| 8/1: Looks like there is a new Juggling Queen on the team. A few mo's ago, she could juggle a few times. Then she tied with the team champ during a practice with 8. Another practice she got a dozen. Tonight Rebecca got 20, 15, 12 ... She was also the coach-appointed Push-up Champ. |
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| 2nd Place Medal |
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| 2005-6 GU10 AA-A Presidio League |
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| Rebecca's Team Photo |
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| Practice at Oceanside Pier |
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| was a pretty spectacular goal, a high chip shot coming from a very narrow angle & brushing over the tips of the flying goalie's fingers. That happened to be one of the 2 goals scored 'in regulation.' |
| 05/01: Today the kids had a "fun" scrimmage vs the parents / siblings. Rebecca was put in a right winger position in the 11v11 game. The ball didn't seem to get out her way too often, but when it did, she played it very well. She showed good footwork, strong passes & nice defense. She did have 2 opportunities to shoot; on which one the goalie made a very good save, the other (see below) |
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| Rebecca will be playing in her own age bracket this year - the first time since she was 6 yrs old. She tried out for several competitive club teams & was accepted at each one. While her chosen team was entitled to play in AAA (the top circuit), due to a technicality, they will be playing top-seeded in AA-A. So far, they have beaten 3 of 4 AAA teams they've played. The team will participate in a very aggressive pre-season tournament schedule against the top teams in So Cal. |
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| 3/05: Rebecca's team begun weekly conditioning workouts, & she's been working out on her own w/ daily 1-mile runs, swimming/diving, weight-lifting, traditional exercises (pushups, situps...) & karate. She has also developed her own soccer drills to do while she's in between activities to work on ball control such as "soccer tennis" (a spin-off on juggling) and AST. She's been making great progress in her stamina, muscle strength, as well as her mile times. |
| Rebecca-MVP |
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| June 11-12, 2005 |
| July 16-17, 2005 |
| August 6-8, 2005 |
| August 13-14, 2005 |
| September 4-6, 2005 |
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| 7/05: Rebecca's a poster girl for ... Field Hockey(?!) |
| 2005-6 Tournaments (Gold Division) |
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| 7/08: The team won the scrimmage tonight against the coach's other Blue team: 4-2(?) The girls were missing their regular goalie, center mid & lft fwd and were, therefore, left without subs (& were short when 1 of the mids had to leave mid-game). Rebecca played the lft fwd position for the whole game. I saw the 1st 15 mins & last 15 mins & what a huge difference in playing(!) - for Rebecca primarily, but really the whole team. While Rebecca made the assist for the 1st goal (a nice one at that: stole the ball fr a FB amidst a crowd, passed it out to the left mid who was all alone & was able to pop it right in the goal) as well as a few nice breakaways, passes & "moves" just before I left, they just were not playing as a team & Rebecca was still having some difficulty getting positioned properly (albeit better). When I came back, I saw a completely different team (I'm sure a much more tired team though). I saw many beautifully positioned passes from Rebecca, a great give-and-go from/to her mid, and several hard-fought advances to the goal. The comments from her coach were much more complimentary at the end, primarily focused on the fact that she would do all the work getting the ball to the box & then pass it off vs shoot. In the last minutes of the game, she did just that, though. When an opponent turned the ball toward the center, in front of her own goal, Rebecca was there to take advantage of the mistake - stole the ball & finished with a goal. Before the end of the game, she made one last advance across the field, took the shot, but unfortunately the goalie deflected it. I was very pleased to see the improvements, but it's just going to take games to build confidence & comfort with the team. |
| 4/05: It has been a few short weeks since Rebecca began conditioning. After 1 week, she went from being in tears to being the first to complete the exercises. Now, this being the 1st time she's been able to attend the running portion since the 1st practice, she went from exhaustion / finishing at the tail end to running in the front of the pack with the coach. While others were having to walk; she even finished with a sprint. She broke the 8:00 min mile goal after a couple of weeks & now broke her next goal of 7:30 min mile, and those times are all with running hills. 5/05: The 1st phase of conditioning practices are done. Rebecca ran with the "lead runner" all the way to the end. Weekly clinics & team practices have just begun; 1st tourney - 3 wks off. 6/05: The 1st tournament went well for NCU: Silver Medals! After only a handful of practices, never with a full team nor on a full field, and against championship teams that have been together for years,this is quite an accomplishment. Rebecca played a secondary striker position most of the time she was in, as well as mid & defense. She did have some "starring" moments, though: in the 2nd game (which proved to be the determining game that sent them to the finals), PQ made a breakaway on the left side - passed the entire left side as well as the right-side defense; it seemed like our shutout was all over - Rebecca flew from the opposite side mid area, cut off the right 3/4 of the goal as well as any opportunity for passing & then attacked, forcing an awkward shot that went directly to the goalie. In the 3rd game, Rebecca made a beautiful goal from the left side, lofting high up into the top right corner of the net. In the Final, she made a fast break down the right side of the field, cutting and faking past the last defender; she made a perfect center to the waiting left wing. Unfortunately, her teammate waited too long for the shot, but it was an excellent play. Her new team mates have very different skills, & her coaches that have a completely different strategy & terminology than she is used to. Her skills shine through, though; so I feel certain that once she feels comfortable playing in this realm, she will quickly improve. ===================================================================== 6/27: Improvements continue to take place. Rebecca practiced for an hour just prior to the 2 hr practice, but when it came to the "doggies" relay (on which she died during tryouts & was noticably slower than everyone), she did great. Each girl had to run 2ce, & she was chosen to run the final leg (mainly because no one else wanted the pressure of running at the end). The 1st time through, the other team was winning when it got to Rebecca & she was paired with one of the quickest mid's. Although the mid may have been faster in between the cones, Rebecca was much cleaner in the reverses & finished w/ 1/2 a length lead. The 2nd time through, it was noted that the other team changed their lineup - apparently the other girl didn't want to run against Rebecca again. Rebecca's team maintained a slight lead when it got to her, but she led them to a full length victory. (Even though this relay was an extra cone/much longer, Rebecca said it felt easier) ===================================================================== 7/05: No practice this week. Scrimmage 7/8. Running Race 7/9. |
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| 5th Place |
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| 7/30: Family Fun Day: NCU had their Picture Day / Team Fundraising Event coupled with a Jog-a-Thon. In the Jog-a-Thon, the players were given 1 hour to log as many laps as possible for sponsorships. There will be a prize for most $$ collected as well as # of laps. While most kids jogged half / walked half or just stopped after they got tired, Rebecca ran/jogged the entire hour, except 2 laps which she race-walked when she got a cramp. When we left the area, she was ahead at 42 laps (6-7 mi), over both boys/girls. The Dir. of Coaching followed us out & asked Rebecca how she did; he was very impressed & said that he wished he'd had a camera because she really stood out as setting a pace & keeping it up the whole hour, never faltering or giving up. |
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| 7/16-7: Slammer Tournament: The team seems to play more like a "team" with each game. Although they were stopped prior to the Semis by WCFC, they won their runner-up game (2-0) & beat the other 2 teams on points (one being So Cal Blues, Blue!), placing them in 5th for the tournament. Playing alongside (& beating some) Silver Elite teams from CSL (who had won their circuit last year) such as So Cal Blues, Slammers, JUSA .. makes the success sweeter. (A professional photographer attended only 1 girls game Sat.; it happened to be NCU v WCFC. Although Rebecca didn't play as much as other games, he captured her more than any other player - see series to the right - looks like she was trying to 'rainbow' (!)) |
| CHAMPIONS !! |
| 8/6-7: PQ Premier Cup Tournament: The team went up against one Silver Elite team from CSL, two of the better teams from their AA-A division & 2 teams from AAA - they beat them all to take home the CHAMPIONSHIP in the GOLD division. There is no denying that they belong in AAA now! Rebecca made a very nice one-touch goal in the first game & played very strong defense the rest of the 1st day. In the Semi, she made an incredible high-lofted shot from the midline that was only stopped by tall goalie who had to leap high to tip it up for the catch. In the Semi & the Final, there were several other very nice shots & crosses that just didn't find net. The piece de resistance, that garnered as much applause as any goal, was a one-on-one battle between Rebecca & the stopper in the Final. They fought as long and as hard as any pay-per-view prize fight, but when the stopper got frustrated & began using hands & elbows, Rebecca just gave her big blast from the shoulder & it was over, & she made a beautiful pass to the goal. |
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| 8/6-7: PQ Premier Cup Champs |
| 8/13-4: Rotary Cup Tournament: A very disappointing follow-up to last weekend's Championship. While 2 girls were missing from the line-up and 3 girls were injured, that didn't seem to matter. The team dominated the 1st game, which was the team to beat, rarely allowing the ball to cross the midline. Rebecca had at least 4 great drives to the goal & just couldn't find net - same w/ the other forwards .. frustrating .. in fact in the tournament, the defenders scored more than the forwards (unfortunately, it was in the wrong goal) :( Although the results of the weekend are best forgotten, I hope Rebecca remembers the tournament because she, personally, played her best so far. If she had only relaxed & been patient in her finishing, she would've logged at least one hat-trick in the weekend. She had the strongest, most aggressive defenders on her in each game, but her steals, fakes & battles for the ball were powerful, just not reflected in the scoreboard. |
| 9/9: Presidio Fall Season Has Begun!! Click here for details on Rebecca's Games |
| 9/3-4: Blues Cup Tournament: The girls played very well in this tournament. It was unfortunate that they were in the toughest bracket which produced the tournament champions as well as one of the semi-finalists (the 2 teams that beat them). The champions were behind in our game 1-0 until the end. Our defense just couldn't continue to hold them off the whole game. The coach has been trying out other girls as relief players in defense, but the 2 fullback positions are very difficult. They take all the goal kicks, free kicks & throw-ins all the way up the line; they cover our entire half of the field & essentially play the defensive mid as well, as the wings are primarily focusing on the offensive. The center mid does seem to help in defense, but indeed the FB positions require quite a lot of athleticism -- tough shoes to fill. The practice before this tournament, he put Rebecca with a mid who had played fullback last season & seemed happy with the results, so he prepared them for the possibility of helping out during the tournament. He didn't use Rebecca this time, but we'll see. |
| 8/30: In reviewing our introduction to club soccer & looking forward to the Fall Season, I am very proud of what Rebecca has accomplished thus far. During tryouts, Rebecca always stood out for her ball control & powerful kicks/crosses; however, she has had a number of areas to work on: stamina, aggressiveness (muscle to back it up), headers, controlled touch on stops, quickness/agility which became painfully clear. She was immediately up for the challenge of improving those areas, meanwhile she was trying to fit in with girls, who had been together (in soccer & school) for a long time, & a different style of coaching. It has been hard, but she has improved greatly in every area; in fact, in some areas she has progressed from the least to the best(!) Rebecca has been running & exercising to work on her strength & endurance; juggling for touch; karate for agility and aggressiveness, diving for conquering fear & building confidence (which helped w/ her headers). Things are coming together, I believe. Rebecca is being chosen now and enthusiasticly cheered on as the final leg in doggies. In the last couple of practice scrimmages, she has been a critical factor in her team's winning (last practice, she made both assists on their goals; prior, she made 4 of 6 goals). |
| 9/19: Wow! Rebecca had a great practice! The team was working on crosses, finishing, volleys and finishing. She made some very nice volleys into the net as well as one-touches from a cross. In the 5 v 5 scrimmage, she played left fwd; of the 6 goals her team scored, 5 came from her (her team had to score against the coach!). One goal had everyone stunned, though: her rt fwd made a nice, strong cross to Rebecca, but it was way out in front of her -- she had to really book it to get to it before the coach. She knew she wouldn't make it in time, so she slid with both feet, laying out flat out on her back. Her feet connected perfectly right under the ball, lofting it right up into the net!! |
| 9/28: Too bad I had to miss the 1st half of Rebecca's practice! I got there for the World Cup scrimmage. I was very proud of her (her team won, but that was rather beside the point). After practice we always talk about the different strategies of WC vs a normal scrimmage; tonight when her team was chosen, she took a leadership position & advised her teammates of various startegies. Based on that, they set positions. Rebecca played the back to receive the serves - to take an immediate shot or pass into the wings. Her 1st few volleys didn't hit net so she began trapping & passing. The 1st one earned her an assist. The 2nd one she carried, faking past another back & then crashed the center, dribbling in and out of 4 players, then she shot for the goal. That earned them a semi-final spot. One thing that I liked was that, although one of her wings was calling & calling for the pass, she recognized that the wing was being marked & knew that she had a better chance on her own, so she didn't cave to the peer pressure. She scored 1 of 2 in each of the Semi & Final, as I recall. Then they did PK Championship, 1st double elimination, then single. She made her 1st two, putting her in the final, but hit the last ball barely over the crossbar to give up the championship -- however, then they did another championship .. with the left foot(!) As everyone else was complaining, she was rejoicing (because secretly, she has been practicing her left ft PK's!); anyway, she's known to have a left foot that almost as good as her right. She took home the championship for the left foot PK's! |
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| 10/2: Ocean View 5K: Wow! What a great race! Rebecca raced against Nat'l Youth Champions, Racing Clubs, etc. Too bad she just turned 10 (the age of the "Legendary Ledesma Triplets") - they were the only ones that beat her time. |
| 10/05: Scrimmage vs BU10 Blue: Tonight the girls scrimmaged the boys' top team; they won 2-1! |
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| 10/23: Arturo Barrios Invitational: This was an International Race with top National runners as well as those from Mexico (& other countries, I suppose). Once again Rebecca was denied the podium by the "Triplets." |
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| 11/06: Encinitas Turkey Trot:: This was a tough trail run over dirt hills - and - it was 2.4 miles! Rebecca ran against Girls Under 18 & placed in the top 3!! |
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| 12/10: USO Toys 4 Tots:: Rebecca beat all (boys & girls) in this 1/2 mile race! |
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| 12/29: Bumble Bee 5K:: Rebecca placed 5th in 12 yrs & under (beat by 2-12yr olds, 1-11, 1-10) in her 1st 5K race! |