Dear MLU Members,

The last few months have seen some MLU teams enjoy great success whether in a

tournament, state cup or just regular league play. I think its great to know that our

coaches and trainers are doing a fantastic job with the development of all our play-

ers.

Quality soccer training exists in your town so there is no reason to take your child to

a PDA, Matchfit Academy, FC Delco or another town in our area or even outside our

area. We are producing skillful players and nurturing the talented ones and are now

competing with all of the so called elite clubs.

The training culture is moving slowly in the right direction and will only get better

as time goes on. Talking of training—the club organized a coaches clinic Oct 19 with

a theme of crossing & finishing, this was well received by the small amount of coach-

es that turned up—the club would like to encourage all coaches and trainers to at-

tend such clinics as a way of helping you out.

Good luck in your upcoming games and thank you for your continued support of

MLU!

See you on the pitch very soon!

Wayne Grocott

MLU Technical Director

Thanks a lot !

Thanks goes out to Peter Hecht and MAGNA legal services who made a donation to the MLU

sharks U12 boys at a cost of the MLU Columbus Day Tournament.

Message from the 1

Thank you ! 1

MLU Team Spotlight

Storm U12 Girls 2

MLU Team Spotlight

Gladiators U13 Boys 2

Schools Out Soccer

Camp

3

MLU Facebook 3

MLU Team Spotlight

Flash U14 Girls 4

MLU Team Spotlight

Fury & Revolution 4

MLU Team Spotlight

Warriors U11 Boys

5

MLU Team Spotlight

Blast U16 Girls

5

MLU Team Spotlight

Raptors U9 Girls

6

MLU TOPS Soccer

Spotlight

7

Concession stand 8

Inside this issue:

Message from the Technical Director

The Free Kick

OCTOBER 2012

MLU Team Spotlight

MLU Gladiators U13 Boys -

Season so far,

Won the Round of 16 National Championship Series State Cup game vs. Den of Lions (Newark, NJ), 3-1

Won the Mount Laurel Columbus Day Tournament, winning all 3 games - combined score of 13 goals for

and 2 against.

Loss in Penalty Kicks 4-3 vs. PDA Rooney (Ranked #1 in NJ, #4 in US Region I, Region I Champions, #7 in

US) in National Championship Series State Cup.

The Gladiators have also been invited to participate in MAPS CUP Invitational Tournament for the top level

MAPS and EDP teams. This is a Premier Elite tournament that is ranked the #1 tournament in Region I and

the #2 Ranked Boys tournament in the country.

MLU Team Spotlight

The MLU Storm (U12 Girls) recently completed a very successful holiday weekend by being crowned

the champs of the Explorer B bracket of the MLU Columbus Day Tournament. Displaying a timely

offense and a solid defense the Storm fashioned a record of 1-0-2 by defeating the Lumberton

Firecrackers 2-1 and then drawing with Highland (1-1) and Haddon Heights (1-1). Playing against

teams that were all ranked above them in the SJGSL the girls displayed a great amount of resolve

and determination which has been on display this entire fall season. In league play the Storm is

currently sitting atop the standings in the Eastern conference with a record of 6-0 and an impressive

goal differential of 17-3. Congratulations Storm, keep up the good work!

The Free Kick

SCHOOLS OUT! MLU SOCCER CAMP

Teachers will be away at an NJEA teacher’s conference on Thursday, November 8th and Friday, November

9th, 2012. We will hold a two day mini camp for boys and girls, 7 to 14 years of age. All area youth are wel-

come.

Emphasis is placed upon individual skill development, core techniques and small sided games. A player’s

relationship with the ball is the foundation for creating a skillful player. The MLU two day Camp focuses on

the introduction and mastery of skill. This is achieved through maximum ball contacts, expert coaching and

skill tests. Through our camp structure, an environment is created that keeps players invested in their own

development, long after the camp concludes. Each day will focus on many different topics from passing, con-

trol, shooting, defending, turning and dribbling.

The camp will run from 9am to 12 noon each day.

The registration fee is $30 per day and is due the morning of camp. The camp will be held outdoors in Mt.

Laurel at Memorial Turf fields on Mt Laurel Road. The camp will be run by Wayne Grocott and will also

consist of our regular professional training staff. If the weather or field conditions are poor the camp may be

cancelled. All players must be registered on line at the link below, by Friday, November 2, so that we can

schedule properly.

Please contact admin@mlusoccer.org to register your interest

The Free Kick

The MLU FACEBOOK website would like you to send in soccer

pictures, stories, game results, tournament scores and any oth-

er information about your team that you would like to share –

please send to Melissa Richards at outreach@mlusoccer.org

WE WANT TO HEAR

FROM YOU!!

The MLU Flash U14 Girls quarter final state cup game last weekend against PDA ended in dramatic style –

winning on PK's. This is the photo of the girls coming together after the keeper made the save on their 5th shoot-

er to win the game 4-3 and send the Flash into the Semi-Finals of the State Cup again. This is a great Photo!!!

The Keeper, who is the tallest on the team, is being tackled by the players so you can hardly see her.

Here is an update on the U-14 Flash since last August – Record is 45-6-6 with 37 shutouts!

1. 4 undefeated seasons in a row

1. MAPS South Division Champs – Fall 2012

2. JAGS Premier Division Champs – Spring 2012

3. JAGS Olympic Division Champs – Fall 2011

4. SJGSL Olympic Division Champs – Spring 2011

5. Champion in the U-15 bracket at the Turf Cup on Columbus Day Weekend and went 4-0-0

The MLU Fury U11 Girls won the Atlantic United Shore Cup on August 25th 2012. The team

scored 14 goals and conceded 1 in winning the tournament.

The MLU Revolution U12 Boys won the MLU Columbus Day Tournament Oct 6th 2012. The boys

won two games and tied 1 crowning them champions for the first time. Currently the Revolution are

sitting top of their division winning all six games thus far, keep up the good work.

MLU Team Spotlight

MLU Teams Spotlight

The Free Kick

The MLU Warriors U11 Boys won the MLU Columbus Day Tournament Oct 6th 2012 only allow-

ing one goal in three games. Currently the Warriors are in 2nd place in their division of the SJSL.

The MLU Blast U16 Girls won the SAC United college showcase tournament recently in MD—

without losing a game and playing teams ranked # 8, 11, 29 & 35 they managed to score 14 goals and

only concede 1 in 4 games. Great job ladies !

MLU Team Spotlight

MLU Team Spotlight

The Free Kick

The U9 girls travel team, the Raptors, is a brand new team this year. As was mentioned in the

previous MLU newsletter, they were beaten handily in their first ever travel team game by a much

more experienced Winslow team, 5-1.

Two weeks ago, they traveled all the way down to Upper Township. They started off well, controlling

play and getting the first goal from Grace "Pele' Kueny, her first ever travel team goal (Go Pele!).

However, Upper Township rebounded and completely dominated play, keeping the ball in the Raptors

end of the field almost the entire game and taking a 2-1 advantage. But the Raptors are a team that

never quits or lets up, and they pressed the action, with Sandy “Thunder” Grabowski netting a tying

goal with only 20 seconds left!

After four games where they could only manage two ties to go with two losses, it was time for the Rap-

tors to face the experienced and undefeated Winslow team again, this time at home. They pressured

Winslow early, and got a quick goal came when Sophia "Choochie" Bartasius found herself alone in

front of the net and slammed the ball home for a 1-0 lead. Winslow came out better in the second half,

getting a tying goal, and spending most of the half in the Raptors end. But the Raptors continued to

play tough, and the aggressive tackling, unrelenting pressure and big feet of Shannon "Lefty" Murray,

Sophia "Smiles" Schoenborn, Jianna "Jia" Lopez and Ally "Mad Cat" Hovdestad stifled the Winslow

attack and kept them from adding anything else to the scoreboard.

Finally, a sequence worthy of an older more experienced team. Shannon "Big D" DeFeo made a throw

in to Grace "Pele" Kueny. While four Winslow players closed on her, she made a nice pass to Sandy

"Thunder" Grabowski who quickly played a through ball into the middle to Sophia "Choochie"

Bartasius, who beat the last defender and placed a nice low shot into the corner for a 2-1 lead. That

lead came with only 2 minutes left (a recurring theme with the Raptors (who are relentless in their

hustle) and held up, handing Winslow their first loss of the season.

While the Raptors are constantly playing more experienced teams, they never play a team with more

heart and they are never out hustled. What coach wouldn't love that?

Wherever they played they were exhausted but they never stopped hustling, from Shannon "Lefty"

Murray, Sophia "Smiles" Schoenborn, Jianna "Jia" Lopez and Ally "Mad Cat" Hovdestad to Shannon

"Big D" DeFeo, Sandy "Thunder" Grabowski, Casey "Slugger" Cofksy, Grace "Pele" Kueny, Ella

"Rocket" Hecht and Sophia "Choochie" Bartasius. And it was fantastic to have Kaitlyn "Killer"

McDonald back. She saw her first action in about a month due to a fractured foot!

Finally, and definitely not least, we must mention the fantastic goal tending of Gabi "Red" Larese.

Whenever Winslow did manage to break through the Raptors defense, Gabi's aggressive play kept

many a bouncing ball in front from ending up in the Raptors net. Thanks, Red! It may be a one game

winning streak but it's a BIG one game winning streak! The coaches were really proud of their effort

against Winslow and happy for them that they got the win. Their effort paid off and they were really

excited after this one. It was a big boost to their confidence.

MLU Team Spotlight The Free Kick

The Free Kick

Mt. Laurel United is extremely proud to be New Jersey's 1st TOPSoccer program. US Youth Soccer TOPSoccer

(The Outreach Program for Soccer) is a community-based training and team placement program for young

athletes with disabilities. This program is organized by Paul & Martha Van Cleve and Mt. Laurel United Soccer

Association volunteers. The picture above was taken Oct 27th 2012, which was the last day of the season were

all players received trophy's.

About the program:

The program is designed to bring the opportunity of learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl, who has a

mental or physical disability. Our goal is to enable young, area athletes with disabilities to become valued and

successful members of the US YOUTH SOCCER family. Children with special needs, ages 5 to 13, from any area

township, are invited to participate. Beginners welcome! The games are schedule for Saturdays and a schedule

will be posted as the season nears. MLU staff trainers Andy Bairner & Patrick Green along with volunteer

coaches Jack and Gregg run the TOPSoccer sessions and experienced soccer players help out as "buddies" for the

disabled TOPSoccer participants, providing one - on - one support.

Moorestown Friends School has graciously offered their facilities for this program. Moorestown Friends School is

located on 110 East Main St., Moorestown, NJ. More details can be found on our website.

MLU TOPS Soccer Spotlight

Th

THE MLU CONCESSION STAND IS NOW OPEN FOR

BUSSINESS ON SATURDAY & SUNDAYS—PLEASE

STOP BY FOR YOUR COFFEE, HOTDOGS AND SNACKS

WHILE WATCHING A GREAT GAME OF SOCCER.

MLU endeavors to: Provide quality soccer instruction. Create a positive and nurturing environment.

Give players of all levels the opportunity to play soc-cer. Reinforce non-soccer specific skills such as: commu-

nication, teamwork, time management, responsibility,

discipline, and respect. Ensure all staff and volunteers work together, show-

ing professionalism and enthusiasm.

Provide staff with continuing professional develop-

ment opportunities, to keep their soccer skills and

knowledge current.

MLU Soccer Club

Mount Laurel United Soccer Association

3111 Route 38, #11, Suite 134

Mount Laurel, NJ 08054

Phone: 856-778-9549

Email: admin@mlusoccer.org