BRAZIL WINS FIFTH WORLD CUP!
If
you had your head in the sand this summer, in case you had not heard
Brazil recaptured the World Cup Title they lost to France in 1998.
The tournament was held in June and if you want further information
on what took place in Japan you can click the World Cup Logo on the
right to go to the FIFA Official World Cup Page. The page has all
the information on Teams, Schedules, and Results. Blues news has
made a commitment to personally attend the 2006 World Cup which will
be held in Germany so start saving if you want to make the trip.
While
the World Cup was a minor distraction from the true soccer significance
of the Blues, this year the Blues kicked off the season in mid July
with an impressive celebration of the 2002 graduating class at the Fiesta
Fundraiser put on by Joan Stern berg.
At the start of the season long time president Dave Mildrew retired, elections were held and Dan Lucier was chosen to fill his position. Luckily the Blues were able to retain services of long time financial manager Jim Irwin. Both Dave and Jim continue to stay involved will the club. These two have contributed a great deal to the club and will enter the Blues Wall of Fame; thanks guys for all you have done and for all you continue to do for us!
SUMMER
TOURNAMENT SEASON
Prior
to the beginning of the season the Blues proudly added several new
teams and coaches with the hopes of providing an opportunity
for more players to grow in our environment. We welcome Chris Kale's
U10 & U18 team along with Alex Fusco's U15 girls. Ron Downer also
rejoins the Blues coaching staff after
having worked with several other clubs in the area. Welcome home
Ron! In their first ever tournament as Blues coming over from the
Pacific Soccer Club, Ron & Chris Kale
guided their team to the 2002 U09 Pegasus Gold Championship (left);
congratulations girls.
Also
worth mentioning here too was Chris Kale's U10 Blues Surf Championship
(right).
The Summer soccer season concluded with the hosting
of the Blues Cup Labor Day tournament which in its first season
went surprisingly well. Thanks in part to tournament director Mike
Schiffer and his merry band of volunteers too numerous to mention
here. 
U11 Blue Team qualified for the Round of 32 before
being eliminated, while to the surprise of the entire So Cal Youth
Soccer Community, the Magician of Mission Viejo, coach Tad Bobak has
guided his U11 girls into the Finals which were held February 16th
at the Lancaster Soccer Complex. Wouldn't you know it, Tad and the
Girls won the whole darn thing in a windy final over Glendora by a
slim score of 1-0 giving the club it's 19th State Cup Title. The goal
was scored in the first half of an even game on a penalty kick converted
by Allie Harrison when Sarah Halverson slashed through the area and
got taken down before she could get her shot off. Honorable mention
goes out to the entire team for a tremendous defensive effort in preserving
the advantage for the rest of the game. Great job U10 & U11 girls and coaches;
way to represent!
If
you didn't know Brazil won the cup then you may not know
that Blues coach Tad Bobak had an incredible 2002-03 season and without
a doubt was the Blues coach of the year if not the decade. Tad is one
of the few if not the only coach to have won both a boys (U19) and
girls (U16) national championship. What is more is that last year he
won an adult national championship with our adult Blues.