Lincolnshire Lightning NEWS Flash!

JULY 2013

SUMMER UPDATE

Several Lincolnshire Lightning youth soccer teams recently walked onto their own field of dreams as guests of the Chicago Fire. Before last month's home game against the Portland Timbers on June 8, dozens of Lightning players and coaches took part in pregame ceremonies at Toyota Park in southwest suburban Bridgeview. Wearing their bright red home uniforms, young players from Lightning boys and girls teams accompanied Fire players onto the field and got to meet many of the MLS pros. Teams also posed for an official group photo in front of the Toyota Park video board before kickoff.

The Lightning may have brought the Fire a little luck in the match that followed. After trailing for most of the game, the Fire roared back from a 2-0 deficit and scored twice in the last 30 minutes for a 2-2 draw.

The event was so well attended, and received such positive reviews that the Club is going to do it again at the end of our Spring Season in 2014. Yes, even kids can’t get enough of tailgating!

Hawks Cup Division Champs -Lightning Girls U8 Team!!

Stellar Spring Efforts Lead to Tournament Awards, Great Times

Better teamwork, excellent progress and huge improvements are a few ways Lincolnshire Lightning soccer coaches described their teams' play during the spring season. While some teams finished with winning records, others took important steps at learning to play together better as a team and applying skills learned in practice to their game plans. Some of our youngest Lightning players enjoyed very successful seasons.

For instance, at the Hawks Cup Tournament in Oak Brook, the Girls U8 team offense really clicked, scoring often and earning a spot in the championship game. Just one goal and spectacular defense led to their 1 – 0 victory in the final game to secure the division championship for the team.

The Lightning Boys U8 Red team also had great success at Hawks Cup making it to their division final and taking home 2nd place for the club. But their biggest win came at the end of the season -finishing the spring with a 6-1-1 record and winning their YSSL division!

Two other Lightning teams earned spots in their final games at Hawks Cup to compete for the division championship. The BU14 team took home 2nd place and the BU11 Red team played a hard-fought battle against the same team that shut them out in a blowout win only weeks before. Although the boys came up on the short end of a 3-2 score, the team's outstanding effort and 2nd place award was greatly celebrated.

The Lightning coaches are encouraged by the progress their teams made and are looking forward to further development in the fall. With some teams moving up in league divisions, it is sure to be another exciting year of soccer!

Chicago Fire Host Lightning

Wendy Moore, working with young children at a soccer clinic in Brazil.

Q: What are you doing with the Chicago Eagles soccer team? After returning from Brazil I am spending the remainder of the summer with the Eagles Summer Academy as the Head Women's Coach. I am blessed to work with athletes of high levels of play and invest in them every day on and off field. We live together and travel around the Midwest running weekly soccer camps, and competing in the U23 League as a part of their summer training as they prepare to return to their college teams in August. Q: What will you be doing in Costa Rica? In early August, the day after I end my time with the Eagles Summer Academy, I will be boarding a plane for Costa Rica with Trinity International University Men's and Women's Soccer. Every other year TIU Soccer goes to Costa Rica for 10 days prior to training camp to serve in the San Jose area. We have built partnerships with a Christian day care center and with a soccer club in a very poor area. We will also be training and playing matches - using soccer as a tool to invest in people and communities.

Did you know?

Lightning coach and Stevenson H.S. graduate Rebekah Niedermayer played GK for the Charlotte Eagles in a professional women’s soccer league the last two seasons.

JULY 2013

SUMMER UPDATE

Where’s Wendy?

If you’ve been looking for Lightning coach and Technical Director Wendy Moore, well… we haven’t seen her around much either. That’s because she has been traveling the world this summer, teaching soccer skills and conducting clinics in South and North America with players of all ages, on all levels. News Flash recently caught up with Wendy to find out how things have been going. Q: What did you do in Brazil? I spent almost 3 weeks in Brazil with the Chicago Eagles, which is a branch of Missionary Athletes International. We took a Men's team and a Women's team comprised of college level soccer players from around the United States. We spent most of our days running soccer clinics at schools and soccer clubs, playing amateur level soccer teams, partnering with local churches in ministry, and using soccer as a tool to build relationships and invest in the local people in the communities. We worked in various cities and even in a very poor community where our team helped rebuild a soccer field. We had translators with our teams, but soccer allowed us to bridge the gap between languages, which allowed us to build trust and

relationships just through our play.

Wendy Moore, standing, third from left, with the

Chicago Eagles in Brazil.

As a highlight of our trip, the Vice President of the Brazilian Soccer Federation (CBF) spent an evening with our team as he was excited about all the work we were doing in investing in Brazil through soccer, and in return got us on the field in the brand new Confederation Cup and World Cup Stadium in Brasilia the day after Brazil played Japan.

Summer Stuff: Coaches & Players

JULY 2013

SUMMER UPDATE

Summer Skills Camps, Clinics

Lightning summer speed, agility and skills camps are

underway, but players still have opportunities to sign up

for sessions happening in July and August. Check the

graphic below for more information or visit our website

www.Lincolnshirelightning.org for updates.

Training on Campus

We’ve recently learned that many Lightning players are

keeping their foot skills and goalkeeper training

methods sharp by participating in summer soccer

camps and clinics being held at many colleges and

universities throughout the area. Some college-based

camps featuring Lightning players include Northwestern

University’s week-long session and the 3-day soccer

camp at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Drew Scott (Boys U12 Red) with Marquette University Goalkeeper Coach, Nick Vorberg

Is there a DOC in the house? Lincolnshire Lightning’s Director of Coaching (DOC) Chris Bergman brings a wealth of soccer experience at all levels to the table. In addition to overseeing Lightning soccer teams, Chris is also the head men’s soccer coach at Lake Forest College - beginning his 5th season. Before leading the Foresters to the 2012 Midwest Conference Championship and being named conference coach of the year, he served as head coach at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Hope International University in Fullerton, California and as assistant coach at Northwestern University where he helped lead the Wildcats to a Big 10 tournament quarterfinal finish. Prior to college coaching, Chris spent several years with the United Soccer Leagues as the General Manager for the Chicago Eagles Select PDL team, and was involved with the player development with the Southern California Seahorses PDL team. Chris currently oversees day-to-day operations of the Lightning’s U8-U18 teams, specifically focusing on curriculum and player development, Previously, Chris also worked at the club level for Pegasus, Lindenhurst Soccer Club, Kopion F.C., and SURF Soccer Club along with the Southern California Olympic Development Program. Before making his home in the Chicago area, Chris spent time as a high school coach in St. Louis and in his native southern California. He also played internationally, in Holland, Brazil, France, Sweden and Germany. Chris, wife Kelly and family live in Gurnee.

Chris has also been involved with several other area travel soccer programs including, Pegasus,

Summer Stuff: Coaches & Players

Lincolnshire Lightning news Flash!

Coach Chris Haught-Thompson gets his Boys U11 Red

team ready before a recent spring game.

Looking for something fun and exciting to do this summer? Consider putting a team together to play in a 3v3 tournament!!

Kick It sponsors great 3v3 tournaments in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. There’s actually one coming up on July 20-21 in Plainfield, IL. Entry deadline is this Friday, so hurry!

Contact: Jennifer Killmer - 303-948-7108 -jkillmer@nasportsgroup.com Kick It 3v3 Soccer for further details! There’s no better way to pass the summer months!

Addressee: Lightning Players and Family

info@lincolnshirelightning.org www.lincolnshirelightning.org

“3v3 tourneys are a great way to improve foot skills and build team chemistry,” states Coach Hart, “Oh! And they’re a lot of fun, too!”

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