Parent's meeting

We held the parent's meeting on Monday night and discussed many items. I'll try to capture them all below:

1. We lost four players for the Winter and Spring seasons: Justin, Damien, Franco and Danny
2. Two more players will not likely join us next fall: Joey and Jake
3. In addition, three players will be considering another sport their primary sport in the spring: Joey, Jake and Dario. This is especially problematic for a Spring tournament.
4. That leaves us with eleven players going into the Spring. I will be working with Wayne Soccer Club and on my own to recruit more players so that we don't have to fold in the spring. We cannot enter Spring session with only eleven players. That would mean we would likely start every game short one or two players.
5. We decided to save some trainer money by not having any more game day trainers in the winter and spring
6. We also want to consolidate trainers to just Leo for the spring.
7. There is money in the budget for a spring OR winter tournament.
8. We decided we should spend this on the Winter tournament. $375 covers almost the entire cost of the tournament, (It's $445) leaving us needing to collect about $10 per child total to cover the remainder plus referee fees.
9. Bruce will contact Renee to get Xavier's card reinstated so that he can help on the game day assistance Bruce needs.
10. Other parents volunteered to assist Bruce in some of the random needs so that he can concentrate on recruiting.
11. Bruce also needs to find out from Renee when to register for the Spring season. We will hold off on this decision until we know if we have a team or not.

Parent's meeting tonight

Thanks for all your votes and messages from those who couln't attend either day. See you all at my house tonight for a parent's meeting.

7PM at
41 Coventry Road
Wayne, NJ

Agenda:

• Who's playing in the spring?
• Who's playing next year?
• When is indoor winter practice?
• Who will train the boys during indoor practice?
• What do we want to do about a winter indoor tournament?
• What do we have remaining for trainer fees?
• How much do we want to spend on trainer fees in the spring?
• Do we want to continue to pay for game-day training?
• Do we want to play in a spring tournament?
• Who can assist Bruce in some of the coaching duties?
• Any ideas on recruiting more children?

Parent's meeting

I probably gave too many options for a parent's meeting resulting in no more than three people voting on any of the nights. I'm also disappointed that only eight of the parents voted at all. So we'll try it one more time, this time with only two choices of dates. Look to your left and cast your vote so that the majority of us can meet and make some decisions about what we want to do with the boys this winter and spring.

The roles of a coach

When you see the opposing teams we play you'll notice something different. They all have two or more coaches on the sidelines. As a parent you may wonder why this is so. What does a coach really do? I know when I was a parent I was unsure. So let me list it out for you so you can see why I am asking for help from you all. I don't necessarily need another person to get their F-license and join me on the sidelines, you'll notice that all the roles that have an asterisk next to it can be done by the civilians amongst you.

• *Attend monthly coaches meeting (Every first Monday night of the month)
• *Communicate with the parents via e-mail, blog or phone, when and where the games and practices are
• *Attend practice twice a week
• Train the boys
• *Set up scrimmages with other teams
• *Sign up for tournaments
• Attend games
• Coach the boys from the sidelines
• Deal with injuries
• *Communicate with other coaches prior to games
• *Warm up the boys before games
• *Print out match day forms
• *Gather players from other teams if we are short
• *Print out rosters updated with players moving up for the day
• *Enter the scores
• Evaluate the referees
• Pay the referees
• *Get reimbursement for referee fees
• *Get reimbursement for trainer fees
• *Scrounge up money from parents when we go over training budget (Thanks Josephine)
• *Coordinate the fundraiser (Thanks Josephine and Janice)
• *Manage the finances
• *Enter all the children in the USClub soccer website, (Birth certificates, photos, etc,)
• *Get the passcards from Northern Counties
• *Get photos from the parents
• *Generate photo ID for the boys
• *Get the passcards laminated
• *Drive up to Ridgewood to retrieve cards when our players get red-carded
• *Recruit more players
• *And write all these messages

So think about these roles and decide if you could help me out on some of them. I need a manager or even a group of assistant managers who can lift the burden from me. Remember, I didn't ask for this job. I stepped up so that the team wouldn't collapse on Marios and Roland's exit. But I'm doing it almost all myself and letting important things like recruiting more players slip due to a simple lack of time.

Extra Trainer Dollars

Thanks to all the parents who paid the extra trainer fees. Josephine collected $1,650 so far.
That pays for the $990 extra training costs for Julio and will also cover the $97.50 Leo will charge us on Monday assuming weather cooperates for the final practice session before the winter session starts.

That will leave me with a little over $560 in extra training fees available for next season. I also expect to get money from two more of the parents. I'm not sure about Damien or Justin's situation so I'm not expecting money from them at this point.

We can discuss the money in more detail at the parent's meeting.

Since this extra training comes out of our pockets, that's why you have to make the checks out to me rather than Wayne Soccer Club. I just received an e-mail from Doug Struyck, the efficient treasurer of the club and he has told me that he does indeed keep separate funds available for teams in this case. We can discuss doing this at the meeting and see if we want to burden him with this as well or account for it ourselves outside of the club's system. (He didn't like my little joke about the donation, by the way. I didn't mean to imply that they would do anything inappropriate. I just figured it would be an un-needed complication.)
If you want more details of this money, look to your right and click on the link called practice attendance to see money going in and coming out. I'm no accountant so don't make fun of my system, it works for me. Also, click on the roster to see who paid what.

What a season!

I can't tell you how proud I am of this team. The season looked really difficult from the beginning. With a screwed up recruitment process we only picked up one new player. I was stuck as the only coach and made a lot of mistakes from the beginning. We played with almost no subs the entire season. Some games we played with 9 or 10 players. And there we were in the premier flight of the league. It looked like a recipe for being blown out most games.

 

I gave the parents who made it to my parent's meeting my coaching philosophy: "I want the boys to have fun, exit the season better players than they entered it and not to get blown out all their games or to blow out their opponents." Let's see how we did meeting those goals.

 

• You'll have to ask your boys if they had fun, I know my two boys did.
• I can tell you that most learned a lot this season. The practice attendance was really quite good, (see below for details) and they learned some great drills with Leo and Julio as the coaches that they put into practice in the games. I saw tremendous improvement in Sebastian, Roberto, David and Liam.
• We were only blown out by one team but even in that game they played keep-away for only the last few minutes of the game.
• And we finished the season quite respectably: Three wins, six losses and a tie.

 

The big problem that plagued us throughout the season was a lack of substitutes. It didn't help having two injured players and two who were committed to another team. But I am really disappointed in the lack of support I received from the club in this area. I was constantly offered help but those offering it didn't follow through. I will be dealing with the club over the winter to try and get some help here. I will hold Rene's feet to the fire to have him get me the help he promised.
The only good side to this problem was that the players got plenty of playing time and were in terrific shape by the end of the season.

 

Let's have a parent's meeting after Thanksgiving to discuss the past season, the winter training, the spring season and any help you would like to offer me. Please vote on when you can attend and I'll set it up for a time that works for everyone. Vote on which days work for you and I'll pick the most popular.

Great Game!

I loved seeing our boys control this game! No subs but everyone played well. This was the same team that beat us 4 - 0 in the first game and the difference was an increase in skills and better stamina for the boys. They were not winded and three of them even played the game right after.

Let's see them all finish the season strong today with a win against Montclair.

603 Grove St Montclair, NJ 07043 (map)

Northeast: Garden State Parkway to exit 151, Watchung Avenue in Bloomfield. Head west on Watchung Avenue across Broad Street. Turn right at the second traffic light after Broad Street, Grove Street. Proceed north on Grove to entrance to school on the right, just before the second traffic light from Watchung Avenue.

No Practice Today!

Too much rain for practice today, Wednesday, Nov 16th.

See you at the game on Saturday.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

Let's start with the ugly: Saturday's game. Nearly everyone played poorly goals were flying fast and furious and we experienced the horrible feeling of the other team not being able to score any more goals on us because they were leading us by seven. Fortunately this was only near the end of the game.

There were a few brights spots. After their #17 scored two amazing goals, I placed one person on him full-time. Ed and Jake took turns and we shut him down for the rest of the game. And we scored twice! We also had a few opportunities to score more that we wasted so the game wasn't a complete rout.

Now the bad: Joel was suspended for two games:

Based upon the referee report for game #85384 which took place on 11/5/2011, Games Conduct has assessed the following penalty:

    Joel Castro has been assessed a two game suspension effective with the first game following the incident.

The reason for this penalty is as follows:

    GUILTY OF VIOLENT CONDUCT

A ridiculous penalty but one we will have to bear. Danny and Sam played goalie in the last game and we have two decent backups. I am able to retrieve Joel's card after Saturday's game so that he can finish out the season with us on Sunday.

Now for the good: Kathy and I attended last night's soccer dinner dance. We were the only people sitting alone at a table meant for ten so it looked weird at first. But we didn't mind too much because there was a bright shiny soccer ball as a centerpiece which we knew we would get no matter what. The dinner was looking better already.

Then we bought some raffle tickets and put them in the various baskets. And we won two off them! We won the one we wanted, our own basket put together by Josephine and Janice. The other one was for two living wills. Maybe we can trade that for one regular will since we still don't have one. (I know, I know terrible of me.)

So, between the two baskets and the soccer ball, we pretty well broke even for the dance. Nice to have something good happen this weekend.

See you at practice on Wednesday.

Trainer money, Practice next two weeks and winter practice

Parents,

We have been using a lot of trainer time this year, more than budgeted by the club. They budget $1,750 for the fall season and we have used more than this. By the end of the fall session we will have spent $2,955 on training. Next spring should be similar and we haven't even talked about the winter training schedule yet.

The good news is that the boys have been improving due to all this attention and, as you can see from the chart at the bottom of this blog, most boys have been taking advantage of the training. The bad news is that this extra money will have to come out of our pockets. If we had put in a better showing at the dinner dance, we would have some extra money to pay for the extra training but we didn't even make our quota of filling a table. Only Kathy and I are going so far.

Bottom line: I need to collect another $150 per child to pay for the extra training bucks and we'll have to do what we can to use less professional training in the winter and spring. Perhaps if a parent can help me on the sidelines I can do away with most of the game-day training. And I am always happy to have a parent lead the occasional practice day to focus on something they want particularly for the boys to learn. Perhaps winter training would be perfect for that. I'll return whatever we don't use or ask for a little more near the end of spring season to make up the shortfall.

Josephine has graciously volunteered to collect the money in check form. Please give them to her at the next game. Make the checks out to Bruce Fieggen so that I can pay the trainers directly.

I set up two last practices for the boys under the lights this season. They are on the calendar and are Wed 11/16 and Mon 11/21 from 5:00 - 6:30 at Barbour Pond 1 or 2. That is the grass field.

Also, the club has set up six sessions of winter practice at Turf City starting Feb 17th from 4:00 - 5:00 PM. These are Friday afternoons. This will appear on the calendar shortly.

Saturday's game and other things

I loved the way we played during today's game. It was a tough competitor, one of the best in the flight and we held them close until near the end. We were also playing against a terrible referee who allowed the other team to foul ours incessantly, yet freely gave us red and yellow cards.

We lost Joel but Sam and Danny played well in his stead and will step up next week. Sebastian was a monster out there, stopping nearly everything that came his way. Liam made his debut today, playing a little shaky but he was able to provide that needed rest and played for Roberto when he was hurt and Joey when he had to leave early.

We played a lot of through balls to Franco and Zaeem and Davis and they almost put a lot in the back of the net. Anyway, congratulate your boys for me, I am very proud of them all.

In other items, I need to know who cannot make the 11AM makeup game on the 20th. If it is someone we normally count on, I will ask for a different date. That will probably be a week night. If not, we'll do it then.

Also, I didn't get a lot of people interested in indoor practice for the last two weeks of the season so we'll just plan on getting in a little practice before the games so make sure they arrive at least 45 minutes before the games.

Make up games and practice

Last week's coach sent us an e-mail with a plea to make up the snowed out game on November 20th at 11AM. Given the amount of snowed out games, we may have little choice in the matter. I'm hoping you can all make it. Vote on the first poll.

You voted unanimously to change this Saturday's game from 6:00 to 3:00 so I will make that change on the calendar.

We also need to decide about practice once daylight savings starts this weekend. It will be dark by 5 so the boys will be unable to practice at Schuyler any more. I will try for Barbour Pond but I was told early in the season that this would be impossible. So, do you want to pay for indoor practice or would you rather say that is the end of practice until our indoor sessions start in the winter? Vote on the second poll.

Big Game against Montclair

See you all tomorrow at Montclair. Have the boys there by 2:45 PM so I can get them warmed up, stretched out and ready to play.

The game is a Fortunato field:

10 Essex Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042‎

If the game is cancelled I'll post immediately on the website so check before you leave.

Here are the directions from Wayne:

7.

Turn left to merge onto US-46 E About 4 mins

go 3.1 mi

8.

Take the ramp to New Jersey 3 E/Lincoln Tunnel

go 164 ft total 8.0 mi

9.

Keep left at the fork and merge onto NJ-3 E

go 0.4 mi

10.

Take the Grove St exit toward Montclair/Paterson

go 0.2 mi

11.

Turn right onto Grove St About 7 mins

go 3.5 mi

12.

Turn right onto Chestnut St About 1 min

go 0.2 mi total 12.3 mi

13.

Take the 3rd right onto Essex Ave Destination will be on the left

go 230 ft

10 Essex Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042‎

Also, vote quickly about changing next Saturday's game to 3:00 PM.

Excellent play today

We played a tough team, ten players to fifteen, and held them to a tie for all but the last fifteen minutes. We played physically tough and smart, scored some great goals, had some excellent saves and great one-on-one wins. With a full team we could have beaten these guys. I'm very proud of you all!

Sorry about the morning drill to change locations. Thanks to Jake Belli for checking the website to find out that the opponents had changed the field without telling us. Coaches on the opposing team are below our contempt for the way they behaved. This is the same team that cancelled without telling us and gave us so few options for the reschedule.

I want to call out a few of our boys who played really well today. Joel who made some great one-on-one saves and never let them get a rebound goal. Jack was all over the field as a strong sweeper. Jake Belli coming in and playing tough offense and defense with the big boys really helped to keep this game cose. Roberto was doing great winning balls in the midfield and dribbling past opponents once he had the ball. Jake Samieski had a great goal and kept his head even after some aggregious refereeing against him. And Franco had some excellent runs at goal in addition to the one he put in.

Everyone played the best game we've seen all season. This was one of the top teams in the division and we almost won it. If we'd had a few extra boys and played the way we did, this game would have been a rout for us.

Jerks from Ironbound changed the location again without telling me!!!

First they cancelled the game without telling me, now they changed the stadium without telling me.

Here's his last e-mail to me:

Sure – Riverbank Park in Newark.

Luckily Janice checked the Northern counties website this morning and saw that the field had changed.

Here's the new directions:

From Garden State Parkway: Exit 145 to Route 280 East,
to Exit 16 (Harrison/Newark) down ramp, left at second light (Harrison Ave),
right at F. E. Rodgers Blvd,
go past Wendy’s, Path Station, cross bridge into Newark,
left on to Market St, go past Park, Police Station,
bear right at light (Ferry St), quick left on St. Charles St.
field is at the middle of the block, parking lot on the RIGHT after field

It feels to me that they are hoping we'll miss the game. Tell your boys what they've done to us and get them fired up this morning. I want them to crush this team!

Great Win!

(This post was originally written after our first win in September. I forgot to post it until now. Sorry it's out of order)

It was great to see our team finish the game the way they played for the first 50 minutes. For the first two games we played great but, due to a lack of substitutes, we allowed our opponents to score four goals against us in the last 10 - 15 minutes.

This time we had an advantage. We picked up three boys from the U-11 team which allowed us to have substitutes for the first 55 minutes and then, when Justin and Damien made it from their earlier game, we had fresh players for those last crucial 15 minutes.

Franco scored a great goal and Joel was like a brick wall in defense .There were only a few times when we left men open but Joel made the crucial saves.

We can play in this flight and, with a couple of extra players can compete with anyone our age. I am working with a couple of parents of boys to join the team and am trying to get Jack's twin brother, Liam up to skill level to be able to join us in the spring.

This weekend is the Parsippany tournament where we can hone our skills and figure out how to finish the season strong. I'll know tomorrow when the games are scheduled. The U-11 team will be playing there also so we may borrow boys again to get us through the short times without Dario. Jake will be back for the tournament.

Don't forget to vote on the make-up game.

Great Win again!

With only ten players we pulled off an exciting win today. Everyone played to their utmost potential and played as a team. From the very beggining there was focus in the warm-ups, a team cheer for Patriots initiated by the boys, and focused execution of soccer fundamentals. I pulled David back to help us in defense and he kept that side strong.

The opponents scored an amazing long-range goal that Joel might be able to save next year when he has grown a few inches but not yet. Then we came back with two excellent goals to put us on top at the half. We made some defensive adjustments to deal with their speed in the middle and ended the first half feeling confident. The few mistakes we made, not following our men on free kicks, for example, were covered up by stellar defense by Joel.

Then they scored another amazing long-range goal that just fit under the cross-bar to tie it up. But with some excellent couter-attacks, we added two more goals to pull the game out of their grasp. Then a fifth goal and I finally felt comfortable pulling David back into forward. He proved it to be a good move by attacking relentlessly, making good friends with the crossbar and almost scoring twice.

Their third goal was unimportant because the game was decided by then. My thanks and respect to all the players who did a great job. With the way we played today, we can beat anyone in this league. Let's be sure to bring that intensity tomorrow to our 11AM game in Ironbound.

Also, let's consider having lunch as a team following tomorrow's game. I'm taking my family out for pizza following the game; anyone who wants to join, let's do so and at least celebrate today's win even if we don't win tomorrow.

Thanks, Josephine and Janince for all the work on the fundraiser.

Josephine collected all the money for raffle tickets and baskets and did a lovely job putting together our team basket:

*Sylvania 7" LCD screen portable DVD player

*carrying case that can latch on to seats for viewing in car

*headphones

*2 DVD movies

*Soccer photo frame

*Soccer decal/ snacks

Also purchased the basket, cellophane, bows & tissue paper to put everything in.

Julio has a Futsal season he wants to invite the boys to

Here's an e-mail from Julio about the futsal program he is setting up for the the teacher's convention days in November (10th and 11th):

Just a reminder about the Futsal Camp in November..  Please keep in mind that space is limited and I am getting applications every day...Let me know if you are interested,OK?  Also I will be sending the Winter Camp SSA Brasil this week, which starts in December and ends in March.

Contact Julio for an application form.
What's futsal? That was my question. It's the only official indoor soccer league sanctioned by FIFA and it reinforces outdoor skills unlike normal indoor soccer with balls bouncing off walls. Check this website for details.

Game four

It's nice to have a home game and get a chance to pull in some younger players to act as substitutes. Add to that, the fact that the ref allowed Jake to play, we started the game with four subs. What luxury!

But the boys didn't seem like they were ready to play. Starting with their dumb starting cheer, they allowed out opponents to put up four easy goals. We kept being trapped offsides and left men open in front of goal.

At half-time Julio got them settled down and thinking seriously about winning the second half. We did so, scoring three goals to their two. I'm proud of their comeback and would like to see that kind of intensity in the first half as well as the second of our next games.

Tell your boy to take it seriously during the game and realize later that they had fun playing a good game of soccer.

Practice location changed for this Friday

Since Schuyler has Teen Canteen tomorrow night we are moving the practice to a field that is rarely used, Captain Kilroy Park, behind my house. Type in 'captain kilroy park wayne, nj' into google or check the map on the calendar for the location. For GPS directions, type in the intersection of Concord and Coventry and drive to the end of Concord, then left into the park.

Dinner Dance

Just a quick note about the way we pay for the soccer team's expenses. You all paid $400 to register your child with Wayne Soccer Club. Out of that money comes expenses like field permits, referee fees, tournament reimbursement and training costs. Unfortunately, this will not cover everything. So the club hosts a few events to try to raise money. They have sponsorship on the website but their big fundraiser every year is the dinner-dance.

We have a certain expectation placed on us to support this fundraiser. We must fill at least one table with parents from our team and sell two books of raffle tickets per child. More is better. If we don't do this, we need to reimburse the club from the funds we raised with our $400 per child. Any more money we raise goes into our fund. 

Because I have no help, I am using our trainers to cover game day coaching as well as two training sessions per week. This costs money. I can tell you that I will be asking for more money in the spring to cover the shortfall. There will be less shortfall if we all go to the dinner. So please buy a ticket to the dinner and join Kathy and I for a fun evening. I'd like to take the opportunity to chat with you all about how the team is doing and what direction I want to take them. I'll also listen to any advice you have. So come on out and deal with Josephine Sirni on getting tickets and selling raffle tickets.

Thanks,

Bruce

Third Tournament Game

It's tough to win a game when you are playing 9 players against 14. Always two players short on the field and no substitutes. But it didn't help that we were playing against coaches who don't teach their children sportsmanship. I was very upset with the other coaches and it cost me a yellow card. I thought the referee could have done his job at controlling the other team. It didn't help when he made calls against us that should have gone the other way .

Either way, the game was decided at 7:45 when we started with only nine players. I know there were injuries and religious holidays and football games. but you guys knew about this tournament for months and could have let me know earlier that you were unable to attend .

Let's get together at practice and work out our issues with set plays. Then we'll have the whole team except maybe Dario for the next game. The season is back and we intend to win.

Tournament

I was concerned at how well we would do at this tournament given the two major disadvantages we faced going in: Two injured players and a religious holiday robbing us of needed players. But we have been doing OK. Friday's game, although I wasn't present was close and could have been won if we hadn't made a couple of crucial mistakes on defense.

This morning's game was exciting as we pulled to a two-goal lead at the half. Joel made a couple of brilliant saves and Franco placed an exciting goal literally into the back of the net. Zaeem and Danny combined to knock the second goal in.

The other team's response was a great breakaway for their first goal followed by a carom off one of our players that unfortunately went in.

I was very proud that our team took to heart the advice we game them before the game and reinforced at the half: "Stay on your man during the set plays, especially after the ball has been kicked." We missed this once during a free kick from the 30 yard line. We all stayed on our 18 yard line when the ball was kicked to Joel. Luckily he handled the shot cleanly because one of their forwards followed the shot and was standing in front of Joel unguarded ready for the follow-up. That didn't happen again in the second half.

Tomorrow's game is at 7:45 AM again. Please be there by 7:00 AM so that we can get warmed up and set the line-up. There is way too much confusion when players arrive right before and after the game starts. Today we started two players short.

Parsippany High School field #26 located behind school
GPS Directions to field 309 Baldwin Road
Or use the directions below:

• From Route 287: Exit onto Route 80 East. 
• From Route 80 East: Pass Route 287 interchange. Merge right onto local lanes for Lake Hiawatha/Whippany exit.
• After about 1 mile, take first exit for Beverwyck Road.
• At top of exit ramp at light, make a left onto Beverwyck Road. This will bring you to a traffic light for Route 46. Get into left turn lanes and make a left onto Route 46 West.
• Right after you pass Outback Steakhouse, about 2/3 of a mile, you will make a right onto Baldwin Road.
• Parsippany High is located on the right after about 1 mile. 

First Tournament Game

Please be at the field by 5PM Friday afternoon for the first game of the Parsippany tournament. Leo needs to check the team in early. Because of Yom Kippur we are missing some players so there may be no subs. Remember that the games are short and it doesn't matter if we win or lose. So let's focus on good passing and shooting and do the best we can.

Here's the map and directions:

Map: Jannarone Park #39 Turf Field

From the North going Rt 287 South Take Exit 42 towards US-46.

At traffic light turn Left onto Parsippany Blvd/US-202.

At traffic light turn Right onto Rt 46 West and follow directions for Rt 46 West.

Rt 46 West to Lackawanna Ave. (first traffic light passed R&S Plumbing Supply Store), right before traffic light is U-turn for Lackawanna Ave.

Cross over Rt 46 onto Lackawanna Ave. You pass TGI Friday’s restaurant on your left.

After TGI Friday’s, bear left onto Walsh Dr. Stay on Walsh (stay to right when road forks) to the end as it ends at Cranberry Rd.

Straight ahead is a newly constructed road; drive up the hill. The field is at the top of the hill.

See you all Saturday morning at 7AM for game two.

Parsippany Tournament

We have our schedule. Click on the link for details. I'll also add this to the calendar and the links off to the right.

I am flying in from Texas late Friday night so I need someone to take all our paperwork to the field and get us checked in. I was hoping Roland could do that since he is familiar with the procedure.
I'm also hoping Julio can do the game day coaching at least on Friday. I will be verifying this with them on separate e-mails.

These are early games but our opponents will be getting up just as early. Please make sure your son gets an early night before both games so he isn't too tired. He should probably take a nap during the day as well to recover.

We're not likely to get any volunteers to beef up our ranks for these early games but I'll ask anyway. Hopefully some of Rene's boys will help us in our Friday game.

Latest News

We've had to add another player to our injured reserve. Joining Dario with his broken arm will be Jake for two weeks with a broken thumb.

I have requested that some players from the younger team stay after their game tomorrow to help us out with substitutes. They play right before us at Barbour Pond.

Alos, I noticed one person voted not to play on Oct 23rd. Can that parent see me after tomorrow's game so that I can make the decision on whether or not to play that day? Given our dearth of players, we can't afford to be short any players. Though, by Oct 23rd, Jake will be ready to play again, maybe even Dario.

Second Game

Once again, we played a strong first half. Our defense was like a brick wall. Then we scored first and everyone picked up their play a notch. Unfortunately, we weren't able to substitute anyone in the defense and they got tired.

Some key mistakes we made were rushing to the ball on defense and leaving our man open. We cannot afford to double and triple team opponents if it means leaving our man open.  On corner kicks, we covered our man until the ball was in the air but then we all converged on it, once again, leaving our man open. In each of these cases, one of the open men got the ball right in front of goal and scored.

On the positive side, Joel made some excellent saves and Danny also saved a couple of tough shots during his five minutes in goal. Jake made a great shot and our forwards made several other perfect passes to people in great position which could have resulted in goals if it were not for unlucky finishes.

We need more substitutes and better defenders so we can substitute people there when they get tired. We need our boys to have more stamina. Make sure your boys run their mile. Jack and Liam are doing their runs every day. Right now they're walking half of it but they will improve. I am working on getting some additional players on the team.

Practice today from 4 - 6 at Turf city

Team,

 

Because of the rain we have moved the practice today from 4 - 6 at Turf city. Please try to attend since we will be preparing for our game tomorrow. If you can't arrive until 4:30, that's OK but we paid from 4:00.

 

Bring $10 to help pay for the facility.

 

Scrimmage on Monday

The U-13 team that also practices on Mondays wants to hold a scrimmage with our team during next Monday's practice. So we will practice on Friday as usual, then play our game on Saturday but Monday practice will be a little different. We will practice with Leo from 4:30 - 5:30, then scrimmage against the other team until 6:30.

Also, I need someone to take an official team picture on Saturday. That photo will appear in the Dinner Dance book.

Wear Blue shirts on Saturday but, as usual, bring your white shirts as well.

Dinner Dance

Attached is a copy of the e-mail Josephine sent out regarding the WCS Dinner Dance, the main fundraiser the team needs to do every year.

19th Annual Fundraising WSC Dinner Dance

Saturday, November 12, 2011 7:00pm- Carriage House/Barnyard in Totowa

$55.00 each ticket.

Each year, the Wayne Soccer Club holds a fall Fundraising Dinner Dance, with a Tricky Tray, to support the financial needs of the club. In 2010, this dinner raised over $22,000 and accounted for nearly 15% of what it costs to provide our kids with a rich, professional soccer program. The funds raised enable us to keep the Wayne Soccer Club as one of the most competitively-priced soccer programs as compared to other clubs throughout northern New Jersey. In addition, teams that are very successful in raising funds are also able to earn funds for use by their own team for training and other team costs beyond what is funded by the club.

In addition to the financial benefits that this dinner brings to our club and its teams, the evening provides a wonderful opportunity to build and maintain a sense of community among the Club's parents.  We have over 300 boys and girls registered in the WSC programs this year. Please support this important opportunity to make the 2011-2012 season the best yet for the Wayne Soccer Club and our kids!

Each team is expected to:

• sell a minimum of 10 dinner tickets in order to respresent one table for the dinner dance. (Let's try for two)
• sell at least $500 of advertising in the dinner's ad journal (separate email to follow)
• contribute one team basket for the dinner (email to follow)

Each player is to sell 2 raffle books ($20 each book/ $40 total).


Check the roster to keep track of who is attending and has bought the raffle tickets. Bruce will keep this up to date. So far, Bruce and Kathy are going to the dinner but that's just because I got the tickets first. Hope to see most of the parents there.

Please email Josephine Sirni at bobjos@optonline.net see her during the beginning of practices for details and to pick up your raffle tickets. or

Possible game Saturday

I spoke with some parents about a U-13 team who needed an extra player or two tomorrow but by the time I got hold of him, he was all set. So, never mind. He practices at Mondays so we may run the occasional scrimmage against his team on Mondays.

No Game Saturday!

Thanks to Roland for checking the website because the other coach cancelled the game this Saturday and didn't bother telling me about it. We'll have to wait for him to reschedule.

Goalkeeper training

2011-2012 Goal Keeper Training

As part of our goal to focus on the developmental of our players every year the Wayne Soccer Club provides additional training for all of our goal keepers.  I encourage every team to particiapate in this program.  As many of you know, the keeper position is one of the most important ones in the game and the most difficult to fulfill.  Invite any of your players to participate in this training who currently may or may not be playing this position. 

The training is performed by Modern Goalkeeper Training Systems.  For the past two years they have provided excellent training for our boys and girls.

The following is the schedule for this fall season starting Monday, September 12th, 2011:

Large Sided:

Mondays, 6:00PM to 7:00PM

All sessions will be at Schuyler Colfax Middle School.  This program will be for ten weeks.  In case of cancellation due to inclement weather, please visit our WSC website at  http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=ahubhggab&et=1107578608549&s=15&e=001bFerdk0dASG--MsyrLYgTvZMoFZxo-vwsgGdkaezrA3DONSPDeKJ0BDEmyz6dLDc9uNStsvUSuoxuJVHzS4Z9Oco32GPtWKI3Sa_UnTsHdM= for updates.

Red Bulls Game

No overwhelming response to my poll on which Red Bulls game might be fun to take the boys to. Three people voted for three different days and one for a fourth day. Maybe it's not a good idea to try and bring a large proportion of the team to one game. So I'm going to buy tickets for my family to attend the game on the 24th of September. Let me know if anyone else would like to come with us and I'll book as many seats together as you request.

Write to me at bruce@fieggen.com

First Game

Great game everybody! The boys played well and the game was tied up until ten minutes to go. But the heat, the lack of substitutes and poor conditioning cost us the game at the end. The final score was not an indicator of how well we did. I am very proud of our boys.

What did we learn? I learned that I need some help out there. It is very difficult to coach, substitute, take care of injuries and keep track of the game all by myself. We really need Julio to help. I had thought he'd be there but was told last minute that he had another game to attend.

I also felt that I need to think harder about who to substitute and where. With only two players on the bench, I had to be creative and keep players rested as much as possible. But sometimes this resulted in a weak side of the field or people playing in positions that didn't use them to the best of their abilities. Hopefully Julio or Marios can help me with this.

The boys need more conditioning training. We can do a little of that during practice but what they need is a daily program, supervised by the parents where the boys just run. Give them a mile route around your neighborhood and time them running it. Make them run it six days a week. Time them. Chart out their times. Watch for improvement. Some of them may walk half of it at first. That's OK as long as they improve over time. I don't expect anyone to improve overnight. My hope is that by this time next year, they can all run through an entire game.

They did quite well on the two items I asked them to focus on this week. With only a few exceptions, the forwards played on their side and the full-backs covered their sides. This week we focus on two more items.

1. Forwards will shoot for the far post, not the near post. Missing the near post results in a goal kick, missing the far post often results in an assist. That will b e the focus for forwards, in addition to staying on their side.
2. Defenders will focus on following up on their goal kicks. Often, especially when the game is getting tiring, they kick off and stay there. The ball is taken at the 30 yard line by the other team who dribbles up. Now the man you were supposed to be defending is wide open and either taking the shot from the penalty box or open for the pass. You have to kick the ball and immediately follow it. If you don't lose the ball to the other team, you can start pushing up to draw your opponents offsides. Do this in addition to guarding the widest forward on your side of the field.

Let's get to practice on time Monday and work on these two items.

First Game

After a bit of last minute scrambling, I have everyone's player passes and am ready for the first game. Are you?
Let's all be there at 3:15 for warm-ups and line-ups. The address is available above by clicking on the calendar. All of you have told me you'll be there so we'll have substitutes to get us through the game.

Prior to the start of the game, there will be a referee-led minute of silence to offer respect for those who lost loved ones during 9/11. Please prepare your child for this by talking a bout what happened back when they were one or two. I enclose below an excerpt from an e-mail describing what to expect during this moment.

Bring a ball to the game in case we beat Julio there so they can warm up.

My phone number is (973) 768-3831 in case there are any last minute problems.

I will be calling the opposing coach later tonight to verify all the arrangements and will post tomorrow in case anything changes.

Get the boys to bed early so they're well-rested tomorrow. Let's all have a great game. Remember we are focusing on staying on your side of the field, left or right, if you are a forward and marking the left-most forward if you are left full-back and right-most if you are right full-back. Feel free to remind your sons of that assignment.

Here's the excerpt about 9/11. It is addressed to the referees:

The procedure is simple.  As you (the referee) check the teams in, remind the coaches they are to do everything they can to make their kids understand they need to be as attentive as they can make them.  As soon as you are done and prepared to kick-off you will do the following:

With you in the lead, the teams will walk out TOGETHER BUT IN SINGLE FILE from their sides of the field to the center circle area and face the parents.  The teams can line up in a straight line or around the center circle, each sharing their half of the field.  It will probably be easier to get them in a straight line.  You can move them closer to the parents half of the field if you like.

With the coaches on the outsides and you as the officials in the center of the players, you will announce to the parents that the NCSA would like to have a moment of silence.  BE BRIEF, but speak loudly for all to hear.  When you are done with your announcement, you will blow your whistle, bow your head and look down at your watch and let it run 30 seconds.  Make sure you look DOWN and make no other eye contact until you are done.  If you do not want to bow your head or ask everyone to, you can just ask them to close their eyes while we remember those that perished.  At 30 seconds, you'll look up, say thank you, blow your whistle a second time, and we'll be set to play.  Advise the teams that when the second whistle is blown ending the Moment of Silence only the starting line up players stay on the field.  All other players return to the bench.

Practice today

I walked around Schuyler at 8AM this morning. It's a little muddy but barely playable. If it doesn't rain anymore before practice, the field should be quite playable by 4:30 PM.
If it rains some more, it won't be playable.
I added a link to Wayne weather on the blog but the best bet will be for you to look out the windows today to predict if we are practicing in Wayne or Totowa.
Unfortunately, I need to make the call by noon.
Stay tuned until then. I'll put it on the headlines.

Backup practice location

I really want to get a good practice in on Friday prior to our first game so Julio has found an indoor arena that can take us if it is raining too hard tomorrow. It costs $70 an hour so I want to make sure we need it before we commit.

The place is called:
Satellite Sports:
31 Vreeland Ave
Totowa, NJ 07512

Check the blog, I'll make the call by noon on Friday. The practice time may change to 5:30 - 7:00.

Preparation for our first game.

Looks like there is more flooding on our way which means a couple of things:

1. Schuyler may be flooded so we won't be able to practice there. I'll make the call on alternate practice site or cancelled practice by noon Friday. Check the site headlines for the answer.
2. The game at Arsenal may be affected. I'll contact the other coach tomorrow to check out the situation, look into alternate routes to the game etc. and I'll post the answers Friday night.  

I attended the coaches meeting last night and learned a lot about what I need to prepare in advance of our first game.

1. Player passes. I need pictures of your sons to add to the player passes. I know this is short notice but I can always crop a picture from the Shutterfly site if it comes to that. But if you have a better picture, e-mail it to me at bruce@fieggen.com and I'll use that instead. I'll be making up and laminating the passes Friday afternoon.
2. We need to be at the game 45 minutes in advance, especially since we may not have a practice this week to set our lineup. Click on the game in the calendar for a map and address and directions to the game. Be there at 3:15 with a ball so your son can warm up.
3. I need to print out a roster. Please let me know tonight if your son cannot attend.
4. Also, look at the rest of the schedule and let me know which games you cannot make so I can start making arrangements to get backups.

Speaking of the Shutterfly site, I added a link to it from the blog so you can easily get there from here. Thank you Marissa for sending us the link and all the great pictures.

First Scrimmage

The boys had their first scrimmage today. It was certainly a learning experience for all of us. I learned that we had better have the boys show up 45 minutes before the games in order to be properly organized and lined up. I also learned to bring balls with me in case I beat the trainer there.

The boys focused on three things today which I want them to carry over to the first game:

1. The left forward says in the left quadrant of the field, the right forward on the right. This opens up the field for the far post play and keeps that person's defender away from the ball.
2. The right fullback covers the right-most offensive player, the left fullback covers the left-most. This frees up the sweeper and stopper to cover the middle.
3. There are three places you can be to stop an opposing player from scoring: Standing right in front of the player's foot as he tries to shoot, being in between him and the goal to intercept the shot or the goalie as the last defense. We need to do better sensing when the player is about to shoot and getting our foot in the way.

We played around with the line-up during this scrimmage to decide which children play best in which position and with whom.
We learned that:

• Danny will make a great back-up goalie for Joel but, given how few subs we have, we need to find the right field position for him to play and focus on that.
• Justin should stay in sweeper and move Joey back out to one of the full-back positions
• a 4-4-2 line-up might work better for this team
• Sebastian can handle himself quite well in defense
• Joel knows how to move well without the ball in forward to open himself up for shots on goal
• the children are in poor shape after a summer away from the sport. They need to get some conditioning in. We pay well for trainers and I don't want to waste that money sending them running laps. I can do that. So I encourage all parents to get their children running, jumping and stretching on their own time.

Rumors at the parent's meeting that Justin and Adrian were leaving the team were incorrect. I talked for a while after the game with Charles and he assured me that the players were available to play at all games this season. His concern is that they are practicing three days a week for another team and playing another game on Sundays. I told him that if he brings the children early to games so that they can warm up with the team and tries to make as many Friday practices as possible, (this is where we will set the line-up for the next day's game) both boys can play on Saturdays.

Remember that you all pay for trainers as part of the money you paid at the beginning of the season. Those who choose not to make practices are missing out on taking advantage of this time. Training has two benefits:

1. Your child improves his soccer skills
2. Your child gets used to playing with his team-mates.

Taking practice with another team covers item 1 but item 2 can only be made up by coming early to game days and learning quickly in the games. Having as few players as we do, we have to make allowances for Justin and Damien's needs.

With Franco and Roberto back for regular games, we will have 2 subs available. We are still working on getting more players to flesh out the team so that we still have subs on those days when not every child can be there.

Remember to vote on whether or not to hold practice on Monday

Schedule is out

Here's the link to the Northern counties site if you want more info. I'll add this link to the links on the right side of the blog so you can find it easily.
Meanwhile, I entered all the games into the calendar and you have them here also.

SAT   09/10/11          04:00 PM   ARS-PHHS1                          Arsenal-B12P           WayneSC-B12P                                        SAT   09/17/11          02:15 PM   NWK-Riverbank                     Ironbound-B12P       WayneSC-B12P                                        SAT   09/24/11          08:30 AM    WYNE-BarbourPond4            WayneSC-B12P     Torpedoes-B12P                                        SAT   10/01/11          10:15 AM    WYNE-BarbourPond4            WayneSC-B12P     Maroons-B12P                SAT   10/15/11          11:15 AM   WYNE-BarbourPond4             WayneSC-B12P     SCVistula-B12P                                          SAT   10/22/11          12:00 PM   WYNE-BarbourPond4             WayneSC-B12P-   Stingrays-B12P                                          SAT   10/29/11          03:30 PM   MONT-Fortunato                   Montclair-B12P        WayneSC-B12P                                        SAT   11/05/11          06:00 PM   RDGFLDSTRIK-Willis              RdgfldRoyalStrikers-B12P-  WayneSC-B12P                                       SAT   11/12/11          02:30 PM   HACK-Johnson2                    Hackensack-B12P-    WayneSC-B12P                                        SAT   11/19/11          12:00 PM   WYNE-BarbourPond4             WayneSC-B12P     Arsenal-B12P

Message from WSC about indoor training

Parents,

Here is the message I referred to during the parent's meeting:

2011-2012 Indoor Training at Turf City

I am very excited to inform you that this year the Wayne Soccer Club will be providing every team with six hours of indoor accessibility at Turf City for training.  Jason Krakower is in the process of putting the schedule together and will distribute it shortly.

If you decide not to utilize the hours allocated to your team, the Wayne Soccer Club will not reimburse the funds that have been budgeted for Turf City.  Understand that we have negotiated a contract with Turf City that enables everyone to take advantage of this great offering.

Once you receive your scheduled date and time, if you need to exchange it, please reach out to Jason so he can attempt to switch your time slot with someone else.

If you would like to purchase additional hours for the winter, Jason has negotiated discounted rates with Turf City.  Please discuss with Jason.

As many of you are aware, we have limited field space with lighting.  Once the time has been changed back on November 1st, we will have limited day light time to practice.  Therefore, if anyone wants to purchase discounted hours at Turf City, please reach out to Jason immediately.  Time will be reserved on a first come basis.  The hours will be submitted to Turf City no later than September 6th.

Sincerely,

Rene C. Moran

President, Wayne Soccer Club

I asked if it referred to Fall or Winter training. Rene assured me it was for the winter. Jan through Mar.

Results from Parent's Meeting/Indoor training

Great practice today! Nine children showed up for practice and four more had good excuses. Two were actually stuck in the horrible traffic and were unable to make it the whole way. Overall, a great effort!
Julio ran some interesting drills and the kids had fun.

We followed this with a parent's meeting. Eight of the children's parents made it and I had secured the votes of most of the remainders so that we could make some key decisions.

1. We will have Leo and Julio alternate as trainers but Julio will do the first few game day training sessions until Bruce feels comfortable taking over.
2. The most popular training nights, based on trainer availability, was Monday with Leo and Fridays with Julio.  
3. Training will be from 4:30 - 6:00 PM Mon and Fri at Schuyler unless I am told the fields are busy at those times.

Josephine is collecting money for the Parsippany tournament. 7 parents paid up already.

Schuyler made it through Hurricane Irene

Schuyler field is playable, a little damp but not soggy and it will dry out today. We'll see you there tonight at 5:30 PM for practice. Then come to my house for the parent's meeting. 7:15 PM until about 8:30 PM. 41 Coventry Road in Wayne

Practice and Parent's meeting on Monday

Looks like we all made it through the hurricane. Practice will be at Schuyler unless the field is unplayable. I'll check it out Monday morning and make a judgment then. If it won't work, we'll practice at a Totowa indoor facility so be prepared with sneakers as well as cleats. Julio is conducting the training session.

Immediately after practice, we'll have a parent's meeting at my house: 41 Coventry Road. From Schuyler, the least complicated route is Hamburg Tpke south to Alps. Right on Alps, Right on Ratzer, Right on Kiwanis, third left on Clove, Right on Coventry.

Practice after this is Thursday at 5:30, Schuyler.

And Janice made a correction: the scrimmage is against the U-11 team. Saturday at 9:30 AM at BP4

Week ending 8/27

We held our first practice, only three boys showed up. That's pretty pathetic since I had received only two excuses. That could mean several things:

1. Communications between coach and parents are poor
2. The kids are still in vacation mode
3. Kids or parents don't care

I hope it's one of the first two since they can be fixed.
Communications: I have set up this blog and will keep it updated for game times, practices, weather updates etc. Save it to your favorites so you can check it easily right before games come up. I will continue to supplement this with e-mails. My cell phone number, in case you have a concern, is: (973) 768-3831.
I know the calendar is not working properly yet. I think the problem resides within Google but I'll keep working on this until it is fixed.
Until then, keep checking the headlines and the latest post to get the latest news.

Other Blog stuff: We've had a few votes on dates for parent's meeting and practice dates. Some people mentioned Saturday mornings as a possible practice time so I'll add that as an option.
I'm waiting for the rest of the people to vote so that we can make decisions. So far, this Monday night looks most popular for the parent's meeting.
I'd like to link into the picture site that one of the mothers was promoting last season. Please send me the link and I'll add it to the blog. I can also decorate the blog with pictures of the latest games.

Next few things: Julio is working on a backup site for Monday's practice in case Schuyler is waterlogged. It is an indoor site in Totowa. More details if necessary. Either way;
Next practice is Monday from 5:30 - 7PM at Schuyler unless notified otherwise.
Parent's meeting will follow directly after unless more votes come in to recommend another time.
Practice after this is Thursday 5:30 - 7PM at Schuyler.
I set up a scrimmage against the other U-12 team for Saturday Sep 3rd at Barbour Pond #4 from 9:30 - 11AM. Be there half an hour early for warm-ups and positions.
Finally, looking ahead, I booked us into the Parsippany tournament for the weekend of October 7 - 9. I paid for this out of my pocket, was reimbursed all but $125 by the club (from your dues) so I'll be collecting $10 per parent for the fees at the parent's meeting. Any extra I will put towards training fees.

Parent's meeting: This is an opportunity to meet each other in a social setting, figure out when to give the boys their 2nd place trophies from last season, learn about the goals of the Wayne Soccer club and, most important of all, learn about what I want to do with the team:

• What is my coaching philosophy?
• Where will we be playing and when?
• What skills do I want to focus the boys on?
• When will we practice?
• What expectations do I have for you as parents?
• How can you help me out in taking on the jobs of both Marios and Roland?

This will also be a great opportunity for you to ask me and each other any burning questions.

See you all Monday, stay safe through this coming storm.

First Post

This is an experiment to see if we can communicate better using this blog than via e-mails and phone calls. I'll try to keep this up to date. For one thing I can update it at a moment's notice regarding weather cancellation, game location changes etc. I can link to photo websites, Mapquest directions etc. I like the calendar feature showing you what is upcoming. As we get further into the season I can add things like dues owed, meetings, etc.

This week's big events are two polls: One about when to hold the parent's meeting and what nights work best for practice. Please vote so that we can do the nights that make the most sense.

Please comment telling me what you'd like to see added, changed etc. If it seems like a good idea, I'll add a discussion board.