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!

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!

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.