End of Season Party??

I've been so busy recently I just realized I had forgotten to confirm when and where we will host our end of the season party.

How about this Sunday after our last tournament game? Our game should be over around 4pm so I could order pizza for delivery around 4:30pm.

Sound like a plan? Any other ideas?

No Game this Saturday

Unfortunately I was not able to find a field so no game this Saturday. We will practice as usual next Thursday at 6pm.

And a reminder that U11 (1998) girls evaluations are next Monday, 6pm @ Tyndall Park and Wednesday, 6pm @ Lochside Park. Players are invited to attend at least one of the evaluations. The online registration system should be up and running next week, but probably not in time for evaluations.

Changes to Jamboree Game Schedule

We no longer have a Friday evening game. Instead we now have two games on Sunday at 11am and 2:45pm.

World Cups Festival Reminder

Reminder of the World Cups Festival Apirl 10-11-12 at Lochside Park. Online registration is available here http://worldcups.cordovabaysoccer.org/index.php?fuseaction=league.form&league=World%20Cups

2009-10 Player Assessments Schedule

Here is the schedule for 2009-10 player assessments:

1998 Girls - March 30 @ Tyndall Turf, 6-7pm and April 1 @ Lochside Turf, 6-7pm

As you may already be aware, from 2009-10 all Cordova Bay and Gordon Head youth players (U12-U18) will play on combined teams under a new club called Saanich East Soccer Club. The plan is for players to be placed on teams based on their skill level and not necessarily whether they are from Cordova Bay or Gordon Head. However I expect for the 2009-10 season some teams will be formed based on geography, which should mean Cordova Bay will host two U12 girls teams - one at Gold level and another at Silver level.

I should have more information for you shortly regarding the new club, but in the meantime I invite all Chaos and Tough Cookies players to register (online registration will be open in a couple of weeks - stay tuned) and attend these assessments.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Gordon Head Jamboree Schedule

Here is our game schedule for the Jamboree April 3-4-5 held at Lochside Park:

April 3 - 7:15pm vs. Juan de Fuca
April 4 - 8:30am vs Nanaimo United
April 4 - 1:30am vs. Royal City (New Westminister)
April 5 - 12:15pm vs. Oceanside

All games are being played at our Turf Field. Depending on our results we may have one final game on the Sunday afternoon.

The club will pay some, but not all of the tournament costs, so I am asking for $20 from each set of parents. Some of this money will also go toward food and beverages for our wind-up party on the Saturday or Sunday evening.

Chaos Cruises to Win over JDF

Plenty of good things about our performance today. You showed good awareness with your passing, switching the field and point of attack several times in both halves. You were aggressive getting to the ball and winning tackles. I heard some of you talking to each other, giving instructions like "over here" and "pass". You did the simple thing more often than not, like playing the ball the way you were facing and receiving the ball across your body. And you scored some very nice goals. We all remember the goals we scored, but it's the small things that add up to good performances.

Two areaa we need to keep working-on include improving our first-touch and deciding when to dribble and when to pass. Today our passing was good but our control of the passes wasnt quite as good. Too often our first touch was heavy, which means the ball took big bounces off our foot and resulted in us losing possession of the ball or losing the chnace to pass or dribble. We also need to make faster, safer decisions on what to do with the ball once we've received or intercepted a pass. I noticed today that when we had the opportunity to dribble 10-20 feet toward their goal we instead passed toward a team mate who was often checked by an opposing player. So next time before you receive a pass first look around you to see whether you have time to move with the ball once you've received it. But these are small details and overall I thought it was a good effort from all of you and a lot of fun to watch. I'm just picky because I have to have something to complain about!

Finally, thanks to Olivia for playing for us today. I'm sure everyone was very impressed with Olivia's play in the second-half. She worked very hard down our right side, getting the ball forward and supporting the attack. Olivia will be joining us for the Gordon Head Jamboree on April 3-4-5 as will one of our opposition today, Claudia.

We will get to know both players very well over the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime Welcome to the Chaos to both of you!

Solid Performance Against Gorge

As I had predicted, we were in tough today against a strong Gorge team. You had to battle very hard for every ball and every inch of the field. Sometimes our play was a bit sloppy, and a couple of our goals were a bit lucky, but I asked you to roll-up your sleeves and work hard and that you did. Sometimes you need to adopt qualities of the other team, and today was one of those occassions.

I honestly can't remember much about our goals, but I do recall we had quite a bit of sustained pressure and ball possession in their end for the first ten-fifteen minutes and we got up on them early. Jadyn and Miranda scored the goals, both of them poacher goals where their defence didn't clear the ball properly. I think Maggie and Robyn (or McKenna??) was involved in the build-up to our first and Miranda tapped home after a centering pass from someone (OK, I was pretty groggy (and froggy) today. We had several corners and their keeper handled most of our long-distance shots very well. I also recall Mara, Robyn, Kathleen and Erin all having chances to score from some good passing and movement, but at the end of half I thought 2-0 was a fair reflection of the game.

The second half saw Gorge penetrate our defence more and they threatened to score twice, with Erin doing a good job of mopping-up after McKenna made a good save and another chance just going wide of our upright (or post :-). Shortly afterward Jadyn went on one of her surging runs and blasted-home from twelve yards to ease the pressure. By this time I had left for my Storm game, so I can't comment on Erin's goal, but I understand a good deal of luck was involved. But that may be a little harsh (what me, harsh to my daughter!) - you dont score if you don't shoot (or cross, as it may be ;-).

So, in summary another strong game with contributions from everyone. Some good things, some fuzzy thinking, some donuts and hot chocolate from the concession.

Practice as usual Thursday and then an exhibition game Saturday - likely against a Juan de Fuca Select VIII. More information on that ASAP.

Enjoy what's left of the snow and your weekend ladies, Monday will be here soon!

Field Updates

They are predicting some snow overnight so check the blog or club website for filed status prior to heading out to the park. I think the chance of now is small, but you never know...