Katie's Post

Hello everyone! My name is Katie and my big brother, Taz, is on the team and my other big brother, Bulldozer, practices with them once a week. My daddy said that he wants me to write to all of you once in awhile and let you know how things are going. When they told us we would be going to a tournament in Florida, I thought, "Cool Dude! I can go to the beach. I hope I don't get eaten by an alligator". Then we started all the games and the practices and the indoor season and the fundraising and the fundraising and the fundraising....sorry about that :) It has been a lot of work for all the mommy's and daddy's and kids on the team, but it has been a lot of fun too. I get to play with their little brothers and sisters which is cool and I get to look for my brother on the field when he plays. I think it will all be worth it in the end, though.

Well, it is way past my bedtime as I am 2 1/2 years old so I have to go. Next time, this will be all about tamales, tamales, tamales, all 450 dozen of them! (If you are counting, that is 5400 tamales)

See ya!
Katie

Fundraising

Not only have the Crushers been practicing since September 2009, we have also been trying to raise money to pay for the trip to West Palm Beach, Florida. Since we are from Michigan, the trip is a major expese. As I said in a previous post, the Coed Crushers are representative of AYSO. Not only do we have kids with wildly different skill levels, we also have families from different socio-economic backgrounds. There are families with kids on the team that can afford to make the trip, between $1,200 and $1,500 per child. But, there are also families who will not be able to make the trip if we fail fundraise enough money. With the economy in Michigan being what it is, fundraising is going slowly.

The Crushers have held many fundraisers to date. The most successful fundraiser was leaf raking last fall. I have attached a few pictures of the kids hard at work. We also held a carnival last fall on the opening day of Region 250's soccer season . While it was fun, it did not raise the amount of money we hoped. We partnered with another team to seek contributions from local companies. The parents of the players ran a concession stand at the AYSO soccer fileds each weekend last fall, and will continue it in the Spring. Parents even showed up to sell hotdogs and other items at the AYSO picture night. The team hosted an afternoon of bowling at one of our local bowling alleys over Christmas Break. The kids and their families have been working hard to reach their goal. While we have come about half way there since beginning last August, we are not close to being halfway to our fundraising goal.

As I have said in the past, these kids are fighters. We have several fundraisers planned in the near future. We will be hosting a soccer tournament for our region in June. We are selling tamales. We will be having an enchilada dinner. We will have a spring flower sale and garage sale. How can we forget the car washes and bakes sales? If you would like to see a list of upcoming fundraisers please click on to the Fundraiser Section. As I wrote in the first post, one of the goals of this blog is to encourage people to help our team. If you would like to make a donation please send it to:

Coed Crushers

315 North Street

Paw Paw, Michigan 49079

Please makes checks payable to: AYSO Region 250. Please note on the check that the donation is for the U-10 National Team so it is deposited in the correct account. Anyone who makes a donation will be listed as one of our sponsors on this blog. Donations are tax deductible. On behalf of the kids and their families, I would like to thank anyone reading this for your time. And thank you to anyone generous enough to donate to our cause. If we are able to make this trip and compete in the tournament, I am sure it will be an experience the kids never forget.

Make sure your check the bottom of the blog page to see the people who have helped the Crushers.

As always, Go Crushers.

Catching up with the Crushers.

While the first picture of the team is nice, this picture more accurately represents our team.

For those of you who are detail oriented, this picture has 13 players while the team currentlyhas only 11 players. Unfortunately, we have lost 2 players along the way. One young lady decided to join a travel soccer team. When I last spoke with her parents she was doing very well. The second young lady decided the practice and fundrasing required more time then she was willing to give. We wish both players only the best.

Our team formed in August of 2009. When we gathered for our first practice I realized that the Coed Crushers were a true representation of all that AYSO stands for. AYSO is the American Youth Soccer Association. In a nut shell, ASYO is a group dedicated to creating an environment where all kids can play soccer. All kids includes those who are talented and those who have never played the sport before. The AYSO Philosophies include ideas like "everyone plays" and "balanced teams." When soccer is mocked as the sport where kids get snacks and everyone wins, they are talking about groups like AYSO. But when you see the joy in the eyes of a child that has scored her first goal and that player is a kid who would never see the field in a "competitive league," the value of groups like AYSO becomes self evident. If you are interested in learning more about the organization, there is a link to the AYSO National Website. This web page also has links to sites about the National Games.

This team is a representation of what AYSO strives to achieve. There are kids on this team that have the ability to play soccer in college and well beyond if they so choose. There are also kids who did not know how to properly kick a soccer ball when they came to our first practice. For these children, this could be their one opportunity to play a sport at the national level. Each child, regardless of ability, will play at least half of every game the Crushers play in Florida. Having said that, make no mistake, these kids are set on winning in Florida.

The kids come from various teams in AYSO Region 250 (there is also a link to our region's wed page.). We are a coed team playing in the U-10 boys division. While some may see our coed status as a disadvantage, they would be wrong. The toughest player on our team goes by the name "The Wall." She is a defensive player who takes particular joy in knocking down any boy that challenges her for the ball. Our fastest player is "Dallas." She earned her name because of her love of the Dallas Cowboys. I am a die hard Washington Redskins fan and also root for the Buffalo Bills. Anyone who follows the NFL will under stand how much I hate the Cowboys. Anyway, back to Dallas. When I say fast, I mean "runs like a deer" fast and Hussien Bolt has nothing on her fast. And one of the undeniable leaders of the team is "Pink." Pink earned her name because she died her hair pink last September. She is a vocal young lady that stands her ground. She is also one of the two captains of our team. While I do not mean to underplay the value of the young men on our team, the Crushers would not be the Crushers without its female players.

Last August we began practicing twice a week. When we started practicing, I will have to admit I was worried about our talent, or should I say lack there of. So, we start with the basics: passing, trapping, dribbling, and striking (or shooting) the ball. We spent the first two months learning proper technique and the fundamentals. We also focused on playing strong fundamental defense. We ran drill after drill. We focused on laying the foundation needed for the kids to become soccer players

When October arrived we began playing other teams. We played teams from the U-10 boys division in our region. We played four games. We lost three games and tied one. As is often the case, we learned the most about our team in the defeats. What did I learn? These kids are fighters. In our first game, they were losing 3-0 and came back in the second half to eventually lose 3-2. If the ball had bounced our way a few more times they would have won that game. When playing the best team in the division, we took an early 1-0 lead only to lose 4-2. What amazed me the most, is how much each player has improved and how far we had come as team.

Our next stop was the Allegan Soccer Tournament on Halloween. Again we played in the U-10 boys division. We won our first game at this tournament. Despite a cold and rainy first day, one of our players, "Taz," scored six goals in our first game, leading his team to victory. Taz is a gifted player and heart of the team. What I love the most about Taz is the tenacity with which he plays the game. The kid is literally all over the place causing havoc for the other team. During the tournament, we rented a community center for the kids to stay out of the rain and cold weather. Other than winning their first game, I believe the kids enjoyed the community center more than anything else. In the months since the tournament, they talk more about the fuseball games and table tennis then they do about the games they played. Kids? The Crushers won three games and lost one placing third in the tournament.

Next was indoor season. In our area, the indoor season is divided into three sessions. The Crushers played the first session. We also kept practicing. We practiced outdoors until the beginning of November when we moved inside. In practice we advanced from basic skills to game strategies. Players began to fall into their roles on the team. We practiced indoors thanks to the generosity of Soccerzone, the facililty where we played. In addition to games, they gave us practice time during the season so we could continue to improve. And improve they did. Playing in the U-10 boys division, the Crushers faced a mixture of teams. There were ASYO teams. There were house teams (teams made up of kids who signed up to play without being on a particular team). There were travel teams. The Crushers beat the AYSO teams convincingly . They beat all but one house team. And they lost, sometimes convincingly, to the travel teams. They even won two scrimages against a U-12 girls teams. In five short months, they went from a team that could not compete at any real level, to a team that won against all but the best travel teams in the area. Like I said, they are fighters.

Finally, the Crushers took the Second Session off. We all needed a break. We have been practicing in a school gym once a week to keep up our skills. The local Catholic Church and Elementary School, St. Mary's, donated the use of the gym to the team for the remainder of the winter. We have been working on ball control and defense. We just keep trying to get better.

That catches you up on the Crushers. They are a great group of boys and girls working hard toward their goal. Next up is Indoor Session Three. Can we take the next step and compete with the travel teams?

Go Crushers!