Garrett Talks About Next Season

In this article from the O:

http://www.oregonlive.com/pilots/index.ssf/2008/12/post.html

One little tidbit of info... we open next season at home against Cal.

Cal will be a good game to open. We will get their Pac 10 strength of schedule and there is no reason we can't win that one. ( I can't believe I am thinking about the RPI again).

Midfielder Kendall Johnson of Lincoln High School was voted The Oregonian Class 6A player of the year in 2007.

from seeing her play already, i hope she gets some playing time in the Cal match...

On August 28. Save the date.

ohhh_yeah, I'm assuming that your avatar is another photo of Bill Irwin. I'm impressed. He's got some leap in those legs!

you would be correct Poopdeck Pappy...

Sounds like Garrett is in the same place that many of us are: if they stay healthy, this is team that can win a championship.

Lose two players from the game on Friday (Megan R and Korie) but add 9! Michelle E, Keelin, Elli, Kendra, Cloee, Kendall, Molly, Elinor, and Taylor.

HR, I see a "Molly" in your list. Forgive my senility, but I can't remember seeing a Molly among the 2009 recruits.

Anybody know anything about Molly Klier?

St Francis High school - CASA Boca Juniors club from the Sacramento area. She didn't play High school to concentrate on club and ODP


http://www.capitalathletic.com/node/125

she's a pretty good student, too:


http://www.stfrancishs.org/news/awards.html

There was a writeup in the Sac Bee about players who are foregoing high school ball for prep that had a pretty good writeup on Molly. I'll try to find it.

I will put my two cents in about High School v Club. Winning the a Youth Club National Championship (used to be called the Snickers National Championship) it is so valuable for a player. There are many similarities to the NCAA Championship playoffs. First, for some young players it is the first time they play elite teams out of their regions. Second, they aren't in the parental nest. Third, they start getting used to hotels and having to perform under extreme pressure, which can be a performance killer for a young girl.

Off the top of my head I can think of a couple of current Pilots that won a youth national championship with their club teams; Michelle Enyeart (twice I believe with Laguna Eclipse) and Kelsey Davis(with SoCal United now known as SoCal Real).

Also on winning youth national championships, were Ali Riley (New Zealand National team and most recently, Stanford), Caitlyn MacKechnie now playing at UCLA, McCall Zerboni (UCLA), Kristina Larson (UCLA) Katie Oakes (Cal - yes she is the sister of former UCLA standout and recentl WPS draftee, Jill Oakes) Amy Rodriguez (USC) "Nini Loucks" (USC), Carrie Dew (Notre Dame), Hallie Huston (USD), Kiki Bosio (Santa Clara), Courtney Lewis (Santa Clara).

I am sure there are many more, these are just players I have met.

Now on the flip side, I am sure there are legions of players who didn't win a club championship or many others who just played high school. Either there was no elite club team to play on, they didn't want to incur the financial burden, or they didn't feel like it.

One thing I like about high school ball is you get a certain status/pride for playing for your school and you learn how physical the game can be.

Thanks for catching me up on Molly Klier, a defender from Sacramento. Coming to the Pilots from the Sacramento Valley puts her in some elite company, as the Rapinoe twins also hail from that region (the city of Redding being at the north end of the valley).

Here's the Molly Klier article I was refering to....

http://www.sacbee.com/prepsplus/story/918850.html

Thanks for the article Geezer.

In addition to mentioning Molly, it's an interesting description of the club vs. high school dilemna for girls playing soccer in the Sacramento region.

It sounds like dilemna is due to their high school season being in the spring rather than in the fall. This creates an overlap. If the high school season was in the fall, then this problem would be greatly reduced or go away.

It's interesting that the high school season was switched to the spring because Napa argued that it wasn't right for the girls to have to play their soccer games in harsh winter weather. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine harsh winter weather in Napa, California. Harsh weather to them must mean when it's below 60 and overcast.

Don't forget Stephanie Lopez Cox! She's the premiere Pilot defender who has roots in the Sacramento area. She came from Elk Grove...on its outskirts. I bet she may have had an hometown influence on Molly choosing UP!

GO PILOTS!!!

Something that really stood out to me when I read her bio was that Kassi did not play high school soccer, just club ball. I didn't know it was so common for top players to do.

Also of interest in Kassi's bio is that she was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and has dual citizenships. So, Sophie has a fellow Canadian on the team. Who'd have thunk it?!!!

The Rapinoes also did not play high school soccer.

Playing HS is tough for kids who get caught up in the youth National Teams. In addition to competitions they also like to have camps at least three times a year. It also doesn't help that all the club coaches I know do not want their best players getting kness and ankles blown out by those, shall we say big and enthusiatic players that seem to play nothing but high school ball.

I know Lincoln HS is the exception which makes the rule. But look at who was coaching the last two years.

Courtney Verloo is another exception. She played most of her 4 years for Tualatin even though she was part of the National Team scene. She must have really valued wearing the team colors and hearing the fight song, etc.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:The Rapinoes also did not play high school soccer.

Megan didn't, but I think Rachael played some high school ball..

I went back to the Media guide and was surprised at how much high school ball the team members played.

Kendra- 2 years at Mullen HS and 2 years at Heritage HS also played club for Colorado Rush and Real Colorado. Funny they picked the spanish word Real (king) and is also real in english like "hey lets get real".

Kelsey - 2 years total at Westlake and Thousand Oaks HS. Spent entire career at So Cal United (now know as Real So Cal) those clubs really like to keep it real.

Hailee - Played all four years at Alta HS. Played club at Celtic Storm and Utah Avalanche.

Michell E.- Played all four years at Hemet HS. Played club at Laguna Eclipse

Janelle J- Looks like she played three years at Bellarme HS Played club for FC Royals.

Sarah J.-Played 1 year of HS at Naaman Forest HS before focusing on club at DeFeeter and the Dallas Texans.

Kristen K- Played all four years at Tigard HS. Club of course was FC Portland.

Korie Nicolson- Played all four years at Mission Viejo HS. Club team was Southern California Blues.

Megan R. - Did not play soccer for Foothills HS. But did letter in track for three years and basketball for two years. Played club for Elk Grove United (thats a travel folks).

Rachael R. - Did not play soccer for Foothills HS. But also lettered in track and basketball. Naturally played club at Elk Grove United.

Ellie Reed - Played all four years at Park City HS. Club team was Utah Avalanche.

Sophie S.- No HS mentioned. Played for Vancouver Whitecaps, everyone's favorite Canadian club.

Megan S. - Played at Bellarmine Prep for undetermined number of years. Played club at FC Royals.

Jessica T. - Played all four years at Oregon Episcopal HS. Club at FC Portland Maroon.

Keelin Winters - Played one year of HS at Carandelet HS in CA. Played the three other years at Jesuit HS in Colorado. Club teams were Mustang Colorado and Real Colorado.

THE Freshmen:

Charney Burke - Played all four years at Foothills HS. Clubs were So Cal Blues then onto Slammers FC.

Danielle Foxhoven - Played three years at J.K. Mullen HS. Clubs were Colorado Rush and Rush Nike Team.

Halley Kreminski - Four years at Eagle HS also played three years of basketball there. Played club for Boise Capitals.

Kassi McCluskie - Did not play HS soccer. Club team was Sereno Soccer Club.

Emma Nelson - Played for Archbishop Murphy HS all four years also earned three letters in basketball and track. Club team was Snohomish United and Sliver Lake SC.

Michelle O. - Played all four years at Wheeler HS. Played for Concord Fire South and Peachtree Lazers.

Conclusion. I was wrong in my assumption that most club players don't play HS. Most play four years. Some play a year or two. Megan R,Rachael R, Sophie Schmidt and Kassi did not play HS soccer. Sophie I believe was a special case inasmuch as she started playing for the Canada Senior team at an early age.










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AP - good work.

I think this speaks highly of our young ladies, although, as a former high school coach, I am undoubtedly biased. A well-rounded sports background is good - participation in sports at your school with less dedicated non-club members, as well as participation in other sports. I always had a core of girls who made it known that soccer was their main sport and who played year-round but who also participated in basketball, track etc. And, the club coaches I dealt with all gave the girls' school teams priority during the school season (fall). From reading these posts, it sounds like that may be a NY thing.

You've got me wondering if this is something Garrett looks for in recruits, especially those who are not top-flight nationally-known recruits.

Most Oregon players do play HS soccer, even the premiere ones. I've heard two reasons for this. First, the clubs (and coaches) are supportive of players playing for their schools. Second, the OYSA season for high-school players happens February through April, whereas both boys and girls play high-school soccer in the fall here.

SoreKnees wrote:Most Oregon players do play HS soccer, even the premiere ones. I've heard two reasons for this. First, the clubs (and coaches) are supportive of players playing for their schools. Second, the OYSA season for high-school players happens February through April, whereas both boys and girls play high-school soccer in the fall here.

That's true, but good players still have conflicts. If a player is good enough to be on regional or National ODP teams, there are conflicts. That goes for National teams, too.

Courney Verloo was nominally on her high school team the last two years, but played very little for Tualatin and missed the championship portion of both seasons due to those commitments.