Game Canceled for 9/25

According to the HUSA website, the HCP fields are closed and games are canceled for the day. Enjoy the day off, get those rooms clean, spend some good family time, play a game, catch up on homework, do whatever, just have fun!

Injury Report Update

I received a phone call from Olivia's dad today and he kindly gave me an update on Olivia's status and progress. The fracture, while existent, was minimal. That's a great thing. She'll likely only have to wear a hard cast for a couple of weeks. The estimate is for her to return to full strength in another 4 to 5 weeks. We'll be keeping tabs on her progress and see if she'll be able, physically and emotional, to return at the end of the season. Our prayers still go out to her for a speedy and healthy recovery. Oh, and that she'll quickly switch over to writing w/her right hand as she's left handed and broke her left wrist.

Game 2 Recap and Injury Report

Just wanted to bring you all up to speed with what I understand on Olivia's injury yesterday and make a few comments about the game.

From what Olivia's dad tells me via SMS, she's in a soft cast with a follow up visit to her ortho where a hard cast will support the confirmed break. Not sure exactly what this means with respect to her season and ability to get back out to the pitch. I've known some doctors that absolutely prohibit play based on the location of the break while others allow the cast to be wrapped and authorize the player to continue. Either way, we as a team will continue to support her and individually, and collectively, pray for her quick recovery. We miss you already "wheels!"

Just a quick few words about yesterday's match:

Defense: nearly flawless in execution and disallowing their attackers to penetrate beyond their attacking midfield.  Superb transition to our wings and clutch decisions in turning away from goal made for a tight defensive line.

Midfield: Once again showing that scoring is not limited to strikers, punished the Angels early on with an outside the penalty area goal. Additional creative and solid ball handling skills led to goal scoring opportunities as well as effective transitions from defense.

Offense: Gotta give it up to AJ for her "nail-in-the-coffin" break away that finalized the deflation of a solid opponent. Many selfless passes led to great shots on goal and this was definitely one of them (thanks Kristian).

Another very solid game against a worthy opponent. Check out the Division Standings page to see how we're matching up against the other division teams. See you on Friday!

Wrist confirmed broken

My prayers tonight are going out to our lead scorer and now injured friend Olivia. Her dad informs me that she dies indeed have a broken wrist. Speedy and healthy recovery.

Free FC Dallas Soccer 101 for Women Sept 29th @ 7PM

For those interested, I've just registered the team to participate in an interactive FC Dallas night at Pizza Hut Park on Sept 29th @ 7PM. It's free, includes coaching tips, player positions, referee signals, FCD player coaching, photo opps w/Kevin Hartman (if knee heals), Brek Shea and Heath (the stache) Pierce. Appetizers and sodas are free, there will be a tour of the park and locker rooms (yep, probably stanky), and more fun.

See http://www.fcdallas.com/Soccer101 for more details.

Also, I would like to know who is going and who needs a ride. Please fill out the survey below and I'll get back with those interested.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Game Re-Cap, Practice Plans and Game

Wow!!! What a great way of starting off the season. 4-0 shutout against a team that gave some of the girls grief during the summer indoor and helped to ruin our 1st place finish last fall. I was more than pleased with the outcome of the game.

Offensively we dominated, driving many shots on goal with a high percentage of successes. A hat trick for Olivia, pretty much all from the same mark and a glorious 30-yrd-back-of-the-net-can't-stop-this (can I use that many hyphens???) goal by Annika.

Midfield we transitioned well, using our wings and stopping their attacks quickly. We still have some room to improve as some midfielders, including our wings, like to creep all the way to the front and camp out.

Defensively we proved again that the diamond is working and allows us to keep our capable keeper bored most of the game, and that's the way we like it. Flawless!

So what do we have to work on at practice? Challenges, first touches and opening into space. Our long balls are hitting well but our short game needs improvement (almost sounds like golf J ).

Our next game on Sat is against the KSA Angels which always give us great challenges. Just to be clear on snacks, Hayley is assigned this week.

Please make sure you watch the weather forecasts, including the heat indexes. Last Saturday proved that during a 105 minute match (normally just 70 minutes), it's easy to drain your drink. Bring extra/sufficient and keep these players hydrated.

Thanks for sticking it out last game and again, what a great start to the season!

Btw, if any of you are taking photos during the game, please send some of the best along to me and I'll post them up on the site.

Hydration Impacts Performance

A coaching buddy of mine tipped me to a good article on the impacts of proper hydration and how it affects player performance. Please take a moment to have a gander at the article and consider how your player may benefit from proper hydration.

http://www.soccer-fans-info.com/hydration.html