Sarah Ogar

The ladies traveled via the International Soccer Travel Program, through Premier International Tours. The 12-day program – held June 29 through July 10 – included playing in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain and Nice, France.

The games were held in Copa Catalunya, Spain, and the temperatures there were as high as those in Missouri, Ogar said. She said in Spain they were saying it was the hottest summer they’ve had in a long time.
Ogar played MHS soccer for four years, and started playing for the YMCA when she was in the first grade. The 18-year-old also plays for the Carrera Soccer Team in Columbia, and plans to attend Westminster College in Fulton, and play there in the fall, as a forward.

“I love soccer. I love fighting for the ball, winning, and being a part of a team,” she said, while casting the prize-winning smile she has. So winning the first-place trophy, she said, was totally exhilarating.
“People from all over the world were cheering for us. Chanting USA with us. It was great, and a real honor to be there,” she said.

You can read the whole story here

Sarah will be playing for former Drury Panther player and coach, Jen Simeck Dyson at Westminster College in the Fall.

Bailey Pesek and Taylor Stamper at Arrowhead Stadium

Bailey says: Having the opportunity to see Manchester United play in the United States doesn’t happen every day. When my father told me he had tickets to the match with the Wizards, I was soooo happy. It was exciting to actually watch the big names like Giggs, Berbatov, Scholes and to see how European clubs begin their warm-ups to their field positioning and how different they are from American soccer. I certainly learned some things. I hope to see more events like this no doubt !

Taylor says: I went to the Kansas City Wizards vs Manchester United soccer game with my family & friends and we had a great time! The new Arrowhead Stadium was awesome and this was the first event to be held in the new stadium, and there were over 52,000 people there for the game!! It was cool to see the players from Man U and I had a great time watching the game. This is the 2nd professional soccer game that I have went to and I hope I can go to more!!

The photo was taken on 7-25-2010 during the Manchester United vs KC Wizards match in KC at Arrowhead stadium. It is one of 4 matches of Manchester United’s North American tour. Manchester United is a Premier English football club from Manchester England. Bailey Pesek ( Missouri Elite FC ) on left and Taylor Stamper ( Springfield Soccer Club ) on right are both members of Nixa HS Soccer.

On a related note, at least one British paper is impressed with the soccer spirit they found in the Midwest. Check out Wizards left us spellbound in Kansas City in the Daily Mail.

Walter Smith, Glasgow Rangers with Dr Ben Goss, MSU

What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Earlier this summer, I traveled westward for a highly anticipated adventure. But before it can be entirely understood, some prerequisite background must be related.

Two major forces collided for me as the calendar turned from 2006 to 2007. A few months before, in my occupation as a college professor, I began to identify globalization/internationalization of sport as a fertile area of research in sport business, my area of expertise.

To understand it better, I supposed I must learn more about the sport and culture of soccer, which was barely on the sport radar as I grew up in southwest Mississippi during the 1980’s. I played it in physical education classes and enjoyed it greatly, but outside of that, I had very little connection to it.

To investigate the globalization and soccer topics more, I secured several volumes of reading material. One of the books I selected was Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains The World: An Unlikely Theory Of Globalization, since its title seemed to kill two birds with one stone. At the same time, I received my first appointment to teach in Missouri State University’s joint international business program in Dalian, China.

Having never been outside of the U.S. or Canada, this promised to be a trip of a lifetime. It did not disappoint on any level. One of the books I stuck in my bag to read during my China trip was Foer’s work. As it turned out, the book, which detailed an American’s perspective on how soccer was played in 10 locales around the globe, was more about how soccer explains the world than any sort of theory of globalization.

Long story short, I found the book riveting, even amid the incredible experience I was having in China. I couldn’t put it down and finished it well before I even walked into a classroom to teach my first lesson in China, and I actually re-read it twice before arriving back in the U.S. After reading it and using my professional knowledge base on how to further learn about this phenomenal sport I’d just discovered, I knew immediately the next step would be to adopt a team to support.

While the book featured some of the world’s most prominent soccer clubs and countries, the chapter that by far gripped me the most dealt with Scotland’s Old Firm rivalry between Glasgow’s Rangers and Celtic clubs, which basically is a cultural extension of the unfinished business of the Protestant Reformation in Great Britain (Celtic was founded as a Catholic recreational outlet, so Protestants thus rallied to Rangers, though it was not founded for that purpose). Given the gripping nature of that chapter, I knew I’d have no choice but to select an Old Firm team to support. As a non-Catholic, I only had one alternative, and I’ve never looked back. I can’t even begin explain the fervent love I’ve developed for Rangers since then.

I’ve been a life-long sports fan and have bandwagoned with the best in every sport at one point or another. The closest level of team loyalty I can say ever approached my love for Rangers was (oddly) the Boston Celtics, but my love for the NBA has waned considerably in the past decade to the point where I barely pay attention to it.

But I love Rangers. I love them.

As difficult as it is to find it (and ship from overseas), I’ve horded a sizeable collection of Rangers gear, as well as a badge (pin) collection that numbers 145 (or so) and adorns my wall amid a print of Rangers’ Ibrox Stadium in 1960’s. A coffee cup with a picture of Queen Elizabeth in a blue dress doctored to look like a Rangers shirt sits on my desk at home. Though I’d never do it, their emblem is the only thing I’d ever consider for a tattoo. Like I said, I love Rangers.

Obviously, as with any long-distance love, certain logistical problems exist.

For one, since they’re not in a top-flight league, I can only watch them on television during European play (while their league recovers from the Setanta collapse and figures out how to package the games over the Internet). For another, many of their games are on Saturday mornings about 6 a.m. Springfield time, while the Sunday morning games often conflict with church; sleeping and services are non-negotiable for me.

As mentioned before, still another involves finding Rangers gear, since they’ve the misfortune of using Umbro as a gear supplier and JJB as their retailer (long, sordid stories behind both of those calamities). So when I discovered that Rangers may be coming to North America on their 2010 summer friendly tour, and that they were likely to play Celtic in the first Old Firm match ever to be held outside the city of Glasgow, I was beside myself with anticipation even before hearing that the match would take place at Boston’s historic Fenway Park.

Then some wisenheimer(s) at the Boston Globe contrived a poison-pen editorial about how poorly Rangers fans had behaved in Manchester during the 2008 UEFA Cup final (as if that didn’t occur anywhere else or with any other club’s fans in the entire world!), and Rangers (rightfully) pulled the plug on it. I soon discovered, however, that although Rangers would take their summer tour to Australia, all was not lost!

The North American Rangers Supporters Association (NARSA) was having its annual convention in June in the lovely city of Las Vegas. A few mouse-clicks revealed that, thanks to Allegiant Airlines, the trip was within my budget, so off I went, having secured tickets to the sold-out event through making nice to some of the NARSA brass (which involved telling them the spell-binding story you read earlier).

Dr Ben Goss with Donald Findley, Glasgow Rangers

When I met NARSA Treasurer Bobby Smith in the lobby of the Flamingo Hotel, after stating that more than 1100 Rangers fans would be attending the convention, he began to tell me things that blew my mind, such as: “We couldn’t get any of the current players, but Lorenzo Amoruso [who starred for Rangers from 1997-2003] will be here.”

Wow!

“And [Rangers board chairman] Alistair Johnston will be here.”

Seriously?

“And the banquet emcee will be [controversial former Rangers vice chairman and one of Britain’s most esteemed criminal lawyers] Donald Findlay.”

No way! I read about him in Foer’s book! He was some character!

“And they’re sending [general manager] Martin Bain, [first-team coach] Kenny McDowall, and [goalkeeper coach] Jim Stewart.”

Holy smokes! (although initially disappointed that Assistant Manager and Rangers legend Ally McCoist was not going to be along, I gave him an excused absence upon discovering that he was headed to South Africa to do World Cup color TV commentary.)

“And Walter will be here!”

WALTER?!?!? Rangers manager WALTER SMITH? The man who managed Rangers to seven consecutive Scottish Premier League titles in the 1990’s, then returned in 2007 to rescue Rangers and just led them to two-in-a-row-with-nae-dough (that’s two straight SPL titles with no money for player signings as Rangers stared down bankruptcy)?

My brain was instantly on fire. I didn’t know how I was going to sleep each night, and although I was in the right city for insomniacs, nothing except Rangers seemed to really matter, and I tried mightily to occupy myself throughout the following days until each evening’s event.

The convention began the next evening with an informal reception. I didn’t know a soul, but I managed to make friends with the NARSA president (a good friend to have) who resides in Windsor, Ontario, but whose wife is from Columbia, Mo., hence their clan’s nickname, “Mizzou Loyal” (they later graciously presented me, previously a total stranger, with a gold-lettered black t-shirt proclaiming me, a Missouri State faculty member, as a Mizzou Loyalist).

I passed a few words with a few of the couple of hundred people but was most amazed by the number of huge Rangers supporters clubs banners being hung by the hotel staff throughout the Flamingo’s gigantic ballroom. By the end of the evening, no wall space existed, as red, white, and blue banners from Orlando to Korea hung proudly all around.

As I bid the president a good evening, he asked if I was attending the next evening’s event, which I said I was. “Good,” he said. “You’re really going to get your eyes opened!”

With my brain ablaze again, I managed to somehow occupy myself until the next evening’s “Blue Party,” which was attended by several hundred people and which could be best described as a Scottish equivalent of a college pep rally. The deejay played recordings of several Rangers songs, and within 20 minutes, the party was in full swing.

The whole room chanted, sang, and whooped in unison, particularly to the many renderings of Tina Turner’s “Simply The Best,” an unofficial Rangers anthem, which many stood on their chairs to sing, with one gentleman also balancing a half-empty cup of the beer that fueled him on his head (remarkably, it took him about 30 minutes and five songs to spill it).

I still knew almost no one but quickly befriended a couple who found their way to Vegas from Glasgow. While vacationing in Arizona, they said discovered that the NARSA convention was going on, so they’d hightailed it to Sin City and were enjoying themselves.

As still a relative Rangers novice, I quizzed them about every aspect of the club I could, as well as picking their brains on travel tips, etc. They were all too happy to answer any question I had and seemed to enjoy my story of how I became a Rangers fan. Then the party really kicked off.

Govan Protestant Boys

A fife-and-drum corps from Scotland called the Govan Protestant Boys, whom I’d seen (and would continue to see) making merry at my hotel’s bar (the Imperial Palace, next door to the Flamingo), marched in, bagpipes blaring with “Follow, Follow,” Rangers’ primary anthem.

They marched into the center of the ballroom, where most of the several hundred (who weren’t standing in chairs and balancing beers), gathered to sing, chant, and dance as they brought the house down for about 30 minutes. Upon conclusion, someone announced, “As is tradition, we go wherever the band goes!”

Where the band was going was Las Vegas Boulevard!

Down the escalator we went, through the main floor of the Flamingo’s casino, singing and chanting, spilling out onto the main drag before the police halted our progress at the mouth of the front door.

Turn around? No way!

We extended our pep rally at the main casino entrance for about another 15 minutes to the shock and awe of gamblers and passers-by.

In the mass of humanity, I somehow got pushed into the edge of the band, and though I probably lost a few decibels of hearing, it was well worth the sacrifice to sing some of the songs I’d discovered over the previous three years.

As the rally broke up sometime around midnight, I made my way back to my hotel, knowing I’d never make it to the board’s 11 a.m. business meeting without at least a few hours’ sleep. The Rangers brass, I found out, would attend that meeting, and I would not miss it.

While the business meeting itself was interesting, I found myself wishing for a fast-forward button, and after an hour of patience, in walked Walter Smith, Martin Bain, Kenny McDowall, Jim Stewart, and Alistair Johnston, with Smith and Bain bearing the two trophies Rangers had captured in the past season. For an hour, as I sat almost too transfixed to snap pictures, they fielded questions from the audience, which included a couple of hundred die-hards.

I can’t believe they’re here on this side of the pond, I kept thinking. Is this really the same group of guys I read about online and see in an occasional video clip? As the Q&A session broke up, I was unsure if asking for handshakes, pictures, and signatures would be appropriate, but as soon as I saw others doing it, I was on my way.

The Rangers brass couldn’t have been more gracious. I got handshakes and signatures from the whole lot of them, and I managed to get the first of two pictures with Walter. As other Gers fans and I told him how proud we were of his recent success and how fortunate Rangers were to have him, he almost blushed anew with each compliment, politely smiled, and in his soft Scottish voice genuinely said, “Thank you, thank you very much!” (Elvis would’ve been so proud!)

That afternoon, I dashed across the street to the Hugo Boss store at Caesar’s Palace to grab a new suit I’d bought after realizing the one I’d brought simply wouldn’t do for the closing dinner (long story short: cheap fabric from China). In short order, I would be glad I did.

To the new suit I added:
A pair of Rangers seal cufflinks
An Official Rangers Collection watch
A Rangers lapel pin
And the PiËce de rÈsistance, a Rangers director’s tie circa 2006-08, a highly treasured find I’d secured on eBay from a gentleman who said it was a business gift presented to him at Ibrox

But the real find of the evening was awaiting me at my table.

Her name was Lara, a striking blonde Scottish lassie who was vacationing with her obviously well-to-do family and who was as unattached as she was beautiful. To prevent this writing from detouring in an unintended direction, I will summarize by saying that when I wasn’t pursuing pictures with Rangers brass after the formal program, I exchanged pleasantries with Lara and her family and friends well into the evening. They welcomed me like long-lost kin, and a good time was had by all.

Though the crowd was much more subdued at the banquet than the previous evening, plenty of Rangers spirit was still evident when another drum-and-fife corps played Rangers songs before the meal.

As the evening’s emcee, Donald Findlay did not disappoint. Though I couldn’t decipher 100% of what he said between the backup PA system and his Scottish brogue, he had the audience in stitches all evening, and it left me thinking that, controversial or not, in its recent hard financial times, our club could likely do with leadership like his again.

After the program, which included speeches from club officers, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Bain, and Walter, I made my way to the podium to get pictures with the three aforementioned men, as well as McDowall and Amoruso. Again, just to stand next to them and pass a few words was a surreal thrill.

In securing my picture with Mr. Bain (the general manager), no one was around to take it but Rangers chairman Mr. Johnston, who also serves as vice-chairman and member of the board of directors of International Management Group (IMG), the world’s leading international sports and entertainment agency.

I was thus naturally reluctant to ask Mr. Johnston to do the honors, but he graciously did after Mr. Bain said he wouldn’t mind. Mr. Bain then returned the favor for me in my picture with Mr. Johnston, and I subsequently got a one-on-two audience with the two highest-ranking Rangers brass for the next few moments, the contents of which I can’t recall but which I’m sure were filled with basic psychobabble.

Once more, Walter was all too happy to pose with me, and I laid it on thick but sincerely once again, because I wanted him to know how much I appreciated his achievements, his presence, and his service to Rangers, since the 2010-11 season would be his last.

I returned to Lara and her friends and family, and we talked well into the wee hours amid the wailings of an absolutely horrid Tom Jones cover band before relocating to another part of the casino, where probably more than 100 Rangers fans had gathered and could be heard singing for quite some distance throughout the casino.

As the wee hours wound on, Donald Findlay strolled through, and of course, I seized the opportunity to grab a picture with him. In my opinion, his expression clearly and accurately time-stamps the photo at 4 a.m.; for some reason, though, I don’t think my expression does.

It may have been the two sips of Red Bull I had about 12 hours before (seriously, that’s all I had), but I rather doubt it. I think the cheese-eating grin was plastered on my face because I’d finally gotten to experience a bit of Rangers first-hand without a TV, computer, or book.

As I bade the NARSA president and his wife farewell, he promised he’d secure some tickets for me if I wanted to go to Glasgow in the upcoming season. I plan to take him up on it. That’s the only way to top what happened in Vegas.

“For there’s not a team like the Glasgow Rangers! No, not one, and there never shall be one!”

Siemens Energy Springfield at World Cup Siemens

We made it back from the Siemens We Are Energy! Soccer Cup tournament in Germany. With 40 teams from 26 different countries the event was truly a memorable experience. This event gave us a chance to meet people from other Siemens companies.

The soccer cup was a great team building event for all of us as well as other teams. One team in particular, was brought together for the first time as the players were all selected in pairs from five different locations. The result of this ended up bringing them to the playoffs, as the players all came together as if they had been practicing as a team for months (though it was impossible for them to practice as a team prior to the event). Even though we were fortunate enough that our whole team got to practice together prior to the event, we were still out matched. We played the United Kingdom, Portugal, Peru, and Nuremburg (Germany) teams in our bracket. The United Kingdom team went on to the quarter finals but was defeated by Austria 1:3.

Congratulations go to the Brno team from the Czech Republic, who were victorious against Denmark in the finals round!!

The event was very well orchestrated. They had a food/beer garden set up in front of the two main playing fields providing all with good beer and great food. Players also had access to a separate tent, where we were provided with three very filling meals a day. I got to try ostrich steak for the first time and eat some very good bratwurst and sauerkraut there. Also available to players was a massage tent to mend sore muscles. In-between matches we met other teams on the inflatable human foosball court. Opening and closing ceremonies were also well organized and brought all 400 players together.

At the end of each day all the teams would get together to watch the World Cup 2010 games on a massive TV set up on one field. There was a beer stand set up nearby so we didn’t have to walk far for a good drink. The Germany – Australia game was the most exciting to watch as there was an estimated 1000 people on the field watching it with us.

Every team was provided with their own tent, cots, and sleeping bags. They were all set up on the grounds together and provided a place for teams to hang out thru the late night and into the early morning. The sleeping bags provided to us were not quite warm enough for the cool nights in Germany, approximately 50°F.

Siemens Turblex SGF “The best of the WÜRST”

Presenting the awards were Gerd Lohwasser, mayor of Erlangen; Joachim Herrmann, interior minister of Bavaria; and Ralf Guntermann, Chief Financial Officer of Siemens Energy.

The event was a great success. We all had an outstanding time playing soccer and hanging out with the other teams. The food, drinks and other amenities provided far exceeded our expectations. I hope when the next World Cup comes around in four years Siemens Energy will have another Soccer Cup tournament as Ralf Guntermann suggested in his speech at the closing ceremony. We would all like to thank all of the organizers and managers who made this event possible.

Siemens Turblex SGF “The best of the WÜRST”

With about week to go until the tournament in Germany, the Turblex team is finally prepared for the competition. This confidence has come from the many practices at parks around Springfield as well as the Monday night practices at Lake Country Soccer, indoor fields.

The indoor fields provided excellent training conditions as the field size will be very similar to what we expect to play on in Germany. The playing fields will be outdoors on grass. The teams will consist of ten people including: one goal keeper, five players, and four substitutes.

The team leaves for Germany on June 10th, 2010. We will be arriving in Germany on Friday afternoon. The tournament begins at 9 am on Saturday, June 12th and ends on Sunday June 13th.

Though we are ready, we are still preparing our jerseys. After their initial wear, we realized there were some things we wanted to add. We expect our jerseys to be ready prior to our departure.

On May 25th Turblex held a luncheon to present the team to its employees. The company provided everyone with Bar-B-Que and held a Q&A session to give everyone a chance to become familiar with the “We Are Energy! Soccer Cup”. The Q&A was lead by the company president Colby Mace.

Our team name is “The best of the WÜRST”. The name was decided by an impromptu lunch discussion where the phrase was jokingly thrown out. We hope the humor in the name is viewed by our German hosts, as well as announce to our competitors that we are there hungry for victory!

Siemen's Energy Springfield Preparing for World Cup 2010

Siemens Energy is hosting a worldwide soccer tournament as part of the “We Are Energy!” campaign. The soccer tournament will be June 12 -13 2010 in Erlangen, Germany on the Siemens sports grounds. There will be 40 teams from 24 countries attending. The teams are made up of 10 players both male and female and must be Siemens Energy employees. Siemens Energy is sponsoring this event including our transportation to Germany and lodging. I have heard the lodging only consists of tents and cots but that is only a minor inconvenience for a free trip.

Many teams must qualify for the final tournament. Thus far there have been four qualification tournaments. The first was held in Shanghai, China on April 10, 2010. There were 16 teams competing to represent the North East Asia Cluster. Two teams won the privilege to go to Germany. The champion was the “Beijing Oilers” and the runner up was “Storm”. The next tournament was in Grenoble, France. Five teams played and the winning team was chosen to go to Germany. On April 17, 2010 another qualifying tournament was held in Berlin, Germany. 15 teams competed and one team, the “KWU All-Stars,” was selected for the final tournament. The latest qualifying tournament was held in Erlangen, Germany on April 24, 2010. 39 teams competed on two teams, “Trafowerk Nuremberg” and “Allstars Controlling,” were selected.

The Turblex team got an easy ticket to Germany. We have already been pre-selected for the final tournament without any qualifying. After seeing many teams competing already for this event we definitely feel the need to practice even harder. We began practicing together for this event about a month ago. We currently have practice almost daily during the work week. With only six weeks left until the tournament there is not much time left.

The Turblex team consists of Ricardo Alzate, Nathan Averett, Fernando Blanco, Dale Buechler, Carlos Callender, Chad Cantrell, Eli Casillas, Doug Hopper, Adam Reighard, and Sean Schwendinger.

What a great opportunity. Free beer! Look for more reports from Nathan as they prepare for the event and when they get to Germany. Thanks fellows!

Dallas Moses, Glendale 2014

Upon arrival in Dalian, one of the first things on my checklist was to find a place to play soccer. The day that we got settled into our apartment, my dad went to organize his new office, and I started walking around looking for soccer fields. As I was walking through the college grounds I noticed a soccer field that some of the college kids were playing on. The next day I went with my stuff to go play. As I walked through the main gate, this elder Chinese man that was sitting there stood up and started yelling at me in Chinese. I had no idea what he was saying and to be honest I was kind of scared, but I understood he didn’t want me playing there! The next day I went with my dad and a Chinese LNU – MSU staff member from the campus to translate for us. We were told that foreigners had to go through another gate…go figure. As we were walking to the other gate we met a Russian student (Badada) and luckily he spoke some English. He showed us where the gate was and said sometimes it would be locked and we would have to hop the fence to get in. However, as I was playing soccer, I notice that the older guy at the main gate was setting in a lawn chair enjoying watching us play, he didn’t hate us; we just couldn’t go through HIS gate!

Being able to play soccer everyday has been great because, first I love to play and second, because I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people. The first week I met and played with guys from Russia, Japan, Korea, England and China. Most of the guys are students at universities nearby, but a few are adults that come to the fields to play. Some of players speak a little English, which has helped me get to know them better. Generally, the games start around 3:00 pm and if you are late you won’t get on a team. We usually play side to side on each half of the field. Since there are so many guys that want to play we usually have 10 or 11 players per team. The games usually last until it gets dark and if anyone has to leave early there are guys waiting on the sideline for the chance to play. Needless to say I usually get there early so I get to play. The games are mostly all about skill and beating players rather than the physical part of the game. The games are really a lot of fun and there’s no pressure, if you mess up its ok.

Most days after our pickup games I usually go to the gym. My dad and I found a really nice gym (Whytewolf) about a 15 minute walk from the fields and about a 5 minute walk from our apartment. They have free weights, machines, treadmills and spin and dance classes. My dad and I have met a lot of people at the gym (we sort of standout…since there aren’t too many foreigners) and sometimes the Chinese want to practice their English. We often have dinner after we workout with the people we’ve meet at the gym.

While playing at the fields, I met some of the LNU-MSU college club team members. Since I’m taking classes at the LNU – MSU campus (12 Credit hours, but they don’t count toward college credit since I’m only in 8th grade) I was eligible to try out for the team and I was fortunate enough to get selected. Our team is the LNU – MSU College of International Business – International team. This means that everyone on the team has to be an International student (non-Chinese). We are made up of twelve Korean’s, one Russian, one Senegalese and one American!

After making the team, we had a group meeting about jerseys and numbers. Our team is a college club team but we don’t get any sponsorship from the university. Since none of the college club teams get sponsorship, teams select professional team jerseys. We chose Real Madrid jerseys, shorts, and socks and the total cost with numbers and names was $12.00. I guess since most jerseys are made in China they are really cheap here.

About a week after our group meeting we started our training sessions. When I heard about the training I thought it would be like training with my SSC club team. However, I soon learned that the training level is not nearly as intense as my club training at home. The good news though is that many of my teammates play every evening so we get to play together during pickup games at the fields.

Our first game was away at Dongbei University of Finance & Economics. They have a really nice stadium and grass field about a 20 minute taxi ride from our campus. Since most of their team was Korean, the pre-game ritual was very different than in the U.S. Both teams met at the center of the field and each player introduced himself. We then bowed, Korean style, and shook hands. During the game each team was very respectful of the opposing players. If there was a foul each player stood, bowed to each other and the one committing the foul apologized to the other player. Of course, being the only America out there, this was all brand new to me and really different than the way I am used to playing in MRL games. I felt very fortunate to get to start the match and played the whole game, at center mid. We won the match 4-3 and we were all really excited as this was our first win. I scored on a free kick that I’m going to say was the upper ninety, but it may have helped that the keeper was really short J and I had one assist. I was really happy to get to play as much as I did since I’m the youngest player on our team. After the game, in the evening we meet for our team dinner. I found out later that this is something that we do after each of our matches.

This game was a great experience and showed me that play can be intense but respectful. The style of play in this match was not very physically, most of the player’s relied on skill and touch. However, the overall speed of played seemed a little slow to me and both teams were not very well organized.

Our next big match we had was with the campus down the road from us, Dalian Maritime College of Transportation & Logistics Engineering. This team is somewhat of a rival. This game was different than our first match as we were not playing against Koreans we were playing against mostly Chinese. We played really well the first half and we were up 1-0 at half time. I scored the goal and it was probably the best goal I’ve ever scored in my life. I was out about 23 yards and really smacked it, and it found the top left corner. However, the second half turned into a disaster. Three of our players had to leave to go take an exam (yes, they give Saturday exams in China) and we let in 5 goals the second half. I didn’t think we played very well the second half, but no excuses; we really failed to come out and play hard.

The style of play in this match was less respectful than our first match; we didn’t apologize if we fouled a player. But the level of play was about the same. Most players relied on their touch and skill and not physical play. A lot of the players dribble more than what I see in our games back home and they tend to rely on change of pace to beat players. Really, the Chinese team and the Korean team both played similar styles.

I had to miss our next match as we traveled that weekend to Beijing. I guess seeing the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square were worth missing a match for, but I sure wanted to play in the game.

We had to cancel a couple of games because of the weather so our last games were the end of the season tournament. In the tournament we won one game, tied two and lost two. We ended up in fourth place, not as good as we hoped but we are a really young team compared to some of the other college club teams.

This experience of being able to play with different cultures from around the world has been amazing. I’ve met so many people from numerous countries and made some really good friends. One of the biggest impacts that this experience has shown me is how many opportunities that we have back home. I’ve played with a few players that I think could make really good DII college teams and one player, from Japan, that I’m sure could play at most any DI program. However, most of these players will never get a chance to play beyond some recreational league or college club team league. The other thing this experience has shown me is how much I really miss playing with my SSC club soccer teammates. I will be really sad to leave Dalian, China, but I will be even more excited to come home to Springfield and start club soccer again.

Dallas

Note: if you click on the photos, you’ll get a larger version. A second click will show you the largest version.

Congrats to one of our region’s up-and-coming referee’s, as Andy is actively pursuing his National license. Thanks for the photos Andy. Oh, and to address any questions… That’s Jack Jewsbury in the first, Beckham in the second, Andy’s on the far left in the third (not the little girl, the ref!) and that’s Hope Solo bending over in front of Andy as he check’s the nets prior to the start of the game. Apparently his buddies were a bit enamored of Hope and so most of his photos are of the US goalkeeper!

On Saturday we shopped and had free time throughout Chester. We then traveled to Wales to play our first game against Llandyrnog FC in which we won 4-0 with Austin Lewis, Adam Entrup, Carson Shafer, and Taylor Arens scoring. That’s Nick Kofron and #23 (?) pictured at left with a player from Llandyrnog FC, exchanging club banners.

On Sunday morning Liverpool Football Club’s Academy coach and head of player education and welfare, Phil Rosco, trained with us. He had us doing this simplest stuff but made a very large emphasis on detail and technique, and demonstrated that the small things make difference between a great player and an average player. We also went to tour Anfield, Liverpool FC’s home stadium as well as Everton.

On Monday we went to Conway Castle and Snowdonia national park in Wales. We also played our game against Ruthin Town FC and beat them 3-0 with Nick Kofron, Connor Dahlberg, Niko Temofeew scoring. Joe is chasing me out now we need to be on the road in 20 minutes, we will send more information when we get to London.

The report above is by David Bailey. You can see many more photos and lots of details on the Springfield Catholic website.

Update from Coach Kofron – The team photos when we are in green are from the first game and the photos we are wearing blue is from tonights match we lost 3-0 (you can see them on the SGFcatholicsoccer.com website). It was actually a very good physical game where they scored a nice goal in the rainy first half and got one on a deflection with 1 minute to go in first half. Second half and much of the first we had majority of the play but were not effective enough in the final third and missed a few chances that could have changed the outcome. Their team name is Towyn Rangers FC. A very nice disciplined but hard tackling team. Other pictures are from Conway Castle and the Parks we visited. We did not go into Goodison as they do not do tours. Off to London tomorrow to train at Charlton FC training ground. We play again on Friday against BOCA FC.

So, visit DruryPanthers.com for the latest on the trip to England. The ladies head for Italy for a trip of their own later this week.

As many of you will know, we have another American import in our ranks this year, Patrick Carver, who has followed in the footsteps of Andy Cooper and Brian Pasierb last year in being a great ambassador for his country, and a great addition on the field for our men’s first team. One of Patricks strengths is his ability to relate to our juniors, and his coaching skills and encouragement have certainly helped the 14th grade team I coach punch above their weight this season. Many of our juniors will get the chance to learn from Patrick in the upcoming school holiday program, where he will be running a number of sessions with our first team captain Andy Le Prue. Andy is a very classy player, and between them they will ensure the holiday program is a great one for the kids to be involved in. If you haven’t registered your kids yet, please contact our junior club captain John Blaikie.

Another exciting initiative is taking place next week with the arrival of Mike Seabolt, our contact in America who has facilitated the player imports that have occurred over the past 2 years. Mike will also be getting involved with our juniors and seniors while he is here, running coaching sessions and scouting for talent, and hopefully this relationship will provide opportunities for some of our kids to secure football scholarships into the USA in the future.

And as Patrick noted in his most recent email – We are doing well, just moved in to 3rd place on the table after a hard fought win against Naenae on Saturday. Came from behind three times to win the game 4-3. I had a goal, played most of the game. We have some tough games coming up but with a little luck, we could definitely win the league and get promoted to the top level of pro soccer in New Zealand.

I’ve converted the latest newsletter into a PDF so that you can get caught up with our two local boys and their efforts at Upper Hutt, just download The Harcourt Herald to view Patrick’s comments on his stay so far as well as Seabolt’s comments which include feedback on the recently concluded Confederations Cup (the good and the bad including some coaching advice for Bradley & Co) and the upcoming MSU season. You should also check out the Upper Hutt website and the September 2008 newsletter that includes some pictures of Andy Cooper and Brian Pasierb along with Pasierb’s bio.

He is organizing a trip to France and Spain for High School Girls (2011 grads or under, not sure what that means). Here are the details:

europe-2010-france-and-barcelona

I wanted to contact you all to let you know of an opportunity for your girls players for the summer of 2010. I am in the process of organizing a team to travel to the south of France and Barcelona, Spain to compete in the Copa Catalunya. This will be a 10-day experience of a lifetime that will incorporate soccer, travel and leisure into one as representatives of Missouri.

This summer I am taking a group of local boys to Munich and the Czech republic and wanted to extend the same offer to girls players in 2010. I kept it mainly local (mid-Missouri) when offering to the boys, but wanted to send the info to all of you to pass along to your girls players. I will take 2011 grads and under — depends on how many show interest, etc. on how many teams we will take. We need at least 13 or 14 girls to go. Oh, parents are also welcome to go at the group discounted rates that are in the brochure attached. (For the boys trip, I have 16 players from 9 different schools, 4 parents and myself going to give you an idea.)

I will be holding an informational meeting THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 14 at 3:30 at Southern Boone Middle School in Ashland. Obviously, many of you are far away and will not be able to attend, so feel free to contact me with any questions. I need to know interest level within a few weeks as the prices quoted are only through July 1. My goal is to collect deposits ($200) and lock those prices in by June 25 or so.

If you have any other questions, please let me know. Again, thank you in advance for passing this along to your players.

Chris
573-999-9891

Contact Coach Miller directly if you have any interest.