Canada, Premier League, Shannon Lynn and what not

Well, we spent a nice weekend in Canada at the Umbro Top Rated Showcase. There were some very good teams and excellent players so it was a great trip even if the weather didn't always cooperate. We also had dinner with some of the parents of our Canadian players as well as some other friends which was absolutely fantastic.

Other than the fact that Mags' team--Man United--pipped my team--Liverpool--for the Premier League title there was not much to complain about. The 'Pool will get them next year...finally...I hope!

Another positive from the weekend was IPFW alum and good friend Shannon Lynn played in her competitive debut for FC Indiana which is ranked as the #6 women's club team in the world. Of course, she's played two exhibition games for them by shutting out WPS team Sky Blue FC for the 45 minutes she played and then helping FCI beat the Chicago Red Stars also from the WPS 3-2, however this was the first game of their W-League season as the team tries to get back to the final in August. On this occassion Shannon not only got her debut but also her first clean sheet as FCI beat Chicago Red Eleven 4-0. Maybe, just maybe, the Canadian National Team will come calling soon!

Lastly, our spring season summary is up on our website so check it out! It was a great building block for the fall as make a push to become the top team in the Summit League! http://www.gomastodons.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/051909aad.html

Here we go....

Well, we've set up our Facebook fan page, Twitter so now it's time to add a blog. I'll probably contribute most of the time but from time to time during the year we'll have players and maybe even Mags, our head coach, chime in with their thoughts.

Anyway, it's a quite time of year...at least for the players. They've wrapped up finals and have headed home for the summer. Meanwhile we have a lot going on here in the summer--a couple of camps of our own, some camps we'll be working elsewhere, preparing for the 2009 season and on top of it all coaching the Fort Wayne Fever W-League team. There's not much "off" in the off-season from a coaches perspective.

Meanwhile I will be spending any spare time I can find this summer by moving into my new townhouse and finally dragging the family from Ohio after my older daughter graduated high school and heads off to college.

Well that's about it for now, hope you keep checking back from time to time!

Joe