(Almost) Triumphant Return

George joined us this week in indoor. He played great, making his usual athletic and dominant saves. George, thanks for playing. Best!

Mini meltdown

The first game of our indoor season turned out to be too good to be true. Despite leading 4-1 in the second half, we lost our second game by a score of 5-4. OTL played well enough. Our defense had a mini meltdown, we didn't sub effectively, and we didn't establish good fluid passing. Oh well. We're going to have to raise our game next week. I think we've played the bottom of the table so far. In the first week, we were worthy. This week, not so much. Nate and Jenny and I scouted a few of the other teams after the game. One team bears absolutely no resemblance to the teams we've played. Everyone is at the college level so be ready!

See you next week.

Notes: 5-4 loss to OTL, Feb. 20, 2008, GK: George

News from CCSL

The Commissioner of our outdoor league posted the following news today. Note that we are still planning to start up March 30th. We have a new referee assignor. We have a very stiff fine for not contributing at least one ref to the league. Thankfully, we have 2 1/2 refs: let's pay special thanks to Jer, Liam, and Nathan.

1) Spring Season - Captains meeting is still planned for Monday March 10th @6:30. Meeting is going to be held at Nick’s office once again, but please note that they have moved down the street from where the meeting has been held in the past.

Strategic Analysis
4075 Wilson Blvd
3rd Floor
Arlington, VA

We are still targeting a season start on March 30th and hope to push up the scheduling as much as we can to not have last minute notice, but as usual, there are some field availability dependencies that we are still waiting on. There are no plans to increase the season fees this season, so the team dues are still $1,650. So you may want to start collecting cash from your teams. Also, if you have anything that you would like brought up at the Captains meeting with either proposed rule or bylaw changes or otherwise, please let me know ahead of time. There are a few ideas that the exec committee is debating and we may reach out to poll you all prior to the meeting (to save ourselves some time and headache at the captains meeting).

2) Referee Assigning – The previous assignor Carmella Alvarro unfortunately had to step down from her league position during the offseason due to time constraints on her from a new job. Per our league bylaws, with the offseason vacancy, we have appointed a replacement and are very excited to have Jesse Rosenthal coming in as our new assignor. Jesse is already a USSF assignor in Arlington and was a previous CCSL board member in a past life. Were very sorry to lose Carm, but its great to have Jesse on board. Jesses email address is globalprisms@yahoo.com should you need to contact him.

There is some action required on your part. As you already know we rely greatly on our player ref pool to ensure that we have 3 certified referees at each and every game. As such each team is required to provide a ref to be available for a minimum of 5 games or have to pay an additional fine. I need each team to email Jesse and me the name of the individual(s) that fulfill your teams requirement. You may recall that last captains meeting, we passed a rule change raising that fine to $500 if you do not provide a referee. It’s a pretty steep fine so it would behoove teams to supply referees. In truth we would rather have the available referees than the money. There are many planned courses to be able to get a player certified. See below for upcoming certification and recertification courses.

Upcoming Referee Clinics for Recertification:
"If you already have received a USSF badge for 2008, you are all set. If not,
please make plans to attend a USSF Grade 8 Referee Recertification Clinic.
Upcoming clinics that are still open are listed at this address:
https://www.youthleaguesusa.com/mdcva/2007/cgi-bin/webclasses2.cgi

Highlighting:
2/26-2/27 at West Springfield HS in Springfield, VA
3/1 at Jelleff Boys / Girls Club, 3265 S. Street, NW in Washington, DC
3/3-3/4 at West Springfield HS in Springfield, VA
3/5-3/6 at Clearview Elementary - Cafeteria in Herndon, VA
3/11-3/12 at West Springfield HS in Springfield, VA
3/29 at Hunters Woods Community Center in Reston, VA

Cost for registration is $45 - checks should be made payable to the "State
Referee Program"

New Referee Clinics - if you have not refereed before:

1)
02/18/2008 - 03/07/2008Mt. Vernon Gov't Ctr, 2511 Parkers Land, Alexandria, VA 22306$0OpenLee HingleStudents MUST register online. Dates: Feb 18, 21, 23, 25, 27, Mar 1, 3, 7. Weekday class held 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM. Feb 23 class 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Mar 1 class 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Students must attend all sessions. Test will be administered on Mar 3.

2)
02/19/2008 - 02/26/2008McLean Community Center$0OpenRay CrawfordTo attend you must complete online registration and sign up for clinic (two-step process) at the State Referee Program web page: www.vadcsoccerref.com. Cost of the class is: $45. You can pay on-line or bring check to class, checks to be made out to "State Referee Program."

The class will be:

* Feb 19-22, 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM at McLean Community Center

* Sat Feb 23, 11:00 - 3:00 PM at McLean High School (FTM)

* Feb 25-26, 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM at McLean High School (Test)

3) CCSL-WAWSL to cosponsor New Referee Clinic, but dates are TBD for March/April during the week in Washington, DC.

Sanjay
CCSL Commissioner

DCU: Best goals of 2007

From time to time, I read Climbing the Ladder, which is a good blog about the rise of U.S. Soccer. The author also has a video channel on YouTube which has some good stuff if you like MLS.  Here's the season ending wrap-up for DCU. Check it out when you have a moment.

Bye week

This week, we've got a bye in indoor. This kinda sucks because we waited all this time to get started again. The bye has to do with a shortage of time slots at the facility. I would expect the game to be scheduled on a day other than Wednesday - maybe in the coming weeks.

Rest up!

Off to a good start

We rolled to an 11-4 win versus i2 iXvs in our first game of the season. It was a great way to start the season. We saw a lot of good stuff from our new recruits. Adrian was great in goal, and took the liberty of charging the field often. That's what indoor is about!

Obviously, we are going to be a good team, despite not having played together before. However, I think we'll have some tough tests ahead. I doubt we'll cruise to any wins. We're going to have to earn them.

Hope everyone had fun.

Notes: 11-4 win vs i2 iXvs, Feb. 6, 2008, 2008 Indoor Session 2.

Celebrate at Cue Bar on Saturday night

Nick and Kara are having a goodbye party at Cue Bar on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.  They are celebrating their recent engagement, move to Denver, and Nick's 29th birthday.  Everyone has to bring three expensive presents.  Everyone is welcome!  Cue is at 12th & U, N.W.

Go West!

Nick and Kara are moving to my hometown of Denver.  They are joining the long list of Goleros players with roots in the great state of Colorado - me, Jer, Mark, Erinn, Mary, Shannon, and Justin.

We'll miss them an awful lot.  We've been playing together, off and on, since 2004 when we met them in one of our many matches versus Frightening Pace in the Montgomery County league.  They first joined the team in the 2005 Coed Classic.  Nick has been steady on the back line whenever he's played for us.  Kara was a runner-up MVP last season for her stellar play and also for saving us from a forfeit!  She took a call at 7:30 am and was at the field before 8. That's dedication. 

Check out some action shots.

2005 Coed Classic

Spring 2007 Season

There's more.  Nick and Kara recently got engaged!  It happened on a recent trip to NYC, which was supposed to be just a theatre weekend.  Nick had something more in mind.  He booked a fancy spa in Koreatown and asked Kara there.  It's great news!  Another Goleros love story (read about others here and here).

Roster additions - Dues are now $70

We are adding two players to our roster. Please welcome Max and Erin. These folks were actually supposed to be part of the squad early on, but I got confused and forgot to count them. We're now at 17 and full. With 10 men and 7 women, we're a little heavy so bear with us. We'll be subbing often, plus the late night games tend to be a little thin.

Everyone's dues will be lowered to $70. Please make a paypal payment to pdi.usa@gmail.com or bring a check to the first game, as directed by my previous post.

See you out there!

U.S. vs Mexico

The U.S. plays its arch rival, Mexico, this Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. EST on ESPN2. This is a friendly, but there is no such thing as a low-key U.S.-Mexico game. Make sure to watch. The Goleros are playing our own game at that time so we're gonna Tivo it.

Keep your eye on Michael Bradley. Yes, he's the coach's son, but he's on fire in the Dutch league. He will probably get a difficult starting central midfield assignment in the game. He will also be a key figure in Olympic qualifying, for the Beijing Olympics this August.

Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu are going to be important in this match. One or the other, or both, are likely to play in the game. They are very young and untested, but at some point, they've got to be introduced to Mexico. Better now than in World Cup qualifying. Here's our roster for the game:

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton, England)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Ramiro Corrales (Brann,
Norway), Drew Moor (Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Michael
Parkhurst (New England), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Eddie Robinson
(Houston)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Benfica, Portugal), Michael Bradley
(Heerenveen, Netherlands), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Bobby Convey (Reading,
England), Brad Davis (Houston), Maurice Edu (Toronto), Benny Feilhaber (Derby,
England), Stuart Holden (Houston), Eddie Lewis (Derby, England)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (New York), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England),
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Pat Noonan (Aalesund, Norway)

Indoor kicks off

The Goleros return to action this week in our first ever indoor campaign!

Our first game is at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday night at South Run District Park Fieldhouse in Springfield (directions here).

A shout-out to Wolf, VCSRA league commissioner, for securing our spot off the wait list.  We sometimes play together on the legendary Hot Pink Panthers.

I'm excited about the indoor season. We'll play 8 regular season games from now until late March, with single-elimination playoffs for the top four teams that will stretch into April. This is coed intermediate so expect the pace and quality of play to be slightly better than what we have seen in outdoor. I noticed that one of the teams is even sponsored.

Our squad consists of some Goleros players, some Far Post players, and some new recruits who are friends of friends. It's a good crew, but we'll have to work out kinks. The league is 8 vs 8, with 5 guys and 3 ladies. The pitch (pictured above) is big enough to allow for organized passing. But it's too small to play rigidly. We'll want to cycle people up and down the field. Defenders will get in on the attack and will have to be covered by teammates when they do.

Roster
Women: Jackie, Ally, Kate, Katya, Heather, Jenny (Far Post)

Men: Pete, Nate, Jer, Adrian, Gonzalo, Antonio, Juan, Tim (Far Post), Braulio

Please bring your $80 dues to the first game - I posted instructions here.

Don't forget to Tivo the U.S. vs. Mexico game, which also starts at 9:00 p.m.

See everyone there!

Just wait

No word on our kickoff time for Wednesday night. I'll let you know as soon as I know! Hopefully, we'll get that information today. Don't forget the U.S. vs. Mexico game that night as well (9pm). I'm hoping we're at 8pm so we can all watch the game on a slight tape delay.

Dues for indoor

Dues for indoor come to $80 per person.

Please make a paypal payment to pdi.usa@gmail.com. If you can't use paypal, you can bring a check to the first game. I don't want to mess around with dues this winter - let's pay up front and quickly please.

As usual, you have an open invitation to look at the team's books if you want to know what you're paying for. I do my best to keep costs down.

We're in

The league administrator over at VCSRA has confirmed to me that the Goleros are in for Wednesday night indoor soccer. 

The season will begin this week, but they're only playing a few games.  We kick off next week.  With our roster mostly set, stay tuned for details on dues, location, and more.    

Get ready!

POTD

Here are some interesting photos.  On the right, you have a pair of coyotes that I saw in Rocky Mountain National Park in December.  The quality of the shot isn't great, because it's a little point and shoot taken from about 120 yards.  But not bad considering.  On the left you've got an elk at close range, enjoying the salt laid down on the road.  This has nothing to do with soccer.  Hope you like them. 

CCSL wants you!

Our outdoor league is looking to fill some key positions for this upcoming year.  If anyone on the team is interested, you'd have our full support.

Calling all Soccer Loving Volunteers!!

Posted by: "Sanjay Nayar" snayar@yahoo.com   snayar

Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:50 pm (PST)

Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity? Want to become more involved with the league without becoming a referee? Well here's your chance. Your nonprofit co-ed league, Capital Coed Soccer League (CCSL), is looking for a few good men/women to help us fill some vital seats on our Executive Board. Current vacant positions include Registrar, Recording Secretary and Social Chair. For the specifics on what each role entails, read on. 

Registrar. The Registrar is responsible for collecting player registration information. This involves emailing captains to remind them to submit their team roster information. Once received, they will review these documents for completeness and accuracy, and then organize and submit the data into the format established by the State Association (MDCVSA). Benefits include honing your Microsoft Excel spreadsheet skills and networking with all the captains and their teammates who will be emailing you with updates the week of the roster deadline. 

Recording Secretary. The Recording Secretary is responsible for attending and taking notes at Executive Board and Captains meetings. You will also publish your meeting minutes (notes) in a timely fashion (i.e., within 30 days from the meeting date). Benefits include being able to say you've been published and having a firm grasp on all CCSL-related news. 

Social Committee Chair. The Social Committee Chair organizes league sponsored social events for the league. These events include group outings and tailgates at D.C. United games, happy hours at local watering holes, and any other good idea that the Chair would like to organize. The Chair is responsible for organizing a committee of two or more people who will assist them in their endeavors. Benefits include the opportunity to develop one¢s marketing, management, and procurement skills, direct interaction with CCSL¢s D.C. United ticket representative, operating a large grill and making burgers for more than 10 folks at a time, and hooking up your bartender buddy by hosting a happy hour at his/her establishment! 

As mentioned above, all of these positions are unpaid. However, these are great positions with which to color and add depth to a resume. Even more, they are essential to continuing CCSL¢s long-tradition of providing the best coed soccer experience in the Washington area!

If any of the above positions are of interest to you, please email me back atsnayar@yahoo.com and I can give you more info.

Thanks!

Sanjay
CCSL Commissioner

500th game

The U.S. Men play Sweden this Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in LA. It will be the national team's 500th game. You can see it at 8:30 p.m. EST on Fox Soccer Channel.

This is an important exercise for Sweden, which is preparing for the Euro 2008 in June. They are drawn into a difficult group with past champion Greece, Spain, and Russia.

Personally, I like friendlies because you get to see a lot of players and watch the team develop. I don't have a clue who will start. We have a mostly domestic-based crowd in training camp, with the exception of a few Scandanavia-based players who have a break in league play. Lots of youngsters. If you want local connections, focus on the new likely starting GK for DC United, Zach Wells. Also, you have Jeremiah White, who was written up in the WP this week as a kid with DC roots who went to the far reaches of Europe to develop. He's getting his first national team look this month.

Goalkeepers (4): Steve Cronin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brad Guzan
(Chivas USA), Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew), Zach Wells (D.C. United)

Defenders (9): Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas
City Wizards), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Todd Dunivant (Toronto FC), Clarence
Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New
England Revolution), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

Midfielders (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo
Clark (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC),
Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pat Noonan (New England
Revolution)

Forwards (6): Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Landon
Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (Kansas Cit y Wizards), Chris Rolfe
(Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Jeremiah White (AGF
Aarhus)

Indoor update

Things continue to look good for our indoor season. The league commissioner sent the following simple note to me:

"I am not totally sure yet, but I think one spot will become available for your
team."

Other news: we have enough people. It wouldn't hurt to add a few women. Alfonso appears to have gotten us a goalie (man) - haven't heard from him yet. Jenny mentioned that she may have a keeper as well (woman). Honestly, we can probably use them both, assuming they can play in the field as well.

Stay tuned!

Luna needs a new home

My neighbors are trying to find a good home for their sweet little Luna. Are you interested? See the message below.

As some of you may have heard, we are sadly looking for a new home for our
7-year-old cat, Luna (pictures attached). If you or someone you know may be able to provide a permanent home for Luna, please keep
reading.

We adopted Luna when she was a kitten and she is a very social and loving cat (she greets us at the door every night when we come home!). All her shots are up-to-date and she has no major health issues. Luna is not de-clawed, but uses her scratch post well (we haven’t had any issues with her clawing our furniture or carpet). Until 2 years ago, she lived happily alongside MacGyver, our male cat that died in 2004. Basically, she’s a great cat that unfortunately has not adapted well to our baby girl (who is prone to startling Luna with unpredictable movements and noises).

On two separate occasions, while we were present, our daughter startled Luna while playing with her, which resulted in Luna scratching her on the face. While we hear cat-baby dynamics can improve once the baby is older and understands how to interact better with animals (and
Luna has never shown aggression toward anyone else), we’re concerned about Gaby getting hurt in the interim. While Luna may be fine around other babies, we think she would do best in a household without children OR with children who are old enough to understand how to interact with animals (2 yrs and older).

FYI - Our neighbor “fostered” Luna for a week so we could see how she would do around another cat and older children. While our neighbor isn't able to adopt another cat right now, Luna got along well with our neighbor’s (male) cat, was affectionate to their pre-teen son, and integrated
well overall into their household.

We are happy to include a care kit that includes Luna’s litter box, cat carrier, food, toys, scratch post, Feliway (cat pheromone spray that is supposed to help cats relax during transitions and stress), and other “essentials” to ease the transition to a new home. We also will provide her vet records to assist with future care. Lastly, we will provide documentation for Luna’s pet insurance which covers emergency-related medical costs – the current policy runs through Dec 2008 and is renewable.

This has been a difficult decision and we are really trying to avoid taking Luna to a shelter if
possible. Please forward this message to anyone who may be interested and contact us if you’d like to learn more about Luna or wish to meet her.

Thanks for your help,
Anne and John
annedibble@yahoo.com

POTD

In 2003, I had a layover in Frankfurt on my way home from Cape Town.  Guess who lives in the Frankfurt area?  Anne, our star former fullback.  We had lunch at the airport.  

Anne came to us on a player loan from Germany.  Actually, she just played for us during her one-year stint in Rockville as an au pair.  At that time, we were an emerging side finally getting a few wins under our belt.  Anne excelled at tackles and helped us become respectable.  

When she returned to Germany, she went to University to study languages and international affairs.  What did she get her degree in?  What is she doing now?  Where is she living?  I wonder.  I'll try to get her to comment here.  Anne, best wishes and Happy New Year!

Outdoor starts March 30th

The CCSL Commissioner has notified captains that the Spring '08 season will start on Sunday March 30th.  Although I will save the speech until later, we are going to attack the 3rd Division this season in order to make up for lost time.  I will know more about dues, schedules, and new rules following the Captains' Meeting in early March.  Stay tuned!

We are registered for indoor - now we wait

Well, we're registered for indoor.  It's not certain that there is space for us to play, so we're still in a holding pattern.  But I would say it's a good chance.  

Schedule starts Wednesday, Jan. 30th. Game are Wednesdays, 50 minutes in length, beginning at 8, 9, 10, or 11:00 p.m.

The field is a nice, relatively large indoor artificial surface for 8 x 8.  I'm guessing it's 5 guys, 3 ladies.  The field looks a lot like the one pictured above.  No walls - regular lined fields.  Decent size goals.  No offsides.  It used to be an equestrian arena so there's no climate control.  Although there's no wind, strangely it sometimes seem colder inside than it does outside.  Beware.

Costs will be about $77 per person.  It will be due at the first game. I'll let you know the amount over email.

We've got a good crew, drawn from lots of places.  We have a base of Goleros, and some folks from other teams and places to round us out.

Roster:

Men (9): Pete, Nate, Jer, Alfonso, Max, Tim, + 3 friends of Alfonso

Women (6): Jackie, Ally, Katya, Kate, Heather, Jen from Far Post

We still need about 2 women and a Goalie.

Pick up is in the works for Sunday

Jon is organizing another pick up  game tomorrow (Sunday Jan. 6th).  Right now, we're looking at 1:00 p.m. at Gunston Middle School in Arlington.  Plans may change depending on field availability or weather (showers are possible in the morning).  Get in touch with us via cell phone if you're in.

Indoor update

The ship is still afloat. So far, our roster is Pete, Jer, Nate, Kate, Ally, Jackie, Katya, hopefully Heather, and Adrian as a sub. We need at least15 players (6 women, 9 men). We need some more forwards, a few more women, and a full-time keeper if possible. I'm reaching out to Far Post and Tsunami, hopefully they would be willing to contribute a few players.

The next decision is whether to send in a non-refundable deposit.

New website

I just launched a new website for sharing photos. Check it out. Sometime, I may post a bunch of Goleros photos. This blog only allows selective photo sharing.

http://web.mac.com/irvines