END OF THE YEAR SOCCER PARTY

The soccer party was a great time. It was good to see all the girls and their families. Darren (Emiko's Dad) put together a wonderful DVD for all the players. The pictures looked awesome... if I say so myself. Beautiful trophies for winning League and some really good pizza. All I can say is I can't wait to get this thing started again. 2008 brings new ideas and new teams. To remind everyone what coach Scott stated, "Although, the team will be split next year (the youngers staying down at under 10 and the olders going up to under 11) the coaching staff will still work together all year long." All coaches have the same vision, and philosophy. Again, we are very proud of every one of the players that played with us this year. Those that went on to play with other teams and those that stuck around and put up with coach Scott, coach David and me, coach Dennis. We had a great time. GO CYCLONES!

TOUGH WEEKEND FOR THE CYCLONES

Well, we knew it was going to be tough. Opening the tournament with the number two team in the state is never easy. We just never got it going with Santa Clara Sporting Green. We played much better in the second half, keeping them to one goal. But the damage was already done in the first half, losing to a great team 4-0. As coaches, we felt our second game was a better match up. Playing the number 8 team in the state - Elk Grove. We rarely see our team play out of sync with each other. For some reason they struggled from the start, getting down two goals to Elk Grove in the first half. As coaches, we knew the girls just needed to settle down and play controlled soccer. Coming out strong in the second half and finding the net early, we knew this was the turning point for our team only to have the goal called back by the referee, why? We still aren't sure. You'll rarely ever see me complain about referees, but this was one instance that the referee took the game personal. With a chip on her shoulder the whole game, we never got any momentum. Do we blame the referee for the lose? Of course not. Like we told the girls after the game, "This is not the last time that we will see these types of referees." We would have never been in this situation had we just put balls in the back of the net (oh, we did but they took it away). Nonetheless, we should have taken care of this team early, and we didn't.

The great thing about this weekend was Sunday's game. Our girls ended their season with a dominating showing against a very good team. The girls did everything right, and very few things wrong. As coaches, we couldn't have been prouder. With a win over Modesto Ajax, our weekend ended 1 win 2 loses. But hey, we're on a winning streak. And what a win. Next up SOCCER PARTY............AND PICTURES (little preview at the top of the page)

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INVITATIONAL: Dec. 8-9, 2007

ALL GAMES WILL BE PLAYED AT COLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

(615 W. Stuart Ave. Clovis CA. 93612)

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Saturday, December 8th

9:15 CVSA Cyclones vs. Santa Clara Sporting Green (Home)

1:00 CVSA Cyclones (Home) vs. Elk Grove Blue

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Sunday, December 9th

9:15 CVSA Cyclones (Home) vs. Modesto Ajax Premier

1:45 Play Strong and we will find ourselves playing here

This has to be our toughest tournament of the year. It's nice to see that California Odyssey Club really publicized this tournament. It brought in some very talented teams. There are teams from all group levels of State Cup. Super, Premier, Platinum, Gold and Silver are all represented. Our first game on Saturday morning is against the team that took second in State Cup (Super Division), they are now ranked 2nd in State. A month ago, this might have worried me a little, but after seeing our girls play with the best of them at State Cup, I am very confident we will match up nicely with this team. Remember, we tied the current team that is ranked 3rd in State (Bay Oaks Blasters). Practices have been great, and the girls seem focused. We have home field advantage, this means that more of our families and friends can come out and support. We need to play to the best of our ability, and everything will work out fine. As coaches we know what our girls are capable of, so let's start off strong on Saturday morning. Play Strong, Play Smart.