Page 3 SEPTEMBER 2012 Message from the Technical Director Inside this issue: Message from the Technical Director State Cup Report 1 Gladiators U13 Boys Fox Soccer schedule 3 Positive Coaching Alliance MLU Facebook 3 Raptors U9 Girls Messi U9 Boys 1 2 3 4 4 Dear MLU Members, The soccer season is on its way to the 5th week and I hope that you are all enjoying watching your children's games. If you are not aware our concession stand is now open and ready to serve you coffee, hotdogs and snacks please be sure to visit them on game day. We are looking forward to a great MLU Columbus Day Tournament with over 165 teams registered, I am sure the weekend will be full of excitement and great soccer good luck to all MLU teams. Thank you for your support of MLU! See you on the pitch very soon! Wayne Grocott MLU Technical Director MLU players make NJ ODP 5 Concession stand 6 NJ State Cup Game Report MLU Gladiators 6 vs. Toms River Elite Crewe 4 Game recap: Gladiators up 1-0 after 30 seconds TR answers and led 2-1 at half TR added 2 goals in opening 10 minutes of 2nd half to go up 4-1. Gladiators score on a shot from 25 with 20 mins remaining, closing score to 4-2. Gladiators score with 12 mins remaining, 4-3. Gladiators score with 8 mins to go, 4-4 and rock the woodwork on great header with 3 mins remaining. Overtime: Gladiators scored 5 minutes into first of two 10-min OT periods, 5-4 Gladiators notch final tally with 6 mins to go in 2nd OT, 6-4. TR penalty kick with 3 minutes remaining is stymied by GK, Collin Day, on a great save to preserve the win
MLU Gladiators Fall Campaign Gets Started with Trip to Nation's Capital: When Division I George Washington University (GWU) Colonials Head Coach, Craig Jones, invited the MLU Gladiators (U13 Boys) to his campus and opening game on August 24 & 25, it was all that was needed to turn the invitation into a great pre-season weekend. With Gladiator parents support, the two-day trip began by traveling on the morning of Friday, August 24 and meeting on the grounds overlooking the White House. Donning their gray and maroon training uniforms, the Gladiators held a 90-minute training session at 11:30am with the White House, Washington Monument and hundreds of tourists in sight. The final 45 minutes of training was capped by a "Monument Run", with kids exchanging their cleats for running shoes. Starting the run across Constitution Avenue, to the Washington Monument, into (and out of) the World War II Memorial, by the lengthy Reflecting Pool and to the Lincoln Memorial, the kids were noticed and applauded by many who watched them nimbly weave the trails. The Lincoln Memorial has steps...many of them...so it was a prime location to run them, repeatedly. On the return, the players ran to the Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial, then respectfully walked through the memorial while viewing the thousands of names engraved on the wall. From there, the 2.5 mile run continued to Independence Pond and back to the Ellipse (White House park). After a quick drive across the Potomac River into Arlington, VA and check-in at the Key Bridge Marriott, the team traveled to George Washington University's soccer complex to watch the season opener between GWU and Long Island University at 4pm. As Coach Jones requested, the MLU team arrived 45 minutes prior to game time so they could be given instruction on the requirements of ball boys! Eight MLU uniformed-players per half were assigned duties on the sidelines of the Division I college soccer game. At halftime, the GWU Athletics department prepared the team to play a 15-minute inter-squad scrimmage on the game field in front of the crowd in attendance. MLU Gladiator players names and jersey numbers were announced over the public address system to begin the halftime "show." The college game rightfully concluded with a golden goal scored by GWU in the second overtime, for a 1-0 win. Up and early on Saturday morning, the team departed for GWU's soccer complex at 9:30am for a 10:00am training session on the home field of the Colonials. Little did they know that the varsity team they had watched the previous day would be training on the other half of the field! With parent cameras rolling and an energetic team training, Coach Jones offered his starting goalie to the Gladiators during a 20- minute segment of shooting drills. The spirited session was only heightened by the goals that were scored here and there. Coach Jones addressed the players and parents, and provided some wisdom for the developing players. "We have a saying here at GW. When you are on the sidelines preparing for a training session and you cross the line onto the field, you go there with the intention of getting better. It might be your left foot. It might be your fitness. It might be your first touch. Whatever it is, we ask our players to set their mind's in the right direction and we know their body's will follow." At Gladiator practices now, a small 2 yard white line is painted each week for players to cross and begin training. After training, each boy took a penalty kick against the GWU goalie and then headed to the locker room facilities for a tour and meet-andgreet with the stars of the Colonials soccer team. To show our Club's appreciation for his time, Coach Jones was presented with an official MLU gray training shirt, signed by all players of the MLU Gladiators. He immediately became an honorary member of the MLU family as he put on the shirt. After a quick stop for lunch, we headed to Fairfax, VA and Braddock Road Youth Club (VA), who organized a "scrimmage-fest" with news of our visit to the DC area. MLU played two friendlies against two teams from the very talented BRYC club, before returning to South Jersey...and a well-deserved Sunday respite. Info: MLU Gladiators ('99/'00) Coach, Bruce Heon, is a native of Arlington, VA. He is a graduate of GWU (Exercise and Sport Science, '90) where he was a 4-year starter and captain for the 1989 NCAA tournament team that advanced to the final 16 before losing to #1 ranked Indiana University. Upon graduation from GWU, Coach Heon played professionally for the Washington Stars of the APSL. He currently holds a National USSF coaching license.
SOCCER ON TV FOX SPORTS TUESDAY October 2 UEFA Champions League: FC Spartak V Celtic 12pm (live) & CFR Cluj V Manchester United 2.30pm (live) THURSDAY October 4 UEFA Europa League: Panathinaikos V Tottenham 1pm (live) SATURDAY October 6 England: CHELSEA V NORWHICH CITY (live) 10:00am England: WEST HAM V ARSENAL (live) 12:30pm SUNDAY October 7 England: SOUTHAMPTON v FULHAM (live) 8:25 am England: NEWCASTLE v MANCHESTER UNITED (live) 10:30 am Mount Laurel United Soccer Assoc., in conjunction with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) will be holding two workshops in the month of October. On Tuesday Oct 9th, we will be conducting a PARENTS WORKSHOP, entitled Parent Talk. This workshop will focus parents on how they should view the 'Big Picture' when involving their children in youth athletics. This is MANDATORY for all new parents to travel soccer. If you have yet to attend this class, please participate in one of the two sessions that have been set up. They will be held at 7:15 PM and then again at 8 PM at Mt. Laurel ISC. Again the date for both sessions is Tuesday, October 9th. On Wed Oct 10th, we will be conducting a COACHES WORKSHOP, entitled Coaching for Winning & Life Lessons. This workshop focuses on building a positive team culture and motivating your players to work hard ad strive for excellence. This is MANDATORY for all COACHES who have not yet gone through this workshop. It will be held at the Mt Laurel ISC, at 7:15 PM. Again the date is Wed Oct. 10th. For more information regarding the Positive Coaching Alliance you can visit them at http://www.positivecoach.org/. MLU is the only Soccer Club in NJ with a partnership with this organization. The MLU FACEBOOK website would like you to send in soccer pictures, stories, game results, tournament scores and any other information about your team that you would like to share please send to Melissa Richards at outreach@mlusoccer.org WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!
MLU U9 Raptors The U9 girls travel team, the Raptors, are a brand new team this year. They started off under tough circumstances against a talented and experienced Winslow team that played all of last year together, while our girls had never played a game before without their coach on the field. They played hard but it was clearly a new experience for them. They had some good chances but fell short in a 5-1 loss. Game 2 against Swedesboro, their first home game, saw a big leap forward. They played aggressively, were more comfortable on the field, and completely dominated the first half of the game. As you know, soccer can be a funny sport, and Swedesboro only had the ball one time anywhere near the Raptors goal and it happened on the final minute of the half. One shot, one goal and we found ourselves down 1-0 at the half. This deflated the girls a little bit and the first part of the second half didn't start well and we quickly found ourselves in a 3-0 hole. However, the girls turned it around and once again took over the game, connecting on two goals (including one with a great steal and pretty pass from Sandy Grabowski that led to a great goal by Shannon DeFeo) in the last five minutes. Only time kept us from winning, out shooting Swedesboro 19-6 in a heart breaking 3-2 loss. The Raptors finally broke free in game 3 at Harrison. They continue to get better from game to game and showed a big improvement in defense and especially their passing, which led to numerous scoring opportunities, leading to a shot advantage of 15-4 and a 2-0 victory (including the third goal of the season by Sophia "Choochie" Bartasius) for their first ever travel team victory. From goal keeping, to defense, to offense, they played outstanding and showed tremendous improvement since those first practices in late July." MLU Messi This U9 boy team came together this fall and have done fantastically well in the short time that they have been on the training ground. The games have seen many goals with an appetite to score even more which is nice. There is much more to learn and they are not getting too carried away. Come catch a game - Next home games: on trotters field 3A Oct 28 @ 12.30pm Nov 11 @ 12.30pm Nov 18 @ 13.30pm
The MLU Flash finished 5th in the Nation after the US Club National Finals! Competition in the Super Group Final was tremendous. The way the girls represented MLU was amazing. The coaches and parents were extremely proud of the team and impressed with the end results. When the tournament ended and the last whistle blew, the MLU Flash was sitting at the #5 spot in the Nation. The top five teams are from Jacksonville Florida, Seattle Washington, San Diego California, Minneapolis Minnesota, and the Flash! 12 U-13 Girls teams attended the finals. As for an update on the progress of the team so far: The Flash currently hasn t lost a game in JAGS over the last two seasons and is 2-0 in the MAPS Division this season. Beating NJX Milan 2-0 and FC Rage 2-1. Team Record from last August to Today: 36-6 - 6 with 30 shutouts! MLU players make ODP MLU Gladiators: 3 attend ODP Camp; 1 Selected to Region I Camp; 5 Selected to ODP Pools; 1 participates with NY Red Bulls In July 2012, GK Collin Day (1999), MF Jawon Daniels (1999) and MF Nicholas Heon (2000) were invited and participated in a 4-day Olympic Development Program (ODP) camp at Rider University. Hundreds of players from all Region I states (Virginia to Maine) attended the camp. The MLU Gladiator boys performed well in front of NJ ODP coaches and Region I coaches. From his performance at the camp, Jawon Daniels was also invited to participate at a select Region I Camp a short time later at Kutztown University. As a result, Jawon was provided a place in the 2012-2013 ODP (1999's). In August 2012, 4 players attended tryouts for the 2012-2013 ODP program: GK Collin Day (1999), MF Nicholas Heon (2000), MF Collin Koehler (2000) and D Vincent Lamina (2000). All 4 players were selected into the ODP program; and with MF Jawon Daniels, the total is 5 players from the U13 boys team. In Spring and Summer 2012, F Jeremy Rafanello (2000) trained in the NY Red Bulls' Academy Regional Development School. One of only 12 players to be invited into this site of the regional program, Jeremy excelled and was invited to participate in an advanced camp and competition for the Red Bulls RDS program.
MLU Soccer Club MLU endeavors to: Mount Laurel United Soccer Association 3111 Route 38, #11, Suite 134 Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 Phone: 856-778-9549 Email: admin@mlusoccer.org Provide quality soccer instruction. Create a positive and nurturing environment. Give players of all levels the opportunity to play soccer. Reinforce non-soccer specific skills such as: communication, teamwork, time management, responsibility, discipline, and respect. Ensure all staff and volunteers work together, showing professionalism and enthusiasm. Provide staff with continuing professional development opportunities, to keep their soccer skills and THE MLU CONCESSION STAND IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSSINESS ON SATURDAY & SUNDAYS PLEASE STOP BY FOR YOUR COFFEE, HOTDOGS AND SNACKS WHILE WATCHING A GREAT GAME OF SOCCER.