Ref Clinic Recap

So I kind of got my voice back today, so I can write for you all about what happened yesterday power soccer. Essentially, we got to play power soccer for about two hours straight which was pretty awesome. However, before we did that, we had our first official speed test and equipment check. Surprisingly, my chair was too fast by almost a second over 50 feet, but I got turned down and we are all good now I think. Also, I learned how my guard needs to be moved in a little which will be different, but it will definitely need to be done to my guard legal. We kind of like being legal I guess... Anyway, after all of the official stuff, we started to play. The first half we played Chargers versus Power Cats and I think that we all played pretty well. Following that and for the rest of the afternoon, JC Russo of the Circle City Rollers and Team USA joined with the Power Cats and we continued playing until four o'clock. It was definitely a great time for all of us, and the best part was that we now have certified referees to play official games from now on. Thank you to everyone who came out to watch us as well as the referees who came out to become certified. Thank you to the Northeast Passage for being great hosts! Finally, thank you to Chris Mulholland were driving in from Virginia to teach the referees and Dominic and JC Russo for coming in from Indiana to see us play and play with us.

Almost Game Time

Well, tomorrow I head down to University of New Hampshire with my teammates to take on the Northeast Passage Power Cats. As I normally do before practice, I am going to outline some of my goals and what I hope I'm able to do individually tomorrow.
• I need to think about my teammates. Of course, I try to think about them often, but in the flow of the game, we all have a tendency to play what our coach Sandy calls "magnet ball." Not only does this lead to collisions, but it also inevitably causes the 2-on-1 which is entirely unnecessary.
• I need to remember that spinning is a good and powerful weapon. Note that it must be done with some caution because of the risk of a penalty, but it definitely should not be avoided. I have been working on them on my own and during practice, so hopefully I will remember them tomorrow.
• Finally, I need to remember to keep on the pressure. I tend to want to step back. Nevertheless, I need to remember that you only need to allow 15 feet on a free kick. From what I can gather, power soccer is about field position, so I need to take full advantage of it.

What a Year

Well, I ran an application on my Facebook that read what word I have said most in the past year. Of course, soccer was number one. Our team has had a great year of growth! I believe that the first clinic was last December, but I didn't start playing until March. Let me just say that it has been a great team to be a part of. We have grown a lot in the past year, but all that will be put to the test on Saturday. As many of you probably know from my incessant repeating, the Chargers are headed down to the University of New Hampshire for our only third game. However, this is incredibly important because we will have referees becoming certified which will enable us to host USPSA sanctioned games. With this building block in place, we will then be able to continue to grow. Who knows what the next level will be, but I do know that there will be one. It is kind of like the movie Inception where there is always another level. There is always a way to find a way to another level. Of course, some levels take longer than others, but they are all fun, and we will enjoy them along the way.

Redirect

Okay, now that my official game recap has been published, I want you to read that! So, since I only occupy about five minutes of your day, I want you to use those five minutes on this article as opposed to anything else I would write here. Sorry if you've already seen this article and will therefore not have any more blogging from me today. However, tomorrow's post is going to be awesome, so don't miss it!
This is a photo that I stole from our coach Sandy's Facebook. I will assume that he will not sue me for some type of copyright infringement :).