TEN LUCKY BLUES MEET HEATHER MITTS
This past Summer a long time Blues fan/friend in the media industry who would prefer to remain anonymous (you will have to guess who it is) selected ten lucky Blues to participate in a television shoot with Heather Mitts and perhaps kick off a possible career as a TV Star?
The Lucky 10 (L to R Below) Kelsey Wilson, Leigh Edwards, Jordan Marada, Carly Rivera, Taylor Canatsey, Heather (ha ha), Kari Shane, Markie Gleason, Lauren Matheson, Kylie Wright (UCLA), Morgan Skeen (University of Utah) were asked and agreed to be a part of the TV shoot at the Home Depot Center in Carson for Heather Mitts' Soccer Tips on the show "FC Fox" on Fox Soccer Channel. ("FC Fox" airs every Friday at 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. PT on Fox Soccer Channel along with re-airs throughout the week...check your local listings).
Heather has 50 caps for the U.S. Women's National Team and is a 2004 Olympic gold medallist. Heather will be shooting 10-12 short segments where she does "soccer tips" for the show and the Lucky were asked to demonstrate. Heather's bio can be found on her website at www.heathermitts.com and here is a link to her latest commercial www.underarmour.tv/goodbyegirl. Keep dreaming boys...she already has a boyfriend!
SUMMER
CHAMPIONSHIPS
TWO YOUNGER TEAMS WIN PEGASUS
Blues U11 (Left) coached by Tad Bobak won the Gold "A" division
in the Pegasus Cup Soccer Tournamenton July 3rd with a hard fought battle
over West Coast FC. After playing to a 0-0 tie through regulation play
and two overtime periods, the Blues won in a penalty kick shootout with
a 3-0 advantagein 
the
San Diego Tournament. Players from left to right are: Kaitlin Ross, Meghan
Dickmann, Kaitlin Klawunder, Carly Ladwig, Hannah Hunsaker, Alexis Leon,
McKenna Roth, Taylor Kalwunder, Nikki Miyashiro, Katie Eisendrath, Hannah
Lawrence, Heather Walleigh, Mackenzie Cerda and Nikki Faris.
Not wanting to be left out the Blues U9 Blue Team (Right) coached by new
Blues Coach Brad Otto also won the Pegasus Cup GU9 bracket (bronze).
BOBAK'S BABES (U11) MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW AT SLAMMERS CUP
The Blues U11 (Left) recently won the U11 Premier bracket in the Slammers Classic Soccer Tournament on July 16th. The Blues beat the tournament host team, Slammers FC of Newport Beach, by a score of 3-0 in the championship game in the searing weekend heat. Players pictured from top left are as follows: Heather Walleigh, Niki Miyashiro, Nikki Faris, Karli Ladwig,Hannah Lawrence, Margo Cox, Darcia Webb, McKenna Roth, Meghan Dickmann, Bottom left is Katie Eisendrath, MacKenzie Cerda, Kaitlin Ross, Hannah Hunsaker and Sammy Solaru.
MARY'S BLUES U9 TAKE CHAMPIONSHIP AT ALBION CUP
The Southern California Blues U9 soccer team (right) continued its undefeated spring/summer season the weekend of July 15-16 at the Albion Cup in San Diego. The girls beat the Rancho Santa Fe Attack 8-0, Coronado’s Nado Select 6-0, and the Carlsbad Lightning 2-0 on the way to the championship game where they again beat the Lightning 2-1. The two goals were scored by Lauren Miller and Amanda Petersen. In the tournament games nine of the eleven girls scored goals. Coached by Mary Naimie, this is the Blues second tournament championship, the first being the Irvine Memorial Classic in May.
| (BELOW) THREE PATEADORES CUP CHAMPS JULY 22-24 |
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| U12 BLUES PATS CHAMPS |
U16 BLUES PATS CHAMPS |
U18 BLUES PATS CHAMPS |
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2006 U15 CAPISTRANO CUP CHAMPS
U14 BLUES AUGUST 12-13 |
U11 BLUES TAKE WEST COAST (August 19-20)
U9 BLUES BATTLE THEIR WAY TO MUSTANG CHAMPIONSHIP
(Left) The U11 Girls continued their winning ways with the championship at the West Coast Classic. The Championship game was won by Tad's U11 team vs host West Coast FC by a score of 3-0 on August 20th. From top row left: Hannah Hunsaker, McKenna Roth, Niki Miyashiro,Kaitlin Klawunder, Nikki Faris, Taylor Klawunder, Mackenzie Cerda, Sammy Solaru 2nd row from left: Heather Walleigh, Katie Eisendrath, Karli Ladwig,
Alexis Leon, Hannah Lawrence, Lindy Porritt bottom from left: Kaitlin Ross, Meghan Dickmann
(Right) The Southern California Blues U9 soccer team traveled to Northern California to compete in the 2006 Nike Mustang Stampede Classic the weekend of August 11 to the 13th. The Blues were successful in shutting out each of their opponents earning them the “Stampede Classic” championship title. The Blues beat Sonoma County Alliance (4-0), the Santa Rosa United Gold (2-0), the Mustang Outlaws (6-0) and the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer Fury (3-0) for the tournament title. The three goals were scored by Amanda Petersen, Meghan Shaver and Tristan Kafoury. This is The Blues third tournament championship. Back row (l to r): Mary Naimie (coach), Kassandra Aguilar, Casey Rowzee, Alexa Contreras, Meghan Shaver, Jenna Baum and Tristan Kafoury. Front row (l to r): Amanda Petersen, Haley Evans, Kennedy Underwood, Miranda Burgett and Dani Solaru.
CHITO'S U14 BLUE & RENNIE'S BLUES U12 CAPTURE NHB TITLE
Chito’s U14 team won the flight 1 Championship game of the NHB Cup today
defeating the Crusaders 1-0 in overtime. The victory was even more special
as the Crusaders eliminated Chito’s U13 team last year in League cup in a
shootout in the Quarterfinals. This was the first time that the 2 teams had
met since League Cup last season. Rob Rennie's U12 Girls also won the NHB
Tournament with wins over Force SC 3-0, NHB Black 3-0 in pool play; a 5-0
quarter final win over the Fullerton Rangers; a 1-0 win over Valley United
SC in the semis and a 1-0 win in the championship game over ASC Express Black.
Photos below.
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| U14 NHB CHAMPS |
U12 NHB CHAMPS |
2006 BLUES CUP
Our Summer ended with the Blues Cup Labor Day tournament; easily the most well run version of the cup ever thanks to the tireless contributions of our many parent volunteers along with our generous sponsors. Championship photos from the tournament can be found at the Blues Cup tournament website. At the risk of not giving enough credit or leaving anyone out Blues News would like to recognize and thank tournament directors Rainer Wulf and Paul Cousineau along with other key volunteers in no particular order of importance Mark Gullickson, Paul Zombolas, Cheryl Walsh, Joe Wilson, Haynel Rose, Paula Halverson and of course Dave Mildrew. Apologies to anyone not mentioned who joined in helping to make the Blues Cup a huge success and one of Southern California's elite soccer competitions for girls.
U10, U11, U14 BLUE WIN THANKSGIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS !
Right after Thanksgiving
Day Blues teams from various ages hit the road to play in Thanksgiving
weekend tournaments. Down in San Diego at the Surf Girls Cup Mary Naimie's
U10 girls and Tad's Blues U11 won the championship while two Blues teams
(U15, U18) went down in semifinal play. Up north at the Irvine Harvest
Cup Chito's U14 Blue team took home the big prize defeating the host Irvine
Strikers 2-1 in the finals. Chris Kale's teams narrowly missed winning
two championships as his U12 Blue team lost in the finals and his U10 Lime
were knocked out in the semifinals along with the Blues U13.
You can enlarge the photos below by clicking on them but disable your pop
up blocker.
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| U10 SURF CHAMPS |
U11 SURF CHAMPS |
U14 HARVEST CHAMPS |
FINISHING UP CSL PLAY!
Coast Soccer League play for the Blues was generally outstanding this year and to date our club produced great results on the field. Six of our teams (U9 Naimie, U10 Krause, U11 Bobak, U12 Rennie, U15 Bobak, U17 Draluck) all won their respective league championships. In league cup olders play two Blues teams won titles (U14 Dodge, U15 Bobak) and our U16 Draluck team captured the Premier League North/South Championship (team photos below). League Cup honorable mention goes out to U18 Dodge finalists along with semifinalists U15 Lippins and U17 Draluck. Younger Blues teams did not do as well as olders in League Cup but were extremely competitive qualifying for championship play. Overall out of our 21 teams all but two qualified for league cup knockout round play.
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| U14 LEAGUE CUP CHAMPS |
U15 LEAGUE CUP CHAMPS |
U16 NORTH/SOUTH CHAMPS |
SO CAL BLUES HOLIDAY CAMP ONLINE!
With holidays in mind the So Cal Blues held a special camp for younger players on December 29 & 30. Directing the camp for the Blues was none other than Leslie Osborne of the U.S. Women's National Team who scored the first goal in the Gold Cup final vs Canada. The camp was exclusively for younger Blues players (U8 to U14) and a few players from outside the club who met camp criteria. Campers got the opportunity to meet Women's National Team player Leslie Osborne up close and personal as they followed our National Team during their World Cup qualifiers taking place at Home Depot Center.
Besides showing the campers s a few things on the field Leslie was kind enough to stick around for plenty of photos and autographs; also giving away a couple of her signed National Team jerseys to a few lucky campers. With so much fun being had the Blues are considering holding another camp with Leslie and perhaps another National Team player next holiday season. For more information about the camp along with some great camp photos to be posted in the next few weeks go to www.scbluescamp.com.
SO CAL BLUES COLLEGE INFORMATION NIGHT!
Artyn Gardner, who specializes in counseling college-bound high school student-athletes, a founding partner of College Sports Advocates and an expert in college sports recruitment and Jennifer Bartz, Independent College Counselor and former Associate Director of College Counseling at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School will detail the things you need to know if you are considering either playing soccer in college at the DI, DII, or DIII level, or playing on a club or intramural team. Artyn & Jennifer will go over the basic recruiting process, academic requirements, and expectations for the junior and senior year and then will open it up for Q & A! For any sophomore or junior SC Blues player even slightly interested in playing soccer in college…we strongly urge that you attend this information night with one or both of your parents. The information that you will learn will help you to decide if soccer is something you would like to pursue at the next level, and if so how to begin the process.
Can I play soccer in college? Do I really want to play soccer in college? What do I want to get out of soccer in college? Where do I want to be at the end of those 4 years? What are the recruiting rules? What are the NCAA academic requirements? How do I get coaches interested? What's the expected time commitment? How will I know which schools/programs are right for me? What are some of the perks of being a varsity athlete? What does it mean to be a walk-on? A recruited walk-on? What's the difference between DI, DII, DIII, club and intramural sports? How are scholarships offered? What happens if I get hurt or quit? What role do my current coaches play?
On February 28th, 2007 from 7:00 to 8:30pm at the Oaks Meeting Room at Rancho Capistrano you can get the ANSWERS to your questions. Make sure to bring pen and paper to take notes! The workshop for high school freshman will be held on March 28.
2006-07 STATE CUP
With limited preparation and resources coach Randy Dodge put together a fantastic Blues team at the U19 level and captured the club's 26th overall state championship. The team was made up of former Blues players now in college along with a handful of other collegiate level players from various universities nationwide. Once in Las Vegas the team battled their way all the way to the finals before falling short 2-1 against Sereno from Arizona.
In other Blues State Cup news top to bottom overall it was another competitive season among all the clubs in Southern California. Five of our teams were knocked out in semifinal play (U10, U11, U12, U16, U18) while two of our teams fell short in the finals (U14, U15). A bounce or a goalpost here or there in some of these matches could have added up to a domant club performance with regards to results on the field.
They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...well not in the case of the U15 Blues Bobak. Tad and his trusty assistant Duncan Love (aka C-3PO) once again 
masterfully guided their team to a birth in the regionals by winning the Far West Regional League and then parlayed that into a U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championship by overcoming all of the obstacles. The girls defeated the Crossfire Premier team from Washington 1-0 in the regional final to punch their ticket to Frisco, Texas where the National tournament final four will be held July 24 - 29, 2007. If you are not heading down to the Lone Star State the Nationals will be covered live and you can follow the progress of the U15 girls here. There will be daily team reports, photos, press releases, up to the minute scores, etc. Good luck girls we are all with you; give it your all and regardless of results you can call yourself winners! U.S. Youth Soccer also has an interactive website you can visit to keep up with the National Championships.
As you can imagine sending these girls to Las Vegas for an entire week and then shuttling them off to Texas for another week is a costly endeavor for their families. Along these lines the U15 Girls have set up a raffle to help them offset some of their costs as they represent our club. You may have a good chance to win since the numbers involved are so small. Please download this flyer explaining how you can get involved in the raffle.
We want to remind our members to consider our mission
as a club and keep it in perspective during the coming new year and
especially into this season's state cup. Our club wins many games and
championships and we are indeed proud of this. We also have times where
results on the field are hard to come by and we suffer painful losses.
While winning on the field is always a desire we don't want to be known
as a club that measures it's success purely on winning soccer games
and will leave this approach to those who do choose to do so. 
Hey people as you are all aware the men's world cup was being played over the past month and Italy became the world champions on July 9th in Berlin. We can only hope someone was able to tape or Tivo it for future reference? Blues News was there in person from the beginning to end as you already know so major Blues News updates have been rare...sorry about missing the decorations for the 4th of July but we do have our soccer priorities to think of. Well as luck would have it, by way of a miracle and our world wide Blues News influence we were able to obtain an elusive ticket to the final match (below right) even though in traveling to Germany we went there with a dream and without a ticket to the final. To find out how this miracle came about or better yet how it was pulled off you will have to navigate and wade through the propaganda on LD's Germany 2006 World Cup Journal and Photo Album where you can live vicariously through Blues News if you were not in Germany yourself. 
We hope that all our players and parents were able to follow the tournament and caught the final. After all this was for the true championship of the world which only takes place once every four years. If you missed any of the cup you can still get updates on the cup along with a bunch of other cool, interesting, and fun stuff at the Official FIFA World Cup website. All of the games were televised in English on ESPN, ESPN II, and ABC. Who knows if you payed attention you might even have seen Blues News at the finals. Way to go Italy and PUMA.
Speaking of PUMA and their sponsorship of the Blues and Italy, did you know that our official supplier PUMA was also the supplier for 11 other teams in the world cup? Angola, Czech Republic, Ghana, Iran, Ivory Coast, Paraguay, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Swiss, Togo, and Tunisia are the teams. In celebration of this PUMA kicked off a cool add campaign featuring Pele, perhaps you saw it. PUMA is selling some of the top soccer shoes in the world which you no doubt saw this 
Summer on the feet of some of the world's brightest soccer stars.