Awards Banquet

 Tonight we will be having our first ever Iowa Lakes Soccer awards banquet. This banquet will be held to look at the accomplishments that both teams had this season and to honor certain individuals for their play on the field. Randy Cauthron from the Spencer Daily Reporter will be our honorary Guest Speaker and will address the team before our meal. It will be a great time for everyone!!

Coach Jess runs in the Living History Farm's Run in Des Moines

Asst. Women's coach Jessica Cannova ran in the Living History Farms 7-mile fun run this past weekend in Des Moines and made the cut for the 2010 video!  Check out the 5:50 mark at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX6rv3xdmX0

Back to Work

 

Now that the season is over we are getting back to work with our post season training as well as daily study halls. We have obligations that we need to hold up and are taking the steps to become more responsible. Tomorrow marks the first day of our 5:30am morning workouts which will in turn get us in game shape for our trip to Texas!! The Laker family is working hard to build our program and this is just one of the many ways we are going to be better.

Check us out!!

We have started another blog that will be very exciting for everyone to check out! This blog will have details of our upcoming bike ride from Spencer, IA to Lewisville, TX. There will be much more information about the ride at the blog site, so check us out and let us know what you think!!

Boot, Scoot, and Pedal: The Trail to Texas

Last Regular Season Games

This Saturday the Iowa Lakers play their last regular season game here at "The Lakehouse" against Iowa Central. These games will help finalize the playoff games and decide where we go next Tuesday and Wednesday. The women play at 2pm with the men following at 4! Please invite your friends and come support your team!!

Conference Play

Today the Men at Iowa Lakes go to Mason City, IA to play the number 1 team in the conference. As of right now big things are happening in the standings on the Men's side, as Iowa Lakes has moved up to 3rd place. Not only are we 3rd in the conference right now but Pancho Ochoa is the leading scorer in the region, Joel Gurrola is leading shots saved percentage in the region, and Leradee Fomsi is leading the game winning goals category!! With a big win tonight we will continue to hold a high spot in the region and look to the possibility of hosting a game for playoffs!! Keep us in your thoughts and wish us the best of luck.

Big Story on Iowa Lakes Soccer! :)

Check out the story that KTIV News Channel 4 put together on the Iowa Lakes Soccer Program!! The video is about 2:30 minutes and was filmed during our first team fitness test of the year. Let us know what you think!!

Players Making a Difference in the Community

Service. This is something that the Iowa Lakes Soccer program has tried to instill in our athletes since the start of both programs. Last year during the men's inaugural season, they participated with the local recycling center in helping sort recyclables and used their manpower to assist an elderly woman move out of her house and into a new one.

This year the men's and women's team have already doubled the hours of service that they had accomplished last year, starting in the second week of preseason. Every athlete from each team helped coach basic soccer skills to the local youth at a YMCA Soccer Camp this August. They also joined KICD radio and assisted an elderly lady in the painting of her house. Because of all of the help, the painting was finished in half the time as expected.

Since then, both teams have gotten the 'service bug' and have been signing up for volunteer work on their own. Karen Sosa and Annie Brophy have been putting in survey service hours at the Clay County Fair this year, along with Angel Murphey who served as "Woodsy the Recycling Owl" and helped with the balloon brigade. Angel went above and beyond in her call of service by dressing up as the mascot and interacting with little kids and adults encouraging them to recycle. Tom Boe and Jade Martin were also just a few of the athletes who volunteered their time to film a recycling commercial for the Clay County Fair. Also tonight, half of the men's team will be helping the Cattleman's Club at the Branding Iron helping with all aspects of running the restaurant.

Both teams have been making a huge difference in the community already, we look forward to seeing the impact they make the rest of the year!

Double Header

9/11/10

This saturday we will be hosting Anoka Ramsey at "The Lakehouse". The Women's team will play at 1:00pm with the Men's team following at 3pm. Come out and bring the family for a fun filled day of Iowa Lakes Soccer!!

Remember there is no charge to get in so invite everyone you know :)

Home Soccer Game
Iowa Lakes Community College vs.
Dakota County Community College

Friday, August 27th
5:00 pm – Men
7:00 pm - Women

“The Lakehouse”
1250 10th Avenue East

ILCC vs. BVU Scrimmage Wed.

ILCC will be scrimmaging BVU this Wednesday at BVU. The Lady Lakers will kick off at 11AM and the Men will kick off at 1PM. Come out and show your support to the Lakers last preseason scrimmage!

Morning Fitness

This morning the Men's and Women's Soccer teams went for a run through downtown Spencer. The returning players lead the run and gave the new players a tour of the town while getting in a nice workout. So far everyone is putting in the necessary work to help prepare for the season and the coaching staff couldn't be happier. Remember to check out the game schedule posted on-line at www.iowalakes.edu in the athletics link!

Have a Laugh!!

Here is a funny goal celebration that we wanted to share!! Counting down to the first day of pre-season and everyone is getting more and more excited

13 Days

As the time before pre-season gets shorter the excitement for the season grows. There are many new ideas, themes, and players soon to join the Laker Soccer Family and the coaching staff are doing our best to prepare for them. Our schedule for the year is posted on the iowalakes.edu athletics soccer pages and we are working out the final schedule for pre-season camp. It is going to be another tough season with its own obstacles to overcome but that is what makes this game great. With each new opponent we have to show what we are made of and what makes us a Laker!

Happy Birthday Coach Jayke!

Coach Jayke turned the big 2-4 last week, and we helped him celebrate at El Parion with the grand sombraro! Happy Birthday Coach Jayke

Pre-Season Starts!!

Happy 4th of July!

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend and got out to see some fireworks and enjoy a BBQ! The weather cooperated in most areas which provided the perfect weather for some outdoor activities! This weekend was one of the last times the coaching staff will have to relax as we are in gear for the upcoming seasons. After our bike ride we have all settled back into working hard to make sure all of the athletes have a fantastic experience playing soccer here at Iowa Lakes. If you would like to see our schedule for the upcoming season, go ahead and look at it on our website!

http://www.iowalakes.edu/athletics/soccer_men/schedule.htm

USA, USA, USA....

After traveling 890 miles on a bicycle throughout a very small portion of the United States of America, midwest...the Iowa Lakes Soccer coaching staff had a new perception of American people and the beautiful American landscape the last few weeks.

But, personally, after serving 6 years to help preserve our freedom as a member of the United States Navy....the U.S. National Soccer team has finally demonstrated what many of us strive for on a daily basis through the simply and beautiful game of soccer. A work hard, positive and never say quite attitude that embodies the values that MOST Americans strive for.

After watching the following video, I, Kevin Farley...the strong, tough person that doesn't show much feeling...honestly, broke down ito tears. The celebration the unfolds around the world due to the goal by Landon Donovan is the exact reason that we, in America, grow up living the dream and playing a variety of sports.

I love America. I love the game of soccer. I dream of Landon Donovan and his fellow teammates to continue exhibiting this "never say quite" attitude and shocking the world, and all those Americans that always said soccer was never a sport. If you are American...you will support this attitude...this team...this will. Please enjoy the video.

USA, USA, USA!!!!!

Views from the Bike Trail....

Biking through the hilly backwoods of the "Stagecoach Trail" in Illinois.

Halfway Home...

Four and a half days and the Iowa Lakes coaching staff have met there goal of biking to Rockford, IL. Now all we have to do is make it back to Spencer.

The trip has been amazing. Although we had anticipated a 400-mile ride to Rockford...we have now biked 460 miles one-way. It was so difficult, but the feeling of jubilation that we felt upon riding out bicycles into Rockford was an amazing one.

As you can see by the picture, we celebrated as if we had just won a regional championship soccer game!

We knew this trip would be very difficult...but, we didn't realize how we would feel when we conquered feats such as riding through the "Stagecoach Trail" in Illinois...or outrunning "Beethoven" the killer St. Benard...or seeing the beauty of the backroads and rivers in American...or crossing the "Mighty Mississip"...etc.

According to my bicycle odometer, I have personally burned over 13,000 calories on my 4 1/2 day ride. Now we are going to enjoy the USA vs. England match today and watch more games at the Watermelon Soccer Tournament...and relax, before departing again on Monday morning to head back home.

We will take a different route on the way back that will lead us through the southern parts of Wisconsin and the possibility of experiencing one of the many Wisconsin Cheese Factories.

We have achieved the first part of our goal by arriving on bike to Rockford...the next step will be arriving back home. Both are feats that many people told us that...we couldn't do.

Views from the Bike Trail...

Day 2 Departure from host family's home in Fort Dodge, IA at 6am.

Views from the Bike Trail...

Storms in Cedar Falls puts a damper on Day 3

Thunderstorms is what the three coaches woke up to this morning at 6AM to start our journey. As much as we all would enjoy a little bit of a break, we are equally anxious to get on the road to meet our goal.

All of us sit here in the Super 8 of Cedar Falls killing time, waiting for the storms to pass, and still unsure if we will be able to ride today or not. At this time today, we would've already been halfway into our 100 miles to Dubuque, but only time will tell!

Two Days...Two Goals...Two Hundred Miles...

This is our first chance to get online to post our blog! And to be quite honest...it will be a short one...because we are too tired and too sore to even type.

We departed Spencer for "The Watermelon Ride" on Sunday morning at 6:30am. To be honest we had no idea what we were getting into. It was tough...I'm not going to lie. But, when it was all said on done on Sunday...we not only met our goal, but met out goal in better time than anticipated. We arrived in Fort Dodge, IA (100 miles from Spencer) at approximately 3:30pm.

After a deep sleep with a wonderful host family in Fort Dodge, we departed at approximately 7am; destination....Cedar Falls. The trip seemed much more difficult...but, we met our goal once again at about 4:30pm today.

The experience is amazing. We are sore, yes. All the questions being asked are probably a "yes". But, at the same time...I think the trip is helping all of us to not only reevaluate life...I believe that we are in the midst of a life changing experience. And to be quite honest...I was ready for one of those! ;-)

My goal tonight is to spend a few minutes in the hottub and figure out how to download this blogsight down to my phone so we can begin sending more posts from the road and from our bikes....and even some photos and possibly video. For now...you can find us on twitter. www.twitter.com/iowalakessoccer

Wish us luck tomorrow for another 100 mile bike ride. 200 miles down...600 to go!

Send Off Party!!

This Saturday, Positively Spencer Youth will be hosting a Watermelon Ride send-off party at East Leech Park. The get together will start at 4:00pm with some soccer training and different soccer demonstrations. At 5:00 there will be food tossed on the grill so we can all get some grub into our stomachs. Following the food and fun there will be a family bike ride around town for anyone that would like to participate. This will be a ton of fun so make sure you invite your friends and come out and see us!!

The 'Orthopedics PC's Watermelon Ride' bike jerseys are here!

The 'Orthopedics PC's Watermelon Ride' bike jerseys were completed today. The lightweight jerseys will be worn by all 3 coaches on the ride to thank our sponsors who contributed to this awesome fundraiser. Top Sponsors include Orthopedics PC, Northwest Iowa Bone, Joint & Sports Surgeons, KICD, and Farmers Trust and Savings Bank.
Stay tuned for more details as the ride gets closer!

Lesson with a Tune-up

Today the three Iowa Lakes Soccer Coaches went downtown Spencer to Bikes Boards and Blades to get a lesson on how to determine the cause of a flat tire as well as change one for all three bikes. While there, the owner Jason wanted to look at all the bikes and make sure they were ready for the 800 mile trek. Only a few things had to be tweaked, but it will sure make a big difference during the ride. A big Thank You to Jason and his staff at Bikes Boards and Blades for all the useful tips and help with the bikes!

The wheels are moving!

Training the past week has been excellent with the coaches now that the weather has been cooperating! Final preparations for the Watermelon Ride are being made as it is only a couple weeks away. As of this week, the top contributor that holds naming rights is Orthopaedics P.C.
Northwest Bone and Joint has been a large supporter to the Watermelon ride reaching the Watermelon Sponsorship Level. Reaching the Rind Level, we have Farmers Trust and El Parian. Collections are still being made and we thank all of our sponsors and contributors for the support!

Watermelon Ride

We are all still counting down to this year's "Watermelon Ride" We have had continuous support from the community, family, and friends to make sure that we have success in our journey. There is still time to make a pledge to help support Iowa Lakes Soccer as well as Positively Spencer Youth! If you would like to make a donation you can do so by contacting Kevin Farley - kfarley@iowalakes.edu Jayke Vallette - jvallette@iowalakes.edu or Jessica Cannova - jcannova@iowalakes.edu

Thanks again for all the support you have shown! GO LAKERS

Hard Work!

Today was the last day of our 6am workouts at the Spencer YMCA. The next few days we will be resting up to get ready to FINISH STRONG with our final exams. It has been a very productive sememster here at Iowa Lakes and we are very excited about what the fall has to bring!

Graduating!

Today at "The Dock" we had a graduation celebration. The student senate made sure that there were plenty of decorations, candy, and people! It was a fun time to get everyone together for some root beer floats and burgers :)

36 Days 15 Hours

As of right now we are 36 days and 15 hours away from our first ever "Watermelon Ride." Earlier this week we drove the route that we will be taking from Spencer, IA to Rockford, IL. The ride looks like it will be longer than 800 miles but we are up for the challenge!! We could always use riding tips and other feedback from riders who have been on these long rides. We are excited and thank everyone for their support thus far!

Gone Climbing!

Next Thursday former player Mike Sauck will be leading the coaching staff to the top of a windmill. Mike is a student in the wind energy program at Iowa Lakes and will be graduating at the end of the year. Much like during the season when we asked Mike to look into getting us on top of one of these windmills, he was quick to respond. We are very excited for this opportunity to be 300 feet in the air in Northwest Iowa!!

Morning Workouts!

Today we were all able to have our morning workout in the midst of an amazing sunrise. It was the first day we were able to get outside and so it was nice that mother nature took care of us!!

Spencer Daily Reporter!

The Spencer Daily Reporter has done an article about the recycling that Iowa Lakes Soccer and the Kiwanis teamed up for Saturday! This is a really neat article about educating more people about what can and cannot be recycled!

http://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/story/1626991.html

Recycling Service a Success!

The Men's and Women's soccer team joined Spencer After Five Kiwanis to increase recycling as they worked at the Spencer transfer station to promote users to recycle more materials. Saturday they helped sort recyclables as well as handing out brochures and flyers to those using the facility. Thanks for helping out the community Lakers!

Giving Back

This Saturday the Iowa Lakes soccer teams will be giving back to the Spencer community. We will be returning to the Recycling Transfer Station where we volunteered earlier in the year. Everyone signed up quick for their spots to volunteer because they had such a good time back in the fall. This is just another way that our players are growing and trying to be better today than they were yesterday, and better tomorrow then they are today.

Road To The World Cup

There are only 59 days left before the kick off to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Here are some important dates to look out for!!

Provisional squad announcement - May 12, 2010
Final squad deadline - June 10, 2010
Opening Ceremony - June 11, 2010
World Cup Final - July 11, 2010

It is going to be a fun summer of soccer!

Time To Work

Today was our first official day of training for the Watermelon Ride. We have set up our goal chart that will hold us accountable for getting ready for the big day. There are 60 days from today until we embark on our 800mile bike ride to raise money for Iowa Lakes Soccer as well as Positively Spencer Youth. Feel free to send us e-mails of encouragement and positive thoughts! We are getting more and more excited as we count down the days!

Big Day

Today Bayern Munich takes on the Red Devils in a champions league quarterfinal. Both teams have had a rough road to make it this far in the tournament and will have to keep playing at an elite level to stay in the running. The game kicks off today at 2:30pm on Fox Soccer Channel! Tune in and cheer for your favorite team!!

Watermelon Ride!

Today marks the 75th day counting down until the 3 soccer coaches trek across the state of IA AND BACK on the 800 mile Watermelon Ride. You can tell in the atmosphere of the office that we are all getting a little more excited and anxious about the ride as it comes closer. Training has been off and on for all of us, but will start a daily workout regimen today. We also are going to get our bikes fitted and route mapped out today, which will be helpful in learning the exact mileage we will be covering.

Last week was spent in Rockford, IL (the destination of the Watermelon Tournament where we will be recruiting) talking to businesses, newspapers, bike specialists, and soccer enthusiasts. The next month we will be focusing on Spencer, and the local people and businesses here. We've noticed an overall excitement through the community, that is very unique and keeps us motivated and working harder towards our goal in part with Positively Spencer Youth.

Keep your eyes open folks, because as soon as the snow melts, you will be seeing us riding around town, getting in our miles!

Farewell Darla

Tomorrow we are having a going away get together at "The Dock" for Darla! She has been working at "The Dock" all year and is now leaving to serve our country. We will be meeting tomorrow at 9:00am to let her know how much we appreciate her while enjoying a nice cup of coffee and some cake :)

Countdown Til the "Watermelon Ride"

Nature Countdowns from 123mycodes.com

UEFA Champions

Today we will all try to get together and watch the second leg of the Champions League games played 2 weeks ago. We will be putting the games up on the projector screen again and invite everyone that is interested. Everyone has had a real good time watching the games because everyone supports a different side. Today’s games will be good ones as Arsenal has to track back from its 2-1 loss in the first leg. This seems all too familiar as Fiorentina have to make that exact same turn around against Bayern Munich! It will be a fun day for soccer!!

Countdown!

Everyone here at Iowa Lakes is getting more excited each and every day to root on their respective countries in the World Cup! Today we will be getting a group of players together to watch USA take on the Netherlands at 1:30pm. Even though not all the players are fans of the US National team, I can count on a big turnout to watch the game. The love for soccer can be witnessed everyday here at Iowa Lakes and that’s what makes our family so great!!

Current Countdown to the World Cup - 99 Days, 23 Hours, 8 Minutes :)

Lakers Volunteer!

The Men's and Women's Laker soccer teams provided a helping hand to a local woman moving to a new home. Within a half hour of being asked for assistance the Lakers teams arrived at her house to help with the heavy lifting. With everyone that helped, the moving was completed in a fraction of the time. This is just one way the Lakers are trying to "Be better today than you were yesterday. Be better tomorrow than you were today."

Watermelon Ride!

The Iowa Lakes Soccer Program will be hosting a fundraiser. This isn't just any fundraiser though, it is a 800 mile bike ride to Rockford, IL and back. The Iowa Lakes Soccer Coaching Staff will be riding 400 miles to Rockford, IL on bike to recruit soccer players at the annual "Watermelon Tournament". The Watermelon Tournament is a fun, competetive soccer tournament, hosted by Rockford United Soccer club and gives out free watermelon to all of the athletes. After recruiting at the tourney, all the coaches will bike 400 miles back to Spencer, IA.

The trip is scheduled June 6th-18th. Money will be raised through sponsorships and donations, in which half of the proceeds will be going to Positively Spencer Youth. We are very excited to raise money for this unique local charity because of it's core values of getting youth active and involved in the community!

Stay tuned for more information, how to donate, and how the Coach's are preparing for this event!

Incoming!!

Tyler Eissler a Rapid City, South Dakota native is making his way to Iowa Lakes. Tyler had a brief stint at the University of Sioux Falls before moving home and joining the military. Tyler has played soccer his entire life and loves nothing more than watching Arsenal or the Netherlands play. We are very excited to have a player who loves the game and will do anything to help his team win! Tyler is just one of the many on our blog that will help Iowa Lakes be successful in 2010.

(Tyler, grey shirt in the air)

Champions League

After study hall today some of the guys and girls got together to watch the Champions League. We ended up getting it projected in one of the classrooms so that everyone could come watch! Not sure if Arsenal or Porto will win but there is a lot of cheering for both teams right now. Just another day of loving soccer here at Iowa Lakes!

Tom Boe

A former player for Coach Farley at Dakota Wesleyan University, Tom Boe has now come to play for Coach at Iowa Lakes! A Pierre, SD native has loved the sport of soccer ever since he was introduced to it at an early age. Now that Tom is older he is focused on getting back into match form as well as staying organized and achieving his academic goals. We are very excited that Tom has joined our Soccer family and look forward to his talents on the field in the upcoming season!!

Esteban Campuzano

Esteban Campuzano came to Iowa Lakes all the way from Fort Worth, Texas. His dreams are to become a professional soccer player and to be successful in the academic goals he has set. His favorite foods are pizza, steak, and Mexican food. We are very excited to have Esteban here on Campus and he is a great addition to the Iowa Lakes Soccer Family!!

Shayla Silva

Shayla Silva from Fairbanks, Alaska joined the Iowa Lakers family this January. The 21 year old loves fried chicken, green beans and homemade mashed potatoes. Her dream is to become a Petroleum Engineer and possibly a CEO of a large oil company. She motivates herself with her favorite quote, "Noone can take your joy unless you give it to them."

Welcome to the ILCC Soccer Family Shayla!

Moving all the way to Spencer, Iowa from Fort Worth, Texas for an opportunity to play at the next level is a big decision. For Ruud Gullit Boijseauneau this decision was not all that hard to make. The coaching staff is very excited to have him here and we look forward to seeing the positive impact he will have on our program. His dream is to one day become a professional soccer player and play for Mexico's national team! Welcome to the Laker family Ruud!!

New Arrival!

Blake Viedenkamp signed with Iowa Lakes Men's Soccer team this January after a semester at Wartburg University. Blake is a central midfielder from Spencer, Iowa and lives for the game of soccer. Blake has a favorite quote from professional Roy Keane, "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail." We are excited to have Blake on our team but more importantly in our Iowa Lakes Soccer Family!!