| The
Firebirds' are gearing up for
what expects be another exciting year of travel soccer.
We had a very successful, although somewhat
weather impaired, preseason camp with Ollie from Maestro
soccer and are registered for a preseason tournament
the weekend of September 6 & 7.
We
welcome back our returning players, Bree, Jordan,
Nia, Jessica P, Jasmine, MaryKate, Stephanie, and
Sydney, bid farewell to our departing players, Lauren,
Niki, Alex, Zenzali, and Jessica R, and say hello
to our new players, Emily, Juliana, Julia, Sierra,
Shannon, and Kerri. Also leaving us are Coach
Diane and Coach Rick, thank you so much for all your
time, energy, resources, and experience... you will
be missed. Joining our coaching staff is Coach
Perry, who brings wealth of soccer coaching knowledge
from both rec and travel teams.
We
will be playing in the same flight (3) as we did last
season, however, there will only be six teams in the
flight, so we will be playing each team in our flight
twice, one at home and once away. The teams
in our flight are: Montgomery Blaze, Edison
Wildcats, Hopewell Cyclones, South Brunswick Wave,
and Ridge Mavericks Storm. Our first league
game will be at home on Sunday, September 14 against
the Montgomery Blaze.
Our
training and practices will be as they were last season,
Tuesday's from 5:30 - 7:00 at the Soccer Center's
with Stefan and Friday's from 5:30 - 7pm (as weather
conditions permit) at Middlebush Park (note the change
of location here). No goalie training is scheduled
at this time.
We
trust that everyone had a fun and relaxing summer
and we look forward to starting another year of Firebird's
soccer. See you on the field.
Firebird's
Coaching Staff |
| On
an uncommonly hot and humid September Sunday in Franklin
Township, the Firebirds took the field for only the
second time as an eleven aside squad playing on larger
field against the visiting Montgomery Blaze. The girls
played hard and generated a number of quality scoring
opportunities which would have made the final score
a bit closer. Credit the Blaze for making the
most of their scoring chances and playing a very strong
game.
In
practice this week, we will focus on spacing, positioning
and opening up the field. As could be seen on
Sunday, when we did switch the field of play quickly
it often led to dangerous attacks. We will also
talk about providing pressure, cover, and balance
on defense.
Here
are the picture from the game:
http://picasaweb.google.com/
apollo.pil/2008_Fall_ Montgomery_at_home?authkey=
7mzrEvvpXKk# 5248091991083442050 |
| On
Sunday, the Firebirds traveled to Washington Crossings
State Park in beautiful Hopewell Twp to play the Hopewell
Valley Cyclones. While the result was not favorable
for the Firebirds they showed some improvement in
their play from last week. There were a number
of nice individual plays and some good defensive work.
We thank the Cyclones for hosting and congratulate
them on a well played game.
In
practice this week, we will focus on stringing passes
together. On Sunday, we told the girl they could also
score a goal by putting together 4 passes without
the other team touching the ball. The one time
they put three passes together resulted in our best
scoring opportunity. If you have a chance at
home please work with your player on passing and receiving
(first touch).
Here
are Apollo's pictures from the game:
http://picasaweb.google.com/
apollo.pil/2008_Fall_vsHopewell?authkey=z46l1Jvp17E# |
