Post CASL

A big congratulations to the girls on a successful tournament. I thought they all played very well. It was challenging with only 13 of us, but they dug deep and all played well individually and as a team.

I want to thank all you parents that enabled your daughters to participate in such a fun event. The level of play was very high. The NCAA championship games were exciting to watch (and inspiring). And I think they all had a fantastic time. A special thanks to those of you who chaperoned extra girls.

We all owe Mark a big thank you as well. As Director of Coaching he gets pulled in a MANY different directions. The fact that he carves out so much time for our girls reflects just how committed he is to them. We are lucky to have him.

And now for a few updates....

We will be taking it easy this week. With finals and school soccer and coming off of a big week, there is no scheduled training. We still have some games to make up, so it's possible we might put one of those together if it works out. I will let you know if that develops. Over the holidays, we might try to train on Sundays or something like that. Stay tuned.

Looking ahead to next year, we have three events on the calendar.

• We will be going to the Lonestar College Showcase in Austin on February 6th and 7th.
• Express will be having our own internal showcase event similar to the one this year.
• We also expect to compete in the Challenge Shootout in the early summer.

So....in light of all that, we are thinking that we would NOT attend the showcase event in Las Vegas over spring break. If there are any objections to this, please speak up.

CASL Day 3

Another nice win today!

Sunday's game is at 9:50 am at the WRAL Soccer Complex Field 19. Wear Red-Charcoal-White.
The NCAA Championship game is at noon, and I'll hand out tickets after the game.

7700 Perry Creek Road
Raleigh, NC 27616

Field Map

CASL Day 2

A beautiful game today. Really fun to watch.

Tomorrow we are playing at 1:30pm at NCSU Method Road Park #2. It's about 15 min away from the Marriott. Let's wear Navy - Green - Navy. But bring everything, we may have to change.

3081 Ligon St
Raleigh, NC 27607

CASL Day 1

Team Meeting Friday morning in lobby of Marriott City Center at 7:00 am. Bring green and navy with you, we may have to change. Come in something comfy, we'll discuss what to wear then. ;)

Game is at 9:50 am at Smith Creek Park 2A. This is a new location. They changed the schedule recently.

Smith Creek Park is at:

690 Heritage Lake Rd
Wake Forest, NC 27587

This week and CASL

A couple of important things...

1. This week's training is on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

2. I am updating our marketing brochure thing. Please email me with any updated information. Here is a link to the OLD brochure. I will retake photos at practice this week before we leave.

3.  I had really hoped our long sleeve kits would be in by now, and I'm doing everything I can to get them before we leave. It's going to be fairly cold up there -- highs in the 50s, lows in the 30s.

4. Which reminds me, please pack appropriately. I don't know what it is with kids thinking they don't need warm clothes. They should all have a warm up kit, and use them! This stuff helps with injuries and performance.

5.  Here's another link to our bracket and schedule there. 

If you don't feel like clicking thru, it is:
Friday at 9:50 am
Saturday at 1:30 pm
Sunday at 9:50 am

6.  All the girls will get a ticket to the NCAA finals while we're there. Extra tickets can be bought here. Or possibly when we get there. The NCAA game times are Friday at 5:00pm for the semi finals, and Sunday at noon for the finals. So....if you have a late flight, you can make it to the finals.

This Week

We’ve got our usual training this week, except for Thursday. At 4:45 we will play a friendly against St. John’s School. We will be playing on Caven field which is not exactly on the campus. The entrance is on Buffalo Speedway just south of W. Alabama. Wear green, and try to be there early for a warm-up. I realize this is tough for some of you that have farther to travel. Please let me know if you can’t make it on time.

 

X marks the spot:

 

This weekend we will play against Space City on Sunday at 2:00PM at Burroughs #5. Let’s wear green/white for that one too.

 

Don’t forget the fan gear sale at South Campus. Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:30-8:30.

 

November 7-8

We have USC games this weekend. 

Saturday at 2:00 pm at Burroughs #2 against Challenge. Wear green/white.

Sunday at 10:00 am at Burroughs #4 against Texas Rush. Wear navy. 

As you have probably guessed, the forecast shows rain on Saturday, so stay tuned. 

Also, be thinking about how you want to update our team's marketing brochure thing (not sure what to call it exactly). I'll be re-taking photos this weekend, and we will try to update all the individual info next week. 

Halloween weekend

As y'all already know, we have two USC games this weekend.

Saturday at 2:00 pm at Zube Park field 5 against Lonestar Red. Wear navy. 
Saturday's game has been cancelled. Check the USC site for details.

Sunday is at 8:00 am at Katy Park #17 against Albion. Wear navy again. 

Sunday cancelled too.

Don't forget that daylight savings ends Saturday night/Sunday morning. 

San Antonio games for 10/24-25 are cancelled and will be rescheduled.

Stay tuned

The weather situation does not look good.

We should have a firm decision by noon on Friday whether the games are GO or NO GO. 

Check back here or the groupme. 

Oklahoma and San Antonio

Oklahoma!

 

As you know, we play Saturday at 2:00PM at the Edmond Soccer Complex. We are on field 16. For that game, let’s wear GREEN/WHITE.

 

Sunday morning we play again on field 18 at 8:00AM. Wear NAVY.

 

The Edmond Complex is at:

1502 W. Danforth Rd.

Edmond, OK 73003

 

And the field map is like this.

 

I don’t get in until 10:15 Saturday morning. If anyone needs help with logistics or a ride or whatever, please call.

 

If you’re curious about what this weekend is all about, read this (we are in 3^rd place in group A):

 

The West Playoffs are Saturday and Sunday October 17 & 18 in Edmond (girls) and San Marcos (boys).The schedules with seeds (I am verifying and finishing up seeds at every age bracket now that all games completed this weekend-all will be listed today) that are known at this time are posted on the SRPL web site (http://regioniii.usyouthsoccer.org/premier_league/schedules_and_standings/ ).

Teams from Group A will play teams from Group B. To determine the final placement, the two games in the Playoff and the game with the team from your group will be counted-thus 9 points available (3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss). For example-Places 1-4 will be determined by this scenario: Group A #1 plays Group B #2 and #1 on 10/17 & 18; Group A # 2 plays Group B #1 and #2 on 10/17&18. The points earned from these matches will be added to the points that Group A #1 and Group A #2 earned in their regular season match and the points earned in the regular season match between Group B #1 and Group B #2. If there are teams with the same number of points, after the weekend, ties will be broken using the tie breaking procedures listed in the rules, also available on the SRPL web site (http://regioniii.usyouthsoccer.org/premier_league/schedules_and_standings/ ).

Teams seeded 1 and 2 in their group are playing for places 1-4 in the overall West SRPL; teams seeded 3 & 4 in their group are playing for places 5-8; teams seeded 5 & 6 in their group are playing for places 9-12 and teams seeded 7 & 8 in their group are playing for places 13-16.

Places will be used for seeding and placement in next year's SRPL format and to determine 2 Southern Regional Championship spots and qualifying for the 2016-17 US Youth Soccer National League.

Good luck in the Playoffs!

For those teams not participating in the West Playoffs, thanks for your participation in the SRPL this season!

 

Next weekend we will be in San Antonio again for USC games. 5:00PM on Saturday (although this may change to earlier) and 1:00PM on Sunday.

 

I have a block of rooms reserved at:

 

Comfort Suites North San Antonio - Stone Oak

1754 N. Loop 1604 E. 

San Antonio Texas 78232

(210)495-5557 / fax (210) 495-5559

 

You should be able to call and claim one of the rooms for $95/night. It’s reasonably close to the fields and close to a lot of restaurants and stuff too. It’s not necessary to stay at this hotel. Feel free to make other arrangements if you like. 

 

October 11 in San Antonio

This weekend's game is in San Antonio at McAllister Park #2 against Classics Elite.

The fields are here:

11600 Starcrest Drive

San Antonio, TX 78247

Our game is at 11:00 am. We should wear our green kit (but bring navy). It's a bit of a drive, so make sure you leave early enough to allow a little extra time to stretch the legs and get warmed up. Also, I know some of the girls have issues with late morning games and nutrition, so be thinking about that too.

Don't forget, next weekend is Oklahoma, and then back to San Antonio for 2 games weekend after that.

Updated USC schedule

Here's the latest look at our USC schedule.

You can find it at

http://usctx.org/MasterSked/Show-MasterSked-Table.aspx

You just have to punch in our info... HESC, U16, Girls, Championship League

7 2367 Sun-Oct 11,2015 Champions League Girls U16 11v11 McAllister MA4 A 11:00 AM Classics Elite 00G     Houston Express 00G Navy Not Played 6 v 4 9 2377 Sat-Oct 24,2015 Champions League Girls U16 11v11 McAllister MA5 A 5:00 PM Lonestars 00G Red SA     Houston Express 00G Navy Not Played 8 v 4 10 2383 Sun-Oct 25,2015 Champions League Girls U16 11v11 McAllister MA4 A 1:00 PM Classics Elite 00G AM     Houston Express 00G Navy Not Played 9 v 4 8 2374 Sat-Oct 31,2015 Champions League Girls U16 11v11 Zube ZP5 A 2:00 PM Houston Express 00G Navy     Lonestars 00G Red Not Played 4 v 7 11 2387 Sun-Nov 1,2015 Champions League Girls U16 11v11 Katy KP15 A 2:00 PM Houston Express 00G Navy     AHFC 00G Not Played 4 v 1 12 2395 Sat-Nov 7,2015 Champions League Girls U16 11v11 Burroughs BP2 A 2:00 PM Challenge 00     Houston Express 00G Navy Not Played 2 v 4

As you can see, we have a game in San Antonio this coming weekend. (As well as a whole weekend in San Antonio after the Oklahoma weekend.)

10/3

This Saturday we are playing Space City at Zube Park, field 6, at 2:00 pm. Please wear NAVY. See you there. 

Travel updates. Important stuff inside!

In case you missed the email, see below. Be sure to read the updates at the bottom.

 

After adding everything up, team expenses work out to $675 per player for the fall. This includes all of our USC fees, NPL fees, SRPL fees, referee fees, CASL tournament, and Mark’s travel expenses. There’s a little cushion baked in, and anything we have left over will be applied to the Spring season. I don’t think our expenses in the Spring will be as high, but we will at least have the Vegas tournament, so don’t forget about that.

 

If you need to pay in installments, that’s ok. Please make checks payable to:

 

Houston Express 00G Navy

 

and get them to Kerry Schachter at:

 

4031 Falkirk Ln.

Houston, TX 77025

---

This coming weekend we will have a USC game on Saturday against Space City. It’s 2:00 at Zube.

---

On October 11, we have another USC game in San Antonio  against Classics Elite 00G. It’s 11:00 am on Sunday.

---

Then for the October 17-18 weekend, we will be going to Norman Edmund, Oklahoma (just southnorth of Oklahoma City), for the SRPL West tournament.

The schedule is here.

 

A reasonable person could conclude that we are the “16GA3” team, and that would mean games at 2:00 PM on Saturday and  8:00 AM on Sunday. I’m not sure I would trust that just yet though. Check that link for updates.

 

I’m working on hotels for Norman. Stay tuned.

---

October 24-25 we will be back in San Antonio for two games. 

---

Last, but not least is CASL. Most of you have seen the GroupMe chatter. Schedules won’t be posted until November 11. Registration is Thursday night, and games start at 8:00 AM on Friday morning. We will need to be there Thursday and plan on staying through most of Sunday. I’m working on hotels here too. We have to book our hotel through the tournament’s travel agent. Hopefully, I’ll have a link to do that tomorrow.

---

UPDATE!

 

The hotel for our Oklahoma trip is going to be the Courtyard Oklahoma City Northwest. We have a block of rooms reserved, but will only have until October 5^th to claim them. I will update here with a link and phone number to do this. I’ll send a note on the GroupMe too. (They haven’t processed the contract yet.)

 

For CASL, I know how these trips can add up, so I have two different options. The first is the Raleigh Marriot City Center @ $149/night. The second is the Microtel Raleigh @ $55/night. They are near downtown, and not too far from each other, and not too far from the fields.

 

This works just like we did with the Disney event. Click this link:

 

https://blackbird.anthonytravel.com/customerside/ChangeRequest_Home.cfm

 

Login with this info:

 

Reservation Number: 2674529

Access Code: NT850L2W

 

Click “Update Info”

Then you can claim a room and submit your credit card info.

Here’s the important part… Rooms #1-#15 on this page are at the Marriot, and Rooms #16-#20 are at the Microtel. So make sure you book the one you want. If we run out of rooms for one or the other, I can most likely get us more. We have 72 hours to book these rooms, and then they will be released.

 

Questions, comments, concerns? Shoot me a text!

Lafayette

Sorry for the late post, I've been traveling and swamped. 

We have our Lafayette games this weekend. It looks like Saturday's game got moved to 7:00 pm. That will certainly make the drive a little less stressful. 

Both games are Moore Park.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sonny+Roy+Ln,+Lafayette,+LA+70507/@30.2640134,-92.036824,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x86249bbcbc95efed:0x75674c70fc4f69ce?hl=en

http://lysasoccer.com/docs/Moore%20Park%202015.pdf

Saturday we play NYSA Fury at 7:00 pm on field #3. Wear white/green. 

Sunday we play Baton Rouge at 11:45 am on field #20. Wear navy. 

Unfortunately Claire and I won't be making the trip. Her concussion has proved to be a little worse than we originally thought. Hopefully she'll be able to practice some next week. 

Also, keep your eyes peeled for an email about team expenses. I should have done this much earlier. The team owes Mark some reimbursements, so hopefully we can knock this out quickly. When I get back home I'll put together the final estimates and let you know. 

September 20 USC game

We have a game this Sunday at 2:00 PM at Katy Park (14) against Challenge. We will wear NAVY. Please be there by 1:15. 

Note: I will not be at this game (well, I may be, but I'll be there late). If someone has a tent that would be helpful. 

Also, stay tuned for some reschedules and changes from what is posted to the usctx.org site. Our Sunday Lafayette game got pushed to a slightly later time, it's now at 11:30. 

I still haven't seen CASL schedules yet, but expect to play Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 

USC Games this weekend

Update. Both games are to be rescheduled. Both fields are too wet for use. 

We have two USC games this weekend.

Saturday's game got moved to Zube park. We are on field 6 at noon vs. Classics Elite. I'm sure y'all remember that Zube Park is at 290 and Roberts Road. Please be there 45 min ahead of time. We will wear NAVY.

Sunday we will be at Katy Park on field 15 vs. Albion. Wear WHITE/GREEN.

Also, I want to apologize about the Lafayette hotel situation. That one crept up on me. I'll do some more work on this Friday, but if you find something acceptable, go for it! And feel free to report back on the groupme if there are more rooms available.

Little Rock

Here is a link to the schedule. Note that the Saturday game changed.

Saturday - September 5 @ 5:30 pm at Burns Park #5 - Wear Green/White

Sunday - September 6 @ 10:45 am at Burns Park # 9 - Wear Green/White

Monday - September 7 @ 9:45 am at Burns Park #15 - Wear Navy

Burns Park is at 

Interstate 40, Exit 150

North Little Rock, AR 72118

It's about a 10-15 minute drive from the Capital Hotel. 

If you're not on the GroupMe text and want to be, just shoot me a text message from your phone. My number is 713-504-5049. 

I caught the second half of practice tonight, and all I can say is "WOW!" The girls played with crazy speed and creativity tonight. And from the looks of it, they were having a lot of fun. 

Lastly, Mark wanted the girls to watch this:

Safe travels! See y'all up there.

NPL this weekend

Quick reminder that we have NPL games this weekend.

Saturday at 1:45pm 10:30 am against Eclipse at their fields.
Wear green/white. Bring navy.

Community Park (field 4 field 6)
1700 Glenn Lakes Ln.
Missouri City, TX 77459


And then Sunday at 2:00pm against Dymanos at South Campus #3.
Wear green/white, bring navy.

August 22-23 Games in Plano

I’m sure y’all know we have more SRPL games this weekend in Plano.

 

We play Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM at High Point Park (field D). We will be wearing Navy (please bring white/green too).

 

The field is at:

6500 Alma Drive

Plano, TX 75023

 

Field map is here. We are on “D”.

 

If you booked a room at the Westin Stonebriar, it’s about 9 miles (20 minutes according to google) away from High Point, at:

1549 Legacy Dr.

Frisco, TX 75034

 

Maybe we can grab dinner at that Mexican place across the street? It was pretty good last time we were there.

 

Sunday’s game is at a different complex. We play at 9:45 AM at Carpenter Park (field N). It’s in the same direction as the other fields, but closer – only 5 miles away. We would normally wear our white/green kit to this game as the home team, but our opponent has asked us to wear navy since they only have a white kit right now. So…wear navy again, but bring white/green.

 

Carpenter Park is at:

6701 Coit Rd.

Plano, TX 75024

 

Field map is here. We are on “N”.

 

 

Also…our NPL schedule has been posted. Kind of. Check it out here. What you need to know is that all of these games should be in the Houston area (even though they don’t have locations listed yet). The 8/29-30 games sound like they will be at our own facilities (either South Campus or MacGregor).

Recap

It was good to see so many of y'all at the party last night. I wanted to recap some of the things we discussed just so all the info was in one place.

Training
The same schedule that's been posted for a while, but Mark will start to add some TRX training on Wednesdays in conjunction with Futsal.

Fall Season
By now, I'm sure you're very aware of our SRPL schedule. There are two West divisions, and there will be a playoff among them. That is scheduled for October 17-18 in Norman, OK. The top 6 teams from our group of 8 make it to the playoff. Plan on this.

We learned about the STYSA/USC stuff. And I posted the USC schedule here on the blog. You can check their website for changes or updates. Unfortunately the way the site is structured, I don't think I can create a link to our schedule exclusively (you have to click the options). http://usctx.org/MasterSked/Show-MasterSked-Table.aspx

There will be some NPL games, but it won't be like last year. No more trips to Dallas or Tulsa, unless we're in a playoff. The games will be local, and we'll have flexibility with timing.

Tournaments
It looks like we've settled on the CASL tournament December 4-6 in Raleigh, NC. It's a big event, and it is being held in conjunction with the NCAA women's college cup. Our entry will include tickets for the girls to see the college games.

We will pass on the Disney event this year, but keep it in mind for next.

In the spring, we are planning on the Players College Showcase in Las Vegas. This is March 18-20, which will be the back half of spring break for most of us, so plan accordingly.



That's pretty much it. I'll be back to you all shortly with an estimate of costs for this season.

A big thanks again to Neil and Patty. The girls seemed to have had a blast. And another big thanks to Mark, we are lucky to have him.

RC

USC Schedule

Here's a cut and paste from http://usctx.org/MasterSked/Show-MasterSked-Table.aspx

2338

Sat-Sep 12,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP17

A

12:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

Classics Elite 00 AM

1

Not Played

4 v 9

2344

Sun-Sep 13,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP15

A

12:00 PM

AHFC 00G

Houston Express 00G Navy

2

Not Played

1 v 4

2347

Sun-Sep 20,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP14

A

2:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

Challenge 00

3

Not Played

4 v 2

2355

Sun-Sep 27,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP16

A

10:00 AM

Texas Rush 99/00G

Houston Express 00G Navy

4

Not Played

3 v 4

2356

Sat-Oct 3,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP16

A

2:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

SCFC 00G

5

Not Played

4 v 10

2365

Sat-Oct 10,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Burroughs

BP7

A

2:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

Eclipse 00G Black

6

Not Played

4 v 5

2367

Sun-Oct 11,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

McAllister

MA4

A

11:00 AM

Classics Elite 00G

Houston Express 00G Navy

7

Not Played

6 v 4

2374

Sat-Oct 31,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP16

A

2:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

Lonestars 00G Red

8

Not Played

4 v 7

2377

Sat-Oct 24,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

McAllister

MA2

A

5:00 PM

Lonestars 00G Red SA

Houston Express 00G Navy

9

Not Played

8 v 4

2383

Sun-Oct 25,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

McAllister

MA4

A

1:00 PM

Classics Elite 00 AM

Houston Express 00G Navy

10

Not Played

9 v 4

2387

Sun-Nov 1,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP15

A

2:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

AHFC 00G

11

Not Played

4 v 1

2395

Sat-Nov 7,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Burroughs

BP2

A

2:00 PM

Challenge 00

Houston Express 00G Navy

12

Not Played

2 v 4

2396

Sun-Nov 8,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Burroughs

BP4

A

10:00 AM

Houston Express 00G Navy

Texas Rush 99/00G

13

Not Played

4 v 3

2402

Sun-Nov 15,2015

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Burroughs

BP3

A

2:00 PM

SCFC 00G

Houston Express 00G Navy

14

Not Played

10 v 4

2406

Sun-Apr 24,2016

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP16

A

12:00 PM

Eclipse 00G Black

Houston Express 00G Navy

15

Not Played

5 v 4

2415

Sun-May 1,2016

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP16

A

2:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

Classics Elite 00G

16

Not Played

4 v 6

2417

Sun-May 8,2016

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Town & Country

TC2

A

3:00 PM

Lonestars 00G Red

Houston Express 00G Navy

17

Not Played

7 v 4

2423

Sun-May 15,2016

Champions League Girls U16 11v11

Katy

KP17

A

12:00 PM

Houston Express 00G Navy

Lonestars 00G Red SA

18

Not Played

4 v 8