Fall 2008 Registration is under way. Click on the registration link at the top of the page.

UPDATE: The first games of the fall season are schedule for September 6 & 7, 2008!

It’s been a rough season for the Carlisle U12 Roadrunners, after combining two teams from the fall season, but the chemistry has been developing with each game. The Roadrunners played well in a Thursday night, May 8^th, make-up game on the road against Pleasant Hill. The defense protected goalie Luke Cooper in the first half so well he had no shots to defend. Stopper Aaron Olson, backed up by defenders Xavier Natera and Josh Fisher, proved to be a strong defense and kept the ball on the other half of the field most of the game. Forwards Dean Leclaire and Grant Kelly had a tough time shooting on goal because of the swarm of defenders around them. Midfielder Ricky Gallegos was in position on the edge of the goal area, however, and scored the first goal of the game when the ball came out of the pack. Grant Kelley found himself with nowhere to go on the goal line, but made a heads-up play to pass back to Gallegos, who made an unsuccessful shot on goal.

In the second half, Natera was in goal and blocked three shots, including one he stretched to deflect harmlessly over the cross bar. Defender Michael Nelson made a nice steal and passed to midfielder Robby Clark. Midfielder Alex Felger would find himself in front of the goal for seven shots on goal but was unable to get it past the goalie. Forward Quinn True found a small opening on the right side for the Roadrunners’ second goal. There were a total of 18 shots on goal for the Roadrunners. Final score 2-0, for the boys’ first victory of the season!

The u12 Krazy Kickers played their final home game of the spring ‘08 season in front of a capacity crowd. The girls had a bye last week and with it, no practice due to a scrimmage and weather. The Kickers held the ball on Johnston’s third of the field for the first ten minutes of the match. The Johnston defense, however, harassed the Kickers enough that they couldn’t get set up for a shot on goal. There were several scares coming against the Kicker defense, with Johnston earning as many corner kicks as the Carlisle girls, four for each team in the first half alone. Finally after a series of corners coming against them, the Kickers got a goal kick. Keeper Taryn Smith placed the ball smartly out wide to defender Hannah Jutting, who quickly sent the ball up the side of the field finding forward JoJo Haack. Haack beat Johnston’s outside defender into their corner where she crossed the ball to the other Kickers’ forward, Jenna Dille. Dille hit the ball with a one touch kick but the Johnston Kicker was able to block it, but not handle it. Dille followed up and planted the ball in the back of the net scoring the match’s only goal with 34 seconds left in the first half.

The second half put the wind against the Kickers, but they adjusted, bringing back center-mid Madison Polley to help fellow defenders Katie Brown, Katie Clark and Jutting lock in the win. They did a fantastic job keeping the ball up field and eliminating any threat on goal by Johnston who were limited to only four shots the entire game, all coming in the first half. The Kicker’s defense has produced four shut-outs this spring.

The u12 girls Crush faced a Johnston team on Sunday, May 11^th, a team they had beat two times before, but this time it would prove to be a more challenging game. The Crush started fast, moving the ball up field quickly with good ball handling. The first goal by Taylor Whipple came from an excellent crossing pass from Madison Staecker. From that point on it became a defensive battle as both teams would move the ball up the field just to be forced away by the defense. Forwards Whipple, Lindsey Kamerick, Madison Staecker and Katie Rick would only get four more shots off the rest of the half. Midfielders Taylor Nelson, Jessica Payne, Alexis Lambson, Jade Gibson and Emily Loomis all showed improved hustle and speed form their previous game. And the defense of Ashton Goodhue-Nolte, Sierra Andreas, Victoria Carra and Amanda Hardin held Johnston to three shots which keeper Maddie Roberts easily stopped. The half would end 1-0.

The second half both teams would get the ball in front of their goal but had a tough time getting off shots. The battle in front of the goals was the deciding factor in the game as Johnston would get two goals from deflected clearing shots that sent the ball barely past the keeper. The Crush would only get two shots on goal. The game would end with Johnston winning by one goal. The Crush are still in the running for the division title, but they must win their next game and the number two team must lose their next game - a situation the Crush never expected to be in, but are sure to battle for the win next week. Players of the game were Staecker, Rick , Hardin and Roberts.

The u10 Dragons played one of their best games of the season so far this year! They started off with Simon Clark in goal for the first time this year, and he did a fantastic job warding off Soccer South’s numerous goal attempts. The defenders, Matthew and Connor Hage did a great job of helping him out the first half of the game. Alex Owens made a fabulous pass to Dylan Reed, who scored the Dragons first goal! Alex Owens then scored the second goal of the game to tie the game 2-2. Forwards Dylan Reed, Alex Owens and Konnor Fisher did a great job working the ball down the field with superb passing and teamwork! Clark made a nice save late in the first half to hold the score at 4-4 at the half.

In the second half, Jordan Watts and Jaron Burgress played forward, along with Reed. Matthew Hintz and Josh Felger anchored the defense, both doing fantastic job holding off goal attempts from the other team. Watts showed off his usual fancy footwork and great speed, and despite Soccer South challenges down the field, he was able to make an outstanding pass to Burgress to score his first goal of the game. Connor Hage was able to stop several shots near the goal, helping keep the game close. The final score was Soccer South 6, Dragons 9, but the Dragons gave them a run for their money! Fantastic job by all on the team!

The U8 Pumas played a little short-handed on Sunday with only five players due to illness. With only one substitute, nobody complained they didn’t have enough playing time. The highlights included an outstanding pass by Jocelyn Haack to Megan Sievers for a goal on two separate occasions. Other goals were scored by Wyatt Kruse, Megan Sievers and Jocelyn Haack. On the defensive side of the ball, Ashyln Highland and April Jackson made several goal saving stops and cleared it out to teammates. The Pumas played with a lot of heart and hustle and the coaches and fans were sure proud of their efforts. Go PUMAs!!

The u8 Tigers took to the field with enthusiasm, as usual, and Tyler Baker again showed his speed and ball control to score the first goal. Keaton Walker also demonstrated great ball control by dribbling and cutting around the opposition to score. Noah Niehaus made a very nice pass to Trever Baker. Tim black took control of the ball dribbling down field and passed to Walker who passed to Baker who scored a goal. Austin Black made several defensive stops and scored his first goal of the season and was all smiles the rest of the game. Samuel Overton used his skill and speed to score two goals. Overall, the Tigers played very well together

The u8 Jaguars took to the field with only two subs, but didn’t disappoint the fans. Derek Tingle displayed his usual hustle and on-the-field management while scoring several goals. Goals were also scored by Carson True, on a brilliant counter-attack from the defensive end of the field, and Sara Langefeld, who tallied two goals by maintaining her position in open space and calling for the pass from her teammates. Sarah Pote and Jack Millman maintained a strong defense in the middle of the field while Rachel Studer cranked up her intensity to move the ball into scoring position on several occasions.

Closing ceremonies are slated for Monday, June 2, from 6 - 8 p.m. in the high school gym

We’ll recognize our spring teams, make a few announcements about upcoming events and, hopefully, move things along more quickly than in the past as we celebrate another great season of soccer in Carlisle.

On Sunday, May 4, Carlisle’s u12 girls Crush faced West Des Moines, a team they defeated earlier this season 3-1, putting their perfect record on the line. West Des Moines was coming off a nice two-game winning streak in which they outscored their opponents 20-3!  It would prove to be the toughest game of the season as the Crush fell behind for the first time this season. The Crush answered with a nice pass off the foot of Lindsey Kamerick to Taylor Whipple who placed the ball into the corner of the net. Then, from a booming drop kick from keeper Maddie Roberts, Whipple won the ball and dribbled it all the way in for the goal. Another Crush goal came from an amazing display of ball control by Katy Rick, who dribbled past four defenders to get the ball in front of the goal and blasted a shot to the back of the net. West Des Moines would answer with two goals of their own to end the half 3-3.

The second half was all West Des Moines’ as they beat the Crush with good ball control and hustle in the mid field. The West Des Moines squad would score five more goals and the Crush, one goal by Rick. With this loss, the Crush fell to 5-1 on the season, but still lead their division and have their sights set on a division championship. The team named Taylor Whipple, Maddie Roberts, Jade Gibson and Victoria Cara as players of the game.

In other action at the Carlisle Soccer Complex, the u8 Pumas were on the prowl, playing their best game of team ball, yet. This team just keeps improving by leaps and bounds every week, just like the weather continues to improve each Sunday. The Pumas are passing the ball to each other to achieve goal-scoring opportunities. Not all of them reach the back of the net but they are attacking the opponent’s goal. The highlights of the game were goals being scored by Megan Sievers, Jocelyn Haack, Wyatt Kruse and Jack Wilson. One of Wilson’s goals was off an assist from Sievers. On the defensive side of the ball, April Jackson, Ashlyn Highland and Zach Hoagland came up with key blocks or clearing passes to move the ball from the opponent’s end of the field. These kids are having a lot of fun learning the game of soccer.  Go PUMAs.     

It’s with sadness that we report the passing of Bob Betzer, of Carlisle, on Sunday afternoon, May 4, 2008, at the age of 64.

Bob supported Carlisle Soccer at a key moment in its re-emergence in Carlisle. In the spring of 2005, Bob let the Club use some of his property for fields when no land had been identified for a complex. As a part of Team Gymnastics, the Club played games on city land near where the pool now is and in the outfields of baseball diamonds in city parks. Even after selling his land, he convinced the new owner to delay construction for a month or two to allow us to complete our fall season. During that time, the fields were appropriately named "The Bob Betzer Soccer Complex."

He lived in Carlisle for 45 years, served as a volunteer fireman and on the City Council.

He is survived by his wife, Kathy, daughter Patricia (Mark) Willemssen, daughter April, grandsons William (Hope) Hols, Michael Hols, and granddaughter Abigail Molina. Abigail has played soccer with the Club for several years, and is on the u8 girls Pink Panthers team.

Visitation begins a 4 pm Thursday, May 8, at Peterson Funeral Home, with the family receiving friends from 5-8 pm. Funeral services will be at 1 pm Friday at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Carlisle Alumni Association for a scholarship to be awarded to a student pursuing automotive studies.

The Peno family of Carlisle suffered a complete loss of their home in a fire this morning. Sierra Peno is a player on the Carlisle girls varsity soccer team, and along with her grandmother, Debbie; her mother, Tracy; and her sisters Sabrina and Shianne, escaped the fire without injury, but lost everything but the clothing they were wearing at the time of the fire.

If you would like to make a donation of cash, food, clothing or household items, contact the Carlisle High School office at 989-0831. 

When you head out to the Carlisle Soccer Complex this weekend, you won’t be able to miss the new field development work that’s underway.  Construction has begun install several acres of newly leveled, fertilized and seeded fields.

This is the direct result of the fund raising that our club has done recently and we’re looking to continue that progress for the next couple of years.

We are starting with about 4 acres on the west side of the complex, where the u14 field was located. The u14 field has been relocated to the east section, east of the middle driveway. The u6, u8, u10 and u12 fields will also be shifted slightly to the east.

The sandy soil has been turned over, the ground has been laser leveled, fertilizer has been mixed in and new seed has been planted. Once the ground temperature warms up to 55 degrees, we expect emergence within two to three weeks. Even though the turf installer has optimistically stated that the fields could be ready in as little as 45 days, the Club has decided to postpone any playing on the new fields until 2009 to establish a strong root structure and avoid the damage many soccer clubs have endured this season in playing on their fields too prematurely due to a cold spring.

“This is exciting because it means that we’re moving forward, doing the things that players and parents have been asking us to do,” said Mark True, Club president. “We’re kind of starting over on our field development, doing things we would have liked to do a year or two ago, but simply didn’t have the funds available. Our new underground supply lines, our above-ground irrigator and our new John Deere lawn mower have all been made possible because we’ve been able to managed our registration fees carefully and raise additional funds in a variety of ways, from grants to car washes to bottle and can drives.”

“Once this section has been well-established, we can move on to another section, and within a couple of years, our entire complex should be more evenly covered with grass.”

Parents and players are asked to stay off of the newly seeded area, and to keep children from playing in the attractive dirt piles - the soil contains fertilizer.

…that a club is growing is the number of certified referees on its roster. Before last season, we had basically two certified referees; Duane Thorpe and Mark True. Last season, however, Emma Staecker, Steve Overton, Dave Kallemyn (pictured, right), Andrea Conroy (currently deployed to Iraq) and Valerie Goodhue-Nolte became certified and began to referee games at the Carlisle Soccer Complex. Before this season, Kyle Kephart and Mike Kephart were added to the roster and have been working tournament games in addition to our games. Lucas Millman recently passed the certification class and will be doing games this weekend.

That’s NINE certified referees…more than many clubs much larger than ours.

In addition, under the guidance of ref assigner and club secretary Joy LeClaire, we’ve also started a junior referee program where those who aren’t old enough to become certified (you have to be at least 12 years old) can gain valuable experience refereeing under-8 games. It also helps prepare us for future growth of the club! Our junior referees are Ashton Goodhue-Nolte, Dean LeClaire( pictured, below), JoJo Haack and Courtney Black.

Referees (not junior referees) are the only paid position in the club, as is the practice at clubs all over the country, but their job is a difficult one, at best. So next time you applaud your players and the other team, take a few seconds to say thanks to our refeerees. They are as a critical part of our success as a club now and into the future.

If you’d like more information about becoming a referee, contact Joy LeClaire.

Carlisle Soccer Club travelling teams have had difficulty scoring goals and getting results the past couple of seasons, but things are changing this season. Two u12 girls teams – the Crush and the Krazy Kickers – are setting the pace in their respective divisions.

The Crush (pictured) faced a tough team from Newton on Sunday, April 27th, as they tried to maintain their spotless record. It would prove to be the most challenging game of the season as Newton took control early with three shots on goal within the first three minutes of play. The Crush were on their heals for the majority of the first half as Newton showed both speed and good ball handling skills. The Crush would have the upper hand when they got to the offensive end. Jessica Payne dribbled the ball past several defenders to the left side, and then made a nice crossing pass in front of the goal where Madison Staecker would put it away for the first goal. Newton would have several quick counter attack opportunities, but with Maddie Roberts in goal, only one of 13 shots would make it in the goal. The half ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Crush made position adjustments for the second half to help defend against Newton’s counter attacks and turned up their intensity at both ends of the field. Although Newton was able to move toward the goal, the defense of Ashton Goodhue-Nolte, Amanda Hardin and Sierra Andreas and keeper Victoria Carra held Newton scoreless for the entire second half. Likewise, the offense stepped up with midfielders Katy Rick, Emily Loomis, Jade Gibson, Alexis Lambson and Taylor Nelson battling for the ball to set up several scoring opportunities. Lindsey Kamerick made a nice centering pass to Payne who scored with a hard shot past the keeper. Then Roberts, playing forward, would steal the ball midfield, beat two defenders and blast one into the back of the net. Carra made a nicely placed goal kick to Taylor Whipple who made a nice first touch into space before taking back to the goal for a score. The last goal would be scored by Kamerick off a nice pass from Roberts. With a 5-1 victory over Newton, the Crush clinched the top spot in their division.

The Krazy Kickers, played two games on the weekend of April 26 and 27th. Their Saturday match was against Altoona, a team they had beat earlier in the season, 2-0. The outcome of this game was the same in score, with the Kickers winning again 2-0, but the truth laid in the details. The Kickers scored their first goal in the 10th minute mark on a crossing pass from forward Jenna Dille to JoJo Haack. The second goal mirrored the first, this time coming in the 10th minute of the second half with the cross coming from Haack to Dille, who finished in a similar fashion. The big change in this game, however, was the shooting differential between the two teams. Altoona struggled to get on the Kickers’ half of the field against Carlisle’s defenders Katie Clark, Katie Brown, Hannah Jutting and Madison Polley, and only put three shots on goal to the Kickers’ 13. The play of the game came in the closing minutes as Altoona’s star forward took on Kicker defender Katie Clark: the one-on-one challenge lasted a full minute and the dual looked personal as the Altoona player ignored all request from her coach to make a pass. Clark never gave up her back to the ball, keeping herself in between her goal and the would-be attacker. Eventually the Altoona forward would exhaust herself and all the moves she knew and simply coughed the ball up to Katie who more than graciously took it up the field.

The Sunday match was against West Des Moines. For fans that have been tracking the girls, the Kickers played an incredible game against West Des Moines last season, rallying from a 0-3 deficit to almost win the game. On this day, West Des Moines appeared to have improved. They beat Winterset, which is the only team to beat the Kickers this season, a couple weeks ago. The Kickers struck early and often, tallying four goals in each half, with Haley Gruber, Dille, Taylor Piper and Haack each scoring two goals a piece. Offensively, West Des Moines struggled to get by the Carlisle midfielders Mollie Tibbits, Mak Curiel, Mik McCaughey and Marissa Kephart. Anything that did slip by was quickly returned by the defenders. In fact, WDM was limited to only three shots all game, with none in the first half. The Kickers gave up one goal in the end to secure a solid 8-1 victory.

In games played in-house in Carlisle, here were the highlights:

The u8 Pumas demonstrated a lot of heart and hustle. April Jackson had a break out game for the Pumas, providing both goals and assists for her teammates. Goals were also scored by Ashlyn Highland, Jocelyn Haack and Jack Wilson. Zach Hoagland, Ella Kinter Wyatt Kruse and Megan Sievers also played key roles in the game, dribbling the ball up the field, making key defensive stops and making critical passes to teammates. With the season being half over, the Pumas are really playing better as a team than they did at the beginning of the year. The parents and coaches love to see the key pass to set up a goal opportunity for a teammate. Keep up the great work PUMAS.

The u8 Tigers took to the field with great enthusiasm and energy and last Sunday. The game got off to a fast start with Tyler Baker scoring the first goal. Keaton Walker demonstrated great ball control by cutting around her opponent to score several goals. Samuel Overton, surrounded by the opposing team, made a nice pass to Trever Baker. Samuel Overton demonstrated his speed and ball handling while scoring a goal . Tim Black, Austin Black and Noah Niehaus played well on defense and assisted on many plays. Overall, the Tigers had a fun, fast, hard game.

The u8 Jaguars took on an experienced opponent but managed to score two great goals. Darek Tingle, again, led the offense, scoring the goals and setting up his teammates. Carson True anchored the defense, peeling a ball off his own goal line in one instand, and came up the middle on two different occasions to barely miss crossing passes from Tingle. Rachel Studer turned up the volume on her game, using a cut move to beat her opponent on the dribble, but the shot went just wide of the goal.

An MP3 players was found at the Carlisle Soccer Complex recently. Email Mark True with a description, and if it fits, it’s yours!