Big Announcement at MBBC

Many at Maranatha have know about this for some time, but last Friday the official announcement was made: Jeff Pill is named as the new soccer coach at Maranatha! You can read the story here. Ironically, I have been "stealing" Pill's Drills for a long time and a couple of years ago I learned that Jeff was a member of Dr. Phelp's church in New Hampshire. In fact, when Dr. Phelps became the new president of Maranatha, I had hoped to get Coach Pill to instruct at the Maranatha Soccer Camp. This is a great hire for soccer at Maranatha. I have been privileged to spend some time with Coach Pill and believe that he and I are in lock-step when it comes to coaching philosophy - the difference between us is that he just might be a little bit better coach.

I have shared this on a number of occasions, but I believe that both the men's and women's teams are poised for outstanding seasons. Anyone who watched us play late in the season last year will know that both teams have the talent and now the experience to win on both the D3 and NCCAA levels. I also believe that with the addition of a coach the stature of Coach Pill, there may be some recruits who who will chose Maranatha and put the teams "over the top".

In the meantime, I have taken a new position at Colorado Christian University. The announcement was made a couple of weeks ago and I am looking forward to a new challenge as their head men's soccer coach. Things have moved very quickly and we will be moving at the end of March so that I can be a part of the spring season at CCU and start recruiting for the fall.

Please keep Coach C and Coach P in your prayers as we make transitions to our new places of ministry. - C

Another Mission's Trip

Many of you remember the men's and women's soccer team trips to Germany in the spring of 2006. That is when this blog began. This summer several members of our soccer rosters will be joining Maranatha's project: Global Encounters and taking the Gospel to other cultures.

A mission's trip is a great encouragement to missionaries already on the field and a way to further train our own students for further service. The teams are preparing for their respective trips through meetings and language study. They are also in the fundraising stage of the trip - a great exercise in faith for the young people.

I want to encourage some of you to consider a gift toward this effort - either a general gift to Global Encounters or a gift to a specific individual. Here are the soccer players who are going:

Mexico: Sarah Berry

Argentina: Emily Dow, Matt Huggins, Chris Jochum

China: Elise Jones, Rebecca Manion

If you cannot give, please keep Global Encounters in your prayers.

Maranatha Choirs

I am going to interrupt the series of memories with a post about the choirs at Maranatha. Last night, my church was privileged to host the Maranatha Chamber Singers, a group of which I am an alumnus. I was able to travel on five choir tours in three years. Chambers used to travel once in the fall and once in the spring. I have often said that choir tour was the best thing that I did in college. I was involved in sports and plays and other events, but nothing beat choir tour for sheer enjoyment.

I enjoyed the bus trips. Hanging out with college friends, walking up an down the aisles, trading jokes, endless games of Rook or looking out the windows at the new terrain that we were always passing through. I always tried to do my homework before tour. I knew that I would do very little (if any) on the trip itself, so I usually just left my books in my dorm. Visiting the homes of church members was also a memorable experience. Folks were always very kind.

Last night's Chamber's Concert was one of the best that I have heard in my 15 years around MBBC. Hand's down. Mr. Ledgerwood always does such a good job with harmony and over half of the package was acapella - kind of appropriate since I always remember him trying to get the pianists to play more softly when I was in choir. Looks like he just decided to go without the accompaniment altogether. Other new things included:

• Formal dresses on the ladies
• Tuxes on the men
• Larger choir (40 vs 36 when I sang)
• Mr. Ledgerwood's hair seems to be under better control than it was back in the 90's

Things that are still the same include:

• Mr. Ledgerwood's hand gestures - minimalist but effective
• The emphasis on harmony over volume
• Singing in "the round"

I missed "O Thou, In Whose Presence" and "Jesus Paid It All", but the current selections were outstanding as usual. I also enjoyed seeing several soccer kids in choir. There seemed to have been more of them in the fall, but the spring '08 Chambers include Joel Smith, Kat Alley, Jarid Lawson, and Laura Kennedy. The Chamber Singers leave for their tour on March 7th. If you can make it to a concert, I highly recommend it.

The Madrigal choir just returned from their tour. Soccer/Madrigal members include James Collard, Chris Jochum, and Hillary Lockhart.

More 2007 Pictures - Men

Here, Brett dropped the ball to Kirk who then carried the ball into the space to his left and made a great, driven cross to the far post. Exactly how we practiced. I'm sure it happened.

Friends and family picnic.

Don't ask. I'm just glad that I am not in the picture.

No caption needed.

I would not mind going into "battle" with these guys again.

We need a picture

This annoucement just came through the on-campus, electronic newsletter called the Trumpeter:

Winner of the Girl's Dorm Decorating Contest - 12/7/2007

- The girl’s side of campus had a Christmas Spirit contest to see which dorm could generate the most Christmas spirit through decorated doors, dorm participation and overall holiday cheer throughout the dorm.
· The winner: HILSEN (Punch and homemade cookies will be delivered to their dorm on Saturday)
· MOST CREATIVE and FUN overall: Second Floor Day Dorm -Twelve Days of Christmas Maranatha style
Other creative and noteworthy doors the judges really liked:
· Hilsen: Hot Cocoa and Cookies
· Day: "'Twas the Night Before Finals" Poem
· Day: Fireplace with Ledge
· Weeks: All I Want for Christmas - Wish Lists
· Weeks: The soccer player poster door--very funny!

We need to see this door!

Alumni in Chicago

After the women's game on Saturday in River Forest, IL, our ladies team was invited to the home of Laura and Tony Shaver who live about five minutes (depending on traffic) from CUC. They have a cozy apartment into which we squeezed (not a fat joke) 23 players, 2 coaches, 4 soccer alums, and 3 soccer alumni husbands - two of them are actually football alums. They dont' really know what is going on, but we like them at games because they make a lot of noise. They served pizza, veggies and lots of desert. It was a great time for me to catch up with some former players and a chance for our current players to meet them.

We had five members of the starting line-up from our 2003 squad that won 13 games in attendance: Jen Adam, Hayley McGrail, Laura (Frazee) Shaver, Kim (Gavitt) Terpstra and Angie (Fenstermacher) Aulph. It is really difficult to keep up with the name changes sometimes, but I am doing better - we did decide that Angie will always be "Fenster". We also argued about who was a better player: Melissa or Laura. We had a great time of fellowship - we just wished we could have added a victory to the evening. . .

The last few days have brought a lot of contact with alumni. Some of whom have donated for the Women's soccer nationals trip. I don't want to embarrass any of them, but here are some email excerpts:

Wow, I cannot believe how many life-lessons, exciting memories, solid, godly friendships and an assemblance of decent health I can attribute to Maranatha
Soccer!

I am so excited for you guys getting to go to the tournament! That is absolutely awesome...wish I was going =) I can't afford much, but I want to do what I can to help the team since the time I was on the team made a huge impact on my life.

We wish the rest of you could come as well. We consider all of the soccer alumni out there to still be a part of our program. I hope to blog often while we are in Kissimmee - don't forget that the men also have a chance to earn a trip to nationals this week- we play NAC opponent Marian today. We earned the #2 seed in the Midwest Region and so we will play Moody at 3 pm on Friday, if we defeat Moody, we will advance to the region final on Saturday.

Photo Blog

Women's soccer was featured on the Maranatha Photo Blog the other day.

If anyone has soccer pictures that you thing should be posted here at Maranatha Soccer, please send them to jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu. - C

Weddings (and preseason)

This has been the worst weather that we have ever experienced for a preseason for as long as I have been at Maranatha. In fact, it has been so depressing that I don't even want to post about it. So, "Let's be positive!" (as Swifty keeps telling me) and look at pictures of Susie (Ferris) and James Yuen's wedding here.

As well as send congratulations to Kim (Gavitt) and Caleb Terpstra who were married last Saturday in Alaska. If anyone (Laura) who was there can send me a few pictures, everyone (Mrs. Coach) will be very happy. - C

Recently Brought to My Attention

This is a sad post and somewhat belated, but I thought it would be a good idea to bring it to the attention of the Maranatha Soccer family. Tyler Burcalow, a student athlete from Edgewood College, passed away this summer in a car accident. You can read the story here. Even though the accident took place around the Fourth of July, but I am sure that his family is still hurting and in need of prayer. It is also a sober reminder of the brevity of life on this earth and a challenge to focus on the eternal.

This incident brings to mind another tragedy that, oddly enough, also involved Edgewood College - when a referee passed away during a soccer match between EC and MBBC in 1993. These events emphasize the sovereignty of God and should affect how we interact with fans, players, and referees in the arena of athletics.

"Only what's done for Christ will last." - C

2007 Soccer Camp

I am finally getting around to the 2007 Maranatha Soccer Camp blog post.

We have been dealing with preaseason date issues all week. The NCAA made a late ruling that affected a lot of schools and a lot of student athletes. If you are planning to attend preseason, you can get more information here.

We had a great week with 62 campers in attendance. The Lord has steadily grown our camp over the past four years:

2004: 26

2005: 43

2006: 49

2007: 62

First, I want to thank the staff. All of them did an outstanding job and worked very hard for very little money. You can check out the staff who helped out in this messed up post. Sixty-two campers is about the limit for what our facilities can handle here on campus and we are looking into other options for next year.

Campers came from the following states: MI, IN, WI, IL, IA, MN, VA, AZ, and OR. We hope it was worth the trip for all of them. One team took advantage of the team discount - we always enjoy Randy Lightcap and his group of South Side soccer players.

We had our largest group of girl's soccer players this week with 14 and there were some really nice players in that group. I am excited to see the women's side grow. I also enjoyed meeting and working with several men who will be seniors in high school this fall. I believe that all of them have the potential to be contributors on the college level. There was another senior who missed camp this year because of a boy scout trip. He has been one of our faithful attenders at soccer camp. Hopefully I can get to one if his matches this fall.

Here are some more pictures of soccer camp. You may also want to check out the gallery on the MBBC website.

- C

Crusader Club Project

People have been talking about a scoreboard for the soccer field for as long as I have been here at Maranatha and now it looks like it could become a reality! Check out this link to the latest Crusader Club letter and feel free to donate!

Unless,

. . . you would rather give a give toward women's soccer warm-ups. We are very close to our goal. All gifts are tax-deductible and much appreciated. If you can help or know of a company that might be interested, please contact me by email: jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu. -C

Latest Update on Preseason Date

Those who have already scheduled flights back to school for preseason on the 17th will be housed and fed on campus during the weekend. You might even be able to hang out at my house. . . and watch my kids. . . while Sarah and I go on a date. . . hmm, maybe this is working out better than I had thought. . . stay tuned. - C

Preseason Date Change

Due to a recent (last Thursday) ruling by the NCAA, players may not arrive for preseason until Sunday, August 19th. I know that many of you have already made flight reservations and the college is working on a proper solution to this problem. As a result there will be some major changes to the preseason schedule. Stay tuned. . . - C

Register for Soccer Camp!

I drove up to Green Bay yesterday to conduct a one-day clinic for Bay City Baptist. I always enjoy going up there. We had a little bit of bad weather, but everything worked out just fine. I was almost late because I41 is down to one lane near Fond du Lac - a warning to those of you who might be travelling up that way.

My real reason for this post: Maranatha Soccer Camp starts a week from Sunday! Make sure you are registered and ready to go. We already have players signed up from Arizona, Oregon, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and a better than average contingent from good 'ole Wisconsin. Not too many from Michigan this year. If anyone is coming from that direction, Swifty wouldn't mind a little company.

Mr. Thompson, Larry Carlson and myself lined our fields this morning. They are in good shape, but the upper field is a little dry. We hope for a few showers this weekend. Next week, I will be driving to Rochelle, IL every day for a boys camp at the public high school. Go Hubs! -C

Itinerary and Schedules

Next week, I will be conducting a soccer camp at Rochelle High School in Illinois. If you are in the area, you are welcome to contact the high school there and sign up for the camp. The Rochelle camp is for boys.

The following week is our own Maranatha Soccer Camp here at the college. We have ordered the new t-shirts for the year and we will once again be selling Maranatha Soccer sack packs. If there is anyone out there who is interested. Email me and you can purchase a sack pack for $5 or a t-shirt for $8. Purchase both for $12. There may also be a charge for shipping. You can pay by check, credit card over the phone, or paypal. My email address is jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu. Email me and we can work out the best way to do payment. The t's are ice gray with a dark blue logo. The sack packs are navy with a white logo.

For college athletes who are planning to attend preseason in August, I have the following documents available through email:

Preseason Training Schedule, Regular season game and training schedule, and Summer Workout. -C

Opportunity

for any players who are in the Watertown area on August 11th. The Watertown Soccer Club is holding a 4v4 soccer tournament and they need referees. Here is some of the information from Jim Schmidt:

Hello ref’s and other interested parties,
Hopefully you’ve about the 4v4 soccer tourney on Aug 11 , 2007. This tourney is sponsored by the HAWC , WSC and Park-n-Rec. It will be held Brandt/Quirk park. I’m looking for ref’s for this day. You don’t need to be a certified ref. However , you should know soccer and it’s basic rules. This tourney will be an all day event. If your only available for part of the day, please let me know. If you can go all day , we’ll get you plenty of work. This is our first year running this tourney, so I’m hopeful we’ll have plenty of teams sign up.

If you are interested in this opportunity, contact me. I am not certain if this is a paid or volunteer situation, but I can find out for you. -C

Summer Groups

I am a soccer coach and I love any type of athletic competition, however, while I was in college, I had the opportunity to be a member of the Chamber Singers choir and the Watchmen Quartet while a student at the college. My experiences while traveling with these groups helped to form some of my fondest memories of college and taught me a great deal about dealing with people. I was also able to visit over 40 states in the Union on Maranatha's dime. . . I loved these trips and never wanted them to end - even when the 12 week, 13,000 mile Watchmen tour was over, I still wanted to continue. Anyway, I have enjoyed reading the blogs of the two Maranatha groups who are on the road this summer: the Heritage Singers and the Triumphant Brass. The updates bring back a lot of memories. I would travel with a singing group again in a hearbeat - but they probably would not like having a three kids along. Maybe I can get my CDL when my kids leave home and drive for a choir. . . If any of you are in college and you have the opportunity to travel - do it! - C

Sommer Rodolph Update

Sommer and Jen, circa 2004.

Sommer Rodolph stopped by our house on Saturday. It was fun to see her again - for those of you who don't know - she is the all-time leading goal scorer on the women's side. She was also a great leader on our team and continues to serve the Lord in any way she can. Since her graduation in 2005, she has taken missions trips to Uruguay, Germany, Zambia and is currently serving at Camp Fairwood right here in Wisconsin. - C

Players Who are Involved

One of the goals of the Maranatha Soccer program is to prepare our players to become excellent soccer coaches. We believe that the NCAA III experience is a key influence in their soccer development, however there are many other ways to learn to work with young people and sports with credibility. Many of our players volunteer to work at the YMCA in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Some of our players volunteer to work with teams at Watertown High School. Several are involved with the rec league here in Watertown. A large number of our players work as high school and club referees around the area.

Junior midfielder, Melissa Nichols, did both this last semester. She volunteered as the head coach of the Watertown U-11 girls soccer team and spent much of her time on weekends as a referee in the soccer club. A month or so ago, we were driving through Brandt-Quirk Park and saw Melissa as an assistant referee for a boy's U-14 match. I snuck up behind her and took a few pictures without her even knowing. I have posted a couple here. There are several more that are not quite as good. . .you can purchase the entire set in exchage for a small donation to the women's team fund to buy new warm-ups. . . :) - C

From a few years ago...

Scott Hawes and I came to Maranatha in the fall of 1993. You can see from the pictures posted here that we have changed a little. I have also added a few new links to the right including the link called "History Blog". Over the next year, our publications department will be posting many pictures and articles about the history of Maranatha from the last 40 years. 2008 marks our 40th year in existence. Feel free to leave comments there and many of you alumni are welcome to submit articles or pictures for that blog. -C