Fall 2016 Update

Team Red Barons,

I wanted to send a quick update:

Practices

The practices have been going great and I think last Wednesday was our best so far. We're starting to get into a rhythm and the boys are working hard out there. One of the things that's really exciting to me is that I don't see ANYONE walking, when we're conditioning. I've challenged the boys to at least jog when they're tired and they have been doing this. We'll be doing more conditioning as we get closer to game time but please have the kids exercise at home as well. The better conditioned they are, the more fun they're going to have in our games and practices. They should also be kicking a ball around every day!

Game Schedule

The game schedule should be out later this week. As soon as I get it, I'll post it to our blog so everyone can start planning for this Fall. If possible, plan around our games and practices so your son can participate as much as possible. Every boy contributes to our team and when games and practices are missed, it throws everyone off. Especially if we don't have enough boys to run our drills or to scrimmage during practice.

Team Dynamic

I'm really excited about our team! We've got some great kids and they seem to get along really well, so far. I'm not quite sure how the season is going to go but I'm confident, after a few practices, that we're going to be competitive and that it's going to be a lot of fun. As you may know, most of our team is playing up a year. On top of this, the league put us into the 1st division, which means we'll be playing the toughest teams at the U12 level. This season will definitely be a challenge but I think we're all up for it! If it ends up being too competitive for us, we can always ask them to put us into a lower division in the Spring.

Jerseys & Equipment

Everyone should have ordered their jersey by now, unless they already have one from a previous season. If not, please let me know if you have any questions on how to get what you need. As far as equipment - it looks like everyone has cleats and pads. Along with these, it's preferred that you have blue shorts and socks to complete the team/league uniform. Please do your best to get these before our games start. Also, there are a couple boys who don't have a size 4 soccer ball. They need their own ball, not just for practices but for practicing at home as well. Please get them one ASAP, if you haven't already, and if for any reason you can't, please let me know and I can help you out.

Jersey Numbers

Please let us know what your jersey number will be. We have a few kids waiting to pick up their jersey, but can't until they know what the existing jersey numbers are. Please reply to this email with your jersey numbers, ASAP.

Thanks everyone!

Coach Ben

Red Barons Update - 5/13/16

Can you believe we're at the half way mark already? I apologize for the lack of communication this season. It's so difficult when there isn't a Team Manager/Mom to help me out but I have been able to get an email out, from time to time, and I've been able to talk with many of you out on the field, so I hope that's helped fill in some of the gaps.

The Season So Far...

We're having a blast out there and I love the dynamic of the team! We've got great kids and they get along and have so much fun together! We haven't won as many games as we've been used to in the past but the boys are definitely improving as the season goes on. I'm not sure if I mentioned this but I filled out a questionnaire, prior to the schedule going out, asking that we not be put in the top tier. We ended up in the top bracket anyway, and we're playing the best teams at the U10 level. With that said...we've played some really good games and I've seen some really good things! We're very proud of the boys!

I'm sad to say we're going to be losing a couple boys because of the new age changes. If any of the boys have a birthday before January, they will be moving up a year this Fall. I'm really hoping we can keep as many of the boys together as possible, for this Fall. I talked to Coach Eric and we'd like to get an early start, this Fall, for the boys who are in town. It's been so hard with only a couple practices before our first game and it seems like we've never gotten into a routine this Spring, as far as lessons go. We've only had time to work on the basics, which is okay but not ideal. I'd typically like to be more organized and have a game plan and prepared sessions for each practice.

Our Next Game

Tomorrow's game (5/14) is at Daybreak Middle School, in Battle Ground, at 1:30pm. Please have the boys there by 1pm, for warm-up, and we're the visiting team so we should be wearing blue. As always, have the boys bring their white jersey as well, just in case. It's also supposed to be cooler and possibly wet tomorrow. Please have the boys dress accordingly.

Practice Schedule

Starting next week, our practices will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 6 to 7:30pm. This isn't a typo this time. :-)  So...Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the season, still at Danielson Field. It looks like it might be rainy this week. Please make sure the kids bring a jacket with them to practice, as well as a ball.

Pictures

I'm going to ask Melissa Houston (Ben's Mom) to take another team picture this Saturday, if the weather is decent. The last picture she took only had 8 out of our 12 boys in it. Please try to have the boys wear blue socks, black if you don't have blue and have them ready for a picture between 1 and 1:15pm, during our warm-up.

End of Season Party

We typically have a party at the end of the season. The default will be a BBQ at our house, unless there are other ideas. Last season we all went to Local Girls Hawian and that worked out well. Let me know if you have any other ideas or suggestions.

Plug for Cub Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)

Some of the boys were talking about Cub Scouts last week at the end of practice, and a couple of the boys, and at least one parent, were interested in hearing more information about it.  So...after some investigating, I've found that we have five boys on the team, who currently participate in Cub Scouts (two different troops) but most of them meet on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30 to 3:30pm. They also have a really fun day camp coming up this Summer, if any of the boys are interested. If so, please reach out to me for more details or your son can also get additional information from Evan, TJ, Tanner, Ben or Titan.

Thanks everyone,

Coach Ben

Red Barons Update - First Update of Spring 2016

Practice Schedule

Practices are still Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Danielson Field - 6:30 to 8pm. There was a little confusion yesterday and I think it's because I mentioned, at our first practice, that we might be switching to Tuesdays & Thursdays. That hasn't happened yet but I'll let you know when there's going to be a change.

Practices

Yesterday (4/12), we worked on some of the basics. This was for our new players and a refresher for our returning players (which I found out was very much needed). It was an interesting practice with the windstorm that came through and with the rain. The boys were very distracted and talked a lot and I think the weather had some to do with it but, if you can please talk to your boys about not distracting the other players when the coaches are talking, I think that might help. The most important thing is that we all have fun but I do require the boys to work hard during practice, to pay attention, and to be respectful. Overall, I thought it was a good practice and we got some scrimmaging in, which we'll be doing again today, to try and get the boys ready for our first game. When we have such little practice time, before our first game, it seems to be easier to teach them a lot of what they need to know on the fly (in a game-like atmosphere). I'm hoping to get into more organized lessons/practices once we get through the first game or two.

Weather

Many of the boys weren't prepared for the weather yesterday and they were cold. We did a lot of extra (short) runs to try to keep them warm but they still had cold hands and ears. I was really close to calling the practice but then realized there were only a few parents there to take the boys home. Please make sure they dress for Spring weather, which can be pretty much anything. I'd rather have them bring too much clothing than not enough. It's always good to have practices in the rain, to prepare them for wet/cold games, but I feel bad when they get cold like a few of them did yesterday.

Pictures

Melissa Houston (Ben's mom) has volunteered to be our Team Photographer. Thank you so much for volunteering Melissa! She will be snapping some pictures at our games and practices and we'll put the pictures on our team blog (which I'll share below). Melissa is going to take an "unofficial" team picture for our blog today. The boys can wear their jersey (either color), if they want but it's not required. I'd like to encourage everyone to take their own pictures at our games, as well, and if you want to send some of them to me, I can add them to our blog.

Team Blog

Our team blog can be found at cwredbarons.blogspot.com. Please bookmark this URL or add a shortcut to your desktop. You can also sign up as a follower and receive updates in your email, if you'd like to know when something new has been posted. I've updated some of the links, including our game schedule, but the rest should be updated toward the end of the week or this weekend (including the main team picture). Please feel free to poke around when you get a minute.

This blog will be our central place for communication and, along with team pictures, we'll have links to the game schedule, field maps, game rules, etc.. This blog is also great for sharing with any aunts/uncles, grandparents, etc. Please let me know, ASAP, if there are any parents who'd prefer not to have their son's picture(s) on our team blog.

Game Schedule

Our game schedule can be found on our team blog, by clicking on the "Official League Schedule & Maps" link, under Important Links. You can print our game schedule but, if you do, please be sure to check back, before each game, to make sure there hasn't been a change. You'll want to relay this to any friends or family members you share the schedule or blog with as well. Speaking of changes, I think I mentioned that there is already going to be one on our first game. The team we're supposed to play (the Wookies) can't play on Saturday and we're trying to line another game up. This game could be on Saturday (time currently unknown) or it could be scheduled for a day during the week. I'll keep you posted on that. Most of our games are scheduled for around Noon on Saturdays.

Jerseys

I sent an email out to everyone, regarding the ordering of jerseys. If you didn't get this information or need me to resend it, please let me know.  If there are any boys who don't have a jersey yet, you'll want to pick it up this week. Also, blue socks and shorts, to match the blue jersey, is suggested. I've compiled a list of jersey numbers, that should help us avoid duplicates, and emailed that to you. If you haven't given me a number yet, please do so, ASAP, so I can finish up the list. The old, reversible one-piece jerseys should still be ok to use but they must have a number on them (both sides).

Thanks everyone,

Coach Ben