Maranatha Soccer

Big Announcement at MBBC

2008-03-10T13:03:00.007-06:00

Many at Maranatha have know about this for some time, but last Friday the official announcement was made: Jeff Pill is named as the new soccer coach at Maranatha! You can read the story here. Ironically, I have been "stealing" Pill's Drills for a long time and a couple of years ago I learned that Jeff was a member of Dr. Phelp's church in New Hampshire. In fact, when Dr. Phelps became the new president of Maranatha, I had hoped to get Coach Pill to instruct at the Maranatha Soccer Camp. This is a great hire for soccer at Maranatha. I have been privileged to spend some time with Coach Pill and believe that he and I are in lock-step when it comes to coaching philosophy - the difference between us is that he just might be a little bit better coach.

I have shared this on a number of occasions, but I believe that both the men's and women's teams are poised for outstanding seasons. Anyone who watched us play late in the season last year will know that both teams have the talent and now the experience to win on both the D3 and NCCAA levels. I also believe that with the addition of a coach the stature of Coach Pill, there may be some recruits who who will chose Maranatha and put the teams "over the top".

In the meantime, I have taken a new position at Colorado Christian University. The announcement was made a couple of weeks ago and I am looking forward to a new challenge as their head men's soccer coach. Things have moved very quickly and we will be moving at the end of March so that I can be a part of the spring season at CCU and start recruiting for the fall.

Please keep Coach C and Coach P in your prayers as we make transitions to our new places of ministry. - C

Another Mission's Trip

2008-03-05T16:46:00.002-06:00

Many of you remember the men's and women's soccer team trips to Germany in the spring of 2006. That is when this blog began. This summer several members of our soccer rosters will be joining Maranatha's project: Global Encounters and taking the Gospel to other cultures.

A mission's trip is a great encouragement to missionaries already on the field and a way to further train our own students for further service. The teams are preparing for their respective trips through meetings and language study. They are also in the fundraising stage of the trip - a great exercise in faith for the young people.

I want to encourage some of you to consider a gift toward this effort - either a general gift to Global Encounters or a gift to a specific individual. Here are the soccer players who are going:

Mexico: Sarah Berry

Argentina: Emily Dow, Matt Huggins, Chris Jochum

China: Elise Jones, Rebecca Manion

If you cannot give, please keep Global Encounters in your prayers.

Maranatha Choirs

2008-03-03T13:57:00.003-06:00

I am going to interrupt the series of memories with a post about the choirs at Maranatha. Last night, my church was privileged to host the Maranatha Chamber Singers, a group of which I am an alumnus. I was able to travel on five choir tours in three years. Chambers used to travel once in the fall and once in the spring. I have often said that choir tour was the best thing that I did in college. I was involved in sports and plays and other events, but nothing beat choir tour for sheer enjoyment.

I enjoyed the bus trips. Hanging out with college friends, walking up an down the aisles, trading jokes, endless games of Rook or looking out the windows at the new terrain that we were always passing through. I always tried to do my homework before tour. I knew that I would do very little (if any) on the trip itself, so I usually just left my books in my dorm. Visiting the homes of church members was also a memorable experience. Folks were always very kind.

Last night's Chamber's Concert was one of the best that I have heard in my 15 years around MBBC. Hand's down. Mr. Ledgerwood always does such a good job with harmony and over half of the package was acapella - kind of appropriate since I always remember him trying to get the pianists to play more softly when I was in choir. Looks like he just decided to go without the accompaniment altogether. Other new things included:

Formal dresses on the ladies
Tuxes on the men
Larger choir (40 vs 36 when I sang)
Mr. Ledgerwood's hair seems to be under better control than it was back in the 90's

Things that are still the same include:

Mr. Ledgerwood's hand gestures - minimalist but effective
The emphasis on harmony over volume
Singing in "the round"

I missed "O Thou, In Whose Presence" and "Jesus Paid It All", but the current selections were outstanding as usual. I also enjoyed seeing several soccer kids in choir. There seemed to have been more of them in the fall, but the spring '08 Chambers include Joel Smith, Kat Alley, Jarid Lawson, and Laura Kennedy. The Chamber Singers leave for their tour on March 7th. If you can make it to a concert, I highly recommend it.

The Madrigal choir just returned from their tour. Soccer/Madrigal members include James Collard, Chris Jochum, and Hillary Lockhart.

Soccer Memories Part II

2008-02-25T10:56:00.004-06:00

Today's post is a continuation of this announcement and this article. It is a list of events and opportunities that I remember when I reflect on the last 11 years that the Lord allowed me to be a part of the soccer program at Maranatha. If you think I missed one, feel free to share it in the comment thread.

Our trip to UW Stout when Coach Carrie locked the keys in a running van.

Our trip to Benedictine when Coach Jen locked the keys in our van and Kristen pulled the window open just enough for Elise to reach her arm in an unlock it. No one else had arms that were skinny enough.
Our return trip from Lakeland in 1998, when I missed Hwy 26 and took Hwy 23. It was the first of many "missed turns" - usually because I was having a fascinating conversation with one of the players. . .

Running out of gas on Main St. in Watertown.

Our trip to Camp Chetek to help with fall clean-up and Monica (our goalkeeper) broke her finger and then broke her leg a week later. . .

Our trip to Camp Chetek in late September - the men's team had to help to get the docks out of the water. One of the coldest swims that I have ever had.

Our trip to Finlandia when Eloe played the whole match and missed a point-blank goal.

Our 7 hour drive, play a match and drive 7 hours back in the same day to play GLCC.

O'Morrow's flip throw assist to Spencer v Edgewood.

O'Morrow's own goal on Swifty v CUC.

Stueb's playing a whole match with a separated shoulder.

Roby's goal with his left from 35 yds v Marian to cost them the conference championship.

All of the four-year players.

The adidas jacket that the 2005 team gave me - still wear it.

The framed verse (Job 23:10) signed by the 1998 team.
Autumn's height.

Shasta's goal against Alverno.

More to come. . .

Women's Team Memories Part 1

2008-02-08T09:07:00.003-06:00

After the annoucement of my resignation, I will be writing a series of posts that include many events that stick in my mind from the last 11 years. There is no way that I will get them all written down, but I will post as many as I can think off and maybe some of you can add a couple in the comment thread.

The first pair of team shorts that we bought for the women. The length was fine, but the material did not respond well to washing and drying. If you ever wore a pair, you will never forget them. The next pair were far better soccer shorts, until someone (not me this time) washed them with something red and the white adidas stripes turned pink. We still wore them for another three years.

Kelly Smith's accidential "rainbow" that led to our first goal ever against Mt. Mary.

Tsunami's do' rag.

That game against Concordia University -Wisconsin in 1998. We had only one girl who had played high school soccer on our team - Colleen (Schultz) Keppley. On Saturday, we played CUW in our last regular season match and lost 14-0 (might have been worse, I can't remember). Unfortunately we were matched up against CUW for the first round of the playoffs on the following Monday. We ended up losing 1-0 in the 82nd minute. One of the greatest displays of hustle that I have ever witnessed as a coach. I think I can just about name that entire starting line-up off the top of my head: Jacqui, Kelly, Melissa, Michelle, Jaime, Colleen, Vianne, Andrea, Carrie, Jessica, Angela.

KJ (Kowalcyk) McCuistion (still not sure if I am spelling her new name correctly). There are a million stories about KJ and I think she continues to add to her stack of unforgettable moments. . . there was that time she fell down and everyone stopped playing, her incessant talk about penguins, her toughness . . . and off course, who could forget that van ride back from Lakeland her freshman year? But I won't embarrass her.

When the freshman class that included Jen and Sommer beat all the returners plus me during a preseason scrimmage. That's when we knew they were good.

2003: We won 13 games and had one of our greatest years ever.

Fenster and the post.

Beardslee's goal in OT against MSOE.

Endless games of "kill the coach". I don't think I ever lost. . . :)

Lindsey's goal in the 97th minute of Parent's Day in her senior year.

Mrs. Skrade at Parent's Day.

Steph (Ujvary) Johnson's 23 goals in 2003.

Frazee's moves, Gavitt's wit, Sommer's gallop, Julie's temper, Shasta's lack of talent, Melissa's free kicks, Sandy's volunteering.

Our first soccer camp when only three girls showed up. KJ, Jen and I were the staff - we had the same number of staff as campers.

Our second soccer camp when six girls attended. I think that 4 out of the 6 ended up enrolling at MBBC.

Lenny's nickname, Skrade's ankle, Kel Mel and Smel, Susies' durability, Christine's perfection, Lisa's knee.

Eating at Chi-Chi's after our last game.

More to come. . .

Some News

2008-02-07T09:03:00.000-06:00

I have not been looking forward to this post.

You may have seen this article or this one or this announcement or read this post over the past few days. My resignation as head men's and women's soccer coach has been public for some time, but the official announcement was made this week.

When I finished my last season of eligibility as a player at Maranatha in the fall of 1996, I never thought that I would be involved in coaching to any great extent. Little did I know how difficult the following fall would be for me without team involvement. Little did I know that when Coach Morris offered to let me help with the new women's club team in the fall of 1997, that I would find what has been my life's calling for the past 11 years.

I don't know exactly what our future plans hold (do we ever?), but I am confident that God will continue to direct our path. There is potential that God may lead us away from Maranatha, He may even lead us away from Watertown, on the other hand, we might just remain right here for the rest of our lives. I am confident that the college will find a great replacement for me and I look forward to helping them to understand the tradition that is Maranatha soccer.

I want to thank all of the players who have contributed positively to this program and to my experience as a coach. I have enjoyed cultivating relationships with all of you and many of you have earned my respect as godly young people. We have always tried to cultivate an atmosphere of gratitude for the opportunity to play college soccer, an atmosphere oriented toward solutions to challenges and an ethos that encouraged leaders to stand up and act in a positive manner. I been witness to a hundred acts of humility, sacrifice, courage, and thoughtfulness. Another goal was balance. Soccer was not the most important thing in any of our lives, but when you stepped between the lines, the game was on! Today, Maranatha soccer alums are successful in all walks of life, I hope that some of you learned something from your soccer experience that you can apply to real life in ministry, family and vocation.

I possess a thousand memories from the last decade, some of them occupy pictures on my wall, some exist in little notes, some are just memories that resurrect when I hear from former players. Over the next few days, please humor me and allow me to list a few memories off the top of my head. I think that I could fill an entire year's worth of posts if I tried.

If I miss your favorite memory - feel free to add it to the comments on this page.

Plays, Choir, Soccer?

2008-02-05T12:08:00.000-06:00

Maranatha women's soccer player, Jennifer Harley just received a feature on the MBBC website. Jenny has been a three year starter on the women's team and a key member of our defense for the last three years.

It isn't mentioned in the article, but Jenny is also one of the toughest and most physical players on the team. Even though I originally thought she was too small for college soccer. . . She never lets me forget that. As you read the article, you realize that Jenny has done a lot more than just play soccer at MBBC.

If you are in the area, stop by and see her in Pygmalian this spring!

Award for Joe Harding

2008-02-04T11:22:00.000-06:00

One of my coaching friends and mentors received a much deserved award at the annual NSCAA convention in Baltimore last month. You can read about it here on the NCCAA website, scroll to the bottom of the page. Joe has always done a good job in promoting a balance view of athletics, especially in a Christian context. He has also been a great resource for me as I seek to improve my ability to work with Christian young people through the medium of soccer.

The other reason that makes it easier for me to like Joe is that Maranatha defeated Moody two times this year in men's soccer. . . Of course Maranatha's all-time record against Moody is 7-23. . . but we won't dwell on that. Joe and I are 3-3 against each other over the last four years, but beyond that, he is always willing to respond to an email or take my call and give me his perspective on the challenges of life and soccer.

Congratulations, Joe!

Last night was a lot of fun

2008-01-29T16:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, the Pioneers from Northland Baptist made the trip down to Watertown for men's and women's NCCAA II Midwest Region games. The gym was packed and the noisiest that I can remember. Check out the pictures here. I was able to run the scoreboard for both games - that way I get a front row seat with an unobstructed view. I enjoy basketball, I've played it and coached it, but I lose patience with the endless timeouts and merry-go-round of substitutions. . . I guess that is why I am more of a soccer guy.

Maranatha won the women's game without too much trouble and two soccer players got into the game. (I always enjoy that) Lisa Collogan played several minutes, grabbed a board and shot a couple of free throws. . . Melissa Nichols received some major time and played great defense on a couple of the Northland guards. . . side on. . .feet staggered. . .wide base. . .eyes. . . on toes. . .etc. Ihose of you who have been to a soccer practice here at MBBC know what I am talking about. you can read more about the women's game here.

The men's game started off with prayer and the national anthem. We were led in prayer by Pastor James Solarek (one of our top 11 men's players) and Hayley McGrail sang the national anthem (Not one of our top 11 women's soccer players, but definitely one of the best singers to play soccer at MBBC). David Esgar (current men's soccer player) had a fantastic game for Maranatha. He had 22 points, 3 assists and 4 steals on the night. Check out the men's write-up here.

When Northland plays Maranatha, the score doesn't matter - there is no lack of passion the competition and we always enjoy catching up with friends from the other team after the game. Check out another account of the night from Melanie Killingsworth, other wise known as "killer".

Catching up. . .

2008-01-24T15:30:00.000-06:00

I have not posted much lately and I need to catch up on a few things.There were several weddings over the last month that deserve mention here at Maranatha Soccer.

First, Sarah Beardslee married Cole Gelderneck on December 15th. Sarah is third all-time in goals scored for the women's soccer team and she was a part of one of our best squads that won 13 games in 2003. This was a tough wedding for us to miss, but we enjoyed checking out the pictures on her sister Karen's facebook page.

Emily Yogerst was married to Dave Marriott on December 21, during a huge snowstorm in Wisconsin. Lack of a babysitter and the weather kept us away from this one, although it would have been great to see Travis and Christine and other former soccer players at their wedding.

Erik Eloe and Erika Licht (their first names are not a typo) were married on January 12. We were able to attend this wedding since it was in Watertown at our homechurch and I was an usher and a nursery was provided (Thanks Elise Jones!) It was a beautiful wedding. Both the bride and groom played on the Maranatha soccer teams and each of the bridesmaids were also former Maranatha soccer players: Shasta Mikolowski, Emily (Yogerst) Marriott and Charell Kukowski.

After observing the number of weddings that I have seen over the last 11 years as the women's coach, I have come to some conclusions:

I am quickly becoming an expert at running wedding rehearsals. Coaching a soccer practice is just like running a wedding rehearsal.

While you may want me to run your rehearsal, you do not want me to decorate for your wedding.

I enjoy being the MC at wedding receptions, although you need to prepare to be embarrassed. Boy, I wish I had been on the mike at KJ's wedding. . . I also do bar mitzvah's and sweet 16 parties too.

It is fun to attend weddings with your spouse, as long as we can leave the children at home.

If I ever let a guy come near enough to ask one of my daughters to marry him and I say yes, I will strongly suggest that they elope and I might even pay for the honeymoon if they agree to the plan.

Four Year Players

2008-01-11T13:56:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of the 4-year shirts that have arrived and I will be giving out over the next couple of weeks. If your name is in the picture, stop by my office!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T16:56:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from the family.

For those of you who are keeping track - Elise turned 5 years old this year, Eliana is 3 1/2 and Elijah is 9 months.

In your celebration of His birth, don't forget the reason He came. Read John 19 and 20. - C

More 2007 Pictures - Men

2007-12-17T09:09:00.001-06:00

Here, Brett dropped the ball to Kirk who then carried the ball into the space to his left and made a great, driven cross to the far post. Exactly how we practiced. I'm sure it happened.

Friends and family picnic.

Don't ask. I'm just glad that I am not in the picture.

No caption needed.

I would not mind going into "battle" with these guys again.

2007 Men's Soccer Summary

2007-12-12T10:40:00.000-06:00

Before the season began, I thought that the men's team might be in for a rough season. We had lost some key players and I was not sure how the recruiting class would work in to our system. There were two factors that I did not consider:

a) The outstanding contribution from our transfers
b) How well this group of young men would learn to work together

We always talk about the strength of team play, but this season the men allowed me to experience it firsthand. I will always be grateful for what the players demonstrated to me. There is no way that our team could be considered “talented”. We have some talented players, but most of the men simply worked hard and played their roles. By the end of the season, I felt like we could match up with anyone and have a reasonable shot at a win. Our leadership was consistent, other key players consistently followed that leadership and everyone tried to help their teammate succeed. At times, the coaching staff felt as if we could throw anyone into the line-up and they would play great.

Offensive MVP: Brett Hollenbeck
Defensive MVP: Bryan Oliver
Most Improved: Everett Callan
Leadership: Timothy Reinert
Jamie O’Dell: Daniel Kaminski

Daniel Kaminski finishes his career 3rd in saves in a single season with 161, 4th in saves per game over a career with 7.77, 2nd all-time in career saves with 397, and 2nd all-time in goalkeeper minutes with 4,562.

These men played in every match:
Kaminski, Riffel, Oliver, Hollenbeck, Board, Reinert, Esgar, Huber

These men started every match:
Kaminski, Riffel, Oliver, Hollenbeck, Board, Reinert

Our four year players are Andrew Swift. Swifty was unable to continue his playing career after 2005, but became a part of our staff and filled a valuable role as our goalkeeper coach. Aaron Hale’s career had some stops and starts, but he eventually worked his way into a strong role on our team. I often wonder if we had had one more player during that last weekend in October. . .

Tim Reinert is a young man whose college career was almost cut short by an ACL tear. Tim showed great determination and discipline in his rehab and returned at full strength by the following season and even played during out trip to Germany, six months after his surgery. Tim as always led by example on the field. He leaves big "boots" to fill.

Daniel Kaminski's work ethic made him one of the greatest goalkeepers in MBBC history. He did not arrive at college with great technique, but he constently drilled himself into a smart soccer player. Many of his saves were nothing short of amazing. No one who was at the game will forget his 23 saves against NBBC in September. . . The most remarkable thing about Dan is his walk with God. His teammates and coach are better men for having played with him.

Women's Soccer End-of-the-Year Speech

2007-12-11T11:25:00.001-06:00

The 2007 Women’s Soccer season began with a great deal of optimism. While we had lost a large number of starters from the previous year, we were confident in the talent of our new players.

Our defense put up the best numbers in team history with a 1.78 GAA, even after giving up 14 goals in our first three matches. Jenny, Shasta, Shannon, Kat, Sierra, Laura and, of course, Barb all contributed to that accomplishment. Our problem this season was in goal scoring. At one point, we went 8 straight matches without putting the ball in the net (except for a PK by Melissa). We didn’t score in every way imaginable: off posts, off defender’s hands, great saves, goals called back, referee’s inattention, whiffs, shot’s over from 2 feet away, etc.

Yet, we played well enough to win a trip to the NCCAA II national tournament in Kissimmee, FL for the first time in program history. The experience was one that I will never forget and we had a lot of fun with the team – on the airplane, waiting for poor Miss Bolton with the van, having my own room all to myself, taking pictures with Kennedy, squeezing into Sunday School class, and playing soccer in summer weather in November. Good times.

We had a large number of players play in every match this season:
Gerlach, Nichols, Harrison, Harley, Kutz, Dow, Alley, Mikolowski, Muse, Collogan and Delaney

Ladies who started every match include:
Nichols, Harrison, Harley, Kutz, Mikolowski, Muse, Collogan and Delaney

Julie Muse is now 7th all-time in goals scored. Emily Kutz is 8th.
Melissa Nichols is now 6th in goals scored in a single season.
Julie is 4th all-time in assists.
Barbara Gerlach posted the all-time lowest GAA for an MBBC goalkeeper at 1.59 GA.

Our awards went to the following people:
Offensive MVP – Melissa Nichols
Defensive MVP – Shasta Mikolowski
Most Improved Player-Pamela Shetter
Leadership Award-Shasta Mikolowski

Our four-year seniors are Kristen Kowalcyk and Shasta Mikolowski. Both young ladies have great discipline and faithfulness. Kristen was especially good at making sure that we run things according to plan – she often reminded of statements that I have made and did not follow through on. I appreciate it a great deal. I hope Kristen goes on to coach this game. I think she understands it and can communicate effectively.

Our second senior was Shasta. Shasta’s leadership abilities grew immensely during her four years. I remember a younger player once telling me that Shasta had yelled at her so bad during a match that she cried. Forward that scene to this year, and Shasta’s encouragement was always positive and constructive. She truly helped the players around her to become better.

We need a picture

2007-12-07T09:08:00.000-06:00

This annoucement just came through the on-campus, electronic newsletter called the Trumpeter:

Winner of the Girl's Dorm Decorating Contest - 12/7/2007

- The girl’s side of campus had a Christmas Spirit contest to see which dorm could generate the most Christmas spirit through decorated doors, dorm participation and overall holiday cheer throughout the dorm.
· The winner: HILSEN (Punch and homemade cookies will be delivered to their dorm on Saturday)
· MOST CREATIVE and FUN overall: Second Floor Day Dorm -Twelve Days of Christmas Maranatha style
Other creative and noteworthy doors the judges really liked:
· Hilsen: Hot Cocoa and Cookies
· Day: "'Twas the Night Before Finals" Poem
· Day: Fireplace with Ledge
· Weeks: All I Want for Christmas - Wish Lists
· Weeks: The soccer player poster door--very funny!
We need to see this door!

Pics From Kristen

2007-12-07T08:26:00.000-06:00

I have been very lax (that is another form of the word 'lackadaisical' for Myles K.) in posting lately. I hope to get back to a regular schedule of posts very soon. One of our graduating seniors, Kristen Kowalcyk dropped off a CD of pictures the other day and I plan to post a large number of them. Kristen is faithful at taking good pictures throughout the season and I am always thankful for her work when I go to post on this blog during the off-season. Here are a few:

We are especially thankful for our Russian player, Babushka Dow.

Our goalkeeper shows off some of her outstanding technique. We think she learned this when she was a volleyball player.

Don't ask. All I can say is "I won".

Everyone knows the rule is: No dating until your senior year. Kristen followed it and look at how things worked out for her!

You can view more pictures from our season on the Men's and Women's Soccer homepages at www.mbbc.edu. More pictures to come! - C

Out of Town

2007-11-29T13:48:00.000-06:00

Several people have recently asked me for the latest picture of our kids. Here it is. I know that most of you are sorely disappointed that I'm not in it.

We are on our way to Idaho to visit Sarah's family.

Flying.

With three kids four and under -

although Big E will be turning 5 very soon!

Tragedy in the NCCAA family

2007-11-28T08:37:00.000-06:00

I recieved this email yesterday:

We at North Central University experienced a tragic loss over the
Thanksgiving holiday. Amanda Evans, A Freshmen member of our National Championship Cross Country team passed away suddenly from heart failure.

This has been a devastating loss to the entire community, but particularly the Athletics Department. Besides Amanda's connection to Athletics, her boyfriend is a member of the NCU baseball team and has taken the loss extremely hard as he was present at the time of her death.

Please pray for the family . . . and Danny Grass, the boyfriend left behind. Pray that North Central can minister to the family and friends and as well as deal with their own loss.

Sincerely,
Greg Hayton
North Central University
Director of Athletics

Please pray for the family of this young lady and her school. Man knows not his time. . .

A Coach to Learn From

2007-11-27T13:45:00.000-06:00

John Gagliardi is a football (American style) coach who I have been following for years because of his success and unique style. He coaches at NCAA III St. Johns in Minnesota and his practices are characterized by no-contact, no wearing pads, no compulsory lifting, no bed checks, no curfews and no addressing him as "coach".

I don't endorse all of his techniques, and as far as I can tell, he is not a believer and so does not included biblical discipleship as one of his goals for his student-athletes. However, I did find some parts of the article to be instructive for those who desire to coach. Here are some excerpts:

“He has shown there are many different ways to have success. He’s
innovative, constantly changing to meet the talent of his team,” Stock said.
“His style has worked, his philosphy has worked. He’s proven there are many
different ways to win football games."

Gagliardi says,

“You’ve got to have good players. I coach a lot better with good players,”he
said. “They’re the ones out there doing the job. We’re very good at
graduating people and every year we graduate irreplaceable players. But
fortunately for me, more irreplaceable players show up every year.”

His athletic director states:

“The one key thing that I have observed in him through the years is his
commitment to do the things that he believes are best for the student-athletes,”
Teaff said. “He’s a humble person, he is unassuming. The ‘big time’ for him is
not as important as the time he spends with the players.”

That coaching philosophy fits well within Division III, which strives
to highlight athletics as part of the overall college experience and as an
activity more for the development of the participants than for the entertainment
of onlookers.

This is how I feel, except for the part about bishops. . .

Gagliardi said being a part of Division III has been a rewarding aspect of his career. Many of his former student-athletes have gone on to be surgeons and
bishops and lawyers and create lives of great accomplishment. “(In Division III), you’ve got real, bona fide student-athletes who can’t get in (to the school) or stay in unless they are really good students. They are good guys from
great families,” he said. “I’ve seen guys become college presidents, go into
every field you can think of. It’s amazing what they can do. It’s hard to
believe they go on to do so many different things, and I’m still at the same
job.”

You can read the entire article here. - C

NCAA III Championships

2007-11-26T08:42:00.000-06:00

On the women's side, Wheaton College won their second straight NCAA III Championship over Messiah last weekend. I had the privilege of being the NCAA site rep at the Wheaton sectional on November 17 and 18 when Wheaton defeated Wis.-Steven's Point and Univ of Puget Sound. You can read about the final four here. The Thunder went 27-0 on the season and have won 40 matches in a row dating back to 2006. WC was ranked #1 before the tourney and Messiah was ranked #2.

On the men's side Trinity (Texas) from the Central Region (our region) was defeated 4-3 in penalty kicks by Middlebury. Here is the game story. Too bad the national championship had to be decided by penalties. Middlebury was ranked #11 in the nation prior to the tournament and Trinity was #1.

Guinness World Record and Soccer

2007-11-19T08:20:00.000-06:00

An attempt to break a world record took place and Bob Jones University last weekend. Do any of you know if it was successful? - C

The Last Match

2007-11-12T16:52:00.000-06:00

We had a nice day on Sunday. Most of us attended the Bible Baptist Church of Kissimmee and went to Cici's pizza the after the morning service. We need a Cici's in Watertown.

I am at the airport getting ready to board for our trip home. Everyone except for Ann Bolton has checked in - she is returning the rental van. She spent many hours in that van while down here. I appreciate all the driving she did for us.

We played in the fifth place match this morning against 3rd seeded Southeastern University. It was the hottest of our matches in Florida. We played our usual game - hustled, played good defense, sketchy possession and several quality opportunities on the net - but no goals. Melissa hit the crossbar on a free kick and Julie made a great shot that went just wide right. Southeastern scored on a far post header after the ball bounced around the box in our end. We came away from the match having learned many lessons about tournament play, travelling to Florida and many of us know exactly what we need to work on for next year.

See you in Wisconsin - C

Toccoa Falls - Second Round

2007-11-11T12:42:00.000-06:00

We arrived to the field on Saturday, determined to overcome any challenges from the day before. The ladies warmed up well and our possession, defense and even finishing showed much improvement.

Melissa Nichols recorded a hat trick, Amanda Moses finished a nice cross from Pamela Shetter and Lisa Collogan scored on a shot from about 25 yards as we went on to defeat Toccoa 5-0. It was also nice to be able to play everyone - except for Elise Jones who is still struggling with her knee. We will play Southeastern on Monday in the 5th place match.

We are still disappointed with our loss on Friday. We think that we could have had a good performance against Crown in the second round, but it is sometimes difficult to play well when so many things are new. We are still excited to be here and if the Lord allows us to come again, this year's experiece will be invaluable. - C

The First Round

2007-11-10T08:32:00.001-06:00

We had a disappointing performance in our first round match versus Manhattan yesterday. We ended up losing 3-0 - despite outshooting them 15 to 7 and recording 17 corner kicks to their 1. Their first goal was a breakaway that caught or defense by surprise - as MCC had a couple of very fast players up front. Their second two goals were on free kicks. We had some trouble adjusting to the level of physical play - the referee allowed far less than what usually goes on in the NAC other D3 contests. Both free kicks were on fouls that were more than questionable.

But the biggest problem is finishing. We hit the post and had several balls cleared off the line yesterday. We seem to be able to do everything but score. Please pray for the ladies to stay strong and positive - we have another match today against a quality team from Toccoa Falls.

We are enjoying out time in Florida and we are looking forward to a chance to sight-see a little bit over the next couple of days. - C

We Have Arrived

2007-11-09T07:19:00.000-06:00

I had hoped to post more pictures, but I need to download them from some of the girls. We arrived in Orlando with no problems. Airtran was on time and delivered our luggage. We can't ask for much more from airlines these days. We attend a dinner put on by the NCCAA II immediately after arriving. It was nice to get at least one free meal. Unfortunately, most of Ann Bolton' time in Florida has been spent driving the rental van. We have to take two trips everywhere we go, we finally got everyone back to the hotel by 11:30 pm last night.

I was optimistic about the hotel when I first saw it. There is a nice view and the rooms are very large - almost suite sized - however there have been a few problems. I have to slam my door has hard as I can to get it to close, I think the frame is bent. Last night it was a little cold and so I turned on the room heater, but it set off the smoke alarm. The room was cold this morning so I was looking forward to a hot shower only to find no hot water - and I am certain that I was up before the rest of the team. I have called the front desk several times and gotten no answer, so I am trying to get up the courage to go in and shower with cold water. Maybe I don't need one. . .

We are excited about our match today. It has been almost two weeks since we have played a game. Our adjustment to that much time off will be interesting. Stay tuned - C

Why Did They Give?

2007-11-06T09:11:00.000-06:00

I am in the process of writing thank you notes to the many folks who have donated to the Women's Soccer trip to NCCAA Nationals and it struck me that many of the individuals are people whose gift was their first to the college. Many of them have had a relationship with the college for a long time, so the question is - What changed? What motivated them to give this time and not all of the other times that we have expressed a need for money?

I don't know the exact answer to that question, but at the risk of being presumptuous, let me float two theories:

Theory #1 - There has always been a perception, real or imagined, that athletics do not get the support from the college administration that many of us on the athletic side would hope for. The perception may not always be true, but it has been a fairly constant comment or viewpoint for the 15 years that I have been a part of Maranatha athletics as a player and coach. What is different about this trip is that there is no doubt that the administration is behind us and has given us our best shot at a quality performance by stepping out and giving us the opportunity to fly. Flying reduces travel stress, reduces missed class time, and allows our nursing students avoid missing clinicals in order to participate. If we had missed more class time, there is a high likelihood that two starters may not have been able to make the trip. Many donors gave because they saw initiative on the part of the college to support this endeavor.

Theory #2 - The second theory is that many who gave a gift have a strong connection to Maranatha soccer and they saw an opportunity to help something that they believe in.

Maybe they just gave because they needed a tax break this year. . . Anyway, I want to thank all of our donors and we are excited about this opportunity. The ladies are working hard to make sure that their studies and jobs are prepared for their absence.

Please pray that we are a good representation of our team, our school and our Lord. -C

Trip to Utica

2007-11-01T08:42:00.000-06:00

Our soccer program has had a strong relationship over the years with a small church and school about 40 minutes away in Utica, WI. Many of their young people have attended Maranatha - and done quite well academically and athletically. A good sized group from their school has always been a big part of our soccer camp, even going back to the first couple of attempts at a girl's soccer camp. I think that three out of the six campers in 2002 were from Utica. Several of our college men's and women's soccer players attend their church and help with various ministries while at school in Wisconsin. I don't have any 'hard data' on this, but I think that Utica Bible Baptist might be the strongest per capita supporting church that Maranatha has. Three young ladies on our soccer team graduated from their school and I hope to get a few players for the men's team over the next several years. We usually go down and run a boys and girls soccer clinic on their field every spring. Furthermore, their church also made a generous donation toward our 2006 Mission's Trip to Germany.

Last Sunday, about 15 members of our women's soccer team had the privilege of attending a Singspiration at their church. I often joke that as the soccer talent on our team has increased, the singing ability has decreased - but last Sunday proved that assertion wrong. We have at least four young ladies who are in choir at the college, several others who play instruments and all the rest can sing very well. All in all, the ladies were able to provide eight different pieces of special music and several testimonies that were a blessing. Utica also took a love offering and made a generous gift toward our trip to NCCAA Nationals.

The ladies who were able to attend included: Shannon Delany, Elise Jones, Jenny Harley, Shasta Mikolowski, Lisa Collogan, Sierra Miller, Emily Kutz, Emily Dow, Laura Kennedy, Melanie Killingsworth, Cara Harrison, Julie Muse, Hillary Lockhart and possibly someone else who I am forgetting. . . I'm sure someone will chime in on the comments below - wait, Barb Gerlach, our goalkeeper was there. Not sure how I forgot her.

The ladies were a great testimony and truly ministered. It was a blessing to attend the service and I appreciate the hospitality afforded us at Utica Bible Baptist Church.

JBoe's Team Finishes Season Strong

2007-10-31T12:35:00.000-06:00

Minooka Park's bid to go to the state championship ended in a tough 2-0 loss in the supersectionals. The team is coached by Maranatha soccer alum, Jason Boe. Their final game was played at Toyota Park in Illinois.

You can read the article here.

Check out Heather's blog and pictures here.

Read about their earlier game a few days ago here.

Congratulations on a great season. We look forward to the future of this team. - C

The Final at Northland

2007-10-28T13:15:00.000-06:00

We had a great day for soccer on Saturday as we made preparations for our NCCAA II Midwest Region final against Northland Baptist. There was a strong wind, but it was sunny and dry. We had a great night's rest the night before. We were treated very well at the AmericInn in Iron Mountain. We slept five men to a room. A great bonding experience. Most of the players employed the use of hot and cold treatments - going from the whirlpool to the regular pool and back again every 6 to 7 minutes - to rejuvinate tired legs from the 2OT victory against Moody that daty. Dan Reid, as our unofficial trainer, spent a busy night dealing with strains, pulls and several ankles that needed attention.

We had a great continental breakfast the next morning, some of the men had to take a quiz for Old and New Testament classes at the hotel and we left for NBBC. We arrived about two hours prior to kick-off and we took 5 minute to check out field conditions: the turfwas a little loose and there were some pretty good sized divots in front of each net, but other wise pretty good for late October in northern WI.

The match turned out to be a physical, see-saw battle. We scored first when Tim Reinert headed in a cross from Hollenbeck, but NBBC countered a few minutes later with a goal of their own. After our goal, the rest of the coaching staff and I figured we would need to score about three more to have a chance in this match. They have a very potent attack. Next, Northland scored on a free kick from outside the penalty area. We countered with a penalty kick by Hollenbeck after Andrew Solarek was pulled down in the box. Northland broke the tie and eventually led by two goals at 4-2. I was afraid that things were going to get out of hand.

But our team held fast, with everyone giving everything they had and with about 5 minutes to go, Hollenbeck pulled a great move on the right goal line, dribbled near post and beat the keeper on a great ball on the ground. For the last five minutes we mounted several strong attacks, but the Northland defense held strong.

Final score 4-3.

I can't say enough good things about how our men responed to adversity and played as a team against really strong odds. My greatest prayer is that they transfer that same intensity and strength of character to dealing with the challenges of life and ministry.

Our four year seniors, Kaminski and Reinert both had great games. Both of them started and played almost every minute of every match this year. I believe that Kaminski will be the all-time leader in GK minutes played and they will have one of the winningest four year records in quite some time.

I will have to look at the books, but I am curious to know the last team to score more than three goals at Northland - much less the last NCCAA II team. Here was our starting line-up for that match. Each of the men are to be commended:

Kaminski*
Riffel
Oliver
Esgar*
T. Solarek
E. Callan
Hollenbeck*
Reinert
Board
White
A. Solarek*

*All-Midwest Region team.

Five of our starters have had brothers play for the Maranatha soccer team and the last time that Maranatha defeated Northland, there was a Solarek and a Callan on the squad.

Speaking of JBoe: the men advance at Northland

2007-10-26T19:39:00.000-06:00

In 1996, the Maranatha men's team had a great game against Moody Bible that went into double OT. We eventually lost in the seventh round of penalty kicks. Jason Boe had an unbelievable game in the net. Alumni from that era always talk about that match when we get together.

The same scenario replayed itself today. We entered the match after a sub-par performance against Marian College on Tuesday. Moody came to regionals with almost two weeks of rest. Both teams play well. Moody took the lead on a break away goal. We think he was off-side. . . but the call was not made.

MBBC 0 Moody 1

Several minutes later, Brett Hollenbeck made a brilliant move at the top of the box and hit a bending shot inside the left post with his left foot. One of the best goals I've seen all year.

MBBC 1 Moody 1

Shortly before half-time, Andrew Solarek was taken down in the box and Hollenbeck scored again on a penalty kick.

MBBC 2 Moody 1

After halftime, Moody came out with a strong push and we struggled with organization. In the chaos, one of our ow player tried to clear a ball out of our box and unfortunately hit a teammate. The rebound went right into the net for an own goal.

MBBC 2 Moody 2

This score held and we went to overtime. I was just hoping that we could keep our legs under us. We have had quite a few matches in a short period of time - and three out of our last four matches have gone to extra time. We are not particularly deep at the moment without the services of Marino or Hale. I don't think that I have subbed anyone on the back line for a month it seems like. But the men kept playing their hearts out. Moody carried play for most of the first overtime period as exhaustion began to affect us to a greater extent. Bryan Oliver went down after a hard hit, but stayed in the match. Toward the end off the first overtime, we were able to attack a bit more and Jarid Lawson who had replaced Everett Callan, began to hit a few crosses from the right midfield position.

One minute into overtime, Bryan Oliver passed out to Jarid on the right side. Jarid took the ball forward and drove a cross to the far side, where Dave Esgar, our left defender was there to head the ball into the net for the win. It was the second time in three games that Esgar has had the gamewinning header in overtime.

All the men gave everything they had. Andrew Solarek was unable to finish but kept the Moody defense on the run the whole game. Reinert slowed down the Moody attack in the midde, Riffel shut down attackers in his corner and Board gave us great possession in the middle. White, Huber, Jochum, Deiss and Foy all gave us quality minutes off the bench.

But we have a big one tomorrow at 1 pm: Northland Baptist. -C

JBoe's Team Advances

2007-10-25T07:54:00.001-06:00

One of the objectives of the Maranatha Soccer program is to produce young men and women who can coach soccer and disciple young people at the same time. Whenever possible, we like to highlight alumni who have moved on to the coaching ranks and who are coaching with an eternal mindset.

I did not coach Jason Boe. I was his teammate for a time - you might remember him from the Top 11 Men post from a year or so ago. For several years now, Jason has been the head men's soccer coach in Minooka, IL. Here is a news article about how his team is advancing through the playoffs. It is a good story and we wish Jason and his team all the best. In the article, Jason has an opportunity to reference his faith in Christ in a public way. I am certain that even though Jason is coaching soccer in a secular setting, his players know for Whom he lives:

"This is business for us," Minooka coach Jason Boe said. "We're not surprised by this win. Even though we upset Bloom, it's not a surprise to us. Because we know what type of players we have on our team, the leadership that we have, the ability that God's given us. And it's not a surprise. We're basically telling the world, 'We're here. Welcome to our world.' "

Here is the thing: Jason would not have the opportunity to coach and mentor and disciple in a public school if he did not possess athletic talent and training. The doors of ministry for someone who knows their sport and walks with God are wide open right now.

There are three young men and two young ladies who will be graduating from our soccer program this season. All of them love God and know the game of soccer. Furthermore, a person who can survive the rigors of 4 or 5 years at MBBC, can survive almost anything. Their character has been proven. If you are looking to hire someone for your business or ministry in the coming year, you must consider Daniel Kaminski, Tim Reinert, Andrew Swift, Kristen Kowalcyk or Shasta Miklowski. I can't promise that you will compete for a state title like JBoe, but you will never question their faithfulness or competence.

I'm just trying to get a couple of them to stick around and be my assistants next year. . . -C

Happy Birthday, Susie!

2007-10-24T09:56:00.000-06:00

Susie on the left, Lindsey on the right. Lindsey will hate me for that picture, but she knows that she is still my all-time favorite player. (By the way, shortly before this picture, she had just scored her first collegiate goal with three minutes remaining in the match, on Parent's Day, in her final home game as a senior.)

I'm terrible at birthdays, so the rest of you should not expect a mention. I only have to remember one birthday a year and on April 27th. However, when Susie was on our team, she remembered everyone with a card - even though she was the busiest person on campus - choir, band, orchestra, work, soccer, local church ministry, ministry society, etc. So I thought she deserves a post.

Wish Susie (Ferris) Yuen a happy birthday with an email to ferrismusic at gmail dot com. I think it was actually yesterday the 23rd. If you haven't seen pics from her wedding yet, click here.

If you would like to write a post recognizing another MBBC soccer player's birthday, you can write it in an email or Word document, send it to jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu, I will edit it, and post it. Even anonymously if you so desire. - C

Alumni in Chicago

2007-10-23T07:54:00.000-06:00

After the women's game on Saturday in River Forest, IL, our ladies team was invited to the home of Laura and Tony Shaver who live about five minutes (depending on traffic) from CUC. They have a cozy apartment into which we squeezed (not a fat joke) 23 players, 2 coaches, 4 soccer alums, and 3 soccer alumni husbands - two of them are actually football alums. They dont' really know what is going on, but we like them at games because they make a lot of noise. They served pizza, veggies and lots of desert. It was a great time for me to catch up with some former players and a chance for our current players to meet them.

We had five members of the starting line-up from our 2003 squad that won 13 games in attendance: Jen Adam, Hayley McGrail, Laura (Frazee) Shaver, Kim (Gavitt) Terpstra and Angie (Fenstermacher) Aulph. It is really difficult to keep up with the name changes sometimes, but I am doing better - we did decide that Angie will always be "Fenster". We also argued about who was a better player: Melissa or Laura. We had a great time of fellowship - we just wished we could have added a victory to the evening. . .

The last few days have brought a lot of contact with alumni. Some of whom have donated for the Women's soccer nationals trip. I don't want to embarrass any of them, but here are some email excerpts:

Wow, I cannot believe how many life-lessons, exciting memories, solid, godly friendships and an assemblance of decent health I can attribute to Maranatha
Soccer!

I am so excited for you guys getting to go to the tournament! That is absolutely awesome...wish I was going =) I can't afford much, but I want to do what I can to help the team since the time I was on the team made a huge impact on my life.

We wish the rest of you could come as well. We consider all of the soccer alumni out there to still be a part of our program. I hope to blog often while we are in Kissimmee - don't forget that the men also have a chance to earn a trip to nationals this week- we play NAC opponent Marian today. We earned the #2 seed in the Midwest Region and so we will play Moody at 3 pm on Friday, if we defeat Moody, we will advance to the region final on Saturday.

Women v Concordia Chicago

2007-10-23T07:46:00.000-06:00

The women's team experienced another tough loss against conference opponent Concordia-Chicago last Saturday. We are really struggling to put the ball in the net. It has been five games since we have put the ball in the net during the run of play. We have "scored" several times and had goals called back because of off-side, fouls, out-of-bounds, ball-over-the-line-but-the-ref-didn't-see-it, and on Saturday, Julie was taken down in the box, the foul was whistled, but the referee pointed the wrong way and awarded the other team a free kick instead of giving Julie the pk.

Really.

It happened.

The referee told Julie later that a mistake had been made.

Anyway the girls have continued to push hard. We are still young and talented. One of these days, our talent is going to burst out.

Men v Concordia Chicago

2007-10-22T07:13:00.001-06:00

Wow. The men's team pulled off quite a victory on Saturday.

We came out flat against an opponent that had a similar record as we did. Sometimes it is easy to come out flat after a game like last Thursday, when we took one of the top teams in the conference, Edgewood, to double OT before succumbing to a deflection off of one of our defenders that ended up in the net.

We gave up a goal early in the first half simply because we were not playing with much intensity. The men are a little banged up right now. Hollenbeck missed all but ten minutes of the Edgewood match and only played 60 minutes against CUC, several other starters are playing through fairly significant pain - although that is fairly normal for this time of year. The men stayed disciplined, stuck with our system and began to have some success, even though we were unable to put anything in the net. We put 11 shots on goal and with a minute left and CUC in our half, it looked like the match was over. We were finally able to muster one last push up the field and things got a little crazy. CUC managed a high clear to our left side, in their end, the ball was way up in the air and looked like it was going to go out of bounds on that sideline. A play out of bounds at that point, would have probably ended the match. But Timothy Solarek caught up to it and gave the ball kind of a little bicycle kick back over his head in the general direction of the CUC goalmouth.

His brother Andrew gave the ball a little touch to the right post, where Dave Esgar, our left defender was crashing the goal. Dave took the ball at full speed and just managed to cut the ball back behind the goalkeeper without running into the post and before running out of bounds. There were 14 seconds left in the match when we scored the tying goal.

Seven minutes into overtime, Dave put a header in the net off at corner kick from Hollenbeck.

I'm still recovering. . . - C

Women's Team Going to Nationals

2007-10-18T08:07:00.000-06:00

Most of you know that the women's team has qualified for the NCCAA II National Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida by defeating Northland earlier this season. Once again, it is the first time that the NCAA III dates have allowed one of the soccer teams to go to this tournament in many years. The tournament dates are November 9-12th in Kissimmee, Fl near Orlando.

Normally, our teams drive to such events, but this year, the college administration is throwing their support behind flying the team to Florida. This will greatly reduce missed classtime and lessen the physical strain that 20+ hours of driving would create. We are extremely thankful for this opportunity, however there is going to be a budget shortfall because the original plan was to drive. We are asking anyone who is interested to make a tax deductible donation toward this effort. Yesterday, the team recieved a pledge of $1,000 from a parent! It was a great email to find in my inbox and we are on the verge of booking the flights.

Will you give to send the Maranatha Women's Soccer Team to the NCCAA II national tournament? We will be representing you. All donors will recieve an MBBC soccer t-shirt and sackpack. If you or your business is interested, please contact me by email: jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu or cell: 920 248 8034.

. . . and the guys get a chance to earn the trip next weekend at Northland! - C

Praisemen Out East

2007-10-15T08:59:00.000-06:00

Check out reports and pictures from the MBBC Praisemen. What does this have to do with soccer? Two of the men are former MBBC soccer players: Jon Bennett and Geoffrey Stertz.

Lakeland College

2007-10-05T07:37:00.000-06:00

The men's team is on a three game winning streak. Last night on our home field, we defeated Lakeland College for the first time since 2001. We have faced a great deal of adversity this year with injuries to key players and a lack of experience, but the young men keep trying to get better. Hollenbeck had four goals last night and two assists on Monday. An unbelievable week for him and we still have another match yet to play. Read more here.

Our defense is really solid right now and our offense is beginning to click. We haven't won a championship or qualified for the playoffs (1-3-0 NAC, 5-7 overall), but winning is fun - especially for our four year seniors: Aaron Hale, Dan Kaminski and Tim Reinert.

Pray that we stay healthy and continue to walk with God. - C

Pictures Posted at www.mbbc.edu

2007-10-04T07:40:00.000-06:00

Lot's of good men's soccer pictures here. Some of the best are near the middle of the slideshow - from our match against MSOE. My favorites include: 21 (orange socks), 34, 48, 53, 83, 119, 121, 145, 166, 181, 194, 201, 207, 278, 282, 284, 285, 287.

Lot's of good women's soccer pictures here. My favorites include: 33, 38, 48, 52 (some of you remember my post about the photogenic abilities of Bryan Oliver), 57, 62, 79, 149, and 154.

Let me know which ones you like.

A Good Win and a Tough Loss

2007-10-03T09:44:00.000-06:00

The men travelled to Lake Forest College on Monday night for our last non-conference match of the season. LFC are members of the tough Midwest Conference and while they're record was not that great, they play a very difficult schedule. We started the game a little flat - it always takes us a while to get used to field turf, but we managed to not give up any goals during the first half. That is the difference between last year's team and this year's team. We have not had a huge upsurge in talent, but we are able to shut teams out - even when we are not playing our best. In 2006, I think we gave up a goal in the first 15 minutes in 3/4's of our games.

The score was 0-0 at half-time, but our men came out very strong at the beginning of the second half. Even though we were controlling play, LF managed to spring a break-away that resulted in their first goal. We did not let down, however and a couple of minutes later, Reinert finished a very nice cross from Hollenbeck and Solarek stuck the ball in the net from the left side off another feed from Hollenbeck. The end of the game was pretty crazy, but we made the final score, 2-1 stand up. This was a good win for us. We have been floundering a bit over that last few weeks as we adjusted our formation after Josh Marino went down for the season with an injury. Our midfield defense is improving and we are retraining some of our bad possession habits that we fell into in blow-out wins over Great Lakes and Lincoln Christian.

The women's team came into last night's match against Marian College with a 5-5 record, 3-2 in conference. MC was also 5-5, 3-3 in conference. A very big game with playoff implications. Unfortunately, we were bit by the "finishing bug". We controlled the match, outshot them (12 shots on goal, 22 total), but could not seem to put anything away. Kutz, Nichols, Jones, Dow, Collogan and others all had great chances, but we could not shake the net. The match went to OT and we controlled play once again, but shortly into overtime a MC player struck a nice ball with the wind that went into the corner of our net, just out of Barb's reach to give them the win.

This is the kind of loss that sticks with you for a few days. Our team has a lot of potential and we look forward to improving even further over the next couple of weeks. - C

Autumn Byers

2007-09-27T09:46:00.000-06:00

Autumn Byers, a three year goalkeeper for the Maranatha Women's Soccer team, was recently recognized in the Wall Street Journal. Here is the announcement that was in the on-campus Trumpeter:

Alumna Autumn Byers Recognized in Wall Street Journal - 9/27/2007- Maranatha alumna Autumn Rose Byers ('07) was recognized in last Saturday’s edition of the Wall Street Journal (Page R 13) for excellence in education along with other recipients of 2007 Student Achievement Awards.

Here is the link to the on campus award announcement. It is in pdf format. The Wall Street Journal is 'subscription only', so I can't link to the actual story.

Congratulations, Autumn! - C

Breese Stevens Field

2007-09-25T11:26:00.000-06:00

Over the years, Breese Stevens, has always been one of our favorite places to play. The stadium is 82 years old and has held high school football, car races and soccer games. I believe that both my grandfather and father played highschool football in the stadium. My grandpa attended the old Central High School and my father is a La Follette grad. I remember seeing two great matches played there - one was between Concordia Wisconsin and Edgewood for the conference championship in 1998 - Concordia won 2-1 in 2OT. The other great match was between Maranatha and Edgewood that ended in a tie 2-2. MBBC was down 2-0 for most of the game before Sarah Beardslee and Sommer Rodolph both scored outstanding hustle goals in the last 10 minutes to send the match to overtime.

Recently, the city of Madison announced renovations to this facility that will make it a much nicer place to play. . . although I kind of liked the crumbling concrete, rusted seats, tiny locker rooms where you can hear the other team talking. . . - C

Men and Women v Wisconsin Lutheran

2007-09-25T08:06:00.000-06:00

The women played a great game against a tough conference opponent last weekend. WLC is usually one of our biggest conference rivals going back to the days of Rebekah Himm and Kari Seijkowski (also known as "Psycho") for WLC and Sommer Rodolph and Jen Adam for MBBC. In 2003, we defeated them in regular season play and they spoiled our home playoff game. Every year since then just about every match has been decided by 1 goal:
MBBC 1 WLC 0
WLC 4 MBBC 1
WLC 2 MBBC 1
MBBC 1 WLC 1 2OT
WLC 1 MBBC 0 (MBBC outshot WLC 20 to 7)
MBBC 1 WLC 0

This year was no different as both teams played a tough, phyisical game. For the second year in a row, we held the advantage in possession, but struggled to find the net until Melissa Nichols picked up a ball near midfield, dribbled through about 3 people and just about "willed" the ball into the net. We had strong play out of our midfield, especially Cara Harrisonn who slammed the door shut defensively and Barb Gerlach who earned her first conference shut-out. Our team is relatively healthy right now and we are starting to catch glimpses of the potential of the talent on our squad. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are ready for the challenge.

The men have similarly played a number of close matches with WLC in recent years. Last year's contest featured, physical play, a weather delay, 40+ stitches, lot's of shots by MBBC, but a 2-1 WLC victory. This year's contest showed signs of being another tight match as Maranatha hit the crossbar in the first half on free kick by Hollenbeck and a couple of guys going for the header. The score was 1-0 WLC at halftime and we seemed to be playing okay. WLC scored fairly quickly into the second half to make the score 2-0, but we put together an attack that saw Andrew Solarek hit the right post after a good pass from his brother, Timothy. Then in the 71st minute, everything started to unravel. You can check out the box score here.

We are very injured right now on the men's squad. Joel Smith is still trying to return from his broken arm this summer. Josh Marino had surgery on his elbow yesterday. Steven White, Jarid Lawson, Levi Deiss are all unavailabel due to various tears and pulls. There are also several players playing through their various injuries. Hopefully they do not get worse. -C

Kim (Gavitt) Terpstra

2007-09-21T08:37:00.000-06:00

Hopefully this picture doesn't get me in trouble. . . it was all Kim's fault.

Kim Gavitt was married over a month ago, but I have just gotten around to posting a link to Kim and Caleb's wedding pictures. Scroll down if you don't see them right away. I was unable to find a permalink to the wedding post itself. Thanks to Laura (Frazee) Shaver for sending the link. The pictures look unbelievable, too bad they had to go all the way to Alaska to get this kind of scenery.

Mrs. Coach spent a summer working in a Bible camp in Alaska and tells me about it all the time. I would love to go up there some day. . . but I think the chances of us having another women's soccer player from AK who gets married up there are slim. . . Congratulations, Caleb and Kim! - C

Photo Blog

2007-09-20T09:28:00.000-06:00

Women's soccer was featured on the Maranatha Photo Blog the other day.

If anyone has soccer pictures that you thing should be posted here at Maranatha Soccer, please send them to jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu. - C

Parents and Senior Day

2007-09-18T07:23:00.000-06:00

Parent's and Senior Day came a little early in the season this year so it was a scramble to get everthing together, but in the end, everything turned out well. We had a good number of parents who were able to attend and the weather could not have been better for soccer.

Both teams earned victories and we had a great picnic at Riverside Park. I need to thank my wife, Sarah for all her hard work in planning and executing the picnic. There were also several other families who live in the area and helped with the preparations - the Moses', Kutz's, Dow's and Harrison's. The Parent's Day picnic is one of the highlights of our season. I greatly enjoy spending time with the players and their families away from soccer. The players on our teams are a great joy to be around. Only two got dumped in the river as far as I know. . .

Here are the notes that were read during our recognition of the seniors before each match last Saturday:

Aaron Hale
Aaron has been a faithful member of the Maranatha men’s team since 2003. He was a big part of a team that won 9 games in 2004 and continues to provide faithful leadership in a supporting role this season. Congratulations for a great four years and for finishing the course!

Andrew Swift
Swifty came to Maranatha in 2004 and won the starting goalkeeper job. His presence in the net was a great asset to our team. Unfortunately, injury limited him to two seasons but he agreed to remain with the team as a member of our coaching staff. He has played an integral role in training keepers for both the men’s and women’s teams for the last two seasons. Congratulations, Swifty!

Timothy Reinert
Tim was a member of Coach C’s first year as the men’s coach and made an immediate impact. He is a strong and smart player on the field and a leader off it. The greatest accomplishment of Tim’s career was when he tore his ACL in September and rehabbed in time to take a mission’s trip to Germany in June of 2006. Tim is a second year captain and hopes to finish his career with a great season. Congratulations, Tim!

Daniel Kaminski
Dan did not start as a freshmen, but earned a spot as the regular keeper in 2006. He has had an outstanding career. He is close to being the all-time leader in goalkeeper minutes in Maranatha history. He is a great player and a great teammate even though he is from the state of Oregon. Congratulations, Dan!

Kristen Kowalcyk
There has been a Kowalcyk as a member of the Maranatha women’s team every year since 1999. Kristen has remained faithful to our program and we hate to see her move on. Kristen has played a key role off the bench and was a great part of our Germany 2006 Mission’s trip. Congratulations on a job well done, Kristen!

Shasta Miklowski
Owner of the all-time great names in Maranatha women’s soccer history, Shasta is a four-year starter and the leader of our defense. However, Shasta’s most significant accomplishment has been playing four years of college soccer while studying to be a nurse – and she hopes to finish in four years! This accomplishment is unlikely to be repeated. Congratulations, Shasta! - C

Northland

2007-09-12T07:13:00.000-06:00

Last year, I quit posting half-way through the season. This year, I have determined to do better, but I am already behind. Anyway, the matches at NBBC were a great experience as usual. The ladies defeated the Pioneers 4-1. Melissa Nichols hit the post 2 or 3 times. She has the worst luck of any player I have ever coached, but she still managed to find the back of the net twice. Our possession was better, but we still have a long way to go. I had forgotten what it was like to coach a team this young. I am still excited about our potential. Our first conference match is Thursday against an improved MSOE team.

The men's match was a great game. Tim Reinert led the way with a nice header in the first half off a corner kick by Hollenbeck. Our defense then held strong until the 61st minute when NBBC tied the game 1-1. I would have been very happy with a tie, but we just didn't have the horses to last through double OT. It was a team effort: Andrew Solarek, Timothy Solarek, Shane Foy, Chris Jochum and Levi Deiss were all unavailable for various reasons. Everett Callan, Jarid Lawson, Tim Huber and Dan Reid all came off the bench to record quality minutes. Each of them played double or triple the time that they are used to.

Kaminski recorded 23 saves and had a great game. When he is "on", he is awesome. Our defense over-all, including the midfield played well. We wish we could have lasted another 14 minutes. . . but positive comments about the character and testimony of our young men was mentioned several times by spectators after the match. God was glorified. -C

D3Kicks

2007-09-06T10:13:00.000-06:00

Many of you have seen the link on the right sidebar for d3kicks.com. Last year was their inaugural year and the site was reasonably interesting, but not all that compelling. This year, they have improved greatly and I go there everyday to check up on teams in the region. You are able to sort by gender and date to get the scores in which you are interested. You can also view DIII schools by state and region. D3kicks also releases national and regional rankings that are quickly becoming as respected as the NSCAA rankings.

If you are interested in the NCAA III soccer, I highly recommend adding this site to your favorites bar. - C

USA v Brazil

2007-09-06T07:54:00.000-06:00

I am busy on both September 8th and 9th, but it would be great to go see Brazil practice and play in Chicago this weekend. If any of you attend the match or practice, let me know. - C

Ashford

2007-09-02T19:46:00.000-06:00

The women's team struggles continued yesterday against Ashford. We are missing our defensive stopper Angela (Fenstermacher) Aulph and our checking forward, Sarah Beardslee both of whom we we lost to graduation last year. I think we have the talent to replace them, but there is no easy way to make up for experience - other than experience. Freshmen Shannon Delany from New Hampshire and Lisa Collogan from Des Moines, IA continued to show improvement and both will become significant players in future games. We have a quick turn-around with an important match against North Central in Chicago on Tuesday and then three days to work on many of the topics that we missed during preseason. It was nice to see Julie Muse get on the board by converting a PK in the waning minutes of the match even though the final score was unpleasant: 5-1 Ashford.
The men's team played very well in many aspects of our game against Ashford. We had an unfortunate "own goal" in the first half, but we did not back down even though the sun was pretty intense and we had just played a match the night before. Steven White tied the game off an assist from Andrew Solarek late in the second half, but we allowed Ashford to score the game-winner with seven minutes remaining. I still see a number of things that I like about this team. I think we have good team speed and our ability in the air is the best I've seen in my previous three seasons with the men. We look forward to working hard all of this week in preparation for our next match. - C

Dubuque

2007-08-31T17:00:00.000-06:00

Both teams played against University of Dubuque today. UD is one of our tougher non-conference opponents and a good early season test. The ladies jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a great hustle goal by Hillary Lockhart from Danville, IL and we led after the first half. The second half was another story as inexperience and poor early season conditioning took its toll. We ended the match with a 5-1 loss and are anxious to move on to the next game tomorrow at Ashford. It was only the second day that we had been on a full-sized pitch with 11 players on a side, however, we had hoped to perform better. Junior Melissa Nichols had a strong game on both ends of the field. Freshmen Cara Harrison and Lisa Collogan showed some early promise.

The men actually played relatively well against Dubuque today. I liked our strength in the air and physical play. We need to finish better - but that will come. Today was the first day that I was able to get a real picture of where people will play this season. We made a couple of critical mental errors and a penalty kick added up to a 3-0 defeat. Sophomore Brett Hollenbeck and transfer Alex Board did a nice job in the middle controlling the attack and starting our defense. Freshman Timoth Solarek from Greenwood, IN had a very good first collegiate game. -C

Weddings (and preseason)

2007-08-27T15:51:00.000-06:00

This has been the worst weather that we have ever experienced for a preseason for as long as I have been at Maranatha. In fact, it has been so depressing that I don't even want to post about it. So, "Let's be positive!" (as Swifty keeps telling me) and look at pictures of Susie (Ferris) and James Yuen's wedding here.

As well as send congratulations to Kim (Gavitt) and Caleb Terpstra who were married last Saturday in Alaska. If anyone (Laura) who was there can send me a few pictures, everyone (Mrs. Coach) will be very happy. - C

One More Time

2007-08-13T13:52:00.001-06:00

Just in case you did not see this post or this post or this announcement, the arrival times for preseason have been adjusted per NCAA directive.

Athletes who have travel plans that cannot be altered will be housed and fed starting the evening of August 17th.

The dorms will be available to preseason freshmen athletes on Saturday, August 18th, however the first required activity for preseason freshmen is Freshmen Testing that begins at 1:15 pm on Sunday, August 19th.

The first required function for all preseason athletes is an eligibility/insurance meeting at 8 pm on Sunday, August 19th in DC 102. Plan to be on time and check this page to make sure that all of your paperwork is in order. We have a training session for women's soccer at 7 am and men's soccer at 8:45 am on Monday morning. You cannot practice until all of your paperwork is finished - make sure this is done! Tryouts will begin on time and we need everyone there.

See you on Sunday. . . or Friday. . . or Saturday! - C

Recently Brought to My Attention

2007-08-13T12:57:00.001-06:00

This is a sad post and somewhat belated, but I thought it would be a good idea to bring it to the attention of the Maranatha Soccer family. Tyler Burcalow, a student athlete from Edgewood College, passed away this summer in a car accident. You can read the story here. Even though the accident took place around the Fourth of July, but I am sure that his family is still hurting and in need of prayer. It is also a sober reminder of the brevity of life on this earth and a challenge to focus on the eternal.

This incident brings to mind another tragedy that, oddly enough, also involved Edgewood College - when a referee passed away during a soccer match between EC and MBBC in 1993. These events emphasize the sovereignty of God and should affect how we interact with fans, players, and referees in the arena of athletics.

"Only what's done for Christ will last." - C

KJ's Baby

2007-08-10T14:57:00.001-06:00

I have been out of town and finally got around to posting this announcement:

Andi Rae McCuistion was born Friday, August 3rd at 12:54am. She was 21 1/2 inches long and 7 pounds 1 ounce.

. . .a little small for college soccer, but we'll take her.

KJ (Kowalcyk, now McCuistion) was a four year player from 1998 to 2001 for the Maranatha Women's Soccer team. Congratulations, KJ and Drew! -C

2007 Soccer Camp

2007-08-01T07:34:00.000-06:00

I am finally getting around to the 2007 Maranatha Soccer Camp blog post.

We have been dealing with preaseason date issues all week. The NCAA made a late ruling that affected a lot of schools and a lot of student athletes. If you are planning to attend preseason, you can get more information here.

We had a great week with 62 campers in attendance. The Lord has steadily grown our camp over the past four years:

2004: 26

2005: 43

2006: 49

2007: 62

First, I want to thank the staff. All of them did an outstanding job and worked very hard for very little money. You can check out the staff who helped out in this messed up post. Sixty-two campers is about the limit for what our facilities can handle here on campus and we are looking into other options for next year.

Campers came from the following states: MI, IN, WI, IL, IA, MN, VA, AZ, and OR. We hope it was worth the trip for all of them. One team took advantage of the team discount - we always enjoy Randy Lightcap and his group of South Side soccer players.

We had our largest group of girl's soccer players this week with 14 and there were some really nice players in that group. I am excited to see the women's side grow. I also enjoyed meeting and working with several men who will be seniors in high school this fall. I believe that all of them have the potential to be contributors on the college level. There was another senior who missed camp this year because of a boy scout trip. He has been one of our faithful attenders at soccer camp. Hopefully I can get to one if his matches this fall.

Here are some more pictures of soccer camp. You may also want to check out the gallery on the MBBC website.

- C

Crusader Club Project

2007-07-31T13:10:00.000-06:00

People have been talking about a scoreboard for the soccer field for as long as I have been here at Maranatha and now it looks like it could become a reality! Check out this link to the latest Crusader Club letter and feel free to donate!

Unless,

. . . you would rather give a give toward women's soccer warm-ups. We are very close to our goal. All gifts are tax-deductible and much appreciated. If you can help or know of a company that might be interested, please contact me by email: jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu. -C

Soccer Preseason IV

2007-07-31T12:26:00.000-06:00

Here is the final adjustment to preseason. This just came in an email:

NEW SCHEDULE:

NO TEAM MEETINGS OR ACTIVITIES ON SATURDAY. We can make the weight room, and fitness balcony available, but it MUST be totally voluntary, NO CAPTAINS PRACTICE, NO COACHES, NO PLANNED ACTIVITY, NO TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES (Soccer, Volleyball, XCountry)

Friday, 7:00 – Any preseason athlete that has already made flight/train reservations may come in at that time, and we will accommodate them with housing and meals for Saturday/Sunday. Please do not encourage those who are driving to come at that time, only those who have already confirmed transportation issues.

Saturday, 7:00: All freshman and transfer students should arrive (returning players can return on Sunday)

Sunday afternoon (TBA): Freshman/transfer student testing.

Sunday, 8:00 pm: NCAA Administrative Meeting for all Fall Athletes, including returning players

Monday: Resume schedule as before

I will be making up new preseason schedules within the hour. Email me if you would like a revised version. -C

Preseason Date Change III

2007-07-31T09:06:00.000-06:00

The latest preseason start date is the following:

Arrive Saturday afternoon.
Freshmen testing on Sunday afternoon.
NCAA III and eligibility meeting on Sunday night.
First practice first thing Monday morning.
Registration at 10 am on Monday morning.

You may also want to consult this post and this post.

Stay tuned. . .-C

Wedding

2007-07-31T07:38:00.001-06:00

Susie Ferris, four year player, former assistant coach and all-time leader in games played is getting married this weekend. Unfortunately, the wedding is in Phoenix, so I probably will not be making the trip. Here is their wedding blog. Congratulations, James and Susie! - C

Better Late Than Never

2007-07-30T15:07:00.000-06:00

Four year soccer player and two year assistant coach James Solarek and his wife, Aisling are new parents. James Converse Solarek IV ("Conor") was born on Friday, July 20 at 12:30 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 20 1/4 inches long. Check out their blog and leave a comment. - C

Check Out Some Pictures from Rochelle

2007-07-30T13:36:00.000-06:00

Here is an online gallery from the Rochelle High School Boy's Soccer Camp from two weeks ago. Feel free to order any pictures of me that you find attractive. #23 is particularly inspiring. . .to me. . . to. . . go. . . on a diet. Just wish I had been wearing a Maranatha Soccer shirt on the day they were taking pictures.

Remember this post? At church yesterday, a lady came up to me and said they were watching a soccer game on Sunday afternoon and that the coach of Toronto FC looked like me. -C

Latest Update on Preseason Date

2007-07-30T10:41:00.001-06:00

Those who have already scheduled flights back to school for preseason on the 17th will be housed and fed on campus during the weekend. You might even be able to hang out at my house. . . and watch my kids. . . while Sarah and I go on a date. . . hmm, maybe this is working out better than I had thought. . . stay tuned. - C

Preseason Date Change

2007-07-30T08:35:00.000-06:00

Due to a recent (last Thursday) ruling by the NCAA, players may not arrive for preseason until Sunday, August 19th. I know that many of you have already made flight reservations and the college is working on a proper solution to this problem. As a result there will be some major changes to the preseason schedule. Stay tuned. . . - C

Soccer Camp Starts on Monday!

2007-07-19T09:02:00.000-06:00

Okay, this post is really messed up and I don't have time to fix it. Hopefully you get the idea. If there is anyone who can edit HTML code. . .I could use your help. . .

Campers may begin to register by 4 pm on Sunday afternoon in the foyer area of the Denney Gymnasium. Staff can begin to arrive around that time as well - although it would be nice to have a few here early. Here are the staff assignments for registration:

Payment/registration: Coach Adam, Coach C

Room Assignments/ Camp Schedule: Swift, Muse

Information Card: Kutz, Campbell

Soccer Gear Sales: Martinez, Dow

Field supervision: Ashton, Hollenbeck

We are expecting our largest group of campers in the history of Maranatha Soccer Camp, but there is still some room available. Campers can register on Sunday, but it would be nice to know if you are coming. Email me or fill out a website feedback form at mbbc.edu.

Can't wait to see everyone next week! - C

I need a geek . . .

One of My Favorite Pictures

2007-07-16T10:06:00.001-06:00

The purpose of this blog is not to raise money, however, I think it is appropriate to share a need from time to time.

In 2003, Xactware provided the funds necessary to purchase a nice set of warm-ups for the women's soccer team. The contact was made through a parent of one of our players. In 2005, Xactware once again generously provided warm-ups for the women's team and they have served us well. This year, the women's team is once again in need of a new set of warm-ups. We could use the old ones for a third year. . .but they are not in the best shape. This last winter, we were able to take advantage of an internet deal and purchased new jackets that look sharp and will fit the team very well. The problem is, we did not have the finances to purchase the matching pants. We have some of the money necessary due to some fundraising and a lead gift by a member of the college admnistration, but we still need approximatelly $700 in order to finish the project.

If you know of an individual or company who may be interested in this cause, please contact me. All gifts are tax-deductible and I will gladly post an ad for their company on this site if requested.-C

Register for Soccer Camp!

2007-07-13T11:46:00.000-06:00

I drove up to Green Bay yesterday to conduct a one-day clinic for Bay City Baptist. I always enjoy going up there. We had a little bit of bad weather, but everything worked out just fine. I was almost late because I41 is down to one lane near Fond du Lac - a warning to those of you who might be travelling up that way.

My real reason for this post: Maranatha Soccer Camp starts a week from Sunday! Make sure you are registered and ready to go. We already have players signed up from Arizona, Oregon, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and a better than average contingent from good 'ole Wisconsin. Not too many from Michigan this year. If anyone is coming from that direction, Swifty wouldn't mind a little company.

Mr. Thompson, Larry Carlson and myself lined our fields this morning. They are in good shape, but the upper field is a little dry. We hope for a few showers this weekend. Next week, I will be driving to Rochelle, IL every day for a boys camp at the public high school. Go Hubs! -C

Itinerary and Schedules

2007-07-11T08:31:00.000-06:00

Next week, I will be conducting a soccer camp at Rochelle High School in Illinois. If you are in the area, you are welcome to contact the high school there and sign up for the camp. The Rochelle camp is for boys.

The following week is our own Maranatha Soccer Camp here at the college. We have ordered the new t-shirts for the year and we will once again be selling Maranatha Soccer sack packs. If there is anyone out there who is interested. Email me and you can purchase a sack pack for $5 or a t-shirt for $8. Purchase both for $12. There may also be a charge for shipping. You can pay by check, credit card over the phone, or paypal. My email address is jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu. Email me and we can work out the best way to do payment. The t's are ice gray with a dark blue logo. The sack packs are navy with a white logo.

For college athletes who are planning to attend preseason in August, I have the following documents available through email:

Preseason Training Schedule, Regular season game and training schedule, and Summer Workout. -C

Uj

2007-07-09T07:46:00.000-06:00

Stephanie Ujvary (pronounced "yoo - vai-ree", but she doesn't have to worry about that anymore) was married last Saturday. She was a member of the women's team in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, she ranked 18th in the in goals scored and 22nd in points in the NCAA III with 22 goals and 7 assists - and led the nation in cell minutes on the phone with her boyfriend who is now her husband. Wish we could have been there. . . I love WY. . . may the Lord bless Steph and Joel as they seek to follow the Lord together. - C

NCCAA II Nationals

2007-07-06T06:58:00.000-06:00

Maranatha has been a part of the NCAA III for over ten years. Prior to 1997, we were only members of the National Christian College Athletic Association II. We are now dually affiliated, although when dates conflict, we are committed to D3. I will soon do a post on why Maranatha has chosen to be a part of the NCAA III. The answer has nothing to do with athletics.

Because of the date conflicts, the men's soccer team has been unble to participate in the NCCAA II national play-off since my junior season in 1995 when we lost in a regional semifinal to Moody Bible Institute (in a shoot-out after Jason Boe put on one of the greatest performances between the pipes that I have ever seen. We lost in the 7th round of PK's when one of our players shot over the crossbar. I won't tell you who it was... No, Sandy, it wasn't me...) There were several years when we could have done well at that level, especially 2000 when the men's team defeated the eventual national champions during the regular season 3-1 and 2001 when most of that squad returned. Last year the men's team was a late entry into the regional playoff when one of our conference matches was cancelled. It was our first appearance at the Midwest Regional since I have been the coach of the men's team. The Midwest region includes Northland Baptist, Moody Bible, Lincoln Christian, Grace Bible, Great Lakes Christian and Maranatha.

The women's side of the NCCAA II has only had a national tournament since 2003 and a national championship since 2005. Since 2003, our women's team has won the Midwest region, but has been unable to advance to the national championship because of date conflicts with the old Lake Michigan Conference and now the Northern Athletics Conference. I believe that our 2003 and 2006 teams would have had a good shot at winning that tournament. Our region orginally included Northland, Maranatha and Lincoln Christian and the region representative was determined through a regular season round robin schedule. Unfortunately, LCC dropped their women's program this year, hopefully, Grace and Moody can get their club teams off the ground.

That is the history. Here is the point: After a great deal of work and lobbying, the NCCAA II has moved their playoff dates in order to allow Maranatha and other D3 schools to participate in both the regional playoffs and the national tournament! The men can advance by playing Northland, Moody, Lincoln, and Great Lakes during the regular season and then winning the Midwest Regional being held at Northland this year. The women's road is both easier and harder... they must simply defeat Northland at Northland... on September 8th.

Here is the best part: the dates allow us to advance in the NAC playoffs and the NCCAA II playoffs! I can't wait. - C

Opportunity

2007-07-05T08:21:00.000-06:00

for any players who are in the Watertown area on August 11th. The Watertown Soccer Club is holding a 4v4 soccer tournament and they need referees. Here is some of the information from Jim Schmidt:

Hello ref’s and other interested parties,
Hopefully you’ve about the 4v4 soccer tourney on Aug 11 , 2007. This tourney is sponsored by the HAWC , WSC and Park-n-Rec. It will be held Brandt/Quirk park. I’m looking for ref’s for this day. You don’t need to be a certified ref. However , you should know soccer and it’s basic rules. This tourney will be an all day event. If your only available for part of the day, please let me know. If you can go all day , we’ll get you plenty of work. This is our first year running this tourney, so I’m hopeful we’ll have plenty of teams sign up.

If you are interested in this opportunity, contact me. I am not certain if this is a paid or volunteer situation, but I can find out for you. -C

Joel Smith

2007-07-03T14:51:00.000-06:00

Please pray for forward Joel Smith from Salisbury, Maryland. He broke his arm badly while working at Bible camp in Pennsylvania this summer. He had surgery last week, but will probably will miss the entire soccer season. Joel had a solid season as a freshman last year, but was poised to have a breakout year this year as a sophomore after wrestling in the winter and having a good spring season. Give him a call if you can.

Who will step up to take his place? -C

Summer Groups

2007-07-03T08:45:00.000-06:00

I am a soccer coach and I love any type of athletic competition, however, while I was in college, I had the opportunity to be a member of the Chamber Singers choir and the Watchmen Quartet while a student at the college. My experiences while traveling with these groups helped to form some of my fondest memories of college and taught me a great deal about dealing with people. I was also able to visit over 40 states in the Union on Maranatha's dime. . . I loved these trips and never wanted them to end - even when the 12 week, 13,000 mile Watchmen tour was over, I still wanted to continue. Anyway, I have enjoyed reading the blogs of the two Maranatha groups who are on the road this summer: the Heritage Singers and the Triumphant Brass. The updates bring back a lot of memories. I would travel with a singing group again in a hearbeat - but they probably would not like having a three kids along. Maybe I can get my CDL when my kids leave home and drive for a choir. . . If any of you are in college and you have the opportunity to travel - do it! - C

Sommer Rodolph Update

2007-07-02T09:32:00.000-06:00

Sommer and Jen, circa 2004.

Sommer Rodolph stopped by our house on Saturday. It was fun to see her again - for those of you who don't know - she is the all-time leading goal scorer on the women's side. She was also a great leader on our team and continues to serve the Lord in any way she can. Since her graduation in 2005, she has taken missions trips to Uruguay, Germany, Zambia and is currently serving at Camp Fairwood right here in Wisconsin. - C

UW Soccer Camp Wrap-up

2007-06-28T08:39:00.001-06:00

I want to thank those of you who faifully check out this blog. I appreciate the interaction and I am always amazed by the geographical range of those who frequent here.

I greatly enjoyed my time at the University of Wisconsin Soccer Camp and look forward to using some of their ideas. I think the most interesting thing that I learned was that they do not offer significantly more in their camp than we do, even though their price is $450 for four days and three nights and our price is $220 for 5 days and 5 nights. . . Their campers also have to walk 15 to 20 minutes one way between the soccer fields and the dorm. Our camp does not feature instruction from NCAA I coaches and we are not sponsored by Adidas. . . but we do have Swifty, Jen Adam and Tim Ashton. . . The Madison camp consisted primarily of players from the Madison area (I think attendance was 130). The Maranatha Soccer camp consists of a lower number of campers, but from MI, WI, IL, AZ, VA, OR, MN, MO, and IA.

Our own Jennifer Adam will be instructing at the Girl's Elite Camp at the UW during July. I was asked to return for their Boy's Elite Camp in July, but the dates conflict with our camp here at MBBC. I want to thank Coach Rohrman, Coach Szczepanski, and Coach Pasquarello for allowing me to be a part of their camp and I hope I didn't bug them with too many questions.

Probably the highlight of the camp for me was playing a short sided pick-up game under the lights at the McClimon complex with a group that included a number of current and former UW players as well as, U17 USMNT goalkeeper, Josh Lambo.

They even let me touch the ball a couple of times. -C

Busy Summer

2007-06-22T07:46:00.000-06:00

I just finished up the Watertown Technical Skills camp yesterday and will be heading for the UW Madison soccer camp next week. In the meantime, I will be participating in my sister Jill's wedding in Madison. We might see a couple of players from the Technical camp attend our own Maranatha Soccer Camp in July. We have been steadily growing our contingent of local players from Watertown High, Johnson Creek, Maranatha Academy and other schools. At the same time we have players from all over the midwest, Arizona and Virginia who will be travelling to Watertown. If we get five more registrations, we will have our highest camp attendance ever. If you are interested in Maranatha soccer camp, click here. - C

Rockford College Women's Homepage

2007-06-18T14:26:00.000-06:00

I always think it is cool when our players end up on the websites of other schools. We won the game in which this was taken 17-1. . . Honestly we were not trying to run up the score and I wasn't too happy that we gave up a goal against them. - C

Soccer Camp for 3, 4, and 5 year olds...

2007-06-17T14:50:00.000-06:00

Check out my wife's post. . .

I tried to teach the fundamentals - that is a ball under my shirt - not my stomach.My favorite player from PeeWee Soccer Camp. - C

Players Who are Involved

2007-06-15T15:16:00.000-06:00

One of the goals of the Maranatha Soccer program is to prepare our players to become excellent soccer coaches. We believe that the NCAA III experience is a key influence in their soccer development, however there are many other ways to learn to work with young people and sports with credibility. Many of our players volunteer to work at the YMCA in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Some of our players volunteer to work with teams at Watertown High School. Several are involved with the rec league here in Watertown. A large number of our players work as high school and club referees around the area.

Junior midfielder, Melissa Nichols, did both this last semester. She volunteered as the head coach of the Watertown U-11 girls soccer team and spent much of her time on weekends as a referee in the soccer club. A month or so ago, we were driving through Brandt-Quirk Park and saw Melissa as an assistant referee for a boy's U-14 match. I snuck up behind her and took a few pictures without her even knowing. I have posted a couple here. There are several more that are not quite as good. . .you can purchase the entire set in exchage for a small donation to the women's team fund to buy new warm-ups. . . :) - C

Summer Soccer Camps

2007-06-12T07:35:00.001-06:00

I have been asked to be a part of the University of Wisconsin's Boy's Soccer Academy in a couple of weeks. It will be exciting to coach soccer in support of such a big program. I am also looking forward to getting more ideas for our own soccer camp here at Maranatha. It seems that I am the director or head instructor for every camp I attend and so it will be nice to play more of a supporting role during camp instruction in Madison.

I will also be instructing at the Watertown Soccer Technical Skills Camp next week. This camp is for grades 3rd through 8th - both boys and girls. If you are in the area and would like to sign up, it is not too late! - C

Dan Kaminski

2007-06-11T07:05:00.000-06:00

Dan Kaminski was recently featured in one of our student bios on www.mbbc.edu. I had the privilege of interviewing him for the article. Check it out here. Dan is exactly the type of young man that I pray that God will bring our way. He and I have not always seen eye to eye over the years - sometimes it just takes me a while... but I have come to really appreciate Dan's leadership and desire to walk with God. He is my wife's favorite player because he is from Oregon state - doesn't take much to get on her good side. . .

Dan began his high school athletic career as a football player, but major injury as a freshman kept him from continuing on in that sport. He joined the soccer program and ended up earning MVP honors while a member of the Willamette High School varsity squad. He only started a few games during his freshman year here at Maranatha, about half of our matches his sophomore season and last year, he became our regular goalkeeper. Dan's real passion is working with wood at Peaceful Valley Woodworks and he hopes to use his marketing management degree from Maranatha for that company.

A Question for Those of You Who are Attentive

2007-06-08T13:02:00.000-06:00

A few months back, I was watching the Major League Indoor Soccer Championship on ESPN. The title was won by the Kixx from Philadelphia. Indoor soccer is very entertaining, even for someone who doesn't like soccer. There were two things that jumped out at me during the match. The first was the size of this guy. Can anyone guess the second thing that I noticed? Here's another hint. - C

Behind in Posting

2007-06-06T08:58:00.000-06:00

I am way behind in posting on Maranatha Soccer. I have a number of posts that are close to being ready, but I just haven't buckled down and got them up on the site. Here are a few things for you to catch up:

Luke McCarnan had emergency appendix surgery. He is recovering well, but has a lot of summer school work to finish before he leaves for Northland Camp.

I am running a 3-day soccer camp for 3, 4, and 5 year-olds. (What was I thinking!?) The kids are fun, but there certainly isn't much serious soccer happening from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at Brandt-Quirk Park in Watertown this week.

I have been trying to instruct in the University of Wisconsin-Madison soccer camps for several years. I finally got a call yesterday...but my summer is already booked. The week they needed me is the same week that I will be running a soccer camp in Rochelle, IL. However, I was able to give them Jennifer Adam's name and I know she will do a great job.

Angela Fenstermacher was married at the beginning of May. Sarah helped with the decorating and reception and I was able to sit with two rows of soccer girls during the ceremony. Too much fun! Killingsworth, Kennedy, Dow, Kutz, Nichols and others were there. Thankfully we did not disrupt the ceremony too much - it probably helped that we were outside. The only thing that I am disappointed about is that I can't call Ang, Fenstermonster, anymore... Although I'm sure that 'Aulph' will lend itself to many more nicknames.

I received a wedding invite from Steph Ujvary in the mail last week. She is finally getting married. I would love to go to the wedding. Sarah and I enjoy WY a great deal - our anniversary is one week (7/14) after Steph's wedding on July 7...

We also recieved an invite to Kim Gavitt's wedding in AK on August 25th. Another place that Sarah and I would love to visit...

Summer school is over. It is always sad to see the last few kids leave until the fall. Although, I don't miss Melissa, Barb, Olga and Hayley coming over all the time.

I hurt my knee a couple of weeks ago and was not able to finish the season with the Madison Masters. I'm pretty bummed about that. Hopefully I will be healthy for Maranatha Soccer Camp in July.

The Watertown High School girls team had a very disappointing season this year, but something switched in the play-offs. They ended up winning three straight games and finished their season in a respectable defeat by Waukesha West - one of the best teams in the state. This Saturday, I will go to open houses for Kendell, Bailey and Whitney. I have coached these young ladies in one place or another around Watertown since they were in 8th grade. Kendell is planning to play college soccer at Carroll College and Whitney will be trying out at UW-Whitewater. I would love to schedule those teams in the next couple of years.- C

Sign Up for Soccer Camp! II

2007-05-25T09:04:00.000-06:00

Register for Soccer Camp this week! The early registration discount of $30 is good until June 1st! You can also combine this discount with the group registration discount of $10 before June 1st and $20 after June 1st. With the group discount plus the early registration discount, you can go to soccer camp at Maranatha for $180 - includes room, board, soccer instruction and fun.

Let me spell it out clearly:

$220 - no group discount, no early bird discount

$200 - group discount, no early bird

$190 - no group discount, early bird

$180 - group discount and early bird

Last year, one father thanked me for taking his two sons off his hands for a whole week. Parents, what is it worth to you to have your kids out of your hair for a whole week this summer? I'm sure it's more than $180. . . :) - C

later edit: The group discount after June 1st is only $10 so the group price after June 1 is $210.

UEFA Cup

2007-05-23T09:47:00.000-06:00

Personally, I think the soccer in the UEFA Championship is more entertaining than the soccer during the World Cup. The things that make the WC so exciting is the nationalistic fervor and the chance to see "home grown" talent instead of professionals who play for the highest bidder. Either way, I love to watch both and today I am recording the UEFA final on ESPN2 at 1:30 pm CST. Wish I could go home and watch it live...-C

From a few years ago...

2007-05-22T07:19:00.000-06:00

Scott Hawes and I came to Maranatha in the fall of 1993. You can see from the pictures posted here that we have changed a little. I have also added a few new links to the right including the link called "History Blog". Over the next year, our publications department will be posting many pictures and articles about the history of Maranatha from the last 40 years. 2008 marks our 40th year in existence. Feel free to leave comments there and many of you alumni are welcome to submit articles or pictures for that blog. -C

Sad News

2007-05-21T07:49:00.000-06:00

I hesitated to make this post, but I think there may be a large number of you who may not find out in any other way - Nate Miller's mother passed away this last weekend. Nate is a senior at Maranatha and is not a soccer player - he played football and basketball for MBBC. Most of you know that I happen to coach soccer, but I have a high level of interest in all of the other sports here on campus. Furthermore, several soccer players also played on the basketball team with Nate. I remember Mrs. Miller as being outgoing and her ability to feed an entire football or basketball team was well-known. This last winter I was stranded in Lincoln, IL while on my way to the College Cup (NCAA I Final Four) in St. Louis, MO during an ice/snow storm. It just so happened that the Maranatha basketball team was also in town for a tournament and so I called Coach Cronin and I was able to "bunk" in the hotel with the basketball team for the night. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were there and - I guess they did this often - had made a meal for the entire team and whoever else was around - including me.
Here at Maranatha, it is a sad, but fairly common occurrence for a grandparent of one of our students to pass away during the school year. The passing of a parent is an entirely different matter - especially when so many of us on campus knew the parent. Please pray for the Miller family. I'm sure that Nate would appreciate hearing from some of you who knew him well. If you need his cell # or other contact info, don't hesitate to get in touch with me or Coach Cronin.-C

Freshmen

2007-05-16T08:53:00.000-06:00

Those of you who have been through the soccer program here at MBBC know that I tend to ignore freshmen - at least it seems that way to players in their first year. It isn't a conscious decision on my part that is just how things happen to play out. We like freshmen, we couldn't have a soccer program without freshmen - it's just that they are meant to be seen and not heard. :) Honestly, most freshmen don't know enough about college soccer to offer any suggestions that are worth while. Mostly, they just try to tell me how their high school coach did things. Another part of the reason that this happens is that I want to gauge a player's level of committment to the program before I invest a great deal of trust in him. The Maranatha Soccer program is run for the benefit of the player who is committed over the long haul. The player who has proven his committment - not the flash in the pan freshmen who has one fantastic year and no one ever hears from him again.

However, by the time a player is a junior, he and I are typically very good friends. Sometimes I even consult seniors about tactical decisions. They have been through the wars, they know what is going on. Furthermore, I want each of them to become a coach someday and it is a good opportunity for them to begin to exercise their abilities.

I believe that God rewards faithfulness and I hope that Maranatha Soccer helps to instill this virtue.-C

Deadline for Soccer Camp!

2007-05-15T07:16:00.000-06:00

Soccer Camp is filling up quickly. Remember that you can register online and that there is a significant reduction in cost if we receive your registration before June 1. We have recently added a group discount - but you have to call the athletic office here at the college to get details. The group discount applies to early registration and for registrations received after June 1.
I scored another goal for the Madison Masters last weekend. The keeper was out and I collected a rebound and chipped him from 40+ yards. It made up for the PK that I missed in week 2...my shot was on goal, but the keeper saved it in the corner. Some of you may remember that I tell you to never change your mind about what you are going to do on a PK. I always shoot low and right if the goal means something, but in my approach, I changed my mind and hit low and left. As Charlie Brown used to say, "Those who can't do, coach instead." - C

From Germany

2007-05-09T09:01:00.000-06:00

I just found the Team Germany blog. We have a team of volleyball players, staff and Julie Muse who are on a mission's trip in Germany right now. There are posts, pictures and comments. Leave a comment and say hi to Julie.-C

I've had this post ready for a couple of days, but I couldn't get the picture that I wanted for it. You'll have to check out the pictures on the Team Germany blog. Can you find the one where one of the players is wearing a Maranatha Soccer sweatshirt?

Graduation

2007-05-08T07:27:00.000-06:00

Commencement is always a great time of year. It is such a blessing to see those who have persevered and finished the course get to walk across that stage and receive their diplomas. This year, we had one of our largest graduating classes of soccer players. Here is a picture of most of them. Somehow Eloe missed it... - C

Mark Scally, Steven Dow, Laura (Frazee) Shaver, Lisa Kowalcyk, Cheri (Knepp) Wredberg, Autumn Byers, Hayley McGrail, Kim Gavitt, (not pictured: Erik Eloe, Justin Monge)

Field Test

2007-05-04T12:49:00.000-06:00

Last Monday, the members of the Techniques of Coaching Soccer class gave their field tests. The field test consisted of preparing a training plan, administrating that plan and actual on-field coaching of their classmates. Each student was in charge of a 10 to 15 minute session then all of them participated in the sessions run by others. The whole exam took almost 3 hours. I would like to thank Daniel Backhaus, Dan Campbell and Chris Jochum who were not a part of the class, but participated in the exam so that we had enough players to execute the drills that were given by the coaches. They all did well, especially considering that almost half of the class had never played soccer previously. Here are some more pictures:

Volleyball Mission's Trip

2007-05-01T10:17:00.000-06:00

Julie Muse and Grace Komis (Sommer Rodolph and Jen Adam in the background) at the church in Erlange, Germany - June 2006.Many of you know that this blog began as a result of the men's and women's soccer team's missions trip to Germany last summer. You can read about that trip and view pictures by clicking on the May/June/July 2006 links to the right. This summer the Maranatha Volleyball team is taking a mission's trip to Germany and they will minister in a few of the same places. Two weeks ago, Julie Muse, a member of our women's soccer team and a good all-around athlete was asked to be a part of the volleyball trip. Before she know where the money would come from, Julie agreed to go.

Julie will have a great opportunity to minister in a place that will be more familiar to her than anyone else on the trip. An even greater blessing is that many of you were so generous for the soccer trip that we had a surplus left in the account. (I wanted to spend it on warm-ups for the women's team but that would not have been a wise use of the money that had been donated for mission's work.) We decided the best choice was to keep the money in the account until the next time we took a mission's trip - until we found out that Julie would be going with the volleyball team. The surplus was enough to cover Julie's trip this summer.

All of us who participated in last year's trip are a little jealous of Julie but we wish her the best. I hope all of you will remember the volleball team in prayer when they leave for their trip at the end of May. It is a great blessing to see the hand of God work.-C

...and if anyone is interested in helping the Maranatha women's team purchase new warm-ups for the upcoming season, you know where to find me. :)

New President!

2007-04-27T14:23:00.000-06:00

I hate to "bump" the post about my wife's birthday today, however, I need to mention to all of my readers that Maranatha has announced that our new president will be Dr. Chuck Phelps from Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire. The last 10 months with Dr. Oats and the rest of the administration in charge have gone extremely well, but it will be nice to have this position settled. Please pray for MBBC in the coming year.

Don't forget to wish my lovely wife, Sarah, a happy birthday on the post below.-C

Birthday

2007-04-27T11:41:00.000-06:00

My lovely wife (a.k.a. "Mrs. Coach" or "Hot Mamma") turns the big Three Oh, today. There is not another person who complements my strengths and weaknesses better. She has always been a great asset to my coaching career and loves to be a part of the soccer programs at MBBC even though she is relegated to "home duty" while we are off playing or practicing soccer.

Please leave a comment here to wish her a happy birthday. It would be cool to have thirty comments . . .-C

Madison Master's Soccer

2007-04-25T14:16:00.000-06:00

I managed to put one in the net on Saturday. Scoring a goal in a soccer game is such a great feeling. In each of the past three seasons, I have managed to score a goal during the first game of the season. The problem is that in each of the past two seasons, I have not scored again the rest of the season.

Gotta' be the shoes.

We had a great little scrimmage yesterday for our final training session of the year. We are now looking forward to Soccer Camp!-C

H.M.S. Pinafore

2007-04-23T09:40:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of picture of Jenny Harley from Ferndale, Washington during one of the performances of H.M.S. Pinafore at Maranatha last week. Jenny has been in several plays at Maranatha and has been a starter on the women's soccer team for the last two years. She also recently became engaged to Geoffrey Stertz. Incidentally, he is the young man in the photo below. Schedules can get extremely busy at college this time of year. Being in a play was probably the only way they could spend time together. Looks like quality time to me.-C

100th Post

2007-04-20T11:01:00.000-06:00

I know it has been a long time since I have posted. This is my 100th post on this blog. Hopefully I have not lost too many readers over the last couple of weeks. Here are some of the latest happenings and a few observations:

The women's scrimmage v Cardinal Stritch was cancelled due to poor weather. Very disappointing, but it sure is nice outside right now. . .

Dan Campbell, Chris Jochum and Emily Kutz helped me run a 2 hour soccer clinic at a Christian school in Utica yesterday. While driving there, I realize that I had played my very first organized soccer game against that school in 1984. Maybe I will shared my memories of that day in a future post. . .

I was hoping to see a couple of recruits play next week, but I don't think I will be able to get out of town. It is much more difficult to travel now that Sarah and I have three children.

My first Madison Master's soccer game is tomorrow in Madison. Playing in these games might be the highlight of my year - within reason. Boy, do I love to play. Win or lose, doesn't matter.

I have been following the Virginia Tech tragedy pretty closely - an awful event. I have a lot to say on this topic, but something that really struck me is that we never hear about these shootings at gun shows, rifle ranges or Texas. They always happen in a place where guns are banned. . . it seems to me that guns are not the problem.

I have been blessed by the diverse talents of many of the players on the men's and women's soccer teams. We have many who are active in student government, ministry societies, plays, band and choirs. Several will be traveling in ministry groups over the next few months. If you ever have the ability to hire someone who played soccer for four years at MBBC, chances are you will be getting an employee who is well-rounded and knows how to get involved. I enjoy recommending our soccer alumni.

We have several solid recruits visiting the college next week.
Julie Muse will be returning to Germany again this summer with the Maranatha volleball team. We are all extremely jealous. Pray for her, this is a last minute decision and finances will be tight.

Elijah Ronald (or Elijah Ronaldinho, as I have taught Elise and Eliana to say) is doing well. Still not sleeping through the night, but he has been a pretty good newborn over all. -C

A Look-a-like?

2007-04-12T07:12:00.000-06:00

One of my players sent me this picture and said that I look a lot like the guy on the left. I'm not exactly sure how to take this. Should I bench him? Or give him more time?- C