Tuesday, June 28, 2011

More Photos From the Final Day

Pretty good turnout to watch U19 Boys Final between Eastside FC (Oregon) and Sereno (AZ)


A great contest between two great teams.  Defending National Champs Eastside FC (Oregon) v. Sereno (AZ)  Sereno claimed the regional crown this year.  Now they face the test of whether they can win the national title--at home.  US Youth Soccer Nationals will be played in Phoenix next month. 










The dance of competition!

Mustang parents (CA-N) admiring their championship team.

Coach outlines the training schedule as they prepare for Nationals. 


FC Nova Fans

FC Nova U19 G drew a Far West Regionals record crowd for their final game against Real Colorado.  Nova lost a heartbreaker for the hometown fans having a 3-2 lead until the last five minutes.  Real won 5-3.  

Photos From the Week


The finals are in the books, but here are photos of volunteers, spectators and some field action (hard to do with a tiny backpacking camera, but we try!)   Check it out.
A good audience turned out to watch FC Nova's U12 Girls in their first-ever  Far West Regionals appearance.  It's nice to be the home town team.    
This one's admittedly fuzzy, but we liked the air, the hair and the shades and just HAD to post it.  Soccer players are fun to watch and have a certain flair.
Other teams, local fans and other Rush teams came to watch the U17 Idaho Rush boys.  
Colorado Rush Girls provided noise for their Idaho Rush Brothers. 


MVLA Foothill U15G in blue. 

Wave of The Future?

The most eye-catching uniforms of the week clearly belonged to SoCal Blues (top three photos) and FC Nova (in the pink.)  Neon colors the cameras can't quite duplicate brightened the pitch.  The pink, by the way, is worn by the Nova players to raise awareness of efforts to fight breast cancer.  Nova coaches report that some of the boys teams want to wear the pink.  And the girls say that would be one way to impress them!  

Yes, You Read That Correctly

Visitors to the Simplot Sports Complex chuckled at a sign the locals have learned to take for granted.
Then again, those of us who've lived around Idaho long enough, can remember when the area around the sports complex was a lot of scrub sage and horses & llamas weren't altogether that out-of-the question.  We love some of the local quirks still in existence.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Video Action

Don't forget that US Youth Soccer has video highlights of each day on its website.  Don't forget to thank the videographer who shoots and edits this every day.   You can search out all Region IV videos or even catch a look at the upcoming competitors from other regions.

Blogger in Denial

We have a whole slew of new photos to put up for you, but Blogger, for some weird reason, is refusing to put them into the blog.  Working on it.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

So-Cal Suburban Kickers to Idaho Mountain Men

Wandering around Ann Morrison park brought us to a practice by the Irvine Soccer Academy U18 Boys team.  In order to cut costs, this team is camping near Idaho City.  That's in the mountains about 20-30 miles east of Boise at an altitude of 3907 feet.  There may be some methodology that makes sense here.  Serious mountain climbers have a saying for adjusting to altitude:  "Climb high.  Sleep low."  That means climbers go about a thousand feet above their camp and then hike back down to where they will sleep each night.  This, apparently, helps climbers adjust to extreme altitude.  Boise is by no means at an extreme altitude (2730 feet), but coaches from sea-level cities are wondering whether altitude will be a factor for their players.  It's a cost-saving measure, but it can't hurt these hardy SoCal players have to rough it in the mountains, braving rain, cold and altitude.  No question these guys are tough.  Welcome, Irvine Soccer Academy U18Boys.


UPDATE:  The Boise Family YMCA has graciously stepped up to provide showers for the Irvine Soccer Academy players.  

Last-Minutes Tweaks

We caught a few teams working out at Ann Morrison Park yesterday getting Regionals Ready.  Here are a few photos of the del Sol U18 Girls from Phoenix, Arizona.  Welcome, del Sol!