| Rebecca's All Stars Soccer Teams: |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rebecca was chosen to play on both an AYSO U10 (under 10 yrs) Regional All Stars Team as well as an Area All Stars Team. Due to poor weather, her Regional Team only had one practice & one game. It was a very interesting experience, though, because she was chosen by a coach from another division. Since he was not as familiar with the players nor their background, he used the first practice to evaluate the players' skills for positioning. Rebecca did quite well in the initial ball-handling, dribbling, passing drills, so to further test the other players, he put her in a 1-on-2 defense to challenge the other players' passing/dribbling. On every attempt, she either stopped the player & stole the ball, intercepted the pass or, in 1 case, forced a bad shot. With another girl in the defensive position, she got free every time. So, in the game, she was chosen to be the "starting" defender. The coach said he would let her also let her play wing for the second half, but as it turned out as the score was still 0-0, he put her back in defense, since, as he said it: "She's the best defender I have." Afterward, we spoke because he hadn't given her much of a chance to "show off" her offensive skills, but he said that he felt she still was the most noticed player on the field for her outstanding defense. The Area All Stars has only just begun practicing. Their tournament, scheduled for January 15, 16, 22; with the Semi's/Finals on Jan. 23, has been postponed due to the rain. The team has had a few practices in between rain storms as well as several scrimmages. The first scrimmage was early on after having only one practice, so it was more of a trial to see where the different girls would best play & to give them an idea of how they might meld best with their new teammates. It was against the other San Marcos A.S. team. Unfortunately in addition to the lack of practice, many of our girls were missing, incl. our regular goalie. As it turned out, though, the girls did well; they made some very nice shots on goal, they held off the other team and the new goalie played very well. It ended up being a 1 point game. Their second scrimmage was against the "A" All Star team of a local region. While we had all the team members in attendance, this was the first time some girls had played with the team, so there was still a lot of experimentation. Both teams played hard; Rebecca ended up being the only injury and was taken out, but came back strong in the end. The team won 1-0. The third scrimmage was again with the SM AS team. It was a short-sided game in the arena; the other team had 4 girls that are on a competitive arena team: one being the primary defender of Rebecca, one of the goalies, as well as their star forward & mid. Since we had just scrimmaged the night before, several of our girls were missing - all 3 mids. The 1st goal came quickly which might have been an assist from Rebecca - they move so quick in arena, it's hard to keep track. The next 3 goals came from Rebecca (her 1st ever hat trick!) - against 3 different goalies, I believe: not sure who the first goalie was, the coach's daughter & one of the experienced arena players. In between, she had the opportunity to blast a couple of balls to the moon again - haha - one actually cleared the walls, the net and made it out to the parking lot & I think the street, the other ricocheted back & was kept in play. She was given a rest and then went back in toward the end, but just enough time to get one more assist. Final Score: 6-2. A fine accomplishment since most of the girls had never been in an arena before & were missing 3 strong players. |
| 2004/2005 Regional & Area All Stars Teams |
 |
 |
| The final scrimmage was again with the cross-town rival team (the above pix are from the game). It was played, this time, on a field larger than standard, so after having just scrimmaged 2 days in a row on small fields, this was a big change. While the game ended in a tie, the coach felt our team played the better game, spending the majority of the time on their side of the field. This is a good sign because, while a number of girls were playing positions they weren't comfortable with, there were enough good things happening for the team to be successful, and it gave the coach his final confirmation as to the optimum positioning. |
| 2005 Area All Stars Games |
| Unfortunately, I missed the first game but the coach as well as 3 parents told me it was Rebecca's best game ever. I am told she made 2 goals as well as several assists, but the excellence was in her passing. She got off many perfectly placed passes to the center, to the other wing, as well as back to the mids. The first goal of the game was within the first couple of minutes. A center-Rebecca-center classic play .. and they were off to the races. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| One more scrimmage was scheduled before the last 2 games of the tournament with the other San Marcos team. Unfortunately it was scheduled at precisely the time that we got a downpour, so through the confusion the team lost one of their strongest players. As one girl was not feeling well to begin with, the team played without subs. Not much of a game to judge by anyway, though, since Rebecca was actually slipping & falling on the wet grass when she would do a quick cut, so a lot of ball-handling skills & quickness (some of the advantages this team has) had to go out the window. The game ended in a tie with Rebecca making the assist on the only goal. It was a very nice play: Rebecca took off after a wild kick that everyone else gave up on. She was able to save it just before it went out at the corner. Making a very nice pass to the center forward, it was a straight in shot. The girls led all the way up to the last minute or so. |
| The last two games of the Playoffs were cancelled, so the girls went into the Semi's as the #1 team. The girls were scheduled to play the #4 team, but by some twist of fate the #3 was deemed to the #4 which was the other San Marcos team. Unfortunately the two teams had to play each other in the Semi's. All of us had hoped it could be a SM v SM in the Final, but it wasn't to be. There were numerous things that unsettled the girls as well as more illness, so they just didn't play their game. Too bad to end a stellar record in this way, but we were all glad it was to our sister team! |
| The second game was against the same basic team that the Panthers played against in the Finals. They were allowed to keep the top 3 players for their All Star team. The team beat them this time. Rebecca made a spectacular power shot just above the goalie's reach, just below the top bar; however, somehow, there was a backspin on the ball so when it went over the goalie's head and bounced on the goal line, it bounced back against the goalie's feet, with enough shuffling, she saved it! |
| The third game was against another (previously) undefeated team. Rebecca made some nice corner kicks & almost scored off a rebound from one. She showed some nice footwork too. The fourth game was my personal favorite of Rebecca's. While she scored the first goal of the game (not pretty, but a goal just the same), I really liked how she was all over the ball: stealing goal kicks, goalie throws as well as making good use of her teammates & scoring opportunities. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| It was quite a successful weekend for the Thunderbolts! After 4 games, playing the top 2 contenders, they came out on top: the only undefeated team. The last 2 games will be much easier, so things are looking very good for going to the Semi's and hopefully further. |
 |
 |
 |