I got a chance to make it to the girls opener last Thursday. It was fun to watch them beat Marshalltown. I don't think we ever beat Marshalltown like that when I was coaching. They played well together and had some fun at the same time. I also can't remember starting off the season undefeated. I know we played Ames first for 3 years and I'm thinking we played at a Valley tournament and got beat by a Council Bluffs team my first year. My second year we won at Valley's tournament, but I can't remember if it was the first game or not. Either way to start the season with a win against a 2A team from the CIML is pretty good. It's a great confidence builder, especially after losing a key player during the week before the game. They are playing well for the new coach and I think he made a good debut also. He is very positive in the paper and I can tell he has a lot of faith in this team and program. I'm glad to see that. We made it to the game, just barely after it started and I spent most of the game talking to the Athletic Director and Marshalltown's previous coach, then some of the parents, but I was glad to be back. Afterwards some of the girls said hi and were excited to see us. They asked about the wedding and thanked us for coming, it was fun.

They also mentioned the Pella game coming up. Pella is the only team from the Little Hawkeye conference that we haven't beat yet. It seems like we outplay them every year, but just can't finish. They usually have a few really good players and control the ball well. They also have a big field, and just like that other team from Pella, it seemed like we always played at their place. They hire local officials and you can never get a break there. My last year coaching there, the college coach from town was the official, so you know he was trying to help out the local girls and get them to his school, it was so frustrating. I did like Pella's coach though. I didn't talk to him much, but he was a good guy at the all-conference meeting. So Newton played at Pella again on Tuesday and from everything that I heard, they outplayed them and were in it the whole time, jut had 1 minor let down and Pella squeeked a goal in during the last couple minutes of the first half. I'm proud of the way they played, that's a tough game to have this early in the year. They are just getting used to a new system and Pella is ranked, and they were able to hold them to 1 goal. Pella only beat us by 1, but we allowed 3 goals. So they are going to have an uphill climb on winning conference and need some help from other teams, but it's definately possible. I think they can win the rest of their games, they just need someone to beat Pella. Last year I wasn't as confident, don't get me wrong, I still think they can beat anyone on a given day, but I drove down on a Tuesday to watch it last year and left with a bad taste in my mouth. It just didn't feel like they were playing together or were that confident in themselves and the program. This year it's totally different, they have great senior leadership and those seniors think that's going to be their last loss. I wouldn't want to be one of the next couple teams to play them. I'm hoping I can make it back to a few games, but it's going to be a busy spring/summer leading up to our wedding.

Best of luck to the Cardinals, I'll be following from 175 miles away. Here's a couple links to stories about the team and the first couple games. If they links are broken, I can get you a pdf copy of the story. If I missed an article somewhere, be sure to let me know.

 I'm now counting down the hours until I get to see my first Newton Girls Soccer game of 2009 and it happens to be the season opener, which is even better.  Last year was tough, it was my first year out of coaching and I had to hear from everybody what was going on, who went out, who was practicing well, who wasn't, if there were any younger players making a contribution.  I also had the chance to hear the other side from the coach.  I really felt like I was part of the team again.  This year I haven't been quite as informed, but in the last couple days I think I was brought up to speed.  Really not too many big surprises, I feel like even though it's been 2 seasons, I still have a pretty good idea where people are going to be at and how they are going to do.  There's always some new faces, but thats to be expected.  I don't mean this to hurt the feelings of any graduating players, but it seems like Newton just reloads every year and doesn't have a rebuilding year.  It's getting harder and harder to make the varsity squad or start, because everyone is so good.  I think the Newton club system is the one to thank for that.  Almost all of these kids played club soccer when they were younger, that can't be said for the first couple teams I coached and it's really brought the level of play up and the confidence and expectations of the players.  The first year I coached I had players write down their goals before the season and most of the goals were to get along with everyone.  After we had a good year, the next season the goals were to win half of their games.  We met that one too, and slowly the goals got higher and higher.  The players start to believe in themselves and then who knows what can happen.  My last year the goals were, winning conference, going to state, and being undefeated.  It's really fun to see that progress into the program they have today.

Tomorrow's game is versus Marshalltown and is also the first on the new field (I think).  I personally haven't seen the field yet, but from the few games we played on turf in the past, it definately gives you a home field advantage... if you practice on it.  I don't know how much work they've done on it, but I wish we could've played more on one before going to Valley.  The new coach gets a chance to make his debut, I'm real excited for him, i think he's a great person and I think he'll do a great job coaching, too.  Marshalltown will be a good opponent to start off the season.  They are always competitive with us.  We had a couple overtime games with them, but win or lose, they're always close.  They also seem to have a few physical players.  It's nice that Newton got a couple more days of practice before it's first game and the first game isn't against Ames.  That's never a good way to start the season.  Marshalltown isn't in our conference anymore, but has always been a rival of ours.

I'm starting to ramble a little, probably because it's getting late, but Go Cards!  I'm excited to catch up with everyone and cheer them on to victory.   I'm sure I'll lean a lot more this weekend, and I'll have more news next time.

It doesn't seem like it was 2 years ago, but I used to spend about 6 months getting ready for tomorrow.  The first day of practice for High school soccer in Iowa.  I coached the girls high school team in Newton for 5 years.  For some reason they always started the season the same day as spring break.  So we were always missing some of our key players and I got a chance to spend a week with about 30 new faces that I had to learn about and coach for about a week and a half before the first game.  That was always the toughest thing.  I had a decent idea of who my top 10-15 players were, but I never ruled anybody out.  So in that week and a half I had to meet new players, build there trust, at the same time try to get them into shape and not hate me.  Then also had to figure out how good they were and what kind of potential they had in all the different areas.  Then once I had a good idea of our better players, I had to prepare them for 1 of the top teams that we would play for the season.  I'm not sure why our schedule was set up that way, but we never made excuses.

 I miss soccer quite a bit, I wish I could've hung around for a few more years.  The junior and senior classes are the last 2 classes that I coached.  My last season they moved to the Little Hawkeye conference which is smaller schools than we used to play, then last year they moved down to being a 1A team instead of 2A like they had been since the Girls Soccer Program was started in 1997.  This year they are back with the big schools.  I think they are 1 of the 2 smallest schools, so they probably have a tough outlook to make it to state, but I'm sure they can do it.  The Little Hawkeye conference has smaller schools in it, but the competition is just as good as the larger one (CIML-Iowa) they used to play in.  2 of the top 1A teams in the state are both in the conference.  We were able to split with them in 2007 and get a share of the conference title.  This year will mark the 2nd new coach since I left.  I have a lot of faith in him and I'm sure he can lead them to state.  They may not be as sure, since they had a tough transition last year and are probably a little untrusting right now.  They are going to have to build that trust fast to get things going in the right direction.  I'm excited to see how they do it.

This is an intro to a series of posts I'm going to start making about my soccer coaching days.  I'm also planning on keeping up with the team and give you a few updates.  I've put together a list of things I'd like to cover, but if any one has any requests I'd be happy to hear them and see what I can do to help you out, especially my ex-players, I'd do whatever I can to help you out.  I'd also like to use this to get in touch with everyone that made my soccer coaching days so memorable, so please say hi.

I made it to my first couple girls high school games out here and I'm definitely impressed. The big city has some good teams. Nebraska is one of the other few schools that play HS soccer in the spring. Strangely enough for us Iowans, they play softball in the fall and baseball in the spring, so their aren't any summer sports. Anyways back to the point, I made it to a couple Millard North games. 1 vs Omaha Burke and the other vs Millard South. Millard North is Amy's Alma Mater and is currently ranked #1. They have already won their district and are headed to state in the largest class, Class A. I would like to see them play the best teams in Iowa. Their team is very comparable to WDM Valley (I only mention them, because I know the most about them). They are both 1 of the biggest schools around and have great club systems in the area.

They are just one example, but it has been evident to me that Omaha would be a great area to get back into coaching soccer. I don't know much about the history or reputations of the teams in the area, but would think that anywhere in the area would be a good place to coach good soccer players and have the possibility of being successful every year. Their club system is also very competitive. There are a few different clubs around and also great facilities. I've met a few soccer people around her by playing indoor at Off the Wall. It's nice to get a chance to play with some people from around here and have fun with it. There are always some competitive teams, but I enjoyed it. I even saw some apparel from Central Iowa, Grandview was represented well.

Speaking of which I just happened to run into one of my good soccer friends out here at a HS game. It's always nice to go to a random game by yourself and happen to see someone from 150 miles away that you know well. Ventsi (Grandview college) and I sat and caught up a little bit, it was nice. He always gets me excited about the sport. I like how soccer is a sport that has such passionate followers, and Ventsi is one of those guys.

So I'm excited that I'm still in an area where I can get back into the game and see some great games, now I just have to do it.

So we are on to the 4th rankings now. Of course Newton's 2-3 record doesn't look that great, but the loses were to the 2A #11, 1A #2, & 1A #10. So basically it looks like another great year of scheduling has messed up a decent preseason ranking. Obviously the rankings don't matter and neither does the fact that Newton is not covered by the DMRegister even though we are only 35 miles away. You'd think that we moved out of Iowa, when we dropped out of the CIML. Although I think that the regionals or state pairings are seeded at some point during the year. Which usually goes against our favor. Usually we get paired up with a Valley, Ames, Johnston, Urbandale, or Dowling, but this year Newton is a 1A team so I figured they'd have to be paired up with Norwalk, Pella, Dallas Center Grimes, or someone from Central Iowa that is pretty good. Some how we ended up with the teams that are north and east of us. Which I guess has happened a couple times. Last year we went to Cedar Rapids and my first year we faced Iowa City West (which ended up winning state). So I think the pairings this year could make for a good representation for our conference and central Iowa if things go well. Can you imagine 3 teams from the Little Hawkeye in State? Not the CIML, the Little Hawkeye. I think that would be great, of course I'd plan on a little revenge from regular season loses, but what better picture can you paint for the team that is rebuilding and loss to it's to rivals, then to beat both of them in State. Oh well, I'm a little bit of an optimist if you don't know me. I could be down 9-0 in a game and think there was a way to win it. Don't get me wrong, Newton's not down by 9 right now, They've lost a couple tough ones, but will definately bounce back. We always had a way of winning close games and surprising teams that thought they were better than us, I don't see that changing any time soon.

So since we have probably ruined our chances of being ranked for the next couple years by losing to 3 good teams, I don't mind being an underdog and I can't think of a better time to be an underdog then now. So my challenge to the current team is: take the program to somewhere that I never could, go to STATE!! It'd be the first time in Newton Girls soccer history, and don't just stop once you get there. Anything can happen at that point. Any team can win any game and you never know how things will go. I'm going to back track a little to make it clear that this won't be easy, but I'm hoping you can do it. Once you've been there, it's something that you'll never forget, it's a great atmosphere, the best fields in the state, and you get treated like royalty. Staying in nice hotels, eating good food and just playing the sport you love. So don't let the hurdles along the way get you down, there's a lot to play for.

Another frustrating edition of Newton soccer. I left work a couple minutes early thinking I can make the drive and get there a litte early before the 7:30 PM start... wrong! The game started at 7:00. You would think that they would have held the game up so that I could make it. I did have to drive about 170 miles on a Tuesday night, I think Pella could've moved their 30 mile trip a little later. So I missed the first Pella goal, but again, things just kinda looked out of wack. There were a few matchups that were off and Pella did a nice job of controlling the ball in the midfield, but didn't really have any standouts. We had our chances, but it didn't seem like there was a team sense of urgency. The style of play would make you think that we were up a couple goals against an average team. I think if I had the chance I would put it to either Pella or Norwalk, it's no holds barred when you face them, along with a few past CIML rivals. I would have to say that the small field played to our advantage, which is maybe why Norwalk has always had an edge on Pella. I wish we would have played Pella on a small field last year. The other thing about playing Pella is that it just seems like we don't quite get out of the blocks fast enough. We tend to play at a slow pace and let things come to us instead of setting the pace of play against them. I won't even mention anything about the outcome, but it wasn't pretty.

It really hit me this game, how much I felt for the girls. They all tried so hard and gave it everything they had. They have faced a lot this year and are reacting the best they can, but have so much on their plate. It really hit me how I kinda just left them hanging. I think that if I had stayed around atleast 1 more year, we might have been able to get through a couple of these games with better outcomes. Who knows how the games would've been different, and I guess I would always feel for the team right after I left. I just want them to succeed so much. I was hoping that I'd leave and they'd win all the games, not that they would've won all their games with me, just that it would make an easier transition.

After the game I ran down to the field and tried to give everyone a quick pat on the back. I don't know if I got the message accross that I was hoping, but I just wanted them to know that I care and was rooting for them; to let them know that I had their back. I was glad to see that everyone was so upset, that sounds mean, but that's when you know that people care about the team. Everyone knows of that person that was on their team at one time or another that didn't care if the team won or lost, it was about how that individual played and I'm glad I didn't see that. The one vibe that I felt from hearing from people afterwards was that people were blaming their individual efforts for why they lost. Soccer has always been a team sport and no 1 player or 1 play losses a game. It is good that players recognize when they didn't do well, and are willing to put the weight on their shoulders, but not if they let it get them down. It wasn't any 1 players fault.

It was a long drive back, 1st time I've ever head a long trip home after a loss for a home game. So after 350 miles of driving and 5 hours on the road, I was finally home in time to go to bed. But I would do it all over again for them.