Four More Join the Flames!

I would like to welcome 4 new players to the Flames! Sara Berens, Cindy Fibich, Courtney Pearcy and Jessica Caron.

Sara is a transfer student from Hastings College where she played mostly outside midfield. Sara will be joining our nursing program. She played her high school ball at Pius X in Lincoln.

Cindy is a transfer student from Briar Cliff and is also going to be a nurse. Cindy played at Gretna High School.

Courtney is not really a new face, she went through pre-season with in 2008 and then decided to not play for personal reasons. She is back and wants to prove to herself and her teammates that she can make an awesome contribution to the Flames. Courtney went to Lewis Central in Council Bluffs and then played 2 years for Iowa Western Community College. She is majoring in early childhood education.

Our final new player for CSM is Jessica Caron. Jessica hails from from Bryan High School and is just about ready to play again following an acl tear.

The above fab four join the following 2009 recruits
-Raeleigh Withey, Ft. Collins, Colorado--Rocky Mountain High School
-Allyssa Valquier, Sidney, Iowa--Sidney High School (played soccer for Glenwood)
-Megan Tuenge, North Platte, Nebraska--North Platte High School
-Ramsey Miller, Papillion, Nebraska--Papillion Lavista South High School
-Molly McNea, North Platte, Nebraska--North Platte High School/UNO Transfer

Our first adult league 8v8 game is this Sunday, June 7th at 6:45 on field 5 at the Discovery fields on 136th and Q. Also, we begin our Xplosive Edge training this Monday at 6 AM. Bright and early!

I can't wait for the season to begin.

(By the way, in a previous post I said that Jessica Nordlund was joining the team. Jessica changed her mind and is now going in a different direction.)

Former UNO Soccer Player SIgns with CSM

Molly McNea, a current freshman soccer player at UNO signed a letter of intent with the Flames, yesterday, March 12. Molly will be transferring to join the CSM nursing program in the fall. We are very excited for Molly to be a part of the Flames Family. She played indoor with us last Sunday and even scored a goal!

Molly is a 2007 grad of North Platte High School. Yep, that is the same school that current player Hillary Brown attended and the very same school that 2009 recruit Megan Tuenge attends. It seems that we have a NP pipeline going on at CSM.

Molly was a four year letter winner for North Platte and scored 13 goals and 6 assists as a senior. Molly's parents are Melvin and Michelle McNea and she has two brothers.

Welcome Molly McNea!

Papillion Lavista South Soccer Player Signs with the CSM Flames!

Ladies and gentleman, did you know that Ramsey Miller, a defender/midfielder signed her letter of intent with the College of Saint Mary Soccer team today? Ramsey plays soccer for Papillion Lavista South High School here in Omaha. She plays her club soccer with the Gretna Remix team. Ramsey's Remix team helped the Flames train in the fall season by coming and practicing with us in August.

Ramsey is excited to begin the occupational therapy program at CSM. A number of the soccer players at CSM are in the OT program. It is a great major where you can get both your bachelor's and your master's degree in only 5 years. Ya!

Ramsey will be a wonderful addition to the recruiting class of 2009 and the coaching staff looks forward to training her. Our recruiting class numbers a strong 4 right now and we are planning an signing a few more. Stay tuned to this space for more info.

Ramsey is also known to be a pretty good golfer as well as a good soccer player. Maybe she can take us all out to the course and show us her talents on the links?

CSM Winter/Spring Soccer

What is going on? Well, the CSM soccer players are training and playing. The training goes on every weekday except Wednesday at 6 AM at the Xplosive Edge training center on 147th & Giles. The playing occurs on most Sunday evenings at the same place as the Flames participate in the women's open soccer league.

The training is going well. Most of the players are gaining muscle and explosiveness. I am looking forward to seeing how much the girls have improved when they do their testing out on March 6th. When we first started training this year in January, all the players were tested on their vertical leap, pro agility drill, 10 and 40 yards dashes, et cetera. March 6th, we test them again to see if anyone got stronger and faster.

The playing is also going well in the women's open soccer league. The Flames are currently undefeated after 2 games but face an experienced and talented team this Sunday evening. We look forward to the challenge.

Last Sunday we had a potluck soccer banquet. We ate chicken, salads and great deserts. The evening was topped off with an awards presentation. The players won awards ranging from the "MVP" award to the "Biggest Crush on Zach" award. (Zach is one of our X-Edge trainers.) A good time was had by all!

Iowa Soccer Player Signs for Fall 2009

Allyssa Valquier, a senior at Sidney High School in Sidney, Iowa signed with the College of Saint Mary soccer team today. Coach Jim Homan and Coach Kim Matzen made the short drive to Sidney to witness the signing at Allyssa's high school. Present were her parents, the Sidney HS athletic director, her basketball coach and friends.

Allyssa plays soccer with the Glenwood soccer team because Sidney does not have a soccer program. She also plays basketball for Sidney, currently having a fantastic season at 11-5. They made it to the conference finals for the first time in 50 years--quite an accomplishment. Coach Dowling, (Allyssa's basketball coach) said at the signing, "You are getting a good soccer player but an even better person."

We are pleased to sign Allyssa. She is looking forward to contributing to our soccer program. She loves soccer and so does her dad who built a full-size soccer field on his property in Iowa. You can see the field just to the east of I-29 if you are traveling south, just past exit 15.

Allyssa works at Penn Drug in downtown Sidney. Penn Drug is said to be the oldest pharmacy in Iowa. At the signing--everyone said that Kim and I should check out their old fashioned soda fountain--so we did. Kim ordered the vanilla shake and I had the chocolate malt--both made by Allyssa (assisted by Holly's sarcastic comments--Holly works with Allyssa at Penn Drug.) I must say it was the best chocolate malt ever. If Allyssa's contribution to the CSM soccer program is as fantastic as her malt making skills, we are truly in for a treat!

North Platte Nebraska Soccer Player Signs with CSM

I am pleased to announce the signing of Megan Tuenge, a defender from North Platte High School. Megan signed her letter of intent yesterday, January 6th in the Alumni room in the North Platte high school office. Attending the signing were Coach Jim Homan from CSM (that's me,) Coach Janie McCarthy (NP coach,) Megan's parents and some of her friends as well as the school activities director.

Megan is a very solid defender who reads the game well. She is one of the captains of her high school team. Megan is a very committed player and as a matter of fact, right after her signing, she attended her high school soccer conditioning even after her coach told her she didn't have to come today. Yep, that shows commitment.

We are looking forward to having Megan play for us and we know she will make a significant, postitive contribution to the team. Everyone was very excited for at the signing and she was excited too!

I was impressed with the North Platte high school building--it is only about 5 years old. One thing interesting about the activities director that I learned is that in the summer, he is a rodeo clown. It is not everyday that you run into a rodeo clown. At least I don't. I also learned that Megan's father is a locomotive engineer--that is an interesting job.

Nebraska Volleyball Lesson

My wife and I watched Nebraska's volleyball team lose to a very good Penn State team last night. Penn State hadn't dropped a set all year but Nebraska took the 3rd and 4th set from them and had them down 10-8 in the fifth. Then Penn State rattled off a bunch of points in a row and just like that, Nebraska was toast. As Nebraska was winning its two sets, my wife was jumping around the room, living and dying with every point. At one point she looked over at me and said, "How can you just sit there?"

How can I just sit there? I was practicing.

Huh? What?

Let me explain...I tell my soccer teams that even off the field they should practice handling pressure situations. They should put themselves in a pressure-packed situation on purpose and rehearse being able to deal with the high anxiety of a big event. That is what I was attempting to do. Believe me, my heart was beating fast as Nebraska was coming back, but I was attempting to remain calm and trying to think what I would say to the Nebrasksa team at the next time out. Ya...I know that is kinda out there..but that is what I did.