CCSL spring season kicks off

Week 1 is in the books. By all accounts, the spring season is off to a great start. Around the league, there were some competitive matches. In the 2nd division, we witnessed a good matchup between Taz Devils and Funky Town, although the Taz Devils put a few past Funky Town in the second half. Pictured above is Funky Town midfielder and former CCSL Commissioner Nick M.

Goleros scored an excellent 1-0 shutout win versus Flirting with Sobriety. We even played the first 40 with 10 players.

As scouted, the Flirts were a pretty strong side. They could have scored on any number of plays. But Jon anchored a great defense and we managed to organize and re-organize as necessary. Our counters were very smart. I feel like we always play well in the 3-5-2. Congrats to Jon for poking one through in about the 60' off of Chip's assist. And thanks to Deanna for joining us this season and putting in a great 90' at left back.

We'll have a challenging season ahead so let's try to build a little momentum.

Notes: 1-0 win versus Flirting with Sobriety, 3/30/08, Trinity, Goal by Jon (Chip), GK: Liam.

Some equipment was left at Trinity

Got this message on the list-serve. Let me know if any of these things might be yours.

My team played the last game at Trinity today and we noticed that someone left behind the following items:
-Black knee brace with hinges
-Nike cleats (size 11)
-Shinguards and socks
The gear appeared to all be together. If you don't mind forwarding this to the captains (or at least the ones that played their games at Trinity) I would appreciate it so I can get this back to the right person.
thanks,
Laura

Indoor concludes this week - RSVP here

RSVP here for our last indoor game - Wednesday 10:00 p.m.

We've been steadily improving our play in the last few weeks. Last chance to prove it when we play Yellow Snow. If we win, we could finish right in the middle of the division. If we lose, we could finish second to last.

Actually, the division is quite competitive. There are only two standout teams - Dubliners and Dirty Nellys. The rest are very close, and few have a winning record. Fairfax United and Yellow Snow are in the third and fourth position with only 3 wins. That's more one than we can reach, so the playoffs are definitely out for us now.

The last two weeks have been ugly.  We played Esso Tigers to a 5-1 loss.  There were several junk/lucky goals, and some funny moments when I was in goal (my moves have been likened to the "swan" or the "cobra").  Last week, we played the top team in the division, Dubliners, to a 7-3 loss.  It was a pretty competitive match actually.  We fell asleep for a few minutes. 

See you Wednesday night. 

2008 tournament calendar

In 2008, I'm hoping we will compete in a few tournaments.  They're always fun and they really bring the team together.  We only competed in one last year - the Coed Classic (read about it here).  There wasn't any good choices for us this spring.  CCSL didn't hold its usual spring tourney on the mall, and the Potomac Cup this past weekend was an 8v8 thing.  Come summer and fall, there are some possibilities.  We'll need to prioritize, among these options:

Coed Classic - July 19-20, 2008 - Columbia, MD

We've sent a team to this every year since 2004.  I'd like to send a team again this year.  Pretty high priority.  Put it on your calendar.

Hot Dog - July 26-27, 2008 - Reston, VA

This is an 8v8 tournament, but it might be fun depending on whether the Coed Classic comes together.

Coed Cup - October 25-26, 2008 - Dallas, TX

The nationwide coed tournament returns.  My teammates on the legendary Pink Panthers tell stories about this tournament.  The CCSL Vice President is involved in organizing this year.  I'm not sure what our schedule is, but I'd like to send a team if we can manage it.  Could be fun, although a little pricey since we have to spring for airfare.  I think we'll need to combine forces with at least one other friendly team - perhaps Far Post? 

Fallfest - November 2008 - Columbia, MD

Hopefully this end-of-the-season tourney will return.  Maybe we can participate, depending on the coed cup and other things.

I also plan to field a team for the Neptune Classic in August.  I hope some of these work out.

New inclement weather line

Please note that we have a new inclement weather line this season. The number is 703-229-1705. The new number is permanently noted on this homepage (look to your left). But go ahead and put it into your phones. It's useful to have on a rainy day.

The Beautiful People

Happy hour was fun.  The important thing about this team is that we focus on glamour.  I think you can see from the photo above that we look good.  I mean, we're beautiful.

Maybe we'll do another social soon.  I'm thinking about a post-game brunch or an outing to the DCU.  However, if the socials continue to result in this (see below), maybe not.

Credit to Ally for taking these fine photos.

Practice at Pentagon City!

Saturday 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Virginia Highlands (Pentagon City)
Metro accessible (although the metro opens at 8am I think)

You see, dreams really do come true. As a captain, I have a dream that occassionally our team will come together for a practice. It's really happening. Nate has taken it upon himself to reserve field time. We're gathering several teams together to get enough bodies for a scrimmage. We'll kick around starting at 8 and then scrimmage sometime thereafter. Give Ally a heads up (allisoncampbell83@yahoo.com), she's keeping track of bodies.

Suggested donation is $2.

Come join us!

The Holy Trinity

The field at Trinity College is pretty awesome, everybody should know that by now.  Tons of space, great natural surface.  But there are some important things to remember.  I need folks to watch out.

No bein' late - the league is really squeezing the games in there this weekend.  A note has gone out to referees to keep games on schedule and assess forfeits if necessary.  We need to be there on time.  In fact, be there at 11:00 a.m.

No peein' - no, this is not a joke, I am obligated to tell you!  If we pee outside, we won't be allowed to return to the field, and we jeopardize the league's relationship with the owners. The bathrooms in the field house are now open to us.  Just go in there to do your business. 

No cussin' - because it's a college campus, and a religious one at that, the owners are serious about profanity.  Don't do it or again we could be sanctioned.

No bringin' dogs - not allowed at the field.

No speedin' - be careful of two camera speed traps on the way there.  There's one going Northbound in the 395 tunnel as you approach the exit towards New York Avenue.  And there's one right on Michigan avenue near the field.  The speed limit there is VERY low, like 20 mph.  I got a ticket there last year.

Rules, rules, rules!

Dicounted gym membership

Folks, CCSL has a deal with Sport & Health. You can get a discounted membership. See information below. Let me know if you're interested.

In non soccer related news, in order to get back in pitch shape, we have an
opportunity to get discounted memberships to Wasington area Sport and Health
clubs. So while fitness club membership costs are on the rise, CCSL is
working to team up with one of the areas top athletic clubs to help provide a
cheaper solution to meet our health and fitness goals. Sport & Health
is working to establish an agreement that would offer a discounted individual
membership that ranges from $35.99 to $89.99 a month depending on the location
you wish to join. At this point, we are simply trying to gauge the level
of interest. Please pass along to your team members and let me know who might be
interested. Once we get numbers, we'll let you know the process for signing
up.

This is one of those great opportunities that has no
strings attached and is simply a great deal if you or your teammates are looking
for gym facilities.

Please let me know when you can. And
thanks to Dan Driscoll for establishing the relationship.

Spring 2008 dues

Time to pay up folks!

Dues are as follows:

$85.00 Player fees

$15.00 Optional donation to team-designated charity

Total: $100 w/ charity or $85 w/out

Please pay immediately via paypal (to pdi.usa@gmail.com). I will also accept cash or check at the field. If you go that route, please bring to the first game.

Let me give some further details for those who want them. First, the team's books are always open to those with a google account. I continually run a deficit paid out of my own pocket, but as long as it's reasonable, I don't mind, it's worth it to me. For instance, two players flaked for our indoor season and my personal dues were about $300, versus $70 for the other players. It happens.

Second, dues are almost $10 cheaper this season versus last (they were $93) - we hit our target. We are in good position in terms of the number of players on the team, which is the key.

Third, this charity program is really working out. Read about it here if you're new. We're averaging about a 50% contribution rate among players. I'd like to up that so we can keep the money rolling into United for DC.

Thanks everyone!

Scouting Report

Our first game is against Flirting with Sobriety. It's going to be a difficult way to start the season. This is a team that's coming down from the 2nd division so they obviously have skills. Nathan reports that they're fast and like the give-and-go. We'll need to emphasize marking the man and marking him/her well. I know from talking to others that they can have some attendance issues. First game of the season is always hard that way. I want to have our squad organized and ready to go so that we don't run into that problem.

Here's what another captain said to me about our opponent:

Flirts, as they call themselves, are a pretty good team, that's fairly young, but I think they have a keeper who was decent, but not someone who trained as a keeper. And they might have had organizational issues. I think both times they had just a sub or two. I think we played them [last season] and squeezed by. Definitely not a blowout.

March 26th INDOOR game - RSVP here

Second to last game vs. Dubliners. 9pm. Nothing scheduled on the field at 8pm so feel free to show up early.

Happy Birthday

Big news!



The website is one year old now. I can't believe our little blog has grown up so fast. Last March, it was just an experiment. Now, almost 300 posts and as many comments later, it's a juggernaut of information and fun.

Everyone is talking about it.

Jon said: "I just can't believe how practical it is. Kudos to My Captain for putting all of this useful information in one place. I wish we were this organized on the field."

Jackie said: "I spend all of my free time surfing the blog. Like OMG, I totally love it!"

Megan said: "I am supposedly the co-captain of this team but I never visit the blog. Pete is going to be upset."

March 30th OUTDOOR game - RSVP here

This season, we are going to RSVP for games on the website. Our first outdoor game is Sundya March 30th at 11:30 a.m. at Trinity. RSVP here by adding a comment. Just put your initials or name and whatever else you want to say.

Happy Hour is Coming Tuesday

Would you like to eat 50 cent tacos? Yes, you would. And you can. We're planning a happy hour this Tuesday, March 25th, at 6:00 p.m. at Tortilla Coast (where Jackie works). Look for the email and come join us.

This guy loves soccer

Adrian has been our all-purpose player this season in indoor. He plays defense, offense, and this one will surprise you - goalie. He plays on a million teams - he loves soccer.

Here are some shots for posterity. This is our Adrian on the sidelines.

Here he is during last year's spring season.

Put on the stripes

Interested in becoming a referee?

There's a new referee clinic coming up. If you take it and ref 5 games for CCSL, they'll refund your fees. Plus, we'll look awesome as a team and I will admire and praise you. Our team must provide at least 1 ref or pay a $500 fine. Thankfully, we've got Jer and Liam right now who do the job nicely. But we could use you too!

Invitation to Become a USSF Referee - LAST CHANCE FOR SPRING
Posted by: "Jesse Rosenthal" globalprisms@yahoo.com globalprisms
Fri Mar 14, 2008 11:43 am (PDT)
All:

In case there are any stragglers who have expressed interest in refereeing, I wanted to extend an invitation to you and your teammates to become USSF soccer referees, which will allow them to officiate in any USSF-affiliated adult or youth league in the United States. If interested, there are two upcoming classes in which they can enroll.

Please note that these are likely to be the final USSF classes offered in DC/Virginia before the spring season begins. If your team is not already represented by a referee this season who works the match requirements, these are the last opportunities before the summer to take the class.

CLASS OPTIONS
A) 3/25/2008, 3/27/2008, 4/1/2008, and 4/3/2008 - Weeknights from 6:30-9:30 PM each night
Location: Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs, P.C., 1620 L Street, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20036
Students must attend all four sessions and must complete online registration to sign up for the clinic (two-step process) at the State Referee Program web page: www.vadcsoccerref.com. If you have a problem registering and signing up for the clinic, e-mail Jessie Kratz (wawslref@yahoo.com)
Cost: $45.00 You can pay on-line or bring check to class, checks to be made out to "State Referee Program."

B) 3/31/2008 - 4/11/2008 (7:00-9:30PM on 3/31; 4/2; 4/4; 4/7; 4/9; 4/11; with a field clinic on 4/5 from 9:00AM - noon)
Location: Rachael Carson Middle School, 13618 McLearen Road, Herndon, VA., Room D107
Classroom is the Health Room so enter doors to left of cafeteria. 4/11.
If you have a problem registering and signing up for the clinic, e-mail Ted Longworth (tlongworth@cox.net)
Cost: $45.00 You can pay on-line or bring check to class, checks to be made out to "State Referee Program."


Here are the directions for enrolling in a USSF class:

1. Go to this URL. https://www.youthleaguesusa.com/mdcva/2007/Registration.html
2. Under "CLICK THIS BUTTON TO REGISTER FOR 2008", click on the "Register Here" button. Note that if you have already registered with the State, you should instead click on the "2008 Profile" button at the bottom.
3. Complete the necessary fields to either create a new profile or to access a preexisting profile.
4. Click on View Personal Profile.
5. Click on "Register for a Class" button.
6. Change the sort criteria for Class Type to "New Referee"
7. Change the sort criteria for Area to "North"
8. Click on the radio button to select the class you wish to attend and then click on the submit button.
9. You can use a credit card to pre-pay the fee of $45 or write a check for $45 made payable to "State Referee Program" and bring it with you to the clinic.

I hope that this is helpful. I would appreciate it if you would share this message with your teammates.

Best regards,

Jesse Rosenthal
USSF Assignor
CCSL

CCSL Night with DC United - interested?

Our outdoor rec league is enhancing its partnership with the DC United this year. In addition to getting discount tickets, we may have a chance to play our league championship matches at the RFK Auxillary fields.

CCSL is hosting an outing to the Saturday April 26th DCU game (7:30 pm). Premium seats will go for $22. Let's get a group together.

Post a comment here if you're interested.

RSVP here for March 19th game

An early game, for once. Let us know if you'll be there.

Playoffs still possible

I took a quick look at our indoor standings. Surprisingly, it appears we could still make the playoffs. We have 4 points. If we picked up 2-3 more wins, adding 6-9 points to our tally, it might be good enough. It probably won't be though, because the top teams will continue to pick up points. Basically, I'm sure we'd have to win out and then depend on some key losses. That's what you get with our record. But hey, we have something to play for!

Meet Milonga

Meet "Milonga" - an adorable 15-week old pup. Milonga is Jackie & Mike's new Husky mix. She has a lot of energy and will be somewhat of a feisty little creature, you can tell by her personality.

Milonga is a form of Dance similar to the Tango. It has roots in the River Plate region (Argentina/Uruguay), with influences from the European and Italian immigration to that area. I'm sure you were dying to know that.

Watch a Milonga here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h49JudfwjFA&feature=related

Much improved

I think we're all a little surprised at our indoor record. But we played well last night versus what I imagine is one of the top teams in the table (Dirty Nellys). Unfortunately, we lost 4-2 in a close game.

The difference was a few plays. Tactically, we were excellent. We effectively used man coverage, taking their key playmakers out of the game. We had a midfield that was relatively active on and off the ball. We dribbled when more possession was required. We passed from the back to open up the game when Dirty Nelly's pressed. And we counter-attacked and took shots from the perimeter to keep them honest (we picked up our two goals this way courtesy of Max and Adrian).

Unfortunately, the game came down to a few plays in which we either fell asleep or were outmatched. Their first goal came on a quick restart from the corner and we gave their best female forward a free deflection into the net. Their other three goals were the result of one-on-one's that didn't go in our favor.

I felt that we had a good team dynamic not to mention several good individual performances such as Nate's in goal. Whereas previous games weren't well managed by yours truly, this one came out alright. Let's keep it up next week!

Special thanks to Lexi for joining us.

Notes: 4-2 loss versus Dirty Nellys on 3/12/08. GKs: Adrian, Nate.

High profile recruits???

What do you think - should we try to recruit these players?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=516024&cc=5901

Captain's Meeting Report

Last night, I attended the CCSL Captain's meeting for the upcoming spring season. It's amazing how serious this Exec Committee is. These folks put in long volunteer hours to make the league run. Shout out to the commish (Sanjay) and the board.

Some things to know:

Season starts March 30th and will go in consecutive weeks until the playoffs in June. Current makeup date is June 1 (which means in theory the regular season will be over by then). No games Memorial Day weekend.

The new inclement weather line is 703-229-1705. It's updated on this website as well as the CCSL website (linked below).

We'll be playing on the usual fields, with an emphasis on the premium fields at Trinity, GW, and other artificial surfaces. We will be working in the Mall and Marina fields again - yeah, nothing good to say about that except for the fact that they're free to the league, which reduces costs. If you have any contacts at decent fields in the area, please share them. The league is always looking for leads. I'm thinking about Catholic, W&L, etc.

The third division winners were Far Post (regular season) and Red Devils (playoffs). Both are getting promoted to the 2nd division. I like our chances this season without those teams, and even with them. We didn't have a chance in the Far Post match as we fielded 7 players. I give the Red Devils credit for beating us 5-2. We didn't play well at all and were integrating new players - but they were undoubtedly good and much improved. Coming down to the 3rd division will be Clare and Dons and Flirting with Sobriety. We haven't played either team before.

The league is going to emphasize DC United ticket sales through our dedicated link. It's a great way to buy tix - you get them for a discount, the league gets a cut, and we may become eligible to play our final matches on the RFK Auxillary field.

The national Coed Cup is Oct. 24-26th. I'm open to sending a team but it won't be easy to organize since it's in Texas.

I paid our team dues last night and will be collecting soon.

As usual, reffing will be a continued emphasis. Our team provides two refs - Liam and Jer. This is actually required or else we have to pay a whopping $500 fine. We owe our two teammates BIG TIME for this. More on that later.

Sportsmanship is a paramount concern for the league. Too many problems last season. Like all teams, we need to keep this in mind. It ain't about the refs or the other team, it's about how we play.

We spent the usual 45 minutes going through changes to the by-laws and Constitution. Among other things, we'll have the right to appeal disciplinary rulings for a small fee.

Wins are elusive

Last week, we had another difficult outing in indoor. We lost 6-2 to Fairfax United. Both goals by Tim (one on an earned PK).

The teams in the league, while not awesome as of yet, have proven to be well rounded. Meanwhile, we've been having a bit of a tough time jelling. We had a great number of players last week - no flow problems there. But somehow, we just couldn't manage forward and midfield defense, and the backline wasn't able to compensate despite an energetic goalie - nice job Adrian! We allowed 5 goals plus a junk goal, and we were only able to muster 2. It was a fun game overall (until the final minutes). This is indoor so let's not worry too much.

This week, we really need to work on our percentage passing. We are losing an aweful lot of passes in the midfield and then totally failing to recover on defense. The other team marches to the 18 and has a day.

This week, we face Dirty Nellys who have a much better record than we do. Let's try to stop them.

Notes: 6-2 loss to Fairfax United on 3/5/08, GK: Adrian.

March 12th - RSVP here

The game is at 11:00 p.m. We'll only have one more late late game this season.

The truth revealed...

Our old teammate Liz passed along this gem.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/80-the-idea-of-soccer/

That post really got me laughing. I mean, I got back into soccer after returning from studying abroad in Argentina.

March 5th game - RSVP here

Please RSVP here for our March 5th game. Game currently scheduled for 10:00 p.m. We don't need to hear from Nate, Max, or Jackie. We know they can't make it.

Raise the roof

On Wednesday, I took this photo of Ally walking across the ceiling beams of South Run to retrieve a ball. Ally, your contract with the Goleros prohibits you from engaging in such hazardous activities.

Midnight draw

When the clock struck midnight last Wednesday, we ended the match on a 2-2 draw. Despite the late late match, every member of the team was in attendance. Nate did a great job in goal. Goals by Juan and Max.

The tie is either our second under-performance or, if you think the glass is half full, the start of playoff run. I'm a glass half full guy. No, we didn't strike the ball well, distribute well from the back line, or threaten much. But we controlled the match and fixed most of the problems from last week's meltdown. Gung Ho was well rounded, but didn't have the striking ability to win the game outright. Tim hit the cross bar in the last few minutes, which was the closest either team got to winning the match - except of course for Adrian's goal-line save at the very end! That was comical, impressive, but scary.

I thought it was a good game on everyone's part. I like how we made the best of a full bench. We're having a decent season. Let's keep it up.

Notes: Feb. 27, 2008, 2-2 tie versus Gung Ho, GK: Nate