February 28, 2007 ~ Volume 1, Issue 2

Welcome to the First Edition of  iNEWS, the official monthly newsletter of the Internationals Girls Soccer Club!!

The holidays have passed and March is here… it’s hard to believe that spring soccer is on the horizon.   We’ve already had a fantastic start to 2007 and it’s only the beginning of more excellent things to come!

Club Happenings ~ January/February 2007

• Indoor I Super League at pinnacle was a great success.  We finished First (U17) and Fifth (U16) in the Boys HS division; First (U14) and Second (U15) in the Girls HS division; First (U13 B) and Second (U12) in the Girls U13 Division; First (U13 A) in the U12/13 Boys division; Fourth (U11) in the U11 Boys; and Third (U10) in the U9/10 Boys division.
• The second session of indoor at Pinnacle is underway and off to a great start! All teams are in the running for the playoffs.  We continue to challenge ourselves by competing in older divisions and in boys divisions.
• We just finished our own annual tournament with a CLEAN SWEEP!! Click to view final results: Internationals Girls Tournament Final Results [PDF]. A special THANKS goes out to all of the club volunteers who helped make the tournament a success!!
• We’ve just launched the Big Sister-Little Sister program and have already received positive feedback from many of the participants.  If you are interested in signing up for the program please send an email to your manager or to Keri.  It was great to see the “siblings” support each other at our tournament.
• Signing Day!  On February 19, National Signing Day, many of our seniors signed letters of intent to play soccer and continue their education at some of the best schools in the nation.  Click on player’s name below for press release.

  o        Rose Augustin – University of Notre Dame (note the special “shout out” to ZP!)
  o        Lindsay Bartkowski  – Xavier University
  o        Chrissy Butler – Columbia
  o        Kathleen Callahan – Miami University
  o        Jill Ferree – University of Michigan
  o        Nicole Markert – St. Bonaventure University
  o        Gabby Morrin - Duquesne University
  o        Liz Secue – Purdue University
  o        Daniella Vespoli - Miami University
  o        Kristin Vinicky – Duquesne University
  o        Shannon Wilkes – Wheaton College

Congratulations, Seniors! We are proud of you all!!  

Featured Article

The Importance of Recovery
For you to play your best and be at your best for matches, it is important that you train and work hard. But it is important to remember that training hard every day without adequate rest is not good preparation and can lead to over training and injury.

Read the entire article at SoccerFitness.net:  Recovery in Soccer

Remember, you know your body better than anyone and it is up to YOU to take care of it!!

Goalkeeping Article

Goalkeeping: Effective Communication
Central to any successful soccer team is effective communication.  The sophistication and amount of communication will vary depending on age and skill level.  In today’s modern game the goalkeeper is the lead communicator on the field.  Expectations are that a goalkeeper is not only a shot stopper but also the last line of defense, first attacker, and demonstrates game maturity with decision making, organization, and communication.  That is a heavy burden at any age and ability level. 

Click to read the entire article: Goalkeeper Communication [PDF]

Player Spotlight ~ January 2007
Paige Maxwell (U17)

Paige Maxwell (Medina, Oh), a long-time member of the Internationals Soccer Club, helped the U.S. U-17 Women kick off the year for U.S. Soccer’s Youth National Teams Program with a training camp from January 3-10 in Orlando, Fla., at the University of Central Florida. The camp featured 30 players, many of whom saw considerable time last year with the U.S. U-16s. The team played several intra-squad scrimmages during the week-long training camp.

Maxwell competed with the U16 National Team in 2006 and has been a member of the Region II Regional Team since 2003. Also in 2006, she lead the U16 International Girls to a Region II USYSA Club Title and competed with her team at the National Championships.

The U.S. National Camps play a vital role in continuing the development of the nation’s most talented young female soccer players and are an important step toward identifying a pool of players who will compete for future places on our Women’s National Teams and in the FIFA Women’s World Cup and/or Olympic Games.

Congratulations, Paige!  Keep up the great work!

Player Spotlight ~ February 2007
Liz Kozlowski (U16)

Congrats to Liz Kozlowski (Amherst, Oh) for obtaining her “D” Coaching License.  Liz shows great passion and dedication to the game, and taking the D course is just another example of that.  She is the ultimate “Team Player”… she trains hard, never complains, and leads by example.  Liz is willing to help out her teammates, coaches, and the club as a whole in any way.  She showed a desire to coach from an early age and is well on her way of achieving that goal.

Reminder
Are you getting your touches in?  Practice, games and footskills are all great venues for improvement but in order to be the best you must put in extra time with the ball on your own.  Our Juggle Club is a great was to get your touches in AND get recognized/rewarded for it!!

Read more about the importance of getting touches on the ball…. Touches, Touches, Touches!

Upcoming Events ~ March 2007
These are just highlights – check with your managers for full schedule.

• U16/17s, College Showcase, March 11 at CSU.  Many college coaches will be on hand in Cleveland to scout some of our best local talent!

• U16s, Las Vegas College Showcase, March 16-18: For three days, the very best of youth soccer gather in the entertainment capital of the world to participate in the Las Vegas College Showcase, the “Soccer March Madness”. Exposure to college coaches is the major goal of this event as this tournament draws more than 400 college coaches from around the country.

Inspiration

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."
~ Lance Armstrong, Cancer Survivor and 7-Time Tour de France Champion ~

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