Notes from the June 4, 2008 Team Meeting with Coaches Elaine Miller and Geoff Woodruff

 

First, Coach Miller and I would like to thank everyone for their attendance at the meeting that was held last night.  We also hope that the girls who could not be there last night had a good result with the game that was played.

Here are a few numbers from last nights meeting.  We have a total of 21 returning players from last year.  So far, we have a total of 14 new players for the fall season.  Which gives us a total of 35 players for this fall.  This does not include people from other schools who will be attending Firestone in the Fall.

There were many topics that were discussed last night and I will try to cover all of them, or at least what I can remember.  Coach Miller and I handed out our schedule for the summer and fall.  We also handed out our Handbook for the fall season.  Both of these documents can be found on the fhssoccer.net website within the next few days.

There will be a gathering of players and parents this Saturday, June 7th from 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm at the Firestone soccer field.  This will be to remove the fence and get the field ready for summer conditioning.  Please come help prepare the field for a successful fall season.

All players must have a physical completed prior to the first day of practice, which is August 4th.  This must be turned into one of the coaches or Brian Fuller by that date.  If this is not received, you will not be allowed to participate in practices.  A copy of this document can be found on fhssoccer.net.

We discussed our summer conditioning program.  We will be running on Monday and Fridays throughout the summer from 7:30 am - 9:00 am.  This will be taking place at the High School by the soccer field.  Coach Miller will not be there for the conditioning on the 9th and 13th of June.  On June 9th, Nicole Seaman and Maddie Gaither, will be conducting the conditioning.  On June 13th, Amy Dagilis and Ashley Ruppert, will be conducting that conditioning session.  Coach Miller will be there for the session on June 16th.  Please make sure to bring water with you to these sessions.

We will again be having open field time from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm at the high school.  These sessions will start on June 11th.  I will not be at the first session, but this session will be run by Carrie Linden and Kristina Brooks.  I will be at the session on June 18th.  Please make sure to bring water with you to the open fields.

We will again be attending the Strongsville Soccer Tournament in July.  The dates for this tournament at July 18,19 and 20.  We had a sign up sheet last night that was passed around.  Please keep this tournament in mind as part of your summer conditioning program.  Mrs. Gaither is coordinating this weekend tournament which involves 7 games (40 minutes) over the 3 days.  The team will be staying in a hotel on one of the nights and going our to dinner together.  This is a great team building event that leads us into our season.  Please contact Mrs. Gaither with any questions that you may have.  Her e-mail can be located on the fhssoccer.net website under officers.

Our first MANDATORY practice will be on Monday August 4th.  This practice will be at the High School on the soccer fields.  The first week of 2 a days will occur from 7:00 am - 9:00 am and then resume from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.  This will leave all players their afternoons and evening free.  The second week of 2 a days will be different due to the scrimmages that we have that week.  The second weeks schedule can be found on the calendar that was distributed.  

Games will start on August 18th with the Varsity and JV playing at Crestwood.  Please make sure that you are prepared for our away games.  Based on the location of our games, there will be times when you will not return to school until 9:30 pm.  Please make sure that you pack snacks and anything else that you need to get through the evening.  The bus does not stop at McDonalds for food.

Pasta Dinners were discussed.  These dinners are held by the Seniors on the team.  They are meant to be a time for all of the players to get to know each other better and build team unity.  These dinners are mandatory.  The information regarding these dinners will usually be handed out the week that they are taking place with the location of the dinner and who is required to bring what.  We will tentatively be having a "past lunch" on September 27 after our game at Louisville.  This will take place at Caitlin Ryan's home, due to the fact that she lives in Louisville.  There will be more details in reference to this lunch as the time draws nearer.

The calendar specifically states what days we will be practicing and what days we will be running.  Please make sure that you have your cleats on practice days and your running shoes on the running days.  There are no exceptions to this.

Captains will be chosen during the end of the 2 a day sessions.  If you are interested in becoming a captain for the 2008 Varsity team please let the coaches know this now.  We will be conducting "interviews" during practice.  The coaching staff will make the decision on who will be the captains.  The position is open to Juniors and Senior.  

All Varsity and JV teams will be announced during the 2nd week of 2 a days.  

The JV team this year will be playing for the unofficial City Series Championship.  On 9/3/08 the JV team will be playing the Ellet Girls Varsity team under the lights at Ellet.  This game will be at 7 pm.  There will be no Varsity practice on this day, and everyone is encouraged to be at the game.  (The JV defeated the Garfield Varsity in 2004 and 2005).  Let's keep the tradition going.

All of the information that we passed out and discussed can be found on the soccer website.  WWW.FHSSOCCER.NET

Please feel free to contact either Coach Miller or I with any questions that you may have.  If I forgot to mention anything in this e-mail, please let me know.

Have a great day and Go Stone!!

The Coaches.