION.

The Six W's: Work will win while wishing won't

The ones who want to achieve & win championships motivate themselves. -Mike Ditka

Don't count the days, make the days count - Muhammad Ali

News for the Week of November 4, 2013

Program Notes for the Week of 11/4/2013:

Postseason Awards:
We want to continue to announce the numerous postseason awards that were earned by the girls for their performance from the recently concluded season. This week we will feature All-Southwest Conference and All Greater Cleveland. Those girls receiving awards are as follows:

All SWC First Team  Ali Robinson (Sr.)

All SWC Second Team  Emily Peterson (Sr.)

All SWC Honorable Mention Clare Adams (Jr.)

All SWC Honorable Mention  Olivia Siko (Fr.)


All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention  Ali Robinson (Sr.)

All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention  Emily Peterson (Sr.)

All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention  Clare Adams (Jr.)

All Greater Cleveland Honorable Mention  Olivia Siko (Fr.)

Congratulations to these Shoregals on their well deserved awards!



Boys Soccer Update:
The boys team played a well fought game but came up on the short end of 1-0 score to Medina in a Regional Semi-final game last Wednesday. Every team's season except for the state champions end with a loss, but that does not diminish the outstanding season the boys team had.  Highlights would include a second place finish in the SWC, the first District Championship since 1998, and a 11 game winning streak.  Congrats to the boys on a great season!!


SWC Update:
There have been more changes to the lineup in the Southwest Conference for the 2015-16 school year.  Brecksville has now decided to drop out of the SWC to join the Suburban League in 2015.  That created an opening which will now be filled by North Ridgeville. The new SWC will field 10 teams in Fall of 2015 as follows:

Amherst
Avon
Avon Lake
Berea-Midpark
Lakewood
Midview
North Olmsted
North Ridgeville
Olmsted Falls
Westlake

Looking at this new lineup for girls soccer, it should be a very evenly matched conference and one that Avon Lake should be in a position to compete for a conference championship every year.


Shorty Sez:
We are bringing back our collection of motivtional sayings coming from the Twitter site called Women Love 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 you find something that inspires you here:

Don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the person from yesterday.

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

Win or lose you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined or focusing too much.

Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself

In this life, you don't have to prove nothin' to nobody but yourself. -"Rudy"

The 3 H's for Athletes: 1) Hard Work 2) Heart 3) Hustle