Announcement

Hello all. I look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday at Rich's house, however I need to share something with you in advance.

Some of you were aware of a potential job move for me which has been on the cards for over a year and even before we got the team together last year, I spent 4 weeks in June in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates checking the place out. In the holidays right after Christmas, I went back with Karen and the girls so they could also see the place. It has been in the background for some time now and I had began to believe any move was not going to happen. However, the week before our season finished, my company started making noises and they made me an offer to move the week after. MUCH deliberation as a family has taken place and after that, I have accepted the position which is one of those deals that usually only comes along once. Therefore, probably around mid to late July, Karen, Natalie, Sophie and I are leaving the US and heading off to somewhere even hotter than South Louisiana in July !!

Needless to say this has been a VERY tough decision as we have sincerely LOVED our 8 years in Lafayette, a place we have truly called home, and we will leave with heavy hearts and GREAT memories, none more special to me personally than with my soccer teams. I have told some of you before that had we stayed in Scotland, Natalie and Sophie would probably never have got the chance to play soccer ( football as we call it !! ) and I will never forget the first time we went to Moore Field in the Fall season of 2001. We were gobsmacked when we saw like a million kids playing soccer, including LOTS of girls !! You must understand when I say that, we come from the country that invented the game and girls did not play it and the perception from Europe is that nobody plays "football" in the US, how wrong are they !! I could not wait to get my girls playing and Natalie got her first taste in the Spring of 2002 with the Grass Gators and from that point on we were hooked.

I have many great memories with my 3 teams but none better than this past season with GALAXY and our State Finals weekend. As Rich has already eluded to, we were pretty emotional before the Final game and I don't mind telling you we had tears in our eyes. It was very bitter sweet for me though as I had a feeling it was my last game. We came up short in the end but as I said on the day, our FINAL was the victory over Fury in the semi-final and the fact that Natalie scored the winner just made it all the more sweeter, that and looking at the opposing coach's face !! I will NEVER forget that day as long as I live.

These past 2 seasons have been very time consuming, stressful, infuriating at times but I wouldn't have missed it for a minute !! I have loved it all, spent great time with my kids and all your great girls and I wouldn't change a thing.

What now I hear you all ask ? Well, I can guarantee GALAXY WILL CONTINUE under the careful eye of Coach Rich. Rich and I have been a good balance and our styles have complimented each other, Rich of course being the calming influence and myself the "hot head that is out of control" as someone once said !!! Rich may not have played the sport but I can tell you he studies it and watches a lot of soccer, therefore I know he is totally capable of taking Galaxy forward. We have a couple of ideas on another coach to help and we will see how that turns out. I'm SOOOOOOOO disappointed that I will miss the Fall season when we go to 11 v 11 on the big fields as this is a new dimension and the REAL game of soccer. However, I have assured Rich that I will be Galaxy's "online" consultant in the desert and he has agreed to double my coaches salary from this current season !!

I wanted to get this out of the way now, rather than at our party and let this take over the mood, unless of course you are all doing cartwheels as you read this !!

Look forward to seeing you all on Saturday and please stay positive with your girls on the season ahead.

Yours very sincerely,

Derek.

Soccer Party get together

Hello everyone,

Sorry for just getting this out but I just wanted to send a reminder about the party. It will be at our house this Saturday, May 24th at 6p.m.

I believe Samoa has or will be contacting you about any assignments, etc. We hope everyone can come. Please contact Samoa with any questions and let her know if you will or will not be coming.

We will probably talk briefly about next season so that is why we want to know if you will or will not be there.

Remember to bring swimsuits and towels. We look forward to seeing you all there.

Thanks,

Rich

State cup memories

Most of you were probably focusing on the girls as they were being presented which is a good thing. Derek and I were standing at the bench like a couple of sappy coaches commenting on how amazing it must be for "our girls" to be out on the field. It was truly an emotional moment for us to see them out there. It will go down as one of my best memories.

Those medals look mighty nice hanging around everyone's neck! This is where we want to be next year except with the state cup raised high! Time to get to work!

This is the picture the girls wanted to throw their balls in the air. I guess they threw them really high!

Some where in the circle is Coach Derek. He took over Amberlys spot in the middle. I think they just wanted to rub his head for good luck.

State Cup photo

Here is the link to our team picture. We have also replaced the older picture on our blog with this one. If you are interested, you can download and print the picture from the link.

It seemed wierd not practicing this week!

Well Done GaLAxy

I have said it all but need to say again how proud I am of the girls taking us to the State Final at the first attempt. It is a remarkable achievment and one I never thought possible, even though I'm always very optimisitic as I know what the girls are capable of. Yes, it was disappointing to lose the final in a manner that has not existed this season, but as I said today, yesterday's semi-final seemed like the final to Rich and I and today was pure lagniappe.

Please let your girls know that I'm proud of every one of them. I may not always sound like that with some of my "rants" on the field !! but I certainly don't mean to offend any of them, I just want them all to show what they are capable of, all the time. They are a good group of girls with different personalities which compliment each other but stress the coaches out now and again !!

We will be in touch soon and let you know plans for our end of season get together.

Once again, good job to the GaLAxy girls.

Coach Derek.