U12 Gold Teams Recruit U11 Players

To assist in a weekend full-field tournament in Sooke the two Gorge U11 Gold Teams requested the assistance of some of the U11 players.

Helping Miles/John's team was
- Olivia S. from Jay's team

Helping Val/Wayne's team was ...
- Erin H. from our team
- Alanna B. from our team
- Kathy F. from Roy's team
- Soraya R. from Roy's team

Val & Wayne's team ended up tieng both games: 1-1 against Peninsula (thanks to some stand out goaltending from their keeper) and 0-0 against Lakehill (I think the cold and the conditioning of the U12's caught up with our U11's). From what I saw the girls did a great job helping the U12's on short notice (only one practise with the team under their belts) and in a lot of cases were very instrumental in some of the defending and attacking.

Some photos can be found at ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorgegirls/

Good work girls and thanks to the U12 Coaches and their players for inviting the girls and making them welcome and comfortable.

Home vs. Cordova Bay

Parents Spank Daughters - Gorge Canadians Lose to Parents 4-1

Due to a mix-up on the part of the Cordova Bay team - the Gorge Canadians did not play this usually tough team. However, the girls most formidable opponent to date, stepped in at last minute to give the girls a lesson (schooling) in soccer.

With no practises under their belts the Parent Team consisting of ...
- in net Grandpa Steve
- defence Denise C. & Rob T.
- midfield Brad H., Clare M. & Paul D (actually playing every where)
- attackers Sue B., Maureen M., Shannon M., and Hugh H.
... banded together to show the girls how to pass and move the ball around.

The girls (with the help of some siblings) were having so much trouble penetrating the Parents end that they drafted Coach Mafalda to play for them.

Some highlights of the match...
- the teancious, "take-no-prisoners" defensive play from Rob T. (now we know where Heather get's her fearless tackling skills)
- Denice C.'s passing brilliance (or is that "passing out"?)
- the "cougar line" of Sue, Maureen and Shannon --> these women were tenacious in their desire to score (and score they did)
- midfield dominance by Clare and Hugh
- and the roving athletics of Paul D. with one cannonading shot on his own son in net (we think it was pay-back time for driving him to hockey early in the morning)

The girls are calling for a rematch at the end of the season ... we'll see if the parents can recover by that time!

Fun was had by all!

Player Profile of the Week Feb. 21, 2006

Who Am I????














Why Do You Enjoy Soccer: because I play with most of my friends
Number of Years Played Soccer: 6 years
Favorite Position: center forward
Most Memorable Soccer Moment: when I scored 3 goals in 1 game
Favorite Colour: red
Favorite Movie: Harry Potter #1, 2 and 3
Favorite Book: a series of unfortunate events
Favorite Animal:
Favorite PopStar/Band: don't have one
Favorite Food: apples
Favorite Flavor of Ice-cream: cookies and cream\ chocolate chip cookie dough
If I had a million dollars I would.... buy myself a mansion

Player Profile Reveal .... Katlyn H.

Our last Player Profile of the week (dated January 11, 2006)
http://gorgeu11girls.blogspot.com/2006/01/player-profile-of-week-january-11-2006.html

was Katlyn H.

This seemed to be a tough one. as only 2 of the 8 votes guessed Kaitlyn.
Let try to do better ths time girls (parents)!

Away vs. Juan de Fuca

Gorge Canadians Outplay Juan de Fuca to a 5-0 Win

It was a cool but sunny day today at Sangster Elementary field in Colwood. So cool, the ground remained frozen for the whole game. I am not sure whether the game should of been played/cancelled because of this - there were some timid players out there today, some slips, some falls and hurt knees. And what can you say about that crazy keeper of ours ... the frozen ground was not going to stop Paige from diving and scrambling around for the ball.

Today's game we were missing our stalwart defender Heather and our speedy forward Cara. The first half of the game was slow, as I said above, I think the girls were very timid and were trying to get used to the field and their footing. We definitely carried most of the play in the first half (~80%) but only came away with one goal ... a "weak" shot by Joslyn that got through the keeper.

After a half-time talk by Coach Mafalda the girls came out with a renewed energy and started moving the ball around better. Because of this, more and better chances came for us. Four unanswered goals were scored (see below). We also tried a few lines changes that we normally wouldn't do - some girls played positions they are not "comfortable" with (or don't like). That said, we controlled the ball in this half.

Some good things I saw today were...

• Some good communication out there. Girls were calling for the ball and calling to give the ball. Excellent!
• Indy attacking the players aggressively - I think this was her best game by far this season.
• Taylor had the ball a couple of times today and was very good at shielding the ball and passing it to a teammate when they came to help.
• Kaitlin H. and Kaitlin M. controlling the midfield today.
• Jenn playing some good defence when we had some weaker line changes (Coach Brad tried a couple of different line combinations today leaving the defence to do a lot of work).
• Erin had some great assists today.
• Paige was called upon to make a coupl eof good saves and she also agressively controlled her goal area and got rid of a lot of balls that could have easily gone to the other team. Way to get to the ball first Paige!

Goals were scored by...

• Joslyns "weak" (her words not mine) goal --> Don't discount "weak" goals, they count as much as an excellent goal! The importnat thing is you are shooting!
• Alanna's two beautifully placed goals. The shooting practise last week must have helped. Remember, sometimes finesse is better than a hard shot.
• Jaymie goals --> both on strong shots. One goal was masterfully placed in the upper part of the net from a sharp angle.

Some things to work on ...

• Some of us are still bunching up (always send in one player)
• Some players still not playing their positions as good as they could
• We are still allowing some players to dribble the ball into our goal area - DANGEROUS!
• We are not clearing balls out of our own end especially when in the top center part of the goal area - DANGEROUS!
• Getting Juan de Fuca to set up the nets and field better :-) Was that a short and narrow field or what??!

It was a team effort today girls. You were talking, passing and playing positional soccer today! Good job and have a good week.

Gorge Soccer Registration 2006/2007

Register Now for 2006/2007 Season





Players pre-printed registration forms are available for pickup --> I will have them at practice Wednesday night. Return them either to me if you are submitting them early, or to the address noted on the form. They also have blank forms on the Gorge website.

We will also have a short meeting to discuss a number of items...
- Gorge Tournament
- Assessment process for next year
- other tournaments
- etc.

Home vs. Lakehill Reds

Gorge - Thwarted by Lakehill Keeper - "Share a Point" with 3-3 Tie
















All photos at ... http://gorgegirls.zoto.com/galleries/game20060211/

A brilliant day for soccer on the new turf field of Gorge's Hampton field. It was a little cool but clear and a great day to play soccer.

Right from the kick off the Gorge Canadians exerted pressure on the Lakehill squad. This pressure was finnaly rewarded after a few minutes with a powerful shot by Joslyn from inside the goal area. Gorge continued to pressure Lakehill, but our midfield allowed Lakehill's top player to dribble deep into our end - resulting in two unanswered goals. Alanna tallied the next Gorge goal after a great battle with their defender (almost twice her size!). Jaymie scored the third Gorge goal with some good personal effort to keep the ball in the Lakehill end. Lakehill answered this goal with a tieing goal with ~5-10 minutes to play. It was a good quality shot again on momentary lapse by our mid-field - we continue to let quality players come down close to our goal instead of closing them down further up the field.

Overall, this was great effort from the girls and it was nice to see them finally getting first to the ball, passing and getting a lot of shots off on goal. I would say that we held the bulk of the play (75%).

Some highlights...
- Alanna putting one in the back of the net for the third game in a row ... she deserves it.
- Kaitlin M. for her tireless two-way play in the midfield position.
- Midfield support for our attacking forwards by Jenn, Katlyn H. and Alanna.
- Olivia M. back from a broken arm for the first game ... it was like she never left. She continues to play smart soccer by anticipating the bal, jumping in to clear it from our end and using the sides.
- Heather T. continues to play tough defence ... she's the hardest tackler on the team.
- Some good dribbling and passing by Taylor and Indy today.
- Lots of shots by Cara, Joslyn and Jaymie.
- Paige was called upon to make a couple of good saves. Those goals that got by her today were quality shots at point blank range. We'll continue to train our defence and midfield to close down the space and shooting area.
- Lastly, kudos to the Lakehill team for a great game and special mention to their keeper! It is always nice to see some well played soccer.

Have a good week girls!

Coach Deano Recruiting for Gorge Soccer Assoc.

Congratulations to Coach Deano - New Dad!

Coach Deano was not at the soccer academy on Sunday because is is now the proud fatherof a 8lb 13oz baby boy about 7pm Saturday February 4th (Coach Jamie tells us ir was a super long labour ... his poor wife Tanya).

Contratulations to Coach Deano and his wife!

Away vs. Gordon Head C

Rain, Rain Go Away ... Come Again Another Day!














No soccer today ... the Gordon Head fields were closed due to standing water.
Soccer Academy tomorrow and practise Wednesday in the Cage or on the Turf.

Funny Soccer Picture of the Week - #3

Send me your funny captions for posting or add it to the comments of this posting or in the player Chatterbox.