NEW FIELDS AT RANCHO CAPISTRANO
Before
we begin our review of last season as many of you have discovered we now
have 3 new fields at Rancho Capistrano thanks
mostly to the selfless work of former Blues President Dan Lucier and
Blues Field Coordinator Paul Cousineau. The Blues and United Futbol Club
(formally San Juan SC) entered into agreement with the Ranch to create
these brand new soccer fields which will be open for play in August.
The fields will be a legacy of both Dan's and Paul's tenure with our
club for the benefit of our entire youth soccer community. There are
not enough words to thank them all for their dedication and hard work.
These
days in competitive Southern California a team could attend a tournament
on every weekend and this year is no different. As soon as some teams
are eliminated from the State Championship after a couple of weeks
break they were right back at it. We begin in May of 2004. We will
begin our summary of this season with the 04-05 tournament season. Oh
several of the photos on our pages can be enlarged so if you want to
check out the enlarged photos you may have to disable your pop up blocker!
Have fun!
SPRING
& EARLY SUMMER COMPETITIONS
During May Chris Kale's team went through Spring League and Spring Cup with an 11-0-3 record. Spring Cup was highlighted by hard fought and exciting victories over the Anaheim Impact in the semi-finals and the Alta Loma Aztecs in the finals both on PK's (after game photo below). |
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(BELOW) MEMORIAL DAY TOURNAMENT CHAMPS |
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| 2004 IRVINE MEMORIAL DAY U10 CHAMPS |
2004 CERRITOS MEMORIAL DAY U13 CHAMPS |
JUNE PEGASUS CUP TOURNAMENT |
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| (ABOVE) U12 CHAMPS | (ABOVE) U15 CHAMPS | |
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| U9 CHAMPS | U10 CHAMPS | |
We
officially began our 14th season with 19 talented & competitive
teams along with our adult women's team. While not every team can capture
a state championship (in 2003-2004 we only won one but had four finalists)
it is
rare that a club can field competitive
teams in each age group and this season given that the
girls are willing
to put in the commitment and work, the coaching staff feels that each
one of our teams are capable of competing with any team in their age
group.
O.K.
May, June, July are over, a couple photos above are from August. We
may have missed a couple of teams who won championships;
if so send us a note with a photo and we will do our best to post them.
Late July and August are considered the beginning of the traditional
Summer tournament season so here goes. This is
also considered the start of the new season where our newly formed
teams begin to compete.
The first major tournament of the season was the Surf Cup for teams
that were accepted. The Blues were fortunate to have a representative
team (U10-U18) in each age group of the Surf Cup. With all the competition
in Southern California it becomes increasingly more difficult to get
into the Surf Cup so Blues teams that were not accepted competed elsewhere.
Congratulations to the U10 Lime Blues & U14 Blues who brought
home the Surf Cup (photos below).
This
season a new college showcase appeared on the radar in Northern California
and several of our Blues teams attended the all new Pleasanton college
showcase. The grass was still long, competition was good, San Francisco
was fun, and next season (05-06) we have plans to go back. After the Surf
Cup our teams attended various tournaments throughout the Summer
and the tournament season will conclude with the hosting of our own
Blues Cup over the labor day weekend. Following the Blues cup we
will begin Coast Soccer League Play. The next tournaments will not
be played until the Thanksgiving Holiday. To find your Blues team
slide down below.
One
note about the NHB, the U14 Blues had a severe injury to one of their
players. On a clean hard play, Goalkeeper Ashley Lazzareschi broke one
finger and dislocated another. The bad news is she is going to live! Ashley
eventually recovered to help her team capture the Far West Regional &
National Championship. Her Dad Jerry took this gruesome photo (right)
which we post with a warning...yeah like you guys won't want to look!
The
last tournament news for the summer was the Blues Cup. Blues results
broke down like this: U8 Consolation Champs, U9 Champs, U10 Lime Champs,
U11 Finalists, U12 Champs, honorable mention to the U12 Blue team reaching
the semis, U13 Finalists, and U16 Champs. Congratulations to all Blues
teams for being gracious hosts! Once photos are received we will once again
post them here.The
Blues cup put a cap on a most successful Blues Summer Tournament Season.
Tournament director Joel Swenson did
a fantastic job putting the Cup together along with all the hard working
volunteers; in particular the club would like to recognize Brett Adiar & Paul
Cousineau for all of their time spent working on the fields...thank you!
We would also be remise if we did not mention Mark Gullickson who drove our
sponsorship efforts & Kristin
Segal who put together our incredible tournament guide...you guys are the
bomb! While you are here make sure to visit our Sponsors
Page and please patronize their websites. 
Following
the Blues Cup over Labor Day school obviously was back in session.
Players will now have to consider their time management
in order fit in their Academic, Spiritual, Social (H.S. Football Games),
and Soccer Lives. Although one may be a talented soccer player, good
grades are the key to choosing the school of choice. So girls...when
you get home...turn off the television and open your school books! 
Another
change around Rancho Capistrano was the departure of long time Blues
coach and friend Hugh Donald. Hugh has a son (Nick)
who entered high school who in conversation with his Dad told him
he wanted his Dad to be a bigger part of his life. Upon hearing those
words and having his priorities in place Hugh immediately knew he would
have to stick closer to home ( Santa Monica) and give up his coaching
responsibilities with the Blues. Loving his work with kids Hugh has now
accepted a coaching position at 
Valley
United which is much closer to home. Hugh Donald was an integral part
of the success of our club over the years and will sorely be missed.
There will be less fun at Rancho Capistrano, fewer smiles on the faces
of the many Blues members whose lives he has touched, and amongst the
coaches who top to bottom could count on his friendship. We will miss
his corny jokes, his funky Fila wardrobes, dinners at local restaurants
while solving the world’s problems. The stability, his easy going
nature and the dedication he brought to our club will be difficult to
replace. Hugh all the best with Nick and your future endeavors. We look
forward to seeing you on the fields even though it will be in different
colors. The lucky thing for Hugh is that Valley United wears Fila gear;
it would be a shame to waste those velour track suits? The freeway is
open for you to return when you feel the time is right. Don’t be
a stranger. 
Then
while the olders took a break for CIF high school soccer our youngers
began league cup. Both our U13 teams were quarterfinalists being eliminated
by two of the top teams in the league. Funny thing, both our U12 teams
were also quarterfinalists but the bummer was that one would have to
eliminate the other. This time is was the U12 Blues, I know this may
be confusing, eliminating the U12 Blues Blue team. The U12 Blues made
it all the way to the final before being defeated. Next it was the
U11's turn...U11 Blues Blue bowed out in the Sweet 16 and the U11 Blues
got knocked out in the quarters. Ok let's take a breath and start another
paragraph. To sum League Cup all up...our three U10 teams all made
it to the quarterfinals where...you guessed it, the Blues Lime had
to play the U10 Blues with the Lime advancing. The U10 Blues Blue won
their quarterfinal but were knocked out in the semifinals. Our last
hope for a championship ended when the U10 Blues Lime lost in PK's
in the finals. Then it was the U9's turn to confuse everyone...the
U9 Blues Blue were eliminated in the Sweet 16's while the U9 Blues
lost in the semifinals. Did you guys get all that? All in all it was
a fantastic showing for our club even though none of the youngers captured
the eventual championship. We're tired!
Cup.
Following up their Summer Surf Cup Championship the U10 Blues Lime team
won the Girls Cup too. Joining them in the fun and forming a book end
on the tournament were the U18 Girls who also won the Surf Girls Cup
Championship. Finalists at the tournament were the U17 Girls. The U16
Blues got to the Semifinals but were upset by a hungry and determined
Barcelona team. While
many of the teams were performing at the Surf Girls Cup several of the
other Blues teams were working off their Turkey at the local Irvine Harvest
Cup. While the Lime team was in San Diego our other two U10 teams were
in Irvine. Chris Kale's U10 Blues were defeated in the semifinals.
Rob's U11 Blue team also was defeated in the Irvine semifinals. To complete
the Irvine trifecta Chito's U12 Blue team also got to the semifinals
in Irvine. Chito's U9 Blues were also at the Harvest Cup but failed to
get to semifinal play. Great Job to all the girls, hope you enjoyed your
weekend. 
Chris
Kale's U10s completed their State Cup prep with a busy couple of weeks.
Chris' squad tackled
another tough field in the OCU Invitational capturing the tournament
championship (left). The OCU tournament victory capped a 9 games in
9 days run with the Blues winning 8 of the games; including two wins
(1-0 pool, and 4-1 finals) over the powerful League Cup Champion Slammers.
While our younger teams were duking it out on the wet grass, our older
girls were competing for their high schools in CIF competition. Congratulations
go out to Los Alamitos who captured the championship this year. Here
(right) is a photo of three Blues players who helped them bring home
the trophy. Featured (L to R) is goalkeeper Tori Rocke (U16), Casey
Bay (U15), and her sister Erin Bay (U18) who will attend Pepperdine
in the fall. 
State cup is completed with Tad Bobak's U13
Back to Back State Champs barely missing a third consecutive championship
getting knocked off by Irvine 1-0. The great news for the girls was
that they would once again represent Southern California as a Wildcard
at the 2005 USYSA Far West Regionals held in Colorado.
Joining the U13 Blues as a Wildcard in Denver would be the U14 & U18 Blues
who were also defeated in their state cup final appearances. Oh we
almost forgot, the U14 & U18 Girls still had a shot to win a national
championship if they could only get to the finals of the regional and defeat
whoever awaited them there. For sure it would be tough but no doubt the
girls would give it all they had. 
Blues
News just returned from Denver, Colorado...site of this year's USYSA
Far West Regional Tournament. If you never read your Blues News,
which we can't imagine, you may not have heard that the U13, U14, & U18
Blues who were all defeated in the state cup finals were the recipients
of three wild cards to attend that same regional tournament. Unfortunately
our U13 girls were eliminated after tough group competition. With
a chance to compete for a national championship, however, both our
U14 & U18 Blues reached the title game. Putting up one of the
most courageous performances in recent Blues history, the U18's scratched
and clawed their way to the title game overcoming their injury riddled
small roster and accumulated fatigue only to fall short in the 
championship
eventually losing 2-1 to the same team that defeated them in the
state cup finals, the LH Eclipse, arguably one of the top teams in
the nation. 
On
a more positive note the U14 Blues were victorious in their championship
match getting the 2-1 result over the Las Vegas Tabagators to earn
a birth in the USYSA National Championships on July 26-31 at Disney’s
Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida as one of only four
remaining teams in the nation. The girls will attempt to capture
the Elmer Ehlers Cup (left)). Regardless of results, the regional
tournament was a wonderful experience for all involved and the confidence
our girls gained from participating will no doubt carry over into
their off the field activities. Congratulations Girls and thanks
to the parents who worked so hard to make this trip a success! 
Saturday the 23rd the U14 Blues took off across country
to compete for the US Youth Soccer National Championship. The girls
arrived tired Saturday evening had a heavy training session on Sunday
morning followed by an extensive trip to the Wide World of Disney which
may have been enjoyed more by the parents than the kids. Monday and
Tuesday it was back to business preparing for their first match on
Wednesday. Soon there will be some wild photos posted as several of
the kids along with their folks had digital cameras.
Blues News also just signed a contract with U14 team member Alix Morris
who submitted her personal account of the team's experience. Oh minor
details, the team won the National Championship defeating the awesome
Edmond Soccer Club team from Oklahoma 3-2 in the final moments of the
match in a game that easily could have gone either way. 
Of course the competition in Orlando Florida throughout the Nationals was fierce
facing the three regional champions from the North, South, and East. To make
matters worse the girls had to overcome 90 degree heat and summer humidity
which leaves no dry spot on the uniform. Complete National Championship results
can be found on the