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Yankee Newsletter October 2010

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    VOL 2 ISSUE 1 ! OCTOBER 15, 2010

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    Yankee United NewsFall is Hurricane Season Yankee U -14s Prepared for the Challenges that Lie Ahea

    When summers truly over and cold fronts mix with warm fronts we sometimes are faced with theoverpowering fury of gail force winds and rain, thekind of weather that gets everyones attention andrespect: Mother Nature sending a not so gentlereminder that shes in charge.

    Then there is the kind of Hurricane that is woman -made:dressed in red and blue, andlaunching spherical projectiles withthe kind of force and fury that would make a any mother( including that greatest Mother of all ) pleased and proud -- maybeeven a bit awestruck at times. This is the world of the YankeeU14 Hurricanes and the soccermeteorologists in the CTPremier League had betterstart tracking them closely.

    Coached by SteveWaizenegger and DanUhrlass, two veterancoaches who know there way around the pitch.Waizenegger playedcollegiate soccer, going onto play at the professional level.Uhrlass has demonstrated his mastery of the game

    as head coach of the Trumbull Girls Varsity team. Inhis rst ve years at the helm, the Eagles racked upthree state championships with a spectacular 40 -7-5record over a three - year span including 37 shutouts.Waizenegger is the Head Coach of the St. Joseph HSBoys Varsity team. On the boys side, SJHS is moreknown for the other kind of football and does notattract the same talent as other area programs, yetsince taking over the reins in 2008 Waizenegger has

    guided his teams to two straight State Tournamentappearances and has already earned a third trip to theshow in the current season.

    The common thread between these two coachesis their passion for the sport the way it is meant to beplayed: where technical skill and tactical knowledge

    mix with equal parts of athleticism andpassion to produce a phenomenon. A team thatbrings this style of play to the

    eld each Sunday wins a lot of games consistently andconvincingly.

    For U14s Premier teams the Fallseason can be a bit unsettled,

    like the weather, with a portionof the team headed o ff to high

    school and relying on the 8th graders to hold down the fort tillthey return. For the Hurricanes,

    those left behind are doing just ne,thank you. After a tough opening 1 -0

    loss to CFC Arsenal, the Hurrcanesrecorded a 2 -0 win over CFC Wildcats

    and a 3-0 win over Northeast United. The girls have played consistent, hard -nosed soccer and continue to improve

    their positioning and tactical play.Like the older Yankee teams that came

    before them, the Hurricanes will not compete in a Fall tournament because the competition is so dilutedby temporary loss of players to high school. ObservesCoach Waizenegger: You dont improve by playing weak competition and that is all we would see onColumbus Day if we played. Instead we are going tocompete in three high quality tournaments in theSpring. This also will help us better prepare for StateCup competition.

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    We are very pleased with the progress these girls have made, says Coach Dan Uhrlass, They are quickly climbing the learning curve, and wecontinue to see improvement in their movementoff the ball and maintaining theirshape. Like most young Premier teams there ismore to to do but weare very encouraged.

    The end goal andalways will be to preparethese girls for what liesahead, says CoachWaizenegger, whosedaughter Alexandra is oneof those Hurricane playersmoonlighting as a high

    school Freshman. She alsohappens to be a starter atdefensive midelder for a SJHSVarsity Girls soccer team that is5-1-1 on the season and looking to make some waves in theFCIAC postseason. As CoachWaiz puts it: We try to preparethese girls for high school soccer. We give them thetraining to be able to t in and have an immediate

    impact on their high school teams. If they do the work in and outside of practice and commit to

    improving their skills,mastering the tactical aspectsof the game these girls will besought out for a Varsity roster spot and maybe even a starting role. We give these girlsbig responsibilities and

    rely on them to performand to help each othersucceed. These arentjust soccer skills, they are life skills.In the Spring, theHurricanes have big plans: not only to

    compete in theSpring PremierLeague, Open Cupand Top Region 1

    Tournaments but alsoSubRegion 1, along with their

    older sisters on the Strikers, Blaze and Stars. Time will tell whether all this hard work will pay o ff and transform the Hurrucanes into a force of nature. Lets hope so!

    Members of the Yankee U -14 Hurricanes with coaches Steve Waizenegger ( left ) and Dan Uhrlass( right )

    Additional pictures of the Hurricanes can be found on pages 5- 7

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    Yankee United is pleased to recognize playerson the U15 Strikers and U14 Hurricanes that areentering their freshman year and stepping up to play for their high school varsity teams.

    Playing high school soccer at 14 or 15 years oldis a markedly diff erent experience from theConnecticut Premier League style of play: inaddition to changes in coaching philosophies, style

    of play, the mixing of premier talent with multi -sport athletes, there is the inevitable physicalchallenge of facing players that are much older ( andfrequently much bigger ) than you. Then there arethe 5-7 days a week of practice and 2 -3 games a weekfor the months of September and October -- all with the hope of continuing play deep intoNovember. If it sounds overwhelming, it certainly can be!

    Makin a Difference (Alread )

    Audrey Dannenbaum, Weston HS Allie Furlo, Wilton HS Marissa Piccolo, Trumbull HS

    Keely Lockwood, Carly Cugine, Eliza Paltauf, and Aimee Manderlink, Ridgeeld HS

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    Molly Meehan, Sabrina Toole, Cori Scales, Katie Danaher, Mary Morrisey Clare Duffy from the U -15 Strikersand Alex Waizenegger from U -14 Hurricanes, St Joseph HS ( also in the picture, Alysa Christo, U -17 Stars )

    And yet for all of that, some freshmen nd a way to step up and make a di ff erence for their HighSchool varsity teams. A few examples help illustratethe point:

    On a Ridgeeld team that is ( 9-1-1 ) andheaded to the FCIAC post season, Keely Lockwood was the diff erence in breaking a scoreless tie with

    Brien McMahon HS. Her goal in the 73rd minute gave the Tigers a well -deserved but otherwiseelusive win over a very disciplined and underratedMcMahon side.

    In another scoreless tie, this one between St Joseph ( 8-2-2 ) and Wilton, right defender Alex Waizenneger chipped a loose ball from 25 yards outover the outstretched ngers of Wilton keeperKasey OBrien for the games only goal. Based onthe severe wind and tough defensive play on bothsides, this would otherwise have been a 0 -0 tie.

    Cadets keeper Molly Meehan has recorded 5shutouts and allowed just 7 goals in 12 high schoolmatches. Among the many saves have been somestops for which brilliant is the only tting adjective.

    Not one to throw around compliments lightly,SJHS Coach Jack Nogueira had this to say after anupset win over Darien: "Those ve freshmen play for top premier clubs, so they are used to big games.Obviously they aren't as physical as some teams, but

    they know how to play the game. We threw theminto the re this season to see what would happen,and obviously I'm pleased with their e ff ort."

    Ridgeeld Coach Rob Banyai had similarpraise for his girls after a recent 6 -0 win overStamford, noting: They wouldnt be here if they couldnt play. The freshmen are good. Theyre

    obviously our future and they did a good job. I like what Im seeing out of them.While its great to have a game winner, coaches

    love to see goals from freshmen anytime. So a few more kudos are in order:

    Midelder Sabrina Toole is approaching double digits in goals and assists for the Cadets.

    Weston forward Audrey Dannenbaum hastwo goals on the season.

    Wilton midelder Allie Furlo has 2 goals and2 assists thus far.

    SJHS defender Cori Scales scored her rst goal on a set -piece play against Norwalk.Ridgeeld midelder Carly Cugine netted

    her rst goal in 6 -0 win over Stamford. As post -season approaches and goals become

    scarce, great defense will often make the di ff erencein the outcome. So one more lesson for the frosh: when your opponent has the ball everyone is a defender. Good luck to all of you!

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