The Greater Ozark Soccer Club will be hosting open try-outs on Saturday, March 14, 2009 from 11:00am-4:00pm. Players of all ages are encouraged to attend.
Tryouts will be held at the Dover Soccer Fields in Joplin, MO. Click here for map. Dover Soccer Fields are located near the intersection of Zora and Lone Elm Roads in Joplin, MO.
Contact Head Coach Johnny Adame (johnnyselene13@yahoo.com) for more information.
The NEW Willard Highline Soccer Park will be ready to begin hosting Soccer and Flag Football games in a few months. The park is almost complete, except for one feature, PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT.
On Saturday, February 28th at the Willard Recreation Center, 133 N. State Highway Z, the Parks Department is holding a silent auction to raise money for the needed playground equipment. LOTS or great items will be auctioned off, like a Duke University Basketball Fan Pack, autographed “Rudy” DVD, and tickets to lots of local attractions.
For more information visit www.willardparks.com or call (417)742-2262.
Looks like Region 16 of the NJCAA Men’s Soccer is about to get another dose of competition 
Area stars to Missouri college
Edwin Meza — who scored 105 goals the last two seasons for Calistoga High — and Vintage seniors George Martinez, Christian Martinez and Jon Avalos all recently signed national letters of intent to continue their soccer careers at Jefferson, a community college in Missouri with a men’s soccer program far stronger than any in Northern California.
Peck said he found out about the four Valley players through Vintage co-coach Bernie Ochoa, whose cousin, Alex Ochoa, is on Jefferson’s coaching staff.
“After talking to Alex, Bernie decided to send these four young men our way, to experience it for themselves, to see that this is for real,” said Peck, who has now coached eight straight NJCAA Region XVI-champion squads, four at nearby East Central College and four at Jefferson, with help from out-of-state recruits. “They’re willing to take the risk to find out what players from Florida found out eight years ago, that everything I ask them to do, they’re doing for themselves.”
Jefferson College finished 7th in the final polls last Fall.
Now here’s a Coach who’s figuring out the whole social networking world.
Trevor Wachsman, Head Coach of the Missouri Southern Lions, has created a Facebook Page for fans and prospects to keep up with the team. It’s a step I would highly recommend for every high school and college program in the region. There are quite a few advantages:
1. By using a Page, you ensure that you maintain the “brand” you are developing and can be maintained across multiple seasons
2. With a Page, there is no need to become “Friends” with the prospects, players or fans. That ensures you aren’t communicating directly with any individual nor are you privy to details better left to their actual friends.
3. It allows your prospects, players and fans an easy way to promote the program with you by adding photos, videos, commenting or any of the other tools available on the site.
4. That includes keeping up on the news – MSSU SID Justin Maskus recently added an RSS feed for the women’s program so all news will now be fed directly to the Facebook page. For me, the real benefit will being able to grab game information as an electronic download so no need to retype schedules into my calendar.
Welcome to Facebook MSSU Lions Soccer! Any coaches with questions on this model, feel free to give me a call at 569-8062 or send me an email and I’d be happy to walk you through the process.
Speaking of which, come join SGFsoccer.com on Facebook as well. Get your fix any way you want it!
Missouri State men’s soccer coach Jon Leamy announced the addition of six student-athletes to the 2009 squad Monday. Francesco Capone, Jarred Clark, Jared Gain, Kenny Giacobbe, Eric Martin and Trevor Spangenberg have elected to play their college soccer at Missouri State and will be eligible to compete in the 2009 season.
Francesco Capone (D/M • Toronto, Ont. • Shattuck – St. Mary’s School (Faribault, Minn.)E
Capone was a two-year starter at Shattuck – St. Mary’s prep school in Faribault, Minn., and was selected as a team captain his senior season. As a junior, he started on an under-18 club team that won state and regional championships while finishing as a national finalist. He also started on an under-17 club team that won their U.S. regional, the American Soccer League tournament and appeared in the semi-finals of the Dallas Cup. As a freshman and sophomore he was on the Ontario Provincial team and the Canadian national team.
Jarred Clark (D • Atlanta, Ga. • Chamblee HS)
Clark was a two-year starter and three-year letterwinner at Chamblee (Ga.) High. As a junior, he led the Bulldogs to a 3-A state championship with 18 assists and 10 goals. In his sophomore season, he tallied 10 assists and eight goals in his team’s elite eight appearance in which the team finished 15-6 on the season. His freshman season, the team finished 14-4 and was state runner-up in class 4-A. Clark also earned a letter as the kicker on the Bulldogs’ football team his senior season.
Jared Gain (M • O’Fallon, Mo. • Fort Zumwalt West HS)
Gain was a four-year starter at midfielder for the Fort Zumwalt West Jaguars. As a senior he led the team in assists, earning him team offensive MVP, first-team all-conference, first-team all-metro and second-team all-state accolades. In his junior and sophomore seasons he earned first and second team all-conference honors respectively. Gain was named to the all-academic team and honor roll all four years of his prep career. NOTE: Jared’s older brother Jake played for the Drury Panthers
Kenny Giacobbe (M • Glen Carbon, Ill. • Edwardsville HS)
Giacobbe was a three-year starter and four-year letterman at Edwardsville (Ill.) High, where he led the Tigers to three conference championships and three regional championships. As a senior, he led the Tigers to a state-runner up finish a top-10 regional ranking and top-50 national ranking, earning him a first-team all-conference and all-state selection. Giacobbe was also named Player of the Year by the Belleville News Democrat and Alton Telegraph. Giacobbe was a team captain in both his junior and senior seasons while earning team MVP honors in his final three seasons with the Tigers. As a junior he earned first team all-conference and all-sectional honors. He earned all-conference and all-region accolades as a sophomore as well.
Eric Martin (F • Bentonville, Ark. • Shattuck – St. Mary’s School (Faribault, Minn.))
As a senior, Martin played forward for Shattuck – St. Mary’s prep-school in Faribault, Minn. Prior to his senior season he attended Bentonville (Ark.) High where he was a two-year starter and letterwinner as a midfielder. Eric was selected all-conference and all-state as a sophomore and junior. He was also a three-year starter at midfielder for the Arkansas Comets club team, finishing as state runner-up in all three of his seasons.
Trevor Spangenberg (GK • Valparaiso, Ind. • Boone Grove HS)
Spangenberg had an outstanding prep career at Boone Grove High in Valparaiso, Ind., where he started every game of his four-year high school career at goalkeeper. As a senior, he led the Wolves with 12 shutouts and a 0.27 GAA en route to an undefeated season with a 15-0-1 record and a conference championship. For his efforts he was named team captain, team MVP, first-team all-conference in both the Northern Indiana Conference and Porter County Conference, top player in the Northern Indiana Conference and first-team all-area. He also played on the Chicago Fire Juniors during the club season. As a junior, he recorded 10 shutouts and a 0.62 GAA to finish 13-3-1 on the way to first-team all-conference honors. His sophomore season he finished ranked in the top 10 in the state with a 0.76 GAA.
OK, I’ll admit it. If I were younger, this would rank very high up on my list of dream opportunities. Sweden is where Grandpa emigrated from and next on my list of foreign visits. From the KC Soccer Report comes this update on KC Brass PDL player Josh Howard:
February 18, 2009-Former Lee’s Summit North High School, KC Attack youth, William Jewell College All American and Kansas City Brass All-PDL player Josh Howard signed a professional contract with Swedish Second Division team Soderhamns FF. After graduating from WJC in 2008, Howard trained with and played with the Kansas City Wizards (MLS) in official reserve league games and exhibition games. Below is official press release from Soderhamns FF website (translation below in case you don’t know Swedish).
http://www4.idrottonline.se/templates/NewsPage.aspx?id=260810
Amerikansk spelare klar för Söderhamns FF!
2009-02-18 21:20
Josh Howard from Kansas City in the United States signed Wednesday evening to release the documents for Söderhamns FF. The soon to be 23-year-old American played in last year’s season in the U.S. Supreme accordance Major leuge soccer for the Kansas City Wizards.
Josh, who had been canvassed by several clubs in Sweden, has recently visited Söderhamn on several occasions and trained with the team indoors on Flight City.
SFF’s training staff deems the young and sympathetic American as a very skilled player.
- A defense player with great utvecklingspotensial (development potential) and with the tip of properties in the main game, the more assessors.
The association welcomes Josh warm welcome and a great success Söderhamn and SFF!
Walk-in registration for the Rolla Area Youth Soccer League (RAYSL) will be held on Saturday, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm in the Mark Twain Elementary School cafeteria (old gym).
The registration fee is $35 per player. Players should bring a photocopy of their birth certificate if one has not been submitted previously.
Players may also register by mail. Mail-in registrations should be sent to P. O. Box 1515 Rolla, MO 65402. Mail-ins must include a completed Missouri Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) membership form, a check made payable to RAYSL (please include the player’s name on the check), and a photocopy of the player’s birth certificate if one has not been submitted previously.
Mail-in registrations postmarked after Friday, March 6, are subject to an additional late fee of $7. Late registrants are not guaranteed roster spots. Registration closes on Friday, March 13. No registrations will be accepted after this date. MYSA registration forms are available at Vessell’s Fitness Complex, Key Sport Shop, The Centre, and the RAYSL website.
RAYSL soccer is for players born between August 1, 1993 and July 31, 2000. Players born on or after August 1, 2000 play in the Optimist soccer program. For more information call the RAYSL phone line at (573) 426-5125 or visit the RAYSL website at .
Finally, someone to take charge of the Women’s program at UMSL.
February 23, 2009
Lessentine Named Head Women’s Soccer Coach
ST. LOUIS, MO. – University of Missouri-St. Louis Director of Athletics Lori Flanagan has named Bobby Lessentine as the Tritons’ head women’s soccer coach. Lessentine arrives on the UMSL campus after spending four seasons as the head coach at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. He becomes the third full-time women’s soccer coach in UMSL history.
During his four seasons at Rhodes, Lessentine compiled a 50-17-8 (.720) record, coaching his teams to top-10 regional and top-25 national rankings in each year.
Lessentine is a product of soccer in the Memphis area. He grew up playing for the Memphis Kickers, Rangers, and Memphis Futbol Club (MFC), and attended Kirby High School. He played and trained alongside former Major League Soccer (MLS) standouts Ross Paule (Columbus Crew), Carey Talley (Real Salt Lake), Richard Mulrooney (Houston Dynamo), Tony Kuhn (Chicago Fire), and Jonny Walker (NY/NJ Metrostars) while playing for MFC ‘76 under the direction of Richard Bute.
He will begin his duties on March 9.
The UMSL Tritons include Anne Prenger, a Springfield Catholic graduate who is a freshman.
One week to go before High School practice begins but the folks in Joplin are already excited about the upcoming season. The video features Joplin Eagle’s Coach Ed Miller discussing all things soccer on the Joplin High School TV network. It includes an update on the contributions the Eagle’s made to the Missouri Southern Lion’s women’s squad and an update on who to watch on the Eagle’s team this Spring.
One week. I was going to have a redesigned Springfield Soccer website up prior to the start of the Girls season so if that’s the case, I’m going to have to put the pedal to the metal. Maybe I won’t count practice as part of the season…
I need your help. I’m going to put a few polls up, to confirm what I think I know about this website and your interests. The more of you that offer an opinion (once) the better off we’ll all be.
The Champion’s League is down to the Round of 16, with first legs scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. There are UEFA Champions League – LIVE! broadcasts to enjoy:
Tuesday 1:30 pm on ESPN2 – FC Internazionale Milano vs. Manchester United FC
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (Inter And Milan) Milan, Italy
Wednesday 1:30 pm on ESPN2 – Chelsea FC vs. Juventus FC
Stamford Bridge (Chelsea) London, England
I’ll be at Quincy Magoo’s taking in the games, come out and join me and help sell the owners on the value of advertising to the soccer community.
There are also late games to enjoy on ESPN Classic:
Tuesday 4:00 pm – Olympique Lyonnais vs. FC Barcelona
Stade de Gerland Lyon, France
Tuesday 6:00 pm – UEFA Champions League Today
Wednesday 4:00 pm – Real Madrid CF vs. Liverpool
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu Madrid, Spain
Wednesday 6:00 pm – UEFA Champions League Today
Oh, and for those of you who are still paying attention to this nonsense, the Editor of the student paper at Southwest Baptist contacted me today about this story and another one coming up:
I’m the managing editor for our student newspaper: the Omnibus. On Wednesday, I have a comprehensive story of the Wade firing. I have reactions from the soccer girls and an objective view. It might interest your readers to find out how SBU handled this situation.
Given my experiences with Southwest Baptist, I would have to question the use of the term objective but I should reserve judgment about a student paper on a highly conservative campus possibly diving into areas that might be negative to the administration or call into question the process. Maybe they’ll surprise me.
By the way, I think SBU did the right thing by firing Coach Wade. He indicated where his priorities were at with the choice he made and it was not with the girls and the school. Add in his comments about his skills at manipulation and if I were a parent, or a player, I would have to question everything I had experienced with him.
Congratulations to Alex Sweetin from KC Rockhurst High School for being chosen the Gatorade Player of the Year for Missouri.
Sweetin is headed for St Louis University where he will be part of the freshman class that includes Devon Newport (Glendale) and Ryan Moses (Kickapoo).
The Glendale Falcon site notes that Newport was also under consideration for this years Gatorade award. I’m really looking forward to seeing some SLU games this year!
