Happy Holidays!

The Iowa Lakes Soccer program would like wish everyone a Happy Holiday Break! We hope that your travels are safe and you embrace the love of family and friends during this special time of the year!

Coming Soon!

Custome Iowa Lakes Soccer Scarves have been ordered from the company and are in the process of being made! We will begin taking official orders in approximately 4 weeks. We will be getting information out to you about how to order. I'm sure we will also be selling them online out of the GoalKick store in town...we still need to get their approval. But, we you will have various ways to purchase the scarves very, very soon!

Indoor Soccer Underway!

The Iowa Lakes soccer athletes have been working hard coaching soccer-enthused kids in the Spencer community this month. The ages of the kids range from kindergarten up to high school. The coaches have been learning new soccer techniques to instruct the kids in the indoor facility and have been really having a good time doing it. Many have admitted that they thought it would be easy to teach them new skills, but when it was time for practice to start, the coaches had to come up with creative solutions to work with a different age group than what they were used too. We’ve only seen success out of this challenge thus far.

When asked why she likes coaching indoor, Karen Sosa responded, “I love coaching in the indoor facility because it is a very rewarding experience. First of all we get to interact with kids of all ages and help them develop their skills… Coaching indoor is fun, especially knowing that maybe one day one of these kids will go on and have a future in this sport, and you as a coach was one of their inspirations.”

The indoor season will be through December and the second session will begin in January through March.

The men’s and women’s teams will be starting more community service this week, as the Goal Kick indoor soccer league opens their doors for another season. The indoor facility is located parallel to the Lakers game field and will be a great opportunity to stay involved with soccer. Along with playing in the local adult leagues, our athletes will be coaching the younger kids and helping them progress in their soccer abilities. Adult league games will be played on Monday and Tuesday evenings and the youth plays at various times throughout the week. Come check it out!

Welcome to "The Lakehouse"....

Welcome to "The Lakehouse"!

This is the house where the Iowa Lakes Soccer Program play every one of their home matches! Although only a few games have been played here thus far...the vision is for THIS to be the HOUSE that is defended by every Iowa Lakes Soccer Player that ever steps on the field. It is a fairly amazing place for a first year program...but, more importantly is going to be a really IMPRESSIVE and AMAZING place going into the future!

The inaugural game in 2009, enjoyed over 500 fans at our very first match in history!

2009 Men's Season Ends...2010 BEGINS!

The 2009 Inaugural Season (for the men's team) came to and end last week...which means that 2010 BEGINS! The first season of a program is always a tough one for a soccer program because your goals truly don't change, but it is a little unrealistic to expect instant success. But with that being said, we found a great deal of success for a first year program. It was a tough season mainly because the expectations from everyone grew quickly with early wins and a win against the 2008 ICCAC Champions....but, the injury bug midway through the season changed all of that.
But, it is very safe to say that as a first year program...we were able to show people that we will have a program that puts teams on the field that will play with class and the game environment will be one that all teams enjoy playing at. All in all...that the program will be a class act. That is the vision...that is the plan.
But, maybe even more so than 2009, I am really excited about 2010 which has officially begun for Iowa Lakes Soccer. 2010 is exciting for many reasons...here are just a few:
-We now know what we are getting into and can do a better job of recruiting.
-The women's inaugural season begins in 2010.
-Recruiting is going great!
-We will have an offseason to make us stronger.
-More community service will mean more fans at games in 2010.
-More night games in 2010....will mean more fans at games in 2010.
A great program is never built in 2 months...and to players and people from the outside, that is really all we have had together to build this program so far. Pretty exciting that the expectations are already so high for Iowa Lakes Soccer! That in itself will only make us stronger...which makes me much more excited for 2010.

The first ever Iowa Lakes Halloween costume scrimmage at “The Lakehouse” was a great time for everyone involved. This year we combined the Men’s team with a few of the Women who are getting geared up for their first season next year! The weather was gloomy but it didn’t stop these creatures of the night from coming out and playing one last game.

The teams were the Ghouls, led by Jessica Cannova and the Goblins, led by Jayke Vallette. Heath Reynolds did announcements and doubled as a referee who was quick to blow the whistle or award a penalty kick. The teams played two 25 minute halves due to the cold weather. After lots of laughs and 4 goals a per team the match ended a draw.

Following the match the fans voted on winners for the team costume contest. In fourth place Coach Vallette who was dressed as a very attractive woman. In third place was Alex Seaman as his alter ego “The Redneck Hunter.” Second place was locked up by Francisco Ochoa dressed as the best looking Japanese masseuse the Lakehouse has ever seen. In First place with the best costume of the day was Alan Ramirez as the “Lakehouse Janitor” not only was the field spotless but he made a few great saves in the goal during the scrimmage.

Already the players are talking about next year’s game and all the funny costume ideas that they have. It was great having fans out in the cold weather to support and Everyone with the Iowa Lakes Soccer Program appreciated everything you did to cheer us on this year!

1st Ever Playoff Game!!

Today we will be traveling down to Mason City, Iowa to take on the North Iowa Area Community College Men's Soccer Team. This game marks the 1st ever Playoff game in Iowa Lakes Men's Soccer history! As a squad we are very excited to have been placed against one of the best teams in the conference, NIACC and expect to play a very physical and tactical game. If we can get a win today we will be traveling to Des Moines, Iowa on the 31st of the month to play in the semi final round of the ICCAC playoffs.

Wear your blue and yellow today and cheer us on to a Laker Victory!!!

-Coach Jayke

Superclubs Cup!

After Jade and I made the 7 hour drive to Rockford, IL this past weekend, we were excited to watch some games! There were plenty of quality teams playing in the tournament, which made it fun despite the cold weather. We got a chance to talk with some players and coaches from WI, IL, and NE and heard some excitement from the players about our new program. We've already been following up with a couple players, so hopefully we'll see some girls from IL on our team next year!

-Jessica Cannova

Here is a remix video of our game against Scott County Community College! This video shows what teamwork and possession of the ball can make the opposing team look like. I hope you enjoy it :)

Happy "Boss Day"....Great Assistants Makes It Fun....

Talk about waking you up in the morning! Last week was "Boss's Day" and we joked around about it at that time. This morning at 7am when I walked inot the office...this is what I got to walk into!

There is nothing better than beginning a college soccer program when you have a wonderful team of coaches that are working toward the same goals that you are! That's what we have here at Iowa Lakes Community College!

I am very fortunate to have two amazing assistant coaches who love what they are doing! They take pride and ownership in this program just as I asked them to do when we brought them onboard.

Coach Jessica Cannova is doing an outstanding job with recruiting and individual training with the girls that are here! Coach Jayke Vallette has worked so hard to help get me through this first season making sure everything is ready to go on gamedays and basically doing any task I put him up to. I appreciate you two more than you will ever know! Keep up the good work.

As for the season...we have had our ups and downs for sure! Due to injuries the season isn't going how we had hoped 100%...but, we all realize that it is a process and we are not building for a one year success...we are building a successful program and we all know that it takes years, not just months.

The process always begins with a good team of coaches and we definitely have that here at Iowa Lakes Community College!

Changing of the Seasons

While the seasons are changing outside our focus on the field has stayed the same. Our Men's squad has been training through the rain, snow, sleet, cold, wind and everything else that Mother Nature can possibly throw at us. It has been an exciting snow fall for a few of our players, as they have never seen snow before!

Just this last week Coach Farley made it over to the State Tournament in South Dakota to do some recruiting for next year. The trip went very successful and we have been in contact with a few players all over the state! With only three games left in our season we are preparing for the Playoffs and trying to get everyone healthy. Keep cheering us on! and we will keep playing our best!

p.s. check back soon for a new team video!!

-Jayke Vallette

Snow brings training indoors!

Like some of the midwest has experienced already, Spencer recieved it's first snowfall last week, encouraging the Women's team to start their indoor training early. For some women on our team (Karen Sosa, and Clarictza Mendoza), it was the first time they have seen snow, being from the South! It really was perfect timing since we recieved the YMCA memberships for both teams just two weeks ago. So far they have been working on a variety of cardio, plyometrics, stretching, agility, and strength training that has been fun and challenging. They have also held pick-up futsal and wallyball games in the racketball courts to work on speed of play. We are looking forward to our newest recruit, Shayla Silva from Alaska to be joining our workouts in January when she moves to ILCC!

This weekend, one of our 2010 women players, Jade Martin, will be traveling with me to Rockford, IL for the Superclubs Cup on a recruiting trip. Hopefully the weather holds up and we can talk with some quality girls for next year. Stay tuned for pictures and updates next week about the trip!

-Jessica Cannova

Asst. Women's Coach

Women Lakers 2010!

Well it has been quite a whirlwind the past couple months! Recruiting for the 2010 Women’s team has taken the coaches to IA, MN, SD, NE and IL already with plans to travel to GA, TX, AR, KS. It’s been a very exciting time looking forward to the upcoming season and making plans for the girls to get applied and move in.

We have now 5 women (soon to be 6 in the spring) that are attending ILCC currently and are getting a head start on training for next year. We just partnered up with the YMCA and purchased memberships for both teams, which will be an exciting start to the off-season lifting program. We also plan to get the women involved with the indoor soccer facility to build their speed of play on the quick indoor surface. The women already here have been amazing, attending and helping out with all the home games, traveling to most games away for the men’s team. They have been a tremendous support for them, which has really created and developed the family atmosphere in the ILCC soccer program.

It’s really hard to wait for the inaugural season for the Women with the jerseys, warm-ups, backpacks, and coats already here waiting for players to wear them, but we get excited with each day getting closer to our 2010 season!

Catch updates, pictures, recruiting schedules on our Facebook Women’s Fanpage!

Become a Fan!

Here is a highlight video of our Iowa Lakers taking on Indian Hills Community College! If you like what you see you can become a personal fan of Manuel "The Magician" Martinez on facebook by searching: venado 19 manuel martinez. Also make sure to add the Assistant Men's Soccer coach by searching: Jacob Vallette

I hope that you enjoy the video!

Purchase Your Iowa Lakes Soccer Gear....

You can now purchase your Iowa Lakes Soccer Gear online at http://www.iowalakessoccer.com/

Off to a Wonderful Start...

We are off to a wonderful start in more ways than one! First, we are off to a great start this morning as the "Early Bird's" Kiwanis club fed us a wonderful breakfast this morning. Pancakes, eggs, toast, juice, fruit....the whole nine yards! It was great to see the student-athletes interact with the community members.

We are also off to a wonderful start on the season. After 3 games, we are off to a 3-0-0 beginning...so undefeated after three matches. That is very exciting for a new program.

But, the tough competition begins tomorrow as we host NIACC (North Iowa Area Community College) before moving on to take on the number 7 team in the country, Marshalltown Community College.

Things are going well and we are having a lot of fun beginning what could be a really dynamic soccer program.

It's All Coming Along...Pics on blog soon!

Everything is beginning to come together! We will soon be able to post some pictures to show everyone what is happening. Here is a picture of the game field prior to yesterday's scrimmage. More details to follow!

Camp, Community Service In Progress...

It has been a very long time since I have updated the Iowa Lakes Soccer Blog and I sincerely apologize for that...it has simply been a crazy time of the year! Pre-Season training camp is in progress and it has been quite the ride so far. It is definitely getting to me my time of the year.

We have a great group of student-athletes here and it should make for a funfilled season.

This week we have been running a youth soccer camp in Spirit Lake, Iowa at the YMCA. It has been a fantastic time and great to see the college players working with the young soccer players. I look forward to posting some pictures on this blog next week.

After YMCA Youth Soccer Camp today we depart for Camp Foster at Okoboji Lake to take part in a 4-day team building camp! It should be a great experience for all the student-athletes. I'm sure we will have pictures of that as well. During this time we should be able to complete the first annual Iowa Lakes Soccer Idol Contest...always a hoot!

Check next week for lots of fun updates!

So Much Going On...

Summer is approaching and the lakes are beginning to fill with boats upon boats. It is a beautiful sight! But, even better than that is all the positive things that are happening with Iowa Lakes Soccer and myself.
To begin, Saturday was a very special time in my life, as many of you know...as I walked across the stage and was hooded with my Master's Degree! A very special time and a very special time for my family. Many of my family and friends were saddened that they couldn't be in attendance...but, you were all there with me in spirit and it was a special time. Thanks to everyone that made it a memory that I will forever cherish.
On the soccer front...I'm not sure that I can list all of the good things that are happening. We have had some very big signings which even included some Spencer players, Alex Toay and Peter Walvatne! We are very excited about that! The women's team is really coming around too and Letters of Intent will be going out this week.
In other soccer news, we now have an official soccer fan wall at the Goalkick sporting goods store! Iowa Lakes Soccer hoodies, sweat pants, t-shirts, etc. may be purchased there! In addition to being able to go to the Goalkick to purchase Iowa Lakes Soccer items...we will soon have them online for all the family and friends in Texas, Alaska, Michigan, Africa, Iowa...where ever you need to purchase them from. Very exciting times!
Until next time...enjoy the sunshine!

The First Texan is Here...

Okay, okay...I know that I have been failing to keep this blog updated very well...but, I will keep trying to get better. It has been a very eventful time this fall with some player already being here and working hard in the classrooms. Many things are beginning to come together. Just in the past week we were able to fill the fitness room up with fitness equipment. Today, I ordered the sound system for the fitness room...so that is really exciting.

The past two weeks has also been very exciting because our first Texas has moved to town and attempting to get him and his family situated by finding a place to live, work, etc. Darrell and his family are off to a great start as they are temporarily renting a lake front house with a beautiful view. I'm sure they wish that they could stay in that place the entire time they are hear...but, it is only temporary until they find something near the Spencer Campus. It is great to have Darrell, Tammy and Alana here in northwest Iowa though.

In other news, the student-athletes that are here will be coaching local youth teams beginning in the next week! It is very exciting to finally have the opportunity to begin giving back to Spencer. Spencer has already welcomed us and made us feel at home...so, it will be nice to give a small example of what it will be like to have soccer in town at Iowa Lakes Community College. There will be much, much more community service in our future!

Time is Moving Quickly...

It is amazing how fast time is moving! It seems like I just returned from the NSCAA convention in St. Louis, MO...until I started receiving emails and calls to update my blog!

Everything is going so good as the program builds each and every day! We presently have seven players attending classes here at the Spencer Campus. They are all doing terrific and really demonstrating to everyone what this program will be all about. Attending classes, regular study halls, great attitudes and hard work is something they exhibit each and every day. The players that are here are on the men's side...but, the women's side is really beginning to take shape as well. I am very excited about everything that is happening.

I giggle to myself all the time when people ask me questions or make statements like, "what else do you do besides coach?" and "Is that ALL you do is coach?". Wow, I sometimes really wish those people could walk in my shoes for a day...but, it is a lot more fun just to tell them, "Yep, that's all I do is coach."

There are so many things that I am getting to work on that I normally wouldn't as a coach. One of the exciting projects that I am keeping track of now, is a new cafe at the Spencer Campus. It is not a "done" deal yet...but, it is moving forward and plans are being drawn up. It will be a great area for student-athletes to eat and hang out as there will be a lounge area there as well. It is very exciting and just one of the many things that are showing progress for the Lakers Soccer Program.

Welcome To America....

Well, it is officially 2009 and the exciting times for Iowa Lakes Soccer has begun! I am beginning this blog post with the title "Welcome to America" because it is that time of year again...the time of year that the NSCAA National Coaches Convention takes place. This year it was in St. Louis and I was able to attend. Unfortunately, my good friend George Tsibanios was unable to attend. It is because of George that I started this blog with that title. It's a long story, but the last time I attended the convention with George...that was the quote of the weekend; therefore, every year just before the convention, I call George and tell him, "Welcome to America George!" He knows it is convention time when he receives that call from me.

But, the other reason that I wanted to include George T. on this blog is because we presently have three student-athletes because George and his son, Costa believe in what we are doing at Iowa Lakes to give student-athletes the opportunity to succeed in college. George and Costa are instrumental in changing many lives of student-athletes over the years...for the better.

We finally have student-athletes on campus and attending classes and study halls! It is very exciting! We have a great group of student-athletes here too that are laying the foundation for all the others who will be here in August.

Everything is beginning to fall in place for Iowa Lakes Soccer! So, I guess we can officially say to Iowa Lakes Soccer, "Welcome to America"!