Out of Town

Several people have recently asked me for the latest picture of our kids. Here it is. I know that most of you are sorely disappointed that I'm not in it.

We are on our way to Idaho to visit Sarah's family.

Flying.

With three kids four and under -

although Big E will be turning 5 very soon!

Tragedy in the NCCAA family

I recieved this email yesterday:

We at North Central University experienced a tragic loss over the
Thanksgiving holiday. Amanda Evans, A Freshmen member of our National Championship Cross Country team passed away suddenly from heart failure.

This has been a devastating loss to the entire community, but particularly the Athletics Department. Besides Amanda's connection to Athletics, her boyfriend is a member of the NCU baseball team and has taken the loss extremely hard as he was present at the time of her death.

Please pray for the family . . . and Danny Grass, the boyfriend left behind. Pray that North Central can minister to the family and friends and as well as deal with their own loss.

Sincerely,
Greg Hayton
North Central University
Director of Athletics

Please pray for the family of this young lady and her school. Man knows not his time. . .

A Coach to Learn From

John Gagliardi is a football (American style) coach who I have been following for years because of his success and unique style. He coaches at NCAA III St. Johns in Minnesota and his practices are characterized by no-contact, no wearing pads, no compulsory lifting, no bed checks, no curfews and no addressing him as "coach".

I don't endorse all of his techniques, and as far as I can tell, he is not a believer and so does not included biblical discipleship as one of his goals for his student-athletes. However, I did find some parts of the article to be instructive for those who desire to coach. Here are some excerpts:

“He has shown there are many different ways to have success. He’s
innovative, constantly changing to meet the talent of his team,” Stock said.
“His style has worked, his philosphy has worked. He’s proven there are many
different ways to win football games."

Gagliardi says,

“You’ve got to have good players. I coach a lot better with good players,”he
said. “They’re the ones out there doing the job. We’re very good at
graduating people and every year we graduate irreplaceable players. But
fortunately for me, more irreplaceable players show up every year.”

His athletic director states:

“The one key thing that I have observed in him through the years is his
commitment to do the things that he believes are best for the student-athletes,”
Teaff said. “He’s a humble person, he is unassuming. The ‘big time’ for him is
not as important as the time he spends with the players.”

That coaching philosophy fits well within Division III, which strives
to highlight athletics as part of the overall college experience and as an
activity more for the development of the participants than for the entertainment
of onlookers.

This is how I feel, except for the part about bishops. . .

Gagliardi said being a part of Division III has been a rewarding aspect of his career. Many of his former student-athletes have gone on to be surgeons and
bishops and lawyers and create lives of great accomplishment. “(In Division III), you’ve got real, bona fide student-athletes who can’t get in (to the school) or stay in unless they are really good students. They are good guys from
great families,” he said. “I’ve seen guys become college presidents, go into
every field you can think of. It’s amazing what they can do. It’s hard to
believe they go on to do so many different things, and I’m still at the same
job.”

You can read the entire article here. - C

NCAA III Championships

On the women's side, Wheaton College won their second straight NCAA III Championship over Messiah last weekend. I had the privilege of being the NCAA site rep at the Wheaton sectional on November 17 and 18 when Wheaton defeated Wis.-Steven's Point and Univ of Puget Sound. You can read about the final four here. The Thunder went 27-0 on the season and have won 40 matches in a row dating back to 2006. WC was ranked #1 before the tourney and Messiah was ranked #2.

On the men's side Trinity (Texas) from the Central Region (our region) was defeated 4-3 in penalty kicks by Middlebury. Here is the game story. Too bad the national championship had to be decided by penalties. Middlebury was ranked #11 in the nation prior to the tournament and Trinity was #1.

Guinness World Record and Soccer

An attempt to break a world record took place and Bob Jones University last weekend. Do any of you know if it was successful? - C

The Last Match

We had a nice day on Sunday. Most of us attended the Bible Baptist Church of Kissimmee and went to Cici's pizza the after the morning service. We need a Cici's in Watertown.

I am at the airport getting ready to board for our trip home. Everyone except for Ann Bolton has checked in - she is returning the rental van. She spent many hours in that van while down here. I appreciate all the driving she did for us.

We played in the fifth place match this morning against 3rd seeded Southeastern University. It was the hottest of our matches in Florida. We played our usual game - hustled, played good defense, sketchy possession and several quality opportunities on the net - but no goals. Melissa hit the crossbar on a free kick and Julie made a great shot that went just wide right. Southeastern scored on a far post header after the ball bounced around the box in our end. We came away from the match having learned many lessons about tournament play, travelling to Florida and many of us know exactly what we need to work on for next year.

See you in Wisconsin - C

Toccoa Falls - Second Round

We arrived to the field on Saturday, determined to overcome any challenges from the day before. The ladies warmed up well and our possession, defense and even finishing showed much improvement.

Melissa Nichols recorded a hat trick, Amanda Moses finished a nice cross from Pamela Shetter and Lisa Collogan scored on a shot from about 25 yards as we went on to defeat Toccoa 5-0. It was also nice to be able to play everyone - except for Elise Jones who is still struggling with her knee. We will play Southeastern on Monday in the 5th place match.

We are still disappointed with our loss on Friday. We think that we could have had a good performance against Crown in the second round, but it is sometimes difficult to play well when so many things are new. We are still excited to be here and if the Lord allows us to come again, this year's experiece will be invaluable. - C

The First Round

We had a disappointing performance in our first round match versus Manhattan yesterday. We ended up losing 3-0 - despite outshooting them 15 to 7 and recording 17 corner kicks to their 1. Their first goal was a breakaway that caught or defense by surprise - as MCC had a couple of very fast players up front. Their second two goals were on free kicks. We had some trouble adjusting to the level of physical play - the referee allowed far less than what usually goes on in the NAC other D3 contests. Both free kicks were on fouls that were more than questionable.

But the biggest problem is finishing. We hit the post and had several balls cleared off the line yesterday. We seem to be able to do everything but score. Please pray for the ladies to stay strong and positive - we have another match today against a quality team from Toccoa Falls.

We are enjoying out time in Florida and we are looking forward to a chance to sight-see a little bit over the next couple of days. - C

We Have Arrived

I had hoped to post more pictures, but I need to download them from some of the girls. We arrived in Orlando with no problems. Airtran was on time and delivered our luggage. We can't ask for much more from airlines these days. We attend a dinner put on by the NCCAA II immediately after arriving. It was nice to get at least one free meal. Unfortunately, most of Ann Bolton' time in Florida has been spent driving the rental van. We have to take two trips everywhere we go, we finally got everyone back to the hotel by 11:30 pm last night.

I was optimistic about the hotel when I first saw it. There is a nice view and the rooms are very large - almost suite sized - however there have been a few problems. I have to slam my door has hard as I can to get it to close, I think the frame is bent. Last night it was a little cold and so I turned on the room heater, but it set off the smoke alarm. The room was cold this morning so I was looking forward to a hot shower only to find no hot water - and I am certain that I was up before the rest of the team. I have called the front desk several times and gotten no answer, so I am trying to get up the courage to go in and shower with cold water. Maybe I don't need one. . .

We are excited about our match today. It has been almost two weeks since we have played a game. Our adjustment to that much time off will be interesting. Stay tuned - C

Why Did They Give?

I am in the process of writing thank you notes to the many folks who have donated to the Women's Soccer trip to NCCAA Nationals and it struck me that many of the individuals are people whose gift was their first to the college. Many of them have had a relationship with the college for a long time, so the question is - What changed? What motivated them to give this time and not all of the other times that we have expressed a need for money?

I don't know the exact answer to that question, but at the risk of being presumptuous, let me float two theories:

Theory #1 - There has always been a perception, real or imagined, that athletics do not get the support from the college administration that many of us on the athletic side would hope for. The perception may not always be true, but it has been a fairly constant comment or viewpoint for the 15 years that I have been a part of Maranatha athletics as a player and coach. What is different about this trip is that there is no doubt that the administration is behind us and has given us our best shot at a quality performance by stepping out and giving us the opportunity to fly. Flying reduces travel stress, reduces missed class time, and allows our nursing students avoid missing clinicals in order to participate. If we had missed more class time, there is a high likelihood that two starters may not have been able to make the trip. Many donors gave because they saw initiative on the part of the college to support this endeavor.

Theory #2 - The second theory is that many who gave a gift have a strong connection to Maranatha soccer and they saw an opportunity to help something that they believe in.

Maybe they just gave because they needed a tax break this year. . . Anyway, I want to thank all of our donors and we are excited about this opportunity. The ladies are working hard to make sure that their studies and jobs are prepared for their absence.

Please pray that we are a good representation of our team, our school and our Lord. -C

Trip to Utica

Our soccer program has had a strong relationship over the years with a small church and school about 40 minutes away in Utica, WI. Many of their young people have attended Maranatha - and done quite well academically and athletically. A good sized group from their school has always been a big part of our soccer camp, even going back to the first couple of attempts at a girl's soccer camp. I think that three out of the six campers in 2002 were from Utica. Several of our college men's and women's soccer players attend their church and help with various ministries while at school in Wisconsin. I don't have any 'hard data' on this, but I think that Utica Bible Baptist might be the strongest per capita supporting church that Maranatha has. Three young ladies on our soccer team graduated from their school and I hope to get a few players for the men's team over the next several years. We usually go down and run a boys and girls soccer clinic on their field every spring. Furthermore, their church also made a generous donation toward our 2006 Mission's Trip to Germany.

Last Sunday, about 15 members of our women's soccer team had the privilege of attending a Singspiration at their church. I often joke that as the soccer talent on our team has increased, the singing ability has decreased - but last Sunday proved that assertion wrong. We have at least four young ladies who are in choir at the college, several others who play instruments and all the rest can sing very well. All in all, the ladies were able to provide eight different pieces of special music and several testimonies that were a blessing. Utica also took a love offering and made a generous gift toward our trip to NCCAA Nationals.

The ladies who were able to attend included: Shannon Delany, Elise Jones, Jenny Harley, Shasta Mikolowski, Lisa Collogan, Sierra Miller, Emily Kutz, Emily Dow, Laura Kennedy, Melanie Killingsworth, Cara Harrison, Julie Muse, Hillary Lockhart and possibly someone else who I am forgetting. . . I'm sure someone will chime in on the comments below - wait, Barb Gerlach, our goalkeeper was there. Not sure how I forgot her.

The ladies were a great testimony and truly ministered. It was a blessing to attend the service and I appreciate the hospitality afforded us at Utica Bible Baptist Church.