Happy New Year!

Happy New Year...2011 is going to be the year of the Dragon! (Well, actually it is supposed to be 2013 according to the Chinese Zodiac...but as Dragons, we can pre-empt this so-called "Zodiac" that denotes its signs supposedly dividing the ecliptic into twelve equal zones of celestial longitude, cha right... far easier to just name the entire thing the year of the Dragon...or not....so the first 91st of 2011 is getting off to a flying start...get it, flying, year of the Dragon...I'm really rolling now, aren't I....don't answer that, totally hypothetical question).

So another long silence! What can I say, it took some time to get over the rough finish we had...there were a lot of wounds to lick. I think when I last wrote we had five to play and were right in the thick of things. Injuries and missed opportunities plagued us down the stretch, but no excuse, we just weren't ready to take that big step forward yet.

I know it is going to be a process of getting better and as my father-in-law always likes to remind me, Rome indeed was not built in a day! We saw some promise for sure in our group this year and with the start we had, I do believe we all thought this would turn.

There were for sure some positives to take away from the year. A massive learning experience for us all, coaching staff included. We secured another Philly Soccer Six Title with strong wins over Villanova 2-0 and Temple 3-1. Additionally, we scored more goals than the year past and let in far fewer. Progress was made no doubt, but when you don't end up on the right side of the one goal affairs (7 of our 10 losses were 1 goal losses) you know that the mentality is not quite there yet.

It was no surprise to see two of our most consistent players, Nathan Page (Norwich, England) and Ken Tribbett (Centennial, CO), earn All CAA Honors. Nate was a Second Team All-CAA selection and Kenny debuted on the All-CAA Rookie team. Congrats to both guys for their achievements.

I am thrilled that we have already begun our work on 2011...the team kicked off our non-traditional season with practice this past Tuesday night under the lights at Vidas. Despite the rust on a first touch or two, it was exciting to see the group ready to get after it. I truly look forward to this time of year, when we can really focus on developing the players as well as the team without the pressures and rigors of constantly preparing for our next opponent. We will be playing our Spring Season games throughout the month of April, so stay tuned for a game schedule.

We will be hosting an Alumni Outing at the Men's Basketball game against William & Mary (Lou Holtz once said the problem with William & Mary while he was coaching there was there were too many Marys and not enough Bills...) on Saturday, February 12 @ 2:00 pm in the Dragon Room at the D.A.C. Get it on your calendar and keep a look out for the e-vite in the very near future!

Stay in touch,
Doug