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Coaches Corner
Meghan Johnson
# Years Coaching Shadow:
2nd year
Hometown:
Richland, WA
College attended:
Whitworth University, 2002-2006
Playing Experience/Recognition/Awards:
Richland High School, Varsity 1998-2001
Whitworth College, 2002-2006
Team Captain
Honorable Mention 2002
Youth Coaching Experience:
U15 Sabers Assistant Coach
U13 Shadow Assistant Coach
U14 Sky Head Coach
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On and Off the Pitch
 Instructed by owner Amber Butler (Alexis, GU15 Navy) and her staff, the Shadow GU15 Navy team enrolled in a summer-long class at Precision Pilates in downtown Spokane. They bonded as a team while increasing their strength and flexibility! Arriving early for the Chelsea FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC game in Seattle on July 18th, Henry Smaldon (BU12 Navy) got a quick photo with Chelsea FC's John Terry - the most successful captain in Chelsea history, skipper of
his country and in many eyes, the best central defender currently
in action.
Shadow wants to hear about player accomplishments!
Send information to:
shadownews@comcast.net
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What Makes Shadow Unique?
One of the benefits of being a Shadow member is that our
players can be exposed to a variety of high quality coaches. We want to expose our coaches to a variety of coaching information so we in turn
can take that back to our players. We also want our players to be seen by
quality coaches. In July, we accomplished all of the above things when the
newly hired Gonzaga University women's soccer coaching staff put on a
clinic for our coaches at GU15 and 14 players. Amy Edwards and her staff did an
outstanding job and we very much appreciate them coming out to our club and to
give of their time!
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August Shadow Club Dues Payments Due
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SYSA Work Day Volunteers Needed
Work Day at South Complex to get ready for the Fall Season!
Thursday, August 20
3:00 - 7:00 PM
Jobs Include:
Paint Fields
Hang Nets
Paint Concession Stands
Clean up around Complex
Be sure to wear your work clothes
Bring rakes, brooms, weed eaters
Pizza and Pop will be provided by SYSA
Please stop by even if you can only be there part of the time.
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Go Catch a Game!
One part of the soccer education process
is to observe other players playing. In our Spokane area, we have an
opportunity to see some very high quality collegiate soccer and Shadow highly
recommends catching a game whenever you can. There is always something to be
learned! As well, you will find former Shadow players and current Shadow coaches leading the charge at almost every
university in our area. So go support your local university and former
club members while at the same time learning something more about the game!
Men's Teams:
Whitworth University
Gonzaga University
Women's Teams:
Whitworth University
Gonzaga University
Eastern Washington University
Washington State University
University of Idaho |
North-Bound Detour to Rypien Field
The Freya Street Bridge, second bridge from SCC going south, will be closed starting August 1st for 200 working days - complete spring/summer 2010. Traffic from SCC to Sprague Avenue, I-90 and the South Hill will be detoured. The official detour route will be east on Trent (or Mission) to Fancher, south on Fancher to Broadway, and west on Broadway to Freya. A closer route on the east is Havana Street, but this is sometimes blocked by trains. The closest route to the west is Napa Street.
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Sean's Shadow Spiel
As I sit poised to begin another college season at Whitworth (where does the time go?!), it is a great time to reflect back on the club season that has just passed as we begin that long march to State Cup. For the second consecutive year we finished ranked 10th in Washington state, which is a solid statement. The Player Development League (PDL) ranks all the clubs in the state (whether in the PDL or not) to determine where each club ranks (based primarily on State Cup results). We again landed higher than any club in Eastern Washington! That is a credit to our club, our players, our coaches, and our parents, so congratulations!
The summer comes to a close here shortly-unfortunately! Different age groups had different objectives in our club over the course of the summer-some might be to get exposed to the greater state area teams, some to see teams outside of our state, some to be put in front of college coaches eyes, our youngest would just be to start to get the concept of soccer down-but for the most part, all of our teams we want to see challenged and we want to see them rewarded. Development is our most important objective no matter the age group. As I reflect back, I think we have met that objective. If our winning percentage is somewhere around the .500 mark, then we have done a decent job of balancing competition. If we are a bit below that, then we were at least challenged, and challenges provide opportunities to get better. For the overwhelming majority of teams, we were above that mark, which means we are doing a solid job of attracting and developing quality players and coaches. We just finished a couple of local tournaments where many of our teams competed. In my opinion, we did a good job of representing our abilities and our quality.
On the boys side in the tournament that just finished, we entered our U11 through our U17 teams. What I liked most was that our U14, 15, 16 and 17 teams all won the tournament, signifying that we are doing some things right as a club as we focus on long term development. Our girls are really unquestionably, as a group, the strongest club locally and state region wide. I do not write this to boast, as certainly there are teams that are better than ours and there are players not in our club that are deserving of soccer attention, but I do write it to remind us all that in the grand scheme many things are going quite well within our club. We are far from perfect because, well, we have humans involved! We, as coaches, understand that we still have soccer work to do and we can still be better as club-technically, tactically, administratively, and the like. However, I do not want to let those flaws deter us from the overall picture of what our players are accomplishing as it is just neat to see.
I watched our boys and girls U12 Navy teams play in the semifinal and final games; as a Director, I could not have been more proud (as parents of these children, the same should be true). The quality of soccer played was simply outstanding. I do not think our club has seen better at that age. Now both of our teams lost but there were periods of times when there simply was no question that the soccer passing and work being put out were something that absolutely must put a smile on your face! And while we are smiling, on another field I witnessed over the course of the weekend, the best male player to come through a Spokane club in my 13 plus years of living in Spokane-and he is in our club! What a site to see: skill, athleticism, composure, desire, and humility. I love it! What I love even more though is witnessing our 8, 9 and 10 year old Shadow players playing soccer, soaking it in, smiling from ear-to-ear and just having fun playing soccer with their new-found teammates. Truly, this is what it is about!
Continuing to speak of smiles, I ran into a parent of former college player of mine this weekend. He no longer has a child playing soccer at any level. He reflected back on his son's youth playing career, remembering how each of these tournament weekends seemed almost "critical," meaning that every kick of the ball, every referee call, every game seemed so important to win or do well, and the emotion of being on the sideline was so high and so tense that you thought it was the most import thing on the agenda. Now that he has been detached from the game for awhile, his son is married and successfully marking out his career, he can just kind of sit back and chuckle as he looks at all these parents seemingly pulling their hair out while their child plays a game! So, my words to our parents are to try and sit back and enjoy it as this will all be over sooner than you think. Remember, these games are just a journey your child is on as he/she grows. These memories in turn will help develop their future children's experience--and as grandparents, wouldn't you want your grandchild to be able to just enjoy playing a game, to be able to play with a smile on their face, to not be yelled at by "adults," but to hear the words of affirmation that they are valuable and precious in your eyes no matter the result or performance on the day? Boy, that is my hope!
As a club, we continue to try our very best to make it an environment that you can enjoy; please understand that just like any family, especially a big family, there can be flaws and times of trial and angst. Together we can work through them and become better and closer because of them if we all want to, and I hope we do. The league seasons will be starting soon and schedules will be posted just as soon as we have them. As we prepare for them on the field, prepare also to take it all in-they are only young once!
In the Spirit of Soccer,
Sean
Sean Bushéy
Technical Director
Spokane Shadow Youth Soccer Club
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Fall League Schedules Coming Soon!
District 6
(www.wsysad6.org):
U11 Shadow Select Teams
North Idaho League
(www.idahoyouthsoccer.org):
U10 Pilot Program Teams
U11 Sky Premier Teams
GU12 Sky Premier Team
Player Development League (www.playerdevelopmentleague.org):
U12 Navy - U16 Navy and Sky Premier Teams
WA State Premier League
(www.wsysa.com)
U17 and U18 Premier Teams
Brackets and schedules are being finalized now and will be announced to your coaches and team managers who will forward team-specific information to their players. Shadow will forward the information through club-wide email and website postings as soon as it is made available to the Club.
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Shadow Board of Director Elections and Annual General Meeting
August 18, 2009 To all Club members, Welcome aboard the Shadow family for the 2009/2010 season! The Board of Directors (BOD) of the Spokane Shadow Youth Soccer Club is currently seeking nominations for the annual election of new board members. There are a total of three BOD positions up for election this year: two 'member' (parents or guardians of Shadow players) and one 'non-member' position. Nominations are now being accepted in writing to shadowsoccer@spokaneshadow.org. Nominations must include a brief bio (please limit to 150 words) and statement from the nominee of why they seek to serve the Club as a BOD member. The Board will then obtain written confirmation from the nominee of his or her acceptance of such nomination. The submitted bios/statements will be compiled and sent to the membership for their information prior to the elections. The deadline for nominations is 8.25.09. The election is based upon one (1) ballot per member (i.e. a U11 through U18 player currently rostered on a premier Shadow team and in good standing with the Club). Either parent or guardian may be the person to cast the ballot for each member or you can list multiple parent/guardian names together. However, only the first ballot received referencing a player's name will be accepted. On September 25, a ballot and nominee bios/statements will be e-mailed to all members for their review. Directions for casting ballots will accompany such e-mail. The voting process has been improved to make it quick and easy to cast a ballot. It is imperative that all members cast a ballot so that a proper quorum can be achieved to validate the election process as well as everyone having a voice. Thanks for being an important part of the democratic structure of Shadow! Mike Keenan President, Board of Directors Spokane Shadow Youth Soccer Club
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New and Revised Shadow Club Policies
At the August Board meeting, the Shadow Board of Directors approved new and revised policies for the club, including: Playing Time PolicyPlayer Injury PolicyLightning Safety PolicyNo Pay, No Play PolicyRefund PolicyTournament PolicyGuest Player PolicyPlayer Sponsorship Program PolicyFundraising PolicyE-mail and Texting PolicyWebsite Privacy and Security PolicyLogo Use RestrictionsThese policies are in place to clarify issues and help further the Club's consistency and professionalism. Please take a moment to download and review these policies at: (http://www.spokaneshadow.org/expectations/index_E.html)
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Get in on the newest fashion fad in soccer
Designer Shin Guard Sleeves
Maybe
you've already noticed them - the hot new trend in soccer accessories -
handmade designer shin guard sleeves. For just a few dollars you can
add a little pizzazz to your soccer gear with handcrafted leggings
available in a variety of fun colors, patterns, and sizes. Express
your personal style with something unique or show your unity by
coordinating with teammates, choose a different pattern for each day of
the week. Best of all - every purchase supports your GU17 Shadow youth
soccer team. Team discounts available!! This is for you too, guys. We
can make them in any number of colors. Be the trend setter on your team.
Don't miss out on this must have item!
Email: bdjlbaker@msn.com or call 509-599-3919 (Dina) to get your order form!
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