Newport And Jordan Named Player Of The Year By Springfield SC

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Ole

Our regional mega-club, Springfield Soccer Club, held their 5th annual banquet at the end of February. As part of the celebrations, they name a male and female Player of the Year. Past winners include current Missouri State Bear players Heath Melugin and Tara Bailes, as well as All-American Patrick Carver (2005).

The 2008-09 Springfield Soccer Club Award Winners

Boys Player of the Year- Devon Newport and Girls Player of the Year- Emily Jordan

I don’t think there is anything new I can add about Devon who along with his brother Ian are headed for St Louis University and the Billiken’s D1 program in the Fall. Their U18 team is working to earn their 3rd straight State Championship this summer, when the Missouri State Cup is held in Springfield in early June.

Emily is another story. A quiet leader, she has been playing defensive midfielder for the Glendale Falcons since her sophomore year, taking care of the dirty work while better known teammates such as Lou Opfer, Lindsay Sprouse and Emily Cline were busy scoring goals. This season I expect she and fellow senior Jeni Frewin will Captain the Glendale Falcon’s who enter the season as the favorite to return to the Quarterfinals. Emily was chosen Honorable Mention All-Ozarks last year, this year she will be mentioned at the same time as the Falcon’s scoring pair and Ashley McWilliams who will share the responsibility of protecting the Falcon’s sophomore goalkeeper. Emily has not made her final decision regarding college but has been evaluating nationally recognized liberal arts programs who play at the Division 3 level. I’m concerned she’s going to be several states away which will limit my chances to see her continued progression as a player and a leader. UPDATE – looks like the decision has been made, it’s Concordia College in Moorhead, MN a D3 program where she’ll be a Cobber

Congratulations to both players and good luck with your Spring goals.

RIP: Heather Morgan Balven

Posted on March 14, 2009 by Ole

Heather Morgan Balven and son Jack

Sad news for the family of Nelson Morgan in Waynesville. Nelson’s daughter Heather Balven was killed when her company truck was struck by an Amtrak train in Illinois on Thursday.

Friends of Balven, 31, mourned her Friday as a talented woman, a standout in her childhood hometown of Waynesville, Mo., who was giddy with the recent news that she was three months pregnant with her second child. Balven had a 2-year-old son.

In addition to playing soccer for the Tigers, Balven served as the president of the senior class. “She was an all-around girl. One of our golden girls,” said Hardman, a retired history teacher.

Meet The Branson Lady Pirates Soccer Team

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Ole

I was able to stop by Branson High School Thursday afternoon after a business meeting and during their photo shoot so the full squad was decked out in the new uniforms. The numbers are high, there were 50 girls who came out and 40 will participate in this first season. They are led by 4 seniors (Susan, Natalie, Emily and Kate) who introduce themselves in this short video.

Coach Dave Brenner
I’ve also got a short audio interview with Coach Dave Brenner with some background on his key positions. District 12 won’t have any pushovers this year is the impression I went away with. BTW, it’s a WAV file which should work in your Windows media player.

Oh, and I’ll have to provide an update later this season on his assistant, a young woman who grew up playing in Northern CA (Vaccaville) before moving here to attend College of the Ozarks. She’s even more excited about the upcoming season and working with the girls than the players are!

Weekend College Soccer Opportunities

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Ole

There are some Spring college games being played this weekend for the aficionado’s out there.

The Drury Panther’s offer several opportunities:
Saturday – Men’s Alumni game
Saturday 7:00 pm – Women are hosting cross-town rivals Missouri State

The Missouri State men are playing at home as well:
Saturday 2:30 pm – MSU vs UCA – Plaster Stadium

The Springfield Demize are holding the first of their two weekend tryouts. This weekend, they have three sessions scheduled, all of them are at Lake Country Soccer, Field #2
Saturday 1:00 – 3:00 pm – Demize Tryouts
Saturday 7:00 – 9:00 pm – Demize Tryouts
Sunday 1:00 – 3:00 – Demize Tryouts

St Louis, Major League Soccer And Anheuser Busch

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Ole

In case you haven’t seen this…

MLS expansion race reaches final stretch

The race to MLS expansion in 2011 is in the homestretch and the race still looks too close to call even though two favorites have emerged.

Vancouver and Portland look like the most likely candidates for expansion, but St. Louis hasn’t given up hope, making for a final stretch so tough to call that MLS appears ready to extend its own deadline for a decision to buy itself some time.

A-B gives Fenton soccer park to St. Louis Soccer United
By Tom Timmermann ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Anheuser-Busch InBev is giving the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton to St. Louis Soccer United, opening the possibility a Major League Soccer team could play on the Missouri side of the river.

Thoughts about MLS and the Soccer Park
By Tom Timmermann, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Though the league has never said it publically, the “distance” of Collinsville has hung over the Cooper bid from Day One. This takes it out of the equation, assuming they can build on the site. They’re going to have to do a lot of building along the river to make the site work. Plus, they’ll need a new offramp off 44 (to do one off 270 would require a bridge, I’m pretty sure, which would get pretty expensive, I would think) and some place to put the cars. The site will still be used as a youth soccer facility, so they can’t just pave over the outer fields. Cooper seems optimistic that can be worked out.

My initial thoughts? “The rich get richer” as the St Louis United “club” now controls the primary pitches on both sides of the river, while St Louis Youth Soccer continues to try to resolve the lack of fields following last years devastating floods.

As a “solution” to the MLS bid, I find it hard to believe it will make the difference. If InBev wants to become an owner, with Jeff Cooper, than St Louis will have a team. As noted in one article, AB is now the lone remaining sponsor from the 1st year of MLS (1996). We are about to find out where Sports Marketing fits for InBev in the new financial environment we find ourselves in.

Are You A Professional?

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Ole

KC Kings Take 2nd At PASL Championships

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Ole

Congratulations to the KC Kings of the Midwest Division of the PASL Premier. The Kings finished 2nd this year at the 2008-09 Winter PASL-Premier National Championship. They lost in the final to Vitesse Dallas 5-4. It marks the 2nd straight year the team has reached the Final 4.

There are more details on the KCsoccer.com website. The Kings finished first in the Midwest standings while our local boys, the Total Demize, finished in second place. Way to represent!

Jacob Osborne Named Head Coach For Carthage Tigers

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Ole

Jacob Osborne, Carthage Tigers

I’ve been waiting for Cody at the Carthage Press to get this story done, knowing what a good job he’d do with it. With Coach Chris Roger’s decision to handle the new girls program which began this season, an opening for the Boy’s Coach was created. Once again, the Tiger’s have been able to recruit a former team member, now teacher and Coach.

CARTHAGE, Mo. -

After enjoying a successful playing career in a Tiger uniform, Jacob Osborne’s soccer career at Carthage High School has come full circle. Osborne, who finished his prep career among the school’s all-time leaders in career assists and assists in a season, has been named the sixth head coach in CHS soccer history.

“I was ecstatic to find out the news,” Osborne said. “I’m excited about the opportunity and have already enjoyed laying out some plans and doing some research to prepare myself. It’s been kind of surreal, though. It still doesn’t feel real to me and I don’t think that it will be real to me until next August.”

It was an easy choice for Osborne, who played under longtime coach Matt Huntley and assisted former head coach Chris Rogers, who turned in his resignation in December of last year.

Not mentioned in the article is that Osborne played at Missouri Southern for two years which is another tool he’ll bring to the Tigers’ efforts this year. I’ve heard some very positive comments from past and current players which will make the transition very easy. Congrats Coach Osborne.

Oh, and for all of the Central Ozark Conference programs out there that face off against the Tigers, they are the newest program to take me up on my offer of free website hosting and support. Add them to your blogroll – CarthageTigerSoccer.com

I’m Going To USA vs Honduras June 6th

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Ole

Time to go home and visit my best friends, the ones I made playing soccer in the greatest city in the world. I apologize in advance to any regional girls teams that make it to the Final 4 this year (Catholic and ?) since I can only be in one place at a time.

For those of you who have been considering a game, now’s the time to make your decision. I don’t think tickets will be available after this weekend.

USA vs. HONDURAS JUNE 6 AT SOLDIER FIELD IN CHICAGO

As a special benefit to members and friends, the Illinois State Soccer Association has arranged with U.S. Soccer for you to order tickets ahead of the general public for the U.S. National Soccer Team’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier in Chicago when they battle Honduras. The action takes place Saturday, June 6, at Solider Field (7 p.m. kickoff).

Your two-day private sale starts today (Tuesday, March 10) at 10 a.m. CT and ends late Wednesday night. Tickets then become available to Visa® cardholders only on March 12 at 10 a.m., followed by the general public sale on March 14.

Ticket prices are $25 Endlines; $35 Corners; $45 Sidelines; $68 Midfield; $75 Club Sideline; $115 Club Midfield; and $150 Front Row Seats. All prices do not include convenience and handling charges (which are added through Ticketmaster). This private sale is available to you only through the internet by clicking the following link:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0400425588551123

To participate in the private sale, you must use one of the following passwords in the space designated on the Ticketmaster.com order page (which must be entered in UPPER CASE) to take advantage of this special offer:

Password Seating Area
X1CLASS General Fan Sections
H9CLASS Honduras Fan Sections

Go to ussoccer.com for additional information about this spectacular event. U.S. Soccer welcomes you to pay with your Visa card.

Kevin Souter Interview

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Ole

Nice interview with Kevin Souter of the KC Wizards on Advantage Played, a KC area blog that focuses on MLS and international play. Kevin is the Scottish native who made the leap from playing at Graceland to the Wizards at last year’s tryouts.

Graceland University is in the Heart of America Conference with Evangel University, the only HAAC program that doesn’t have soccer

Springfield MO Soccer

Southwest Missouri's Soccer Resource

Monthly Archives: March 2009