Thanks to Our Family

Girls and Parents,
A bit of a long thank you letter, but I can sometimes vocalize things better on paper than in person. So allow me to get all mushy & wax philosophical with you in what could be our last communication this season

I was having trouble finding the energy and words for this last post-Surrey game email to you because I am still disheartened (depressed) over our results vs. Surrey; because I tend to replay losses for a couple of days thinking about what things we could have done differently; what did we do?; what didn’t we do?; etc. I still can't put a finger on any one thing in that game except to say it was probably a combination of many small things and was just “one of those days” (I hate that term). It was one of those games when we did not play our usual brand of soccer and Surrey brought their "A" game.

We will accept that Surrey beat us this past weekend and on another day I am confident that things would be different. We will accept it ... but we don’t have to like it! Your response at the field to the loss was the response of a winner / champions! It was a response of a team who knew the result should have been different on most days. Surrey had a good run beating the top three teams to win the Coast Cup (i.e. us, Richmond and Vancouver). Cup play is a crapshoot at times ... one just has to look at the Premiership / FA Cup as a good example.

The fear of losing is what makes competitors so great. Show me a gracious loser and I'll show you a permanent loser. ~Football Hall of Famer
... and to quote my favourite coach ...
We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time. ~Vince Lombardi

With the above said, my heavy-heart has been brightened by going through the past year (via the website and pictures) and reviewing our accomplishments; our successes and the fun we had (both Super Y and Metro).
I would recommend going back through the year and remember some of the following ...
Our Metro Camp up in Campbell River / Miracle Beach:
• What a fantastic start to a fantastic season. Great leadership, great fun, great training, great soccer and great memories.
• camping under a huge blue tarp (doing it West Coast style)
- our games vs. the local teams (especially the boys team) with Ken Garraway watching
- Saratoga Speedway – the excitement, the thrill, the speed (and Soraya!)
- Card games and junk food around the fire
- Robyn’s fixation (obsession?) with Zip- lock bags
- The Russ Frawley caravan/equipment shed/4-wheel-drive/do-it-all big-ass truck/camper.
- Our "fans" and camp visitors who also travelled up to camp and watch the games
Our Metro Season:
• You are League Champions!
- We saw improvements in just about every statistic over last season
• Place (1st vs. 6th) and Points (48 vs. 32)
- more wins (15 vs. 9)
- less losses (2 vs. 6)
- less draws (3 vs. 5)
- same goals-for (37 vs. 37)  mmmm ... Something to work on next year?!
- less goals-against (7 vs. 26)
- better goals differential (30 vs. 11)
- more shutouts (15 vs. 4)
• We beat Semiahmoo (3-times Provincial Champs and Nationals runner-up) 3 times. We not only beat them but we shut them out all game! (3-0, 2-0, 1-0)
- We made it to the Coast Cup Final.
For Many of You We Had the Super Y Season
• We came a very close 2nd place in the league of combined metro teams (e.g. Coastal WFC is a combination of Vancouver + Richmond + Semiahmoo + Surdel)
• What can I say ... North American Champion finalists!
• Florida ... lots of memories for many of the girls.

So looking back, we have a season that was very successful. But, what I take away from it most of all is our team spirit and our ability to get the job done through some turbulent/confused times. These things make us stronger; make us grow/mature; make us better people; make us closer … make us a better team. I admire the truly special “gifts” that each of you brought / received from the team and from each other. These are that are only possible by being on a high-performing team. As I told you a while back ... This team is a family and although families do have their small fights/differences/disagreements - in the end there is an unbreakable bond and love that comes with being a family. It provides the ability to go forward through tough times.

In closing, I would like to thank...
Robyn. She has done so much work for the coaches and the team. She has worked hard organizing us, keeping us going, making sure things go smoothly so we can concentrate on the soccer. So Robyn, on behalf of the team “thank you” we appreciate you and your hard work. Best of all, it is always with a smile!

The Parents. I thank you for your support and for lending us your daughters for large chunks of time; and for (re)arranging your busy lives around the team; around the soccer and around the coaches’ whims (at times). I hope you know most decisions were made for the benefit of the team and sometime the decision are very difficult to make; and are not easily understood due to lack of context (i.e. things we saw at practises, in previous games, things specific to our opponents; specific game tactics; etc). Thanks for the support you have shown to the team (coaches and players). Mistakes were made at times and I apologize for them ... but that is part of a team (and my/our learning).

Finally to the Players. Looking at the above, I hope you will find fantastic memories that follow you next season and beyond. I hope you can see your improvements and accomplishments both as soccer players and as people. Some great lessons have been learned the last season ... this is one of the beautiful things about team sports. Sport is a small snapshot of life ... sometimes played out in one season.  Sport provides life lessons and solutions to problems.  I thank you for your dedication to the team, your attention throughout the year and I have enjoyed the special individual qualities you have each brought to our family/team.

Thanks ladies …. I will cherish this season and it has been an honour and my privilege to be with you on this year’s journey.
Cheers and enjoy!
Brad

Love the game.
Love the game for the pure joy of accomplishment.
Love the game for everything it can teach you about yourself.
Love the game for the feeling of belonging to a group endeavouring to do its best.
Love the game for being involved in a team whose members can't wait to see you do your best.
Love the game for the challenge of working harder than you ever have at something and then harder than that.
Love the game because it takes all team members to give it life.
Love the game because at its best, the game tradition will include your contributions.
Love the game because you belong to a long line of fine athletes who have loved it. It is now your legacy.
Love the game so much that you will pass on your love of the game to another athlete who has seen your dedication, your work, your challenges, your triumphs... and then that athlete will, because of you, love the game.
Love the game.

Capitals Fall Short vs Surrey United

A quick game review (pictures to follow) ...
Unfortunately a few things caught up with our girls (time off, injuries, illlness, travel, etc.) and the "girls from Victoria" came out flat against a much improved Surrey team.  They had to get through ththe top three teams in the league to win the Coastal Cup (i.e. Victoria, Richmond and Vancouver)

They scored two quick goals (not particularly good goals but goals none-the-less) and gug a hole for us to get out of.  The girls woke up and applied some heavy pressure on Surrey but too little too late.

So when the whistle blew it was a 2-1 win for Surrey.

The News is Out ...

Caps in running for B.C. title
Coastal Cup final is today

By Jeff Bell, Times Colonist  April 24, 2010

Vancouver Island's hope for provincial soccer honours in this year's Coastal Cup lies in the capable hands -- make that feet -- of the Victoria Capitals.

The Capitals are Victoria's under-15 entry in the B.C. Metro Soccer League, which brings top players from ages 14 to 18 into competition with their counterparts from other areas. For the U15 girls, that meant a 14-team league with one entry from up-Island and the rest from the Lower Mainland -- making for a big time commitment and a lot of travelling.

The Capitals' championship test comes today at 5 p.m. against Surrey/ Guildford United in the A-Cup final, with the match being played at Richmond's Minoru Stadium.

Brad Hlasny, one of the coaches for the Capitals, said a win today would mean a rare "double" for the team, which also won the league title.

"I think the strength of the girls is that they really like each other," said Hlasny. "They play as a team as opposed to having a couple of stars that they rely on."

He said the team set a number of goals before the season started, including finishing in the top-three in league play after placing sixth in their division last year. They also wanted to cut their goals-against average, and they did so "substantially," Hlasny said.

"We went from 26 goals against last year to seven this year."

Along the way, they shut out the opposition in 15 of the league games they played and lost only twice.

Hlasny said the team is an all-star or "select" group, and the players come from all over the south Island.

"We have a girl from Saltspring and we have one from Cowichan."

In all, the roster is made up of players from eight Lower Island Soccer Association clubs.


While the team comes from all over, a number of the girls played together before reaching Metro, Hlasny said. About eight of them first played as teammates when they were under-12s, then reunited in Metro as under-14s.

"They all came back again and then it started from there," Hlasny said.

jwbell@tc.canwest.com

Online story here ... http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Caps+running+title/2946935/story.html

Sessions This Week

Final Week of April 19th
Training
- Tuesday 5-6:15pm @ PISE
- Wednesday 5-6:30pm @ PISE

Girls U15 A-Cup Final
- Saturday April 24th @ 5pm
- Minorou Stadium - 7301 GranvilleAve., Richmond
- we will be on the 1pm boat (be at the ferry at 12:15pm latest)
- probable return time is 9pm ferry

Parents / Players ...
- Please communicate any issues with the above to your coaches. 
- Please conserve your energies for Cup play this weekend - think about your extra-curricular activities and whether they will have negative affect on your injuries, energy and play this weekend.  Now is the time to think of your team / teamsmates vs self.  Now is the time when tough decisions will have to be made.  Now is the time to ask yourself ... "What Would You Give Up?" to be champions?

See the article on the National U17 Girls Team ...  "What Would You Give Up?"

Caps Sweep Semiahmoo and Step Into Finals

NEWS FLASH ....
In one game we achieved two great feats ladies. 
1) We beat the 3-time Provincial Champions Semiahmoo Thunder for the third time this season (3-0, 1-0 and 2-0).  They are also the Nationals Club Champion Runner-Up (i.e. came second in the Nationals last October)
2) We also worked our way to the Coastal Cup A Finals next Weekend.

How can this be?  Think of the US Mens Hockey Team that beat the mighty Russian hockey squad for the Gold Medal at the 1980 Olympics (Miracle on Ice).  Think of the Greek Football Team who won the European Champions in 2004. 

Great things happen when a group of players come together and focus on a single goal.  Great things happen when players work hard, play hard and most of all have fun doing it.  You girls are like a family that love each other and would die for each other.  You are greater than the sum of all parts. Simply put ... YOU ARE A TEAM!

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”   -Mia Hamm quotes

"When all is said and done, it's not the shots that won the championship that you remember, but the friendships you made along the way." -Unknown


"When you are out there on the soccer field playing, nothing else matters at the time. It's like the whole world has disappeared, and you and your teammates are all that matters." -Amber Massey

Dusting Off the Cobwebs & Rust

Quarter Final Win at Home for GU15 Caps

Brads Notes - You girls never cease to amaze me!  With a huge 6 week layoff and with very limited practices and games during that layoff, the GU15 Caps were able to come to their quarter final game vs Langley FC and accomplish the following ...

- a team that has been through some tough times since Christmas break
- a team that has not really played together since February 21st (7 long weeks ago)
- a team that had many starters nursing injuries or illnesses
- within five minutes of play Andrew & I felt good because this long layoff did not seem to affect your focus on the field and the fire in your spirit
- in that first five minutes the Capitals mounted an impressive attack on the Langley FC goal and with some lovely heads up play on/off the ball by Elise & Vanessa ... they ring one off the post/corner
- Langley was able to tie up the game with a small brekadown in the middle of the field but they did not loose their composure or confidence and put pressure back on Langley
- the Capitals had about 7-8 very good chances within the 18 yard box vs Langley's 1 or 2
- a lovely goal by Kristen (with assists from Elise and Britany) and another goal by Kathy (assistd by Kristen) ... with many other near goals (Vanessa, Olivia K, etc.)
- our defensive 4-some although rusty, were able to get their shape back towrds the end of the game
- we also had to fight against some questionable officiating (clear offsides not called and a mysterious yellow  card call against Katie Hanson with her no where near player)

Girls ... your heart and love for each other is huge!!! 
Let's focus this week and take it to a new level for each other next weekend.

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” Mia Hamm quotes

"When all is said and done, it's not the shots that won the championship that you remember, but the friendships you made along the way."  -Unknown

"When you are out there on the soccer field playing, nothing else matters at the time. It's like the whole world has disappeared, and you and your teammates are all that matters."  -Amber Massey

That's What She Said ...

I love quotes because they are a way of summarizing what one normally thinks and says in a couple of sentances or a paragraph into one short,  sweet sentance.  They are a way of summarizing the way you feel that you sometime can't express yourself at times.  They capture the heart and the essence of a moment. 

Also, there are so many lessons to be learnt from them, and for that matter, from the people who created them - essentially, because, most of their "creators" have learnt from their failures and also from their own successes.  This makes the quotes, so much more powerful.  

Looking back, here are some quotes that I have used/posted this year.  They wrap the way I feel about you girls as individuals; as a team and I am sure the way you feel about each other.

On Teams and Teamwork ....
“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”  ~Mia Hamm
"Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the ‘me’ for the ‘we.’"  ~ Phil Jackson
“Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together.”  ~Phil Jackson
"Commitment to the team - there is no such thing as in-between, you are either in our out."  ~ Pat Riley
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”
"Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work"  ~ Vince Lombardi
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.”  ~Babe Ruth
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”  ~Michael Jordan
“People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defences, or the problems of modern society.”  ~Vince Lombardi
"When you put on that jersey, the name on the front is more important then the name on the back." ~ Mircle (the movie)  ~unknown
TEAM = T.ogether E.veryone A.chieves M.ore

On Hardwork & Dedication  ...
“Champions aren´t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision.” Muhammad Ali
“In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept destructive criticism. Without 100% dedication, you won't be able to do this.”  ~Wilson Mizner quotes
“Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”  ~ Vince Lombardi
“Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price.”   ~Vince Lombardi
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” Vince Lombardi
"The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when no one else is watching"  ~ Anson Dorrance (in a note to Mia Hamm)

On Adversity ...
"Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war." ~Donald Trump
“Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them.” ~Mia Hamm
"Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character”  ~Alan Armstrong
"Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is" ~Vince Lombardi
"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." ~Vince Lombardi
“The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.”
“It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.”  ~Vince Lombardi

On Mental Toughness ...
“Confidence is contagious; so is lack of confidence”  ~ Vince Lombardi
“If you can accept losing, you can't win.”  ~Vince Lombardi
“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”  ~Vince Lombardi

Quotes I Try To Remember About Coaching ...
"Good coaching is about leadership and instilling respect in your players. Dictators lead through fear -- good coaches do not." ~John Wooden
"So many coaches forget that when they take the fun out of something, it's just not something people want to do." ~Michelle Johnson
"Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you." ~John Wooden
"Coaching is a profession of love. You can't coach people unless you love them." ~Eddie Robinson
"What makes a good coach? Complete dedication"  ~George Halas
"You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation."  ~Homer Rice


I obviously have an affinity for Vince Lombardi - the greatest NFL coach ever.  And one the the greatest team leaders and motivators.  Google him!

It's All in a Name

Pele ... Kaka ... The Kaiser ... Bomber .. The Butcher.  Soccer players have a long history of knicknames.  What are ours?  The players have nicknames for each other;  some of the coaches have nicknames for you (some nice ... some not so nice - but always meant jokingly) and some girls don't really have any (so I have taken the liberty of making some up). 






Can you match the player with the nickname?
Mikki
Harm / Hillbilly
Sasquatch / Sasq / Manson / Hanson
V /  Va-nay-nay
The Pickpocket
Wamsie
Crash / Nicole
Pea  /  Spaz
Sticks / Chubi / Foldy / Cod / Sims Wanna-be --> ???!!?!?
Livvie
GiGi / Red / Ging(er)
Elmer
Lise / The Wizard
Syd the Squid
Ms. Bhandal
Pumpkin
Nat

Did I miss any or get any wrong?  Email me.

A Soccer Story - Mental Beats Physical

He breaks off on a solo run up the sidelines that's marked goal all the way. His team is down one nil midway through the second half. He's the team's captain and their emotional and tactical leader. As he goes, so goes the team. Last year they won their Division II National Championships behind his brilliant, gutsy play. Playing the entire game with a painful bone spur, he led a dramatic, last second comeback to steal a win that sent the team into the Final Four. His Achilles heel, the one glaring weakness in his game, wasn't showing back then.
And now as he pushed the ball up the field the crowd collectively rose to their feet in anticipation. The coach had seen him like this before and liked what he saw; his brilliant striker was playing loose and aggressive today. 
When you step onto the pitch, do you bring your whole game with you? Do you come to play soccer or are you playing tentatively because you've let the importance of the game get to you? Or maybe you're too focused on the size or skill level of the opponent or the fact that there are scouts in the stands.

Coming in from the right wing the striker put a great move on the last defender leaving just the keeper between him and a much-needed score. The keeper came out to try to cut his angle off just as the striker let go a laser of a shot off his right foot. The ball rocketed towards the goal and seemed to have the goalie beat. The keeper then made a lunging, diving effort and miraculously got two fingers on the ball, barely deflecting it into the post and, with a "somebody-is-watching out-for-me bounce", luckily out of play. What a tough break! They were so close to tying the score. As play continued it was obvious that something had shifted. The striker seemed just a little less loose. He seemed to be pressing more, trying too hard.   Shortly after this missed goal he made an uncharacteristic mistake losing the ball on a poorly executed pass. This got him even more upset with himself and he started yelling at himself while the game went on.
Do you know that your physical game is always limited by your mental one?

One big mental trap that a lot of soccer players stumble into is the inability to deal with mistakes, bad breaks or lousy calls.  If you can't quickly and gently let go of these in the course of play you'll mentally take yourself right out of the game. Carrying your mistakes around with you is the best strategy to get you to play crummy soccer. Dwelling on your mistakes while the game is going on is a big mental "no-no" that will hurt you and your team.

As the game progressed the striker was clearly a lesser force on the field. Because he was preoccupied with his mistakes and failure to score, he was out of the flow of the game. He stopped being vocal and he stopped being a positive leader. As a consequence, his team's offense began to sputter and the opponent's began to dominate the ball. Despite this, our striker couldn't stop mentally beating himself up! With 5 minutes to play the other team scored an insurance goal and went on to win.
So how important is your mental toughness and sports psychology to playing championship soccer? Plenty! As far as sports psychology goes it's quite simple. Given that you've paid your physical dues, are in good shape and have a decent technical & tactical knowledge of the game, the difference between you playing well or playing poorly is in between your ears!

Our hero in this story was clearly lacking two things:
First, the ability to forgive himself. You will not play good soccer if you emotionally beat yourself up whenever you screw up. Doing that will only make you more tense and kill your confidence;
Second, the ability to quickly return his focus to the game and the task at hand. To be mentally tough you must learn to discipline yourself to immediately refocus after mistakes or setbacks. "Reboundability" is a key mental toughness skill needed to keep your mind in the flow of the game. Understand there's a proper time and place to work on your mistakes and it's not during the game. Wait for practice to think about and work on your miscues.

A Cup - Round #1 Complete

The scores for the first round of cup play and the next round are posted ...
Round#1
Vancouver Kaos 4  vs.  2 UVI United Galaxy
Langley FC 1  vs.  0 CMF Breakers
North Shore Sounders 4  vs.  0 Abbotsford Mariners
GAC/SRY United Selects 3  vs.  0 Chilliwack Impact
SEMI Thunder 4   vs.  0 GEUSC Wildcats
Surdel Vipers 0  vs.  1 North Shore Caps
Victoria Capitals Bye
Richmond Red Hot Selects Bye

So ... a couple of small surprises:  UVI holds Kaos to a tie but looses in PK's and Surdel looses out to North Shore Caps (who have been improving in the latter part of the season)

Round#2
- home team listed first
Vancouver Kaos  vs. GAC/SRY United Selects
Victoria Capitals vs. Langley FC
Richmond Red Hot Selects vs. North Shore Caps
North Shore  vs. Semiahmoo

Caps Start Focussing

It has been a long haul girls ... our last game was Feb. 21st and our next game is April 11th .  So it is important that we start start top focus our attention and energies to our first round of Cup play.  In the next couple of week we will arrange some exhibitions and the coaches will focus our training to the task at hand.

What can you do to help focus???
- stay in shape by:  jogging; doing strength/stability exercises; doing soccer-specific fartlek-type exercises (look that one up)
- continue to work on your soccer foot skills by juggling, kickking around with a freind/family member
- practise PK's
- review team booklet / manual i.e. positional roles; set-plays; etc.
- talk to your school teachers / coaches about your schedule to possibly take some of the physical and mental pressure off of you  (remember ... school work first)
- Metro before school soccer !!!
- remove or put on hold some of the other distractions in your life
- review your Metro year and successes by looking through this website

What would you give up?

After coming second in their group play - with Mexico coming in first -  the Canadian U17 Coach asked his players "What would you give up to win the Women’s Under-17 Championships?".


See what the Canadian girls and champions gave up here ...  http://www.canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=4028


See the news story about the championship win here ... http://www.canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=4030

Some Good Soccer To Play & Watch

We have played a couple of good team in exhibition games recently played ladies to get some of the cobwebs off of our bodies and start trying to peak for our first cup game on April 11th.

We picked up games against a visiting girls U16 Lehtbridge FC team and played the powerful GU16 Metro team.  Both games saw our team very low in numbers with many girls away on holidays.   Given the many visiting players we used in the Lethbridge game it was not a surprise we did get our game flowing as we normally do - we had 6 players from 4 different teams help bolster our numbers. Against the strong GU16 team - whom we usually have very good games - we again had to call up a coupel of players to bolster our numbers and get us up to one spare player.  So, the result was not surprising given our time off and lack of key players.

So, like I said ... take these games for what they are; exhibition games, without our full team; playing for fun and getting back into game shape.  Use what you saw in the game to make us better players.

"Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war."  Donald Trump

Girls U15 Caps Rule!

On the field or selling 50/50 tickets at the Save On Foods Arena (SOFA), the Capitals GU15 team rocks!
The team provided a large number (13) of player volunteers in support of this LISA fundraiser.  Joined by the GU14, GU16 & GU17/18 Capitals the girls by far outnumbered the boys (let's just say the boys had to forfeit).

Aside from raising money for LISA's hardship fund, the girls had fun and went for a team pizza snack afterwards.  These are the activities and times that create a team spirit that moves us forward.

Great job ladies giving back to your community.  Thank you Robyn for organizing!

“Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together.”  Phil Jackson

Looking Back at Our Goals

At the beginning of the season, the team set ourselves three goals ...

1) Come Top Three in League

2) Cut Our "Goals Against" Statistic This Season vs Last Season in Half

3) Represent BC at the Nationals in U16

Lets, look back and do some comparisons ...

Girls U15 - 2009/2010 League Standings (This Season)

Girls U14 - 2008/2009 League Standings (Last Season)

So, our goals for this season have been achieved!!  Our goal for next season is a "work in progress".
Great job ladies.  Let's prepare for Cup play and show everyuone that we are top for a reason.

“Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them.”
Mia Hamm

Forfeit = Win = League Champions

Our last league game against Abbotsford (Abby) this weekend was forfeited by Abby due to lack of players (holidays and injuries ... Olympics Men's Hockey Gold Game?!?) and because the schedule will not allow a make-up game (College Prospects tournament, spring break, etc.) it will be impossible to have a rescheduled. Because of this, we get the full three points for a win and this gives us more than the one point required to wrap up the league title.

It is not the way the girls wanted to win it ... they wanted to travel to Abby and do it on their own! This is champion mentality – I love it.  So, although a bit anticlimactic, we have achieved a great goal of ours.
So ... celebrate this weekend with your players as they are league champions!!!

Over the next month and a half we will start focussing the girls in for the Cup play and we will be in touch again with another email regarding practise schedule over the next month or so.
– Our first Cup game will be April 11th
– Because we finishe dthe league in first place we get a bye in the Cup play preliminary rounds and all of our cup games will be at home/Victoria - except for the final


"Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character” T. Alan Armstrong

PS ... There was no drinking of beer or Champagne or smoking cigars at practise last Thursday – but we did have some cupcakes, cookies and shared a bottle of sparkling apple juice :-)

Caps One Step Closer to Tying Up League Title

Like last week's game, the Caps sent Surdel home with nothing to show for their trip over to the Island ... No points, no goals, no smiles!

Today was a glorious day for soccer ... sun shine, slightly cool and no wind.  The Caps were down a couple of players due to illnesses / injuries but the players stepped up for one another and dug deep to play the feisty, much improved Surdel Vipers. 

Except for the final 15 minutes of the first half, the Caps were in total control of the game.  We scored early in the game (7 minute mark) off of a great cross from Kristin to a waiting Georgia and Kathy in front of the Surdel net and it would be Kathy that put the goal home.  Later in the first half, Surdel got a burst of energy and confidence which allowed them to get some very good chances at our net.  Two chances come to mind ... One brilliant diving save by Natalie that was going into the upper corner of the net and a goal line defending clearance by Rachel.

After a halftime talk by coaching staff and the girls' own halftime huddled (to set some second half goals of their own) - the Caps came out in the second half and took it to Surdel.  The chances came in waves with many good chances thwarted by some decent goal keeping by Surdel keeper (and some questionable lack of calls by the game officials).  Harmony's perseverance on a number of pressuring runs resulted in our second goal with her lovely assist to Kathy.  As for defending in the second half, Surdel was kept shotless!

Because of our stalwart team defence and due to "Air-Natalie" ... the Caps secured another clean sheet (shut out).  Another great team effort today ladies!

“Champions aren´t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision.”  Muhammad Ali

Caps Send Coquitlam Home Empty Handed

Caps GU15 Send Coquitlam Home Empty Handed ... No points, no goals, no smiles!

A very loose and energized Capitals team struck hard and fast against the Coquitlas Metro Ford Breakers yesterday under a dull sky at PISE.  The girls were agressive and played their team-based tactical game "To a T".  There was trust and support from the beginning whistle and the girls were rewarded with their first goal at the 10 minute mark and their second goal at the 13 minute mark.

The 2-0 lead at half allowed the Caps to expirement with other formations in the second half.  Again, hard work and team work were rewarded with their third goal.  The third goal was an excellent example of today's team effort where the ball was worked up the field from the back to Kristen, who, through some very hardwork and skill turned one particular Coquitlam player (you girls know who I am talking about :-) ) inside-out and placed a lovely cross to an attacking Soraya (great anticipation Soraya).   A great team effort today ladies!

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”
Mia Hamm

Messages From Hannah, Erin & Andrew

Some quick messages from a couple of your team members ...

Hannah (with some editting by Brad)

Well I have good news and bad news.
First Bad news, I saw my surgeon yesterday, it has taken this long for the swelling to go down enough for him to do a complete exam. I am booked for surgery in April. Although this time it is orthroscopic surgery for the meniscus so not nearly as serious as last time but enough to keep me out of competitive soccer until next September. I am back to physio once a week and doing my exercising to keep the rest of me in shape.
The good news is that it might be possible to come back again and that this is not the end of soccer.
I WANT TO PLAY ! ! I LOVE TO PLAY ! I WILL PLAY AGAIN ! ! SOON !

I will attend as many games as I can. I support my team and teammates 100%   I wish everyone happiness and success at everything you do !   I want, I want, I want...... I want to see my teammates go all the way!
I love playing and telling ( bragging ) to others that I play for LOWER ISLAND SOCCER. 
This is not a "good by" it is meant as a thank-you - see ya latter..

I must concentrate on me for now, 2 months to prep, 2 months rehab, start training June increasing intensity until September and Kicking A## with Lower Island next season.
GO GIRLS GO !

Erin

I am OK girls ... just a bad sprain and some torn/stretched ligaments.  I hope to be back playing within the month.







Andrew

Hello everyone,
In order to fit the SYL evaluations in before the end of March we will be using the metro training slots for the first week of March, so there will be no metro training from March 1-4th. This allows you two full weeks through spring break to prepare your teams for their first round games on the weekend of March 20/21. The DDC program will also be concluded 1 week early and will wrap up on Feb 18 and 19.
We will be scheduling two SYL evaluations and adding a third at a later date if the need arises and as space open up.   We will be announcing the SYL evaluation dates later this week.

Best regards
Andrew Latham Head Coach
Lower Island Soccer Association (LISA)
office 250 382 7489  cell 250 888 5712

Caps Take Second Game From Semiahmoo

We knew our second meeting vs Semiahmoo would be a tough fight.  They are a strong team; are starting their conditioning/climb trying to peak for up-coming cup play and they wanted to prove something to us after their last game back in September - where we outplayed them and quite handidly beat them 2-0.

For our readers, Semiahmoo are the 3-time reigning Provincial Champs and placed second (silver medal) in last years National Championships.

My very brief overview of the game....
- The Game Plan ... Semiahmoo is a strong passing / possession team and playing them on the grass would help slow down that aspect of the game.  Also by playing our team system and supporting each other this created problem for Semiahmoo to penetrate our back midfield and defence
- The Game Review/Results ... our approach evidently gave Semiahmoo some problems from the start - in the first 15 minutes of the game Semiahmoo could not pentrate the Caps denfensive 1/3 of the field and any shots were from a long way out. Semiahmoo were stifled by our play (and the grass) for the first 10-15 minutes i.e. we kept them pinned in their end by high pressure centrally and wide
- Once they figured out their game was not working they moved to a “kick run” type game … not very effectively
- Very physical game today, some thunderous collisions.
- Really the girls were not pushed to play better, Semiahmoo was playing physical but their possession was wasted with long balls to nowhere.
- The PK and red card helped us but the game results woudl have been a win or a tie for us no matter what ... as we did have a couple of good opportunities.

Girls, we did what we had to do to take the 3 point from Semiahmoo.  As we discussed at training, some games we coach/play to win and other games we coach/play to learn.  This was a game we wanted to win and the coaching staff made some decisions to ensure that (i.e. grass, player placement, playing time, etc.).

Great job ladies! Your team work and team spirit will carry you forward!

TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More

Caps Take it to UVI

Today's game took place under perfect winter soccer conditions - no sun, no wind and mild temperature.
Some very quick bullets to summarize the game:
- UVI played very strong in the first 10 minutes and had a few forays down in our end
- Capitals figured out their weakness (flanks) and strengths (Moira) and adjusted our game to their strengths
- The chances and deep attacks started coming with greater numbers and frequency in the later part of the first half --> lots of shots and excellent chances within 18 yard box but could not capitalize
- For the second half, the Capitals came out out fast and strong and scored two very quick goals within the first 10 minutes.
- After that point the UVI team went into a defensive shell i.e. they packed the 18 and made hard but not impossible to attck the net.  We had a number of very good chances that did not go in (posts, crossbars and near misses).
- With that game under our belt, we will have to get ready to do battle with Semiahmoo who are feeling the pain of the last couple of games and will be coming out of the blocks against us hard ... we are big targets right now.
- Some good goaltending by Mikki - who although was not tested a lot - had to stay in the game mentally and was called on a couple of times to come of her line quickly to smother balls or kick them away.
- Another clean sheet for the Caps!

Commitment to the team - there is no such thing as in-between, you are either in our out.
Pat Riley

Look Out UVI .... Erin is Pumped!!!

Erin is PUMPED to play against Moira & Julia!!

New Coaches Coming

Some news on the coaching front...

Girls U15 West Coast Capitals Super Y-League Coach

Carey Gustafson was named the coach of next season's Girls U15 Super Y-League team.  Carey has a lot of playing experience with UVIC (2000-2005), Whitecaps FC (2001-2003) and in the FA Premier Womens Soccer League.
See more at Canada West Athletics  here
See more at CIS here
See more at FC Victoria here



Provincial GU15 Coach
From BC Soccer Website

BC Soccer is pleased to announce the official appointment of Donn Sparks as the Head Coach of BC Soccer’s 2010 U15 Girls Provincial Teams Program.  Donn has been a valuable member of previous BC Soccer Provincial Teams Program Coaching Staff’s and will provide a high quality of knowledge as it relates to the development of the players within the Provincial Teams Program. In addition, Donn brings the required skill set for elite player development with specific experience on the female side of BC Soccer’s player development programming.

Donn is a current Coaching Education Instructor with BC Soccer and the Association is pleased to have a individual who demonstrates the required passion, knowledge and experience working with BC’s players within the Provincial Teams Program.

With its continued advancements within the area of player development, BC Soccer’s Provincial Teams Program has become a symbol for players and coaches who are dedicated to enhancing the development opportunities for elite players at the Regional, Provincial, and National Team level of play.

It is with a continued commitment to its players overall development that the BC Soccer is pleased to finalize the Head Coaches for the 2010 Provincial Teams Program Head Coaches.

A bio from Coquitlam's another website ...
Don Sparks - Girls High Performance Academy
Don will be a new face to most of you as he has not coached in our club before but comes with an unbelievable coaching and playing resume. Don is an ex-Jamaican National team player and has coached girls/women at almost every level including College, Provincial Team, Metro teams. Currently he works with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Prospects program and holds a B-National License. Don is our Under 10 Select team coach this year and also is the Head of our CMFSC’s Premiere Women’s team.

Richmond Regaining Their Form ... Take 3 Points From Caps

A very brief review of the game below...
- The first half saw Richmond maintain most of the possession and shots - most of the shots were from outside the 18
- In the second half the Caps finally figured out the Richmond team and for the first 10-15 minutes of the half, saw much of the play in Richmond's half of the field and our shot count started climbing
-  However, Richmond would not let up and scored about the 15 minute mark
- Finding ourselves in the unfamiliar place of having to play "catch up" did not deter the Caps and about 10 minutes left to play Kathy scored on a nicely lofted ball over the defence from GiGI and Katy beat the defence and chipped the goalie as she was coming out to pressure her
- Perhaps we let up a bit and this allowed Richmond back into the game on a nice individual effort by Summer Clark
- A shout out to Natalie who came up with numerous good saves throughout the match

All in all a good game but we know we can play them better.

For a much lengthier overview of the game from a RIchmond point of view, check out the Richmond News

"Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is" Vince Lombardi

Caps Returning To Form

A good day for soccer over in Maple Ridge for this second game vs Golden Ears United - high overcast mild temperature and no rain!

Despite a number of the girls not having any practises under their belts since the Christmas break, the girls played well for their first game back.  Because of this the coaches placed soem girls in positions they are not accustomed to.  After  10 minutes of familarization and allowing Golden Ears to pressure us a little too much; the Caps started rolling and took the game to GEU.

The game tactics and play for the Caps had two different halves.  The first half saw the caps use their skill and passing through the middle and in the second  we switched the game to the flanks and used longer balls or sideline passes to bring the ball around to the goal.  Both had pretty much the same effect with many chances at goal.  The final result was a 2-0 convincing win.

The black mark on the day was that Hannah went down at the end of the 1st half with a knee injury and could not return to the game.  Hopefully things are not serious and she has a speedy recovery.

Some highlights in the game:
- our possession in the first half of the game was much better than previous games ... Brad is tracking this :-)
- some brilliant strings of passes in the first half - especially one particular attack that started deep in our end and after 7+ passes ended up on a shot off the post (but could not capitalize on the rebound)
- a lovely goal by Hannah --> cool and calm under pressure, placing the ball in the corner of the net past the keeper (this also started from a number of nice passes)
- today also saw Natalie save her third PK this season ... from memory, she has 3 saves and no goals against for PKs
- a clean sheet for Natalie and Michaila - who shared keeper duties
- our goals against / differential continues to be very good

Happy New Years Caps!

To celebrate the new year & the new decade of 2010, the Girls U15  Victoria Capital girls are havin' a PARTY!!!

Date: Saturday, January 9th
Time: 12:30 - 3:15pm
Where: Pearkes Arena Ice Rink & the Flipside Teen Centre.

Some deatils ....
- First we'll meet for the "Everyone Welcome Skate" from 12:30 - 1:40pm
- Next we'll head to the Flipside (Teen Centre) from 1:45 - 3:15pm
-the cost for the party is $5.00 each --> this covers skating, skate rental and room rental!
Skating:
- Bring skates, and warm wear for skating
- If you have never been skating (or name is Erin) bring a helmet :-)
Post-Skating Party:
- Please bring some food to share with everyone (pot luck, snack)
- We'll put the food in a room while we skate, then we'll just hang out & relax in the Teen Centre where there are video games, a pool table, Karaoke & more