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!"

If every Carlisle Soccer Club parent (coaches, refs, fans included) read and followed these 10 tips, we’d have the best soccer club in the state, no doubt. It comes to us from US Youth Soccer Positive Parenting Program)

Top Ten Things Coaches Wish Parents Would Do
By Mike Baptiste

1. Try to get the players to practice on time, fully equipped, and ready to go. While we understand some kids have back to back activities and account for that, there’s no reason for a player without a previous activity to arrive at the field the minute practice starts. Players should arrive 5-10 minutes early, ready to play, with cleats/shin guards on, with a properly inflated ball and a water bottle.

2. Let us know in advance if your child won’t be able to make practice or a match. Based on the number of players who can’t make a given event, it can affect how we plan to run things. You don’t need to ask permission - just let us know a couple days in advance if you can.

3. Pay attention at practices. If you have a child that can be a challenge - stick around at practice at least once a week and watch. If your child starts to become a distraction to the team during practice, ask the coach if they want you to step in and take care of it. Some may, some may not. But don’t just drop your child off and run away, knowing they may be disruptive. It’s not fair to the
rest of the team. And don’t ignore the obvious because it’s your child. We coaches want EVERY child to have a chance to play and enjoy the game, but disruptive children sometimes become too much for a coach to handle and a parent really needs to step in and handle things.

4. Refrain from coaching from the sidelines. I say this as someone who is as guilty as any. Being a coach AND a parent, it can often be impossible to keep my mouth shut. But coaches want the players to focus on the game and any instruction they may shout out from the team touchline. So stick to cheering and encouragement. If you find the urge to coach overbearing - ask the coach if
they need an assistant!

5. Put your folding chairs at LEAST 4 yards away from the touchline. Many fields do not include ‘parent boundary lines’, so often parents are so close to the touchline that players can’t even take a step to throw the ball in. Plus it’s a danger to players trying to make sliding saves or who collide/trip/lose control near the parents.

6. Respect our decisions as coaches and if you have a problem, approach us about it. Don’t bottle it up inside, let it stew, and share it among the rest of the parents. We’re not perfect, but perhaps given some additional explanation you might understand what we did. If not, at least you know why we did what we did.It also helps us to identify possible "blind spots" that we are not
aware of. So communicating with us is a win/win situation.

7. Try to have your paperwork, fees, and any other administrative stuff taken care of well in advance. Even teams with adept team managers can be affected by parents dragging their feet with paperwork, confirming availability, and fees. If you’re having financial trouble and need help, please ask for help! Yes, it can be awkward, but we have financial aid programs in place. We coaches just want the kids to play, have fun, and learn.

8. Don’t scream at your kids on or off the field if they make mistakes. That’s how they learn. Too many players are afraid of making mistakes at a young age on the field. A lot of this is because they don’t want to hear their parents screaming at them from the sideline. Making mistakes are an integral part of the learning process.

9. Volunteer to help your team or the club. ALL of you. We are always in need of more help. Often a small group of individuals donate tons of time ensuring the teams and club operates smoothly. So when they ask for help doing concessions, tournament help, paperwork, uniforms, field maintenance, etc., offer to help. Too many clubs rely on a core group of committed but overworked volunteers to run things because parents aren’t willing to donate an hour or two during the season. They aren’t asking you to commit to multiple hours every week for the entire season (though they’d love it if you could!). Many hands make for light work.

10. Have fun. Youth soccer should be fun for kids AND adults alike. By keeping a level head and a positive attitude, you can have about as much fun as your child does. So keep things in perspective and have fun!

A recent article from the US Soccer Federation’s website tackles an issue of utmost importance to our Club as a whole, and our coaches and parents, specifically: the desire to win. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win, but what does winning measure? Is beating a weaker opponent better than playing the best game ever and losing against a tougher opponent?

The approach our Club is taking is one of development. Are we teaching soccer and measuring if our are players learning?  If you ask yourself this question, even after a devasting loss, you’ll almost always find the answer to be "yes."

Some players will learn, or appear to learn, more quickly than others because of early maturity, advanced motor skills, quickness and coordination. Note, however, these advantages quickly disappear as kids age.  As coaches and as a Club, we can’t control that. What we CAN have control over is teaching skills specific to soccer, getting parents involved in playing soccer with their kids like they do with other sports, and adopting approaches that facilitate learning soccer, both for our kids and our adults (coaches and parents). If we don’t, we’ll soon see - as we have already - players from our Club dominate early on but quickly becom less skilled than players that choose to learn.

If we adopt coaching philosophies with an emphasis on developing players, not just winning, we’ll develop a competitive program for our soccer club.

Our club has adopted concepts that I think will set us apart from the typical rec soccer program in Iowa. By segmenting teams by single age years and by gender at all ages, for example, we are forming core teams that will play together from the beginning of their careers all the way through high school. It’s an advantage that top clubs promote and have had success with.

Another change we will be adopting come this spring is the academy approach in teaching soccer. Again, it is nothing new, but the way we will implement this will be unique. Paul Gruber, the Club’s director of coaching,  will share more about this in the months ahead as we start to form teams with registration soon opening for spring soccer.

By popular demand, Paul will hold another U6/U8 coach/parent training session prior to the spring season as well.

Stay tuned to this website to learn about other steps the Carlisle Soccer Club is taking to deliver a select-type experience at a recreational price. We’re serious about making soccer fun again!

September 6th and 7th marked the opening weekend of soccer in Carlisle and delivered cool temperatures, plenty of sun and a lot of action.

“How can you NOT have a great weekend of soccer with nearly 200 players, their families and friends on the pitch,” said Mark True, Carlisle Soccer Club president. “While most of the other clubs suffered lower registration and a lot of flood damage, we grew a little over last fall and had to put our fields a little closer together than we’d like.

“We’re playing soccer again and having fun which is all that matters,” he added.

More than 50 gloved volunteers hit the Carlisle Soccer Complex on Saturday, September 6th to pull prickly sand burrs that popped up during the two weeks of hot, dry weather in August. More than 40 pounds of the plants were pulled with volunteers still working on getting the others. In the spring, the Club hopes to move onto the new section of the complex which has no sand burrs. It also plans to treat the field with herbicide to prevent the weed that thrives in hot, dry, sandy soil.

Game highlights:

Under 10 Division

It was a day of uncertainty for the U10 Tiger Hawks, an untested group who had never played a game together before this season. Could they come together as a team and be successful on their first game out? At the onset it seemed as though the Tiger Hawks were on the defensive. The Soccer West team kept the ball on the Carlisle half of the field and several shots on goal were taken before they put the first goal of the game into the back of the net.

The Tiger Hawks held it together though and finally began to step up. They stayed in their positions to conserve their energy but kept substituting a fresh midfielder to hustle the entire field to create scoring opportunities. Persistence paid off as Carlisle soon found an opening and scored to tie the game.
Minutes later, they scored again to go ahead, only to have Soccer West tie it up again.

On it went throughout the match, the Tiger Hawks scoring only to have Soccer West even it up. It was all tied up with five minutes left and the game could go either way. Carlisle had too much bench though, as they scored the winning goal on a breakaway by their fresh legged midfielder late in the game and took away a 5-4 opening day win.

The U10 girls Pink Panthers started their season on the road Saturday against Soccer West. This marks the team’s debut in the U10 division, and with it a new level of competition. The girls settled into play, and were able to maintain good team shape, allowing for many great passing and scoring opportunities.

Among the highlights was a successful lofted shot by Amber Kettering scoring above the goalie and into the top of the net, and two shots by Ceora LeClaire that easily found the far post. Goalies Natalie McCormick and Leonora James stepped into this new position on the team, both making great saves. Even though the game ended in a 6-6 tie the panthers out-performed their opponent overall. As the season progresses Coaches LeClaire and Reece predict great things from the team.

Under 12 Division

The U12 Roadrunners started their season-opening game at Johnston, passing the ball well and maintaining possession. Johnston scored the first goal, battling the ball away from goalie Jose Fuentes. They scored the second on a quick transition penetrating our defense to get a one-on-one with the goalie. Jose made six very nice saves to keep the Roadrunners in the game. Mason Mumm scored the first goal for the Roadrunners, hitting the far post from an assist by Andrew Pech. Halftime score: 1-2

In the second half the Carlisle started out strong pushing the ball up field, creating several scoring opportunities with quick transitions. Cody Woodruff (pictured) would use his speed to get by the Johnston defender and place the ball easily away from the goalie and into the back of the net. The assist would go to Grant Kelly. Johnston would answer back, however, taking thirteen shots on goalkeeper Luke Cooper. He would end up making eleven saves and only two made it by him. It was a very exiting start to the season. Final score: 2-4.

Under 14 Division

It was the re-match of the year in the U14 division. Northwest, the U12 girls division champs versus Carlisle’s u14 Krazy Kickers, the team that spoiled their perfect season last spring with a draw. This season, with the move up a division, the Kickers need to overcome challenges on several fronts. First: learning a new style of the game. Second: an ability to play an entire match with only one sub on the bench, compounded by the fact that the game would be longer in duration.

In the first half, Northwest scored at the 22nd minute of play after being shut down by goal keeper Taryn Smith and fullbacks Katie Clark, Hannah Jutting, Mik McCaughey and Katie Brown. The Kickers answered by putting on a full frontal assault on the Northwest goal. The result were three earned corner kicks and a drive from striker JoJo Haack into the penalty box only to be tripped on the play. In what appeared would be a penalty kick for the Kickers, the play was allowed to continue and the ball was picked up by the Northwest keeper at the collective sigh of their coaches.

In the second half, the Kickers moved defenders up to forwards and vice versa in a measure to keep the positions fresh. A move never tired by the Kickers before, they adapted and played an incredible game and at times looked more threatening than they did at first partly because of the new style of play up top and impenetrable defenses from our backs. Marissa Kephart suited up as the team’s keeper and collected any shots that managed to break through. Big Mak Curiel, Haley Gruber, and Grace Smith all received serious injuries during the match but all trudged onward to play, refusing to be substituted out.

The Kickers were on the verge of getting their tying goal. However, a move made by coach Paul Gruber to get Madison Polley and Taylor Piper back in on offense cost them their opportunity. "I was getting a little too impatient and thought the change would get the girls their goal, but Northwest scored in the middle of that transition with six minutes to play,” said Gruber after the match. “I should have allowed the girls to continue play as is." Northwest would score two more goals after knocking the wind out of Carlisle’s sails, winning the match 4-0.

Under 8 Division

The U8 Killer Cougars hit the pitch for the first time as an all-boys team. With the emphasis on maintaining their shape, the Cougars managed to move the ball with ease from the back line to the front forward throughout the game. Each Cougar, Jonathan Kamerick, Wyatt Kruse, Logan Niehaus, Samuel Overton, Carson True and Jack Wilson, managed to score at least one goal in their season opener.

The U8 Crazy Cats started their first game of the season a little slowly but soon came to life and played a great first game. Madison Darrah made several good moves and assists. Brilynn Jackson worked very hard to get the ball and stopped several shots on goal. Sara Langenfeld worked very well, scoring two goals and played great defense. An aggressive Josie Nordhagen made many good blocks and scored three goals. Baylee VanPtten showed nice ball control by cutting around the opposition to score two goals and assist on others. Keaton Walker demonstrated nice ball work by cutting around defenders scoring two goals. In all the Crazy Cats played very well for their first game as a team.

Under 7 Division

The U7 girls Cougars soccer team opened their season of play against the Thundercats, coached by Jen Rowray. The girls were ready to roll and started the game scoring the first goal of the match. The play was executed very well and was the result of nice runs made by Kennedy Preston and Jaycee Black. However, the girls would have to hone in on their defensive skills as the T-cats came back after learning their formation and held onto an offensive array that netted them no less than a half a dozen goals by the half. The Cougars held in there and started regaining their shape by the second half of the match and were able to put in a couple more goals of their own. Defensively, Sarah Mumm and Ashlynn Williams nailed the position down resisting the temptation to get caught up field too much. Midfielders Maren Judisch and Audrey Gruber did well to move the ball from one side of the field to the other getting the T-cats to run after the ball some. It was an impressive showing by the girls against a well-coached and classy team.

Congratulations to Carlisle Soccer Club coaches Tim LeClaire and Chad Cooper for successfully completing their D Licensing course and earning their State designation. This is huge for any soccer club so you can imagine what it is like for a club our size, that only plays recreation soccer. 

Congratulations also are due to four other coaches that successfully earned their E License this season. Wayne Dille, Jeff Lierow, Kyle Brown and Walter Walker completed completed the intense two-and-half-day course. 

As a Club, we’re fortunate to have so many licensed coaches. In fact, out of our 25 current coaches, half have an E License or higher designation. We know of no other club with this type of dedication from its volunteer staff.

Next time you see your coach, thank him or her for volunteering their time and energy coach our kids!

The Carlisle Soccer Club recently received a $500 grant for the purchase of new u12 goals from the Greater Carlisle Community Foundation.

On hand to receive the check a few weeks ago were: (front row, left to right) Haley Gruber; Makayla Curiel; Madison Polley; JoJo Haack; (second row) Audrey Gruber; Rachel Studer; Alanys Burgess; (third row) Cindy Rockwell, Foundation president; Mark True, Club president; Paul Gruber, Club vice-president; Marci Haack, Club development director; Denny Studer, Club treasurer; and Melinda Huisinga, chair of the Foundation’s Grantmaking Committee.

The Greater Carlisle Community Foundation was founded in 2005 for the purpose of providing philanthropic support for community betterment projects in the greater Carlisle area, including the communities of Palmyra, Easter Lake, Avon, Carlisle and Hartford. The foundation’s areas of interest emphasize arts and culture, humanties, enviornment, animals, health, education, human services, public and society benefit.

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. 

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.

Carlisle Soccer Club, Inc. has received a $5,000 grant from the Warren County Philanthropic Partnership. Grant funds will be combined with capital funds to purchase a new commercial lawn mower for the Carlisle Soccer Complex.

"We were excited to find out that our club received this grant," says Mark True, club president. "We’ve applied for a number of different grants and this is the first one that we won. We have big plans, so we hope this is the first of many."

The club has been relying on volunteers and their own equipment to mow the 12-acre complex before the board of directors agreed to buy a used mower last fall . The mower didn’t arrive before the end of the season and the vendor, Barker Implement in Indianola, agreed to work with the club on the purchase of a newer, larger mower that will allow volunteers to get the job done more quickly, if additional funds became available.

"This grant allows us to use the money we had to buy a mower that will get the job done more quickly, and we can move on to some of the other needs we have as a growing club," says True. "Our next step is to install some supply lines from the well pump to make irrigation easier for the volunteers."

After installing the supply lines, the club hopes to receive some donated goals and then start working on the next big goal: $150,000 to install an in-ground sprinkler system, new pump motor and electrical service.

"This first grant was a small step," says True. "The rest of them are real big!"