For the 4th consecutive year, the Springfield Sister Cities Association is hosting a cultural and soccer exchange with Tlaquepaque (Ta-lak-ee-pak-ee), Mexico . A group of 17 young men, between the ages of 12 and 15, depart on June 26th. They will play 4 games over a 6 day period against teams that are part of Atlas Football Club, a team that competes in the Mexican Professional League and supports a large Youth Academy, a model that is just beginning to be emulated in the US by Major League Soccer.

Photo slideshow and gallery of photos from the Friendly

The Sister Cities site describes Tlaquepaque as a city of more than 525,000 that is both traditional and cosmopolitan and places its emphasis on art and culture. Known as the “Soul of Mexico,” the city borders Tonala to the south and Guadalajara and Zapopan in the north. The city is located less than an hour from the major metropolitan city of Guadalajara, Mexico, the country’s second-largest city.

This is the second visit by a Springfield team to Tlaquepaque, the first coming in 2006 following the visits to Springfield by the Atlas players in 2005 and then 2007. The home-and-away series is a hotly contested set of games leading to the award of a classic trophy and medals with Springfield winning each of the past two years.

This years players are well aware of the history and look forward to continuing the winning trend. Jackson Patillo, 15 and a member of the Willard Tigers as well as Springfield SC, will be making his first visit beyond US borders. What is he looking forward to the most? “Playing in the stadium that Atlas FC competes in. It will be a fast game, and rough, but we can compete with them. We’ve got a pretty good team as well”

Video from KOLR 10 including interviews with Jackson & Gehrig

The youngest member is Izzy Chappell, who will be a seventh grader at Pershing Middle School this Fall. Asked about his expectations, he was confident. “We’ll win” was his response, which went hand-in-hand with his personal plans. “I want to buy jerseys of teams from Mexico, and a soccer ball for my trophy case”. He’s a speedy forward with good skills and his greatest memory currently is scoring against the KC Wizards goal keeper in costume during half time contests of a game against Missouri State.

There is one young man who will be making his second trip to Tlaquepaque, a 14-year old veteran of international travel. Gehrig Haberstock, from SpringHigh Select SC who will be a sophomore at Waynesville this Fall, is the son of a recently retired Army veteran. Like me, Gehrig was born in Munich Germany but has gained all of his soccer experience in Missouri, his home since 2001. He was one of the youngest on the trip in 2006 and besides the games, the cultural experience still resonates for him.

“We toured the city, seeing their old buildings and plazas. It was pretty neat. We ate a lot of fajitas, more than I ever want to eat again!”

The Sister City relationship between Springfield and Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico was formalized on June 27, 2003 and has included a number of visits besides this soccer event. According to their website, the SSCA sought this relationship with a Spanish-speaking community because of the growth of the Hispanic population in the Ozarks region and for the opportunities for business and cultural development. As these boys can attest, it’s been a great relationship. Bring home the hardware boys!

The Springfield SC will be hosting a 3v3 Indoor Soccer League during June. Games will be played in their indoor facility off of Chestnut Expressway, just East of Lake Country Soccer. This is a Youth Soccer program for kids from Pee-Wee (3-4) up to Middle School age.

League Details

• 7 PLAYERS PER TEAM
• 6 GAME SEASON - 2 GAMES PER NIGHT
• ALL GAMES PLAYED IN JUNE @ SSC Indoor Facility
• EACH PLAYER & COACH RECEIVES A T-SHIRT
• TOP TWO TEAMS IN EACH DIVISION RECEIVE AWARD
• GAMES PLAYED ON BOARDED FIELDS FOR FAST ACTION!

Age Divisions

Pee-Wee (3, 4) U6 U7 U8 U9 U10 U11 Middle School V & JV
Boys/Girls/Coed

Deadline May 19, 2008
Entry Fee - $105.00 Per Team

For More Information Contact Eric Sorlie
Office 417-832-1552
E-mail: sorlie@springfieldsportsclub.com
3-v-3-summer-indoor-soccer-league-information

Players at the Under-12, Under-13 and Under-14 and Under-15 age groups are encouraged to attend tryouts. Additional information can be obtained by contacting Kelly Ross at Lake Country Soccer directly, by email; kelly@lakecountrysoccer.org or by telephone, 862-3211 x102.

Photo provided by the 2006 Team of the celebration at a restaurant near the facilities in Telaquepaque, Mexico.

Lake Country Soccer in cooperation with the Springfield Sister Cities Association and the Springfield/Greene County Park Board are planning to visit Tlaquepaque, Mexico for a sport and cultural exchange.

Lake Country Soccer is spearheading the soccer activity for this event.

We are in the initial planning stages to assemble a team of youth male U12 (birth year 1995); U13 (birth year 1994) and U14 (birth year 1993) players.

Players who are selected or elect to participate in this program shall be expected to pay approximately $900 for air fare and uniform costs (est. $100). Some other expenses (housing, some food) will be covered by local hosts.

Parents who wish to join in this exchange can expect to pay $1600 for double occupancy and $1900 for single occupancy. Air fare, hotel and some food are included in this price for adults.

We are seeking to take approximately 18 (eighteen) male youth players this summer.

Those desiring to attend should initiate the process of applying and securing passports as passports are now required to travel to Mexico. Expedited applications may be necessary in order to have passports in hand well in advance of the anticipated departure date of June 25th.

Jan Stahle, David Cheek and one or two other individuals will serve as coaches for the team.

Lake Country Soccer will hold an informational session on Saturday, March 29th at 2:00pm at the SoccerDome indoor facility. Any male youth soccer player in the designated age groups interested in this exchange program are strongly encouraged to attend the informational session.

Questions may be directed to the immediate attention of KELLY R ROSS by email; kelly@lakecountrysoccer.org

But first some basics…

Class 3 District playoffs begin this evening in Joplin and Waynesville.

Class 2 District playoffs are down to the final four in Bolivar this evening.

Middle School Final tonight at Cooper.

Class 1 District playoffs are also down to the final four, a pair of games at Cooper tomorrow. The Springfield Catholic website has the details.

Tuesday is when Class 3 District 10 resumes. The Camdenton Lakers were beaten 1-0 by Smith-Cotton so their season has ended. The Semifinals will feature Rock Bridge vs Hickman and Smith Cotton vs Helias.

Wednesday there will be a non-conference game between the MSU Bears and the UM-KC Kangaroos. The Bears were shut out by Creighton, 0-1, on Saturday night in Omaha.

Saturday Missouri State will host a Conference game, against the Evansville Aces. 7:00 pm at Plaster Stadium.

The Lady Bears will be in Des Moines on Sunday, playing #4 Drake in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference playoffs. The #5 Bears had a difficult weekend, outplaying #1 Illinois State in a 0-0 tie on Friday and then somehow, inexplicably losing to Indiana State 0-2 on Sunday. It was Indiana States only Conference win this season and took the Bears from battling for #1 in the Conference to #5.

The Southwest Lady Bearcats are headed for Warrensburg on Saturday. They are ranked 4th and will play #1 Central Missouri in the inaugural MIAA Tournament.

My tentative schedule for the week is Class 2 Bolivar tonight, Class 1 at Cooper on Tuesday, MSU no Wednesday and the District 11 final on Thursday. Need to head home to St Louis again to help out my parents so I’ll go there from Waynesville and be in a position to cover the Drury Lady Panthers semifinal game against Quincy on Friday evening as well as SIU-Edwardsville vs UMSL. Back next week for Sectionals

In-between all of this activity and reporting, I’ll try and get you up-to-date on the college players as their seasons are wrapping up across the continent. I’ve received a lot of pointers from interested fans. Feel free to make certain I’m aware of what your favorite player has been achieving on their new home pitch. I also have the initial Statistical Report I’ve been collecting from the Coaches as well as wrapping up the nominations for the Senior All-Star game. Ask your coach if he’s responded to my request for nominations and reports.

Neither were seedings for that matter. Both top seeds were eliminated Thursday evening, meaning that the upstart Nixa Eagles will face defending champions Springfield Catholic in the Boys Middle School championship on Monday evening at Cooper. Pershing came in with 5 wins and a tie while Cherokee was 5-1, compared to 4-2 for Catholic and 2-3-1 for Nixa. Meant nothing tonight.

Nixa took down the Generals 3-1, going up by three before giving up a late goal.

Catholic defeated Cherokee 4-1, giving up a goal on a PK due to a hand ball in the box in the first half, only to turn around and see Nick Gorey tie the game less than two minutes later. The Irish opened it up in the second half for the win.

On the High School front, there are some interesting match ups this week that may provide more insight into the upcoming District playoffs.

UPDATE - Canceled due to the weather. Tonight Webb City visits Carthage. Or to put it another way, this is #5 visiting #4 as these two teams are scheduled to open District play against each other on Saturday at 1:00 pm. If the weather holds, that’s where I’m at tonight.

What can I say about Tuesday? Any good fan of high school soccer in the region has had Tuesday marked on their calendar since August. Glendale vs Kickapoo. Chiefs vs Falcons. Bragging rights. The Chiefs are on a quest to 1) claim the Ozark Conference title for themselves and 2) reclaim some recognition as they have slowly but surely worked themselves to the pinnacle of soccer in the region. Tuesday’s the final base station, there are still Districts and a Sectional match to get past but tomorrow’s game is about sending a message. Geez, should I make a prediction?

There is more to consider on Tuesday. #2 Parkview visits #4 Ozark for a Varsity-only game for a pair of District 12 opponents. These two teams won’t see each other again unless Ozark can win a pair of District games, including getting past Kickapoo in a semifinal. The thing is, Coach Davidson is sitting on 498 wins. Any of you think his boys might be prepared to do whatever it takes to get 499? I anticipate being there to see for myself.

Rolla is taking on a pair of District 10 opponents this week to prepare for Districts. They are at Jefferson City on Tuesday while Rock Bridge visits on Thursday. Waynesville will host Parkview tonight and visit Jeff City on Thursday.

Class 2 District 5 will open their playoffs with a play-in game on Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm. #8 Marshfield will take on #9 Willard at Bolivar High School, Bolivar, MO

I also have an important update regarding the Class 1 District playoffs which begin Saturday. Due to middle school soccer championships conflicts, the semi final games that were supposed to be played Monday, October 29th will be moved to Tuesday October 30th. The times will remain the same. The first seed will play on field 1 and the second seed will play on field 2. The championship game will still be played on Thursday November 1st at 7:00pm. The Calendar is updated.

Speaking of which, the Middle School League is in it’s final week. The Varsity semifinals are Thursday evening, game one at 6:00 pm and game two at 7:30 pm on field 13. The Final will be Monday next at 7:30 pm on Cooper 2.

On the college front, the Drury Lady Panthers will be hosting their first ever GLVC Conference playoff game. Sunday at 1:00 pm the University of Wisconsin - Parkside Rangers are visiting. Sarah “Goody” Goodman is the engine that runs this team and after honorable mention recognition from the Conference the past two years, I expect the coaches to recognize her sizable contributions with a first team berth this year. YOU should take your daughters to this game.

The other D2 programs in the region are wrapping up their Conference games this weekend. Missouri Southern hosts defending champions Washburn on Friday at 4:00 pm as part of a double-header with the men who play Midwestern State at 7:00 pm.

SBU is hosting Emporia State on Friday and Washburn on Saturday, both games are at 4:00 pm.
UMR is hosting Missouri Baptist in their final home game of the season Friday at 6:00 pm.

The Missouri State Lady Bears host conference opponent Illinois State on Friday evening at 7:00 pm. This is the final home game of the season for the Bears who have suddenly found their scoring mojo and are close to delivering on Jackie Jasper’s prediction earlier this season regarding their Conference opponents. The seniors - Megan Beebe, Kate Blair and Lauren Heck- will be recognized and the ladies will try to get their 3rd conference win. Keep an eye on Allie Osmundson, with game winning goals in the last two games, Caroline Sweeney and Samantha Aguilar. The teams success next year will rely on these three and goal keeper Jackie Jasper.

There are a pair of excellent Champions League games on ESPN2 this week. Tuesday brings Rangers (Scotland) vs Barcelona (Spain) and Tuesday it’s Chelsea (England) vs Schalke (Germany). Both games are being broadcast live beginning at 1:30 pm. Get the recorder fired up for these if you can’t take a business lunch like this intrepid reporter.

Let’s see, the Missouri State Lady Bears won two games, with shutouts against Western Michigan Friday night and more importantly, against 2006 NCAA Qualifier Southeast Missouri State on Sunday. The men cruised to a 4-1 win over Centenary on Saturday.

Drury’s men and women won both games of their Invitational and the UMR Lady Miners enjoyed the same success playing on the opposite side of the bracket as the Panthers. The Miner men were in Kirksville this weekend, playing in the Truman State Classic and going 2-0 as well. The Panthers head to Rolla on Friday night to open GLVC play. That’s a tempting option…

The game that got the least attention, and deserves much more, is the Missouri Southern Lions 1-0 win over Southwest Baptist on Friday evening at Bolivar. I had the opportunity to chat with Coach Benjamin Wade on Saturday and he described it as the best 89 minutes of soccer he’s been involved in at SBU. The Bearcats had two shots ring off the crossbar in the first half, only to see Nikki Llewellyn 4th minute goal stand up as the game winner. SBU was chosen 4th in the preseason coaches poll, behind Washburn, Southern and Central Missouri respectively. The Bearcats travel to Joplin October 5th for the rematch.

The Lion men were in Kirksville at the Truman Classic and saw their winning streak end with a pair of losses, 0-3 to the UMR Miners and 0-1 to Truman State.

Dates:

Thursday, August 2nd, 6:00 PM
Monday, August 6th, 6:00 PM
Thursday, August 9th, 6:00 PM

Location:

Willard City Park Soccer Fields

For more information, call Dave Sevon at 417-343-4611.

Please spread the news that willardsoccer.com is up and running!

Tryouts will be held on August 11 & 12 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm on the fields at Ozark Upper Elementary. Tryouts are open to all boys enrolled in Ozark R-VI Schools for the 2007-2008 year in grades 6 through 8.

If you have questions, please call Coach Mike Gunnels at 581-6687.

If you are interested in playing, there is a registration form on the site you can download with mailing information.

Teams forming now. Tryouts will be held on August 11 & 12 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm on the fields at Ozark Upper Elementary. Tryouts are open to all boys enrolled in Ozark R-VI Schools for the 2007-2008 year in grades 6 through 8.

If you have questions, please call Coach Mike Gunnels at 581-6687.

If you are interested in playing, there is a registration form on the site you can download with mailing information.

Thanks go out to O’Reilly Auto Parts for their support of the events the past week. More information can be found on the Lake Country Soccer website. There are over 75 photos of the games that can be found here. To download photos for your personal use, click on “All Sizes” between the title and the photo and you’ll find the download button. Enjoy!