The u13 Carlisle Crush girls soccer team (left) took two medals at this year’s Iowa Games, one for winning their division and the other for exhibiting excellent sporstmanship.

"I can’t express enough how proud we are of our girls!" said coach Jake Whipple. "They performed brilliantly and, more importantly, received the greatest honor of the Iowa Games: the Sportsmanship Medal!"

This is the second sportsmanship medal in two years for the Crush.

The Crush performed brilliantly throughout the tournament with a near-perfect record of 3-0-1, outscoring their opponents 11-4. In two games, the Crush held their opponent scoreless. But the matches were competitive with Ankeny Team Awesome tying the Crush and Logan Lady Reds proving to be very physical. The Crush played with skill, speed and as a team. All players earned the wins as the offense mixed up the attacks creating dozens of scoring opportunities, and the defense consistently pushed the opponent’s attacks to the outside.

"It was a very exciting tournament as the teams battled in the extreme heat," added Whipple.

Be sure to congratulate the following players for their outstanding performance and sportsmanship: Sierra Andreas, Victoria Carra, Jenna Castle, Jade Gibson, Kaleigh Haus, Lindsey Kamerick, Lexi Lambson, Jessica Payne, Katy Rick, Maddie Roberts, Mariah Sadler, Madison Staecker and Taylor Whipple.

The Crush was sponsored by Goodhue-Nolte Insurance of Carlisle and followed to Ames for the competition by dozens of fans (see photo below).

The Iowa Games is an Olympic style event with over 15,000 athletes competing in 54 different sports. Soccer is by far the largest with over 4,000 athletes and 278 teams competing.

Carlisle Soccer is now on Facebook. If you’re there, too, become a fan!

If you’re on Twitter, follow @CarlisleSoccer to keep in touch with all the happenings in the Club!

if you’re a Twitter user, follow @CarlisleSoccer for news and announcements about soccer in Carlisle, Iowa!

Carlisle soccer players Lindsey Kamerick, Valerie Goodhue-Nolte, Ashton Goodhue-Nolte, Taylor Whipple, and Madison Polley (pictured at right with Women’s National Team veteran Julie Foudy) all had an opportunity of a lifetime when they attended the Julie Foudy Leadership Academy in Chicago this summer. What sets it apart from other soccer camps is its world-class staff, including founder and facilitator Julie Foudy (Former Captain of the USA Women’s Soccer Team, National Hall of Fame inductee 2007, Olympic Gold Medalist 1996, 2004, Olympic Silver Medalist 2000, Two=time World Cup Champion 1991 and 1999, 17-year veteran of National Team and star of the film documentaries "The World at Their Feet" and "Dare to Dream"). Other coaches included Lorrie Fair (World Cup Champion 1999, Olympic Silver Medalist, and three-time NCAA Champion at UNC), Jaime Pagliarulo (former Arizona State Asst. Coach, professional player for WUSA San Diego Spirit and US Women’s National Team member), Lindsay Tarpley (Two-time gold medalist US Women’s National Team star and player with the Chicago Red Stars) and several other national players from around the world including Brazil, Mexico and Afganastan.  

Another aspect of the camp that sets it apart from the rest is its emphasis on leadership, on and off the field. Every day the girls would do leadership activities and learn how they apply not only to soccer, but also too life. One whole day was commited to community leadership and the importance of giving back to the community. The campers worked with handicapped children, held a soccer camp for underprivileged children and gave a helping hand to the Ronald McDonald House.  

The Academy was an amazing experience for all the girls who not only learned soccer skills from the best players in the world but also how to be leaders in life. "Live. Lead. Pass It On!"

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.

If you’re in the market for a new home, you can help the Carlisle Soccer Club with a no-cost-to-you donation.

Deric Kidd, senor loan officer for Envision Lending Group, and Kathy Nelson, Realtor with RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts, will donate 25% of their broker and professional fees to the Carlisle Soccer Club when you utilize their services and tell them you want the donation to go to Carlisle. This offer is good when buying, selling or refinancing a home. Marquis Builder’s will contribute an additional $1,000 if someone builds or buys one of their existing homes through Deric or Kathy…so ,for example, on a $200,000 home, you are looking at a donation of approximately $3000 to Carlisle Soccer.

For more information, contact Deric at 515-440-2006 or Kathy at 515-689-5478.

The Carlisle Soccer Club actively supports coaches through club-level training and support of coach training at the state level. Learn more about coaching on our coaches page.

You can also see the upcoming training classes available through the Iowa Soccer Association by clicking here. The Club awards a special coaching shirt to coaches who complete a youth module and will reimburse coaches for up to half of the cost upon completion of a E or C certificate class. For more information, contact Paul Gruber, director of coaching.