D3Kicks

Many of you have seen the link on the right sidebar for d3kicks.com. Last year was their inaugural year and the site was reasonably interesting, but not all that compelling. This year, they have improved greatly and I go there everyday to check up on teams in the region. You are able to sort by gender and date to get the scores in which you are interested. You can also view DIII schools by state and region. D3kicks also releases national and regional rankings that are quickly becoming as respected as the NSCAA rankings.

If you are interested in the NCAA III soccer, I highly recommend adding this site to your favorites bar. - C

Dubuque

Both teams played against University of Dubuque today. UD is one of our tougher non-conference opponents and a good early season test. The ladies jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a great hustle goal by Hillary Lockhart from Danville, IL and we led after the first half. The second half was another story as inexperience and poor early season conditioning took its toll. We ended the match with a 5-1 loss and are anxious to move on to the next game tomorrow at Ashford. It was only the second day that we had been on a full-sized pitch with 11 players on a side, however, we had hoped to perform better. Junior Melissa Nichols had a strong game on both ends of the field. Freshmen Cara Harrison and Lisa Collogan showed some early promise.

The men actually played relatively well against Dubuque today. I liked our strength in the air and physical play. We need to finish better - but that will come. Today was the first day that I was able to get a real picture of where people will play this season. We made a couple of critical mental errors and a penalty kick added up to a 3-0 defeat. Sophomore Brett Hollenbeck and transfer Alex Board did a nice job in the middle controlling the attack and starting our defense. Freshman Timoth Solarek from Greenwood, IN had a very good first collegiate game. -C

One More Time

Just in case you did not see this post or this post or this announcement, the arrival times for preseason have been adjusted per NCAA directive.

Athletes who have travel plans that cannot be altered will be housed and fed starting the evening of August 17th.

The dorms will be available to preseason freshmen athletes on Saturday, August 18th, however the first required activity for preseason freshmen is Freshmen Testing that begins at 1:15 pm on Sunday, August 19th.

The first required function for all preseason athletes is an eligibility/insurance meeting at 8 pm on Sunday, August 19th in DC 102. Plan to be on time and check this page to make sure that all of your paperwork is in order. We have a training session for women's soccer at 7 am and men's soccer at 8:45 am on Monday morning. You cannot practice until all of your paperwork is finished - make sure this is done! Tryouts will begin on time and we need everyone there.

See you on Sunday. . . or Friday. . . or Saturday! - C

KJ's Baby

I have been out of town and finally got around to posting this announcement:

Andi Rae McCuistion was born Friday, August 3rd at 12:54am. She was 21 1/2 inches long and 7 pounds 1 ounce.

. . .a little small for college soccer, but we'll take her.

KJ (Kowalcyk, now McCuistion) was a four year player from 1998 to 2001 for the Maranatha Women's Soccer team. Congratulations, KJ and Drew! -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

Preseason Date Change III

The latest preseason start date is the following:

Arrive Saturday afternoon.
Freshmen testing on Sunday afternoon.
NCAA III and eligibility meeting on Sunday night.
First practice first thing Monday morning.
Registration at 10 am on Monday morning.

You may also want to consult this post and this post.

Stay tuned. . .-C

Wedding

Susie Ferris, four year player, former assistant coach and all-time leader in games played is getting married this weekend. Unfortunately, the wedding is in Phoenix, so I probably will not be making the trip. Here is their wedding blog. Congratulations, James and Susie! - C

Check Out Some Pictures from Rochelle

Here is an online gallery from the Rochelle High School Boy's Soccer Camp from two weeks ago. Feel free to order any pictures of me that you find attractive. #23 is particularly inspiring. . .to me. . . to. . . go. . . on a diet. Just wish I had been wearing a Maranatha Soccer shirt on the day they were taking pictures.

Remember this post? At church yesterday, a lady came up to me and said they were watching a soccer game on Sunday afternoon and that the coach of Toronto FC looked like me. -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

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

Joel Smith

Please pray for forward Joel Smith from Salisbury, Maryland. He broke his arm badly while working at Bible camp in Pennsylvania this summer. He had surgery last week, but will probably will miss the entire soccer season. Joel had a solid season as a freshman last year, but was poised to have a breakout year this year as a sophomore after wrestling in the winter and having a good spring season. Give him a call if you can.

Who will step up to take his place? -C

Busy Summer

I just finished up the Watertown Technical Skills camp yesterday and will be heading for the UW Madison soccer camp next week. In the meantime, I will be participating in my sister Jill's wedding in Madison. We might see a couple of players from the Technical camp attend our own Maranatha Soccer Camp in July. We have been steadily growing our contingent of local players from Watertown High, Johnson Creek, Maranatha Academy and other schools. At the same time we have players from all over the midwest, Arizona and Virginia who will be travelling to Watertown. If we get five more registrations, we will have our highest camp attendance ever. If you are interested in Maranatha soccer camp, click here. - C

Behind in Posting

I am way behind in posting on Maranatha Soccer. I have a number of posts that are close to being ready, but I just haven't buckled down and got them up on the site. Here are a few things for you to catch up:

Luke McCarnan had emergency appendix surgery. He is recovering well, but has a lot of summer school work to finish before he leaves for Northland Camp.

I am running a 3-day soccer camp for 3, 4, and 5 year-olds. (What was I thinking!?) The kids are fun, but there certainly isn't much serious soccer happening from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at Brandt-Quirk Park in Watertown this week.

I have been trying to instruct in the University of Wisconsin-Madison soccer camps for several years. I finally got a call yesterday...but my summer is already booked. The week they needed me is the same week that I will be running a soccer camp in Rochelle, IL. However, I was able to give them Jennifer Adam's name and I know she will do a great job.

Angela Fenstermacher was married at the beginning of May. Sarah helped with the decorating and reception and I was able to sit with two rows of soccer girls during the ceremony. Too much fun! Killingsworth, Kennedy, Dow, Kutz, Nichols and others were there. Thankfully we did not disrupt the ceremony too much - it probably helped that we were outside. The only thing that I am disappointed about is that I can't call Ang, Fenstermonster, anymore... Although I'm sure that 'Aulph' will lend itself to many more nicknames.

I received a wedding invite from Steph Ujvary in the mail last week. She is finally getting married. I would love to go to the wedding. Sarah and I enjoy WY a great deal - our anniversary is one week (7/14) after Steph's wedding on July 7...

We also recieved an invite to Kim Gavitt's wedding in AK on August 25th. Another place that Sarah and I would love to visit...

Summer school is over. It is always sad to see the last few kids leave until the fall. Although, I don't miss Melissa, Barb, Olga and Hayley coming over all the time.

I hurt my knee a couple of weeks ago and was not able to finish the season with the Madison Masters. I'm pretty bummed about that. Hopefully I will be healthy for Maranatha Soccer Camp in July.

The Watertown High School girls team had a very disappointing season this year, but something switched in the play-offs. They ended up winning three straight games and finished their season in a respectable defeat by Waukesha West - one of the best teams in the state. This Saturday, I will go to open houses for Kendell, Bailey and Whitney. I have coached these young ladies in one place or another around Watertown since they were in 8th grade. Kendell is planning to play college soccer at Carroll College and Whitney will be trying out at UW-Whitewater. I would love to schedule those teams in the next couple of years.- C

Sign Up for Soccer Camp! II

Register for Soccer Camp this week! The early registration discount of $30 is good until June 1st! You can also combine this discount with the group registration discount of $10 before June 1st and $20 after June 1st. With the group discount plus the early registration discount, you can go to soccer camp at Maranatha for $180 - includes room, board, soccer instruction and fun.

Let me spell it out clearly:

$220 - no group discount, no early bird discount

$200 - group discount, no early bird

$190 - no group discount, early bird

$180 - group discount and early bird

Last year, one father thanked me for taking his two sons off his hands for a whole week. Parents, what is it worth to you to have your kids out of your hair for a whole week this summer? I'm sure it's more than $180. . . :) - C

later edit: The group discount after June 1st is only $10 so the group price after June 1 is $210.

UEFA Cup

Personally, I think the soccer in the UEFA Championship is more entertaining than the soccer during the World Cup. The things that make the WC so exciting is the nationalistic fervor and the chance to see "home grown" talent instead of professionals who play for the highest bidder. Either way, I love to watch both and today I am recording the UEFA final on ESPN2 at 1:30 pm CST. Wish I could go home and watch it live...-C

New Soccer Store

One of the best soccer stores in southern Wisconsin has just opened a new location in Madison. I have often visited the Stefan's Soccer location in Brookfield and I look forward to checking out their new Madison store. Sarah might have a better chance to drag me to West Towne Mall or Greatland Target now that there is also a Stefan's on the west side of Madison. Sounds like tomorrow could be a date night. . . hmmm. . .

The obligatory soccer picture.- C