The Keeper
Once Upon A Dream 1
For The Love of The Game 2
PSC Soccer Ball 3
PSC Goalkeeping Program 4
2015 Portage Classic Logo
Competition Winner! 4
Tournament Merchandise 5
PSC Giving Back to The
Community
6
How Can You Help? 7
PSC Partners with Gazelle
Sports 7
FAQ: Frequently Asked
Questions
8
Meet Our PSC Parent
Representatives
10
Concessions Update 12
Photo Board 13
PSC Practice Facility
Expansion
14
PSC Board 14
Inside this issue:
November 2014
The Keeper
Once Upon A Dream
The Portage Soccer Complex owned and operated by
the Portage Soccer Club opened in 2002. None of our
current players have ever played a home game at an-
other venue. Here’s a brief history lesson on how it
came to be. . .
PSC home games were first played at the former
Michigan Independent Soccer League (MISLE) Soccer
Complex now the PSC practice facility from 1985 to
1996. In 1996, the MISLE lease expired and the property reverted to its
owner, Pharmacia & Upjohn, L.L.C. After the closure of the MISLE com-
plex PSC teams played its home games at River Oaks County Park.
In September 1996, MISLE purchased the land where the Portage Soccer
Complex is via a land contract. Its player numbers dwindled and were
absorbed into AYSO Region 74 in early 1999. Facing a default on its land
contract, MISLE sold the property to the PSC in May 1999. The PSC
agreed to move forward with the development of a soccer complex receiv-
ing site plan approval from the City of Portage in June 1999.
Ground breaking for the Portage Soccer Complex was on May 11, 2000.
During 2000 and 2001 construction seasons the property was mass
graded, underground storm drainage installed, irrigation system in-
stalled, fencing and gates (over a mile long!) installed and the fields
seeded. In September 2001, work began on the concession and storage
building and continued throughout the winter. A hardy band of PSC vol-
unteers worked every weekend but one to complete the building by April
2002.
The last step was the paving of the parking lot on April 18, 2002. The
steam rollers were still compacting the asphalt as the first cars arrived
for AYSO games that evening. A formal dedication of the complex fol-
lowed on May 10th.
The Portage Soccer Complex was just a dream in 1990 when a small
group of volunteers began meeting to plan it. It has now been open 12
years approximately the number of years it took to plan and build it. I
guess dreams can come true!
PAGE 2 THE KEEPER November 2014
For The Love of The Game
Have you ever noticed whenever you turn around all you hear about are the negative stories involving
society? That’s because the media has discovered controversy and issues sell space and boost ratings.
To test my theory, I just Googled the words “Soccer Coach”. I then clicked on the word “News” and im-
mediately found stories of “Smokey Hill Players use slurs” and then “Youth Soccer Coach sent Inappro-
priate texts”.
What we don’t see is the true human interest stories like our very own Coach Vu Le. Many of you may
not have had the good fortune to have had him as a coach, but I can guarantee you his influence has
touched your team. As our Technical Director of Coaching, he is involved with providing guidance to
all coaches on both tactical and technical player development. If you ever need to find him all you need
to do is hit the practice fields where he typically is coaching anywhere from 3-5 teams each year.
Now some people seem to think he does this because he gets paid a lot to do it. Well if this was a
game show you would have heard the buzzer going off indicating you were wrong. Coach Vu doesn’t
typically take any money. In fact his Technical Director of Coach stipend is regularly donated right
back to the club. So what's in it for him? It’s simple, Coach Vu does it for the love of the game. As
a parent who has had him as a coach and someone who has spent years working with him on the PSC
board, I can honestly tell you, that’s all he needs. He simply loves helping both kids, coaches and the
community and to him the feeling he gets from this is truly priceless.
In 2006, the Le family was the first family to have 4 children playing for the club, Viet, Nam An &
Binh. At that time he was roped into coaching by our very own David Rice. That season he helped
coach 4 teams and since then obviously he has never let up. He still spends countless hours helping
our club, and I say countless because it’s true. I tried to add it up and I eventually lost count.
Even with this incredible time commitment he still
finds time to seek out additional training opportunities
for himself so he can bring this education back to us.
In 2013, he was able to attend and complete the exten-
sive National B License training program. This pro-
gram was a serious time commitment as he was re-
quired to complete over 20 hours of classroom training
along with another 48 hours of field time.
Behind every good man is always a Great
Women. Without the Love and support of
Vu’s wife Anh, we as a club would not have
been able to benefit from his time, passion
and support he continues to give back to
PSC.
Vu and Anh continue to be positive role
models for coaches players and parents alike. Vu thank you for all that you do
and Anh thank you for sharing him with us! The Le family continues to support the PSC family not for
the notoriety, income or any other reason other than simply for “The Love of The Game.”
PAGE 3 THE KEEPER November 2014
PAGE 4 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
This fall, the Portage Soccer Club added a new training opportunity for players. On Wednesday and
Thursday evenings, goalkeepers of all ages received training specifically targeted at improving their
technique and game management. Training topics ranged from such fundamentals as footwork,
proper ball-catching, and diving to more advanced tactics like positioning and breakaways. Each
training session typically had more than 20 goalkeepers participating, and coaches Brian Boukalik,
Russ Randall, and Tom Mellinger divided the kids into smaller groups based on age.
Going forward, coaches will be provided with some tools that incorporate their field players with
goalkeeper training. In addition, suggested pre-game warm-ups will be developed to ensure that
goalkeepers are prepared both mentally and physically for each match. The club is also hoping to
put on some winter training clinics for goalkeepers.
The NSCAA offers education clinics for coaches interested in learning more about training goalkeep-
ers. Each year there are a few of these clinics in Michigan. Please contact Tom Mellinger if you are
interested in attending one of these or if you would like help with goalkeeper training in the spring.
PSC Goalkeeping Program
Congratulations to Hannah (Vinnie) Hoffman. She plays on the Girls Portage SC 01 Green
team. She designed the winning logo! She was one of eight players who submitted logos
this year and was selected by the tournament board with a majority vote. To vote, the
tournament board only get to see the designs, not who submitted them.
For having the winning logo she receives a free Tournament
Sweatshirt, t-shirt and a pizza
party for her team.
Thanks to those who submitted
designs. Presentations will be
made at the June club wide meet-
ing.
2015 Portage Classic Logo Competition Winner
PAGE 5 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
The Portage Soccer Club is having a huge sale on all our old Tournament Appeal. We have items from
this past tournament and all the way back to 2007. Prices range from $12 to $5. Prices simply can’t be
beat. Some quantities are limited so please be sure to order early.
Please visit the website main page to see the items and to get more information.
PAGE 6 THE KEEPER November 2014
St. Augustine Cathedral School recently constructed a soccer field and
playground improvements at its downtown Kalamazoo campus.
Dubbed “love thy neighbor” project, the improvements will be used by
students during the school day and the neighborhood when school is not
in session.
While the soccer field was nearing complete, it was still missing soccer
goals when school resumed. In stepped the Portage Soccer Club through an anonymous donation a set
of U11/U12 goals were purchased. On a recent Sunday morning PSC volunteers Sean Bowser, Verne
Genisio, David Rice and Greg Strayer assembled the goals and laid out and lined the soccer field. Can
you imagine the excitement when the children arrived at the school on Monday morning?
“I brought my son to school this morning. He was so excited to see the goals up and the
field striped...he can’t wait for recess.” Mike Flynn—Project Architect
“Thank you very, very much. The goals are wonderful. I’ll take some photos today of the
kids using the field.” Andra Zommers—Principal
“Thank you very much for the PSC’s significant contribution and efforts in making this
happen for the kids.” St. Augustine Boosters
PSC Giving Back to The Community.
PAGE 7 November 2014
How Can You Help?
The Portage Soccer Club is looking forward. In order to ensure we take the right path we have put
together 4 committees to look at every aspect of our club, what is working, what is not and how we
can improve These committees include: Facilities, Operations, Communications and Coaching
Education.
If you have any suggestions for these committees please feel free to contact the chairperson from
the group below.
Facilities Operations Communications Coaching Education
Gordon Groves Tom Mellinger Ken Pope Wayne Harpenau
Portage Soccer Club together with Gazelle Sports are excited to "play it forward" by sharing the
gift of soccer. There is a need of uniforms for future soccer players and we are in a position to help.
The PSC has developed a uniform recycling program with Gazelle Sports. We need your help. The
PSC will collect any uniform from the previous years kit which you are willing to donate.
I will collect the uniforms and take them to Gazelle for distribution. Donated items will be ac-
cepted beginning in April at the Practice Facility and will continue the collection process each
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through the month.
This a great way to share the sport we love. Thanks for your help and for making a difference!
Jay Hoffman
V. P. Uniforms
PSC Partners with Gazelle Sports
PAGE 8 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: At what age can you start playing in Elite or Premier Leagues?
A: Elite currently begins at U12 while Premier begins at U13. However, there has been talk
about the possibilities of Elite beginning at U11 somewhere down the road.
Q: Can you explain the difference between Select, Elite and Premier Leagues?
A: Each of those are different leagues with different ranges in competitive levels. WMYSA and
GVSA both have Select levels of play. This is where the majority of teams play. We also have
Elite which is an interleague program with teams from GVSA (Grand Rapids), CASL
(Lansing) and WMYSA. Typically the top teams from these leagues move into Elite to play
each other. Teams that do well in Elite will sometimes then move on to Premier. The Premier
league is bigger and predominantly on the East side of the state. Because of its size the com-
petitive levels range from Classic Divisions (similar to Select/Elite) to Premier Divisions.
Q: How do you get to play in Elite and Premier Divisions?
A: Typically the top three teams from the U11 WMYSA division in the Spring get recommended
to move up into Elite. Then beginning at U13, Elite utilizes a promotion relegation system
where the bottom 3 teams in the Elite division are relegated back to the Select level of play.
Teams that win their WMYSA division will then be recommended for Elite placement. How-
ever, it should be noted recommendation is not a guarantee.
Teams wanting to play in Premier can do it in one of two ways. By placing in the top half of
the Elite division during a fall season, WMYSA will automatically sponsor the team into the
Premier League. If the team did not come in the top half of Elite then they would need to peti-
tion the board for sponsorship. The board will only sponsor teams they feel have a proven re-
cord .
Q: We received our child's player evaluation. Is there a process in place for us to
evaluate our coach?
A. Absolutely, our Director of Coaching welcomes feedback from parents. Like players this is just
one way we can help our coaching staff reinforce what they do well and better understand all
areas to improve upon.
There are several ways to get the evaluation. You can get a form sent to you by your manager
or parent representative. You go also go to .the club website, under Team Information/Club
Administration/Managers Page you will find a tab at the bottom labeled Forms. The coach
evaluation form can be found there. Or just go to this link.
http://portagesoccer.com/pscManagersPage/forms/CoachEval2011.pdf
PAGE 9 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: My daughter’s team came in 1st place, do they get trophies?
A: This depends, WMYSA does give each player on the winning team something. In the past
they gave out championship pins. This past year they began converting over to giving out
Championship T-shirts.
There are some teams where the parents chip in for trophies for the kids; but that is done on
a team by team basis. To get more information we recommend you speak with the team
manager.
Q: Our team has won several Tournaments and has even beaten some teams ranked in
the top 20 in the state, how come our ranking doesn’t show?
A. That’s a great question because most people don’t fully understand how it actually works and
what it all means. The way GotSoccer rankings are setup is to only look at the team record
from league play, State Cup Tournament and other GotSoccer Tournaments. In order to re-
ceive ranking points for GotSoccer the league or tournament must have done scheduling
through GotSoccer. If it didn’t use GotSoccer then it will be excluded for the point system.
In order to earn ranking points every GotSoccer Tournament is classified into one of two main
categories: Premier Elite Tournaments or Premier Tournaments. Based on the level of the
competition in that tournament points are awarded to teams that win. Each tournament’s
flights are then assigned a value based on the Top 5 teams in that flight. Points can range
from as high as 6,5000 to as low as 400. Points are then awarded based on how the team per-
formed. GotSoccer then ranks teams by overall points. The team with the most points in the
rankings is ranked higher.
PAGE 10 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
Hello Parents,
My name is Mike Hensley. I have just taken a position on the PSC Board as one
of the Parent Representatives. My family and I are a residents of the Portage
community. I am employed at Graphic Packaging in Kalamazoo and my wife
Corry is a 1st grade teacher in the Portage Schools. We have two daughters,
Abby who is a Junior at Portage Northern High School and Audrey who is an 8th
grader at Portage North Middle School.
We moved to the Portage area in 2009 after I was transferred with my job. Our
daughter Audrey started out in AYSO soccer when we first came to town. We
were introduced to PSC in the spring of 2012 when Audrey joined PSC’s ‘01 girls
team at U11. We have played with the club now for two and half years. I am also the team manger
for the ’01 Green Girls team which my daughter plays on.
As a parent rep, I want to see every family have the experience our family has had since joining
PSC. This is such a great organization with exceptional coaches and people involved. I look forward
to getting to know more of you as your parent representative.
Thanks, Mike Hensley
Meet Our Parent Representatives
Hello
My name is Rick Beam and I am new to the PSC Board serving as a Parent
Representative. I have lived in Portage since 2003 with my wife Jennifer, my
daughter Grace, and my son Justin. I am an Operations Manager for Perrigo,
my wife is a teacher in Plainwell, my son is a sophomore at Eastern Michigan
University, and my daughter, who plays goal keeper for the ’00 Green playing
Premier, is a freshman at Portage Northern.
We have been a PSC family for 2 1/2 years now since Grace came to Paul
Knight's team from one of the other clubs. We have friends on many other
PSC teams and have thoroughly enjoyed our time with the club...so much that I am also the Manager
for Grace's team.
My main goal as a Parent Rep is to ensure that all of my PSC families have as positive of an experi-
ence as my family. I am open to discussing any topics you want to bring to me. I will do what I can
to help any family in the PSC club, and if I can't, I will take the issue to the board to discuss solu-
tions.
Thanks, Rick Beam
PAGE 11 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
Hi Parents,
PSC has a long-standing reputation for being a distinguished club. They pro-
vide great leadership, talented coaches and wonderful families. My family
has been a part of Portage Lightning for the last 2 years. I have a 13 yr old
son and 11 yr old daughter (’03 Green) and work full time as an accountant at
the W.E. Upjohn Institute. I’m excited to be a part of helping to keep the
prominent tradition of PSC going. I look forward to meeting many new faces
in my role as Parent Representative.
Thanks, Sheila Meyle
Meet Our Parent Representatives
Mike Hensley
02 Yellow Girls: Saucier
00 Green Girls: Knight
98 Girls: Orwin
97 White Girls: Orwin
05 Green Boys: Boukalik
05 White Boys: Soule
03 Green Boys: Kish
03 White Boys: Burhans
97 Green Boys: Le
97 White Boys: Kelly
Rick Beam
06 Green Girls: Leone
06 White Girls: Leone
02 Green Girls: Harpeneau
02 White Girls: Harpeneau
99 White Girls: Saunders
06 Boys: Lovell
04 Green Boys: Henry
04 White Boys: Zoeller
Sheila Meyle
Academy Coed: Murry
05 Green Girls: Murry
05 White Girls: Murry
02 Green Boys: Twiehause
02 White Boys: Pope
01 Green Boys: Lam
01 White Boys: Lam
99 Boys: Daranijoh
Russ Randall
04 Green Girls: Kreps
03 Green Girls: Le
03 White Girls: Le
03 Yellow Girls: Le
01 Green Girls: Rice
01 White Girls: Rice
97 Girls: Abdo
98 Green Boys: Rice
Your parent representatives are each assigned specific teams. To see who has your team please look at the below list.
It can also be found on our website under board contacts.
Parent Representatives Team Assignments
PAGE 12 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
Concession Update
As many of you may remember, our Concessions was closed dur-
ing the Spring 2014 season and with the help of a couple of great
ladies (and their families) stepping up, we opened our windows
again this Fall. The task of keeping open includes many hours,
but can also be very rewarding. So while our club grows, so does
the need for more members to help oversee the hours we are able
to keep open each weekend.
The league has changed the scheduling format over the last couple of years and our complex is open
several more hours to get in all of our games. So, our VP of Concessions is looking for 4-5 people to
help take on manager/supervisory roles. This way we can keep the concessions open without overbur-
dening a couple of people to spend their weekend locked in the building. If you can give a few Satur-
days and/or Sundays during the season to help supervise and keep the concessions open, please con-
tact Cheryl Kucharski [email protected]. Cheryl would be glad to give you more complete
details on how this could work.
PAGE 13 NEWSLETTER TITLE NOVEMBER 2014
PHOTO BOARD
The Portage Soccer Club began in 1985 and
gained status as an incorporated non-profit organi-
zation in February 1991. Starting with only four
boys’ teams playing in the West Michigan Youth Soccer Association (WMYSA). Today PSC is one of
the largest clubs in WMYSA, fielding a combination
of thirty-one boys and girls teams playing from U9
all the way to U19.
Although PSC has changed in size over the years,
our philosophy of emphasizing player development
over winning has remained and our teams have
performed very well on the field in terms of both
skill and results. Our belief is players, parents, the
club, and the community will always "win through development" supporting youth to their maximum
potential.
PSC owns and maintains the Portage Soccer Com-plex at 4422 Bishop Road (east of Sprinkle and
south of Bishop/Romence) where home games are
played. This nine field complex opened in 2002 and
President: David Rice
Treasurer: Tom Mellinger
Secretary: Kim Maystead
VP Coaches: Wayne Harpenau
Dir. Tech Development: Vu Le VP Communications: Ken Pope
VP Concessions: Cheryl Kucharski
VP Fundraising: Amy Areaux
VP Uniforms: Jay Hoffman
Registrar: Dana Pope
Parent Representatives: Mike Hensley, Russ Randall
Rick Beam
Sheila Meyle
Field Manager: Gordon Groves
Web Master: Ken Pope Tournament Directors: David Rice & Ken Pope
BUSINESS NAME
We’re on the web
Www.PortageSoccer.com
PSC HISTORY
PSC Practice Facility Expansion
The Portage Soccer Club operates the best soccer facilities in west and southwest Michi-
gan. The Portage Soccer Complex ~ the premier 9 field venue in the state and the PSC
practice facility ~ 8 fields dedicated solely to PSC training is not far behind. Our PSC
families are fortunate to have these facilities all of which are maintained by volunteers.
The growth of the PSC has led to the need for additional training fields. Under develop-
ment are two additional fields in the northeast corner of the practice facility. This area
was graded and leveled this fall using soils from the field drainage projects at our main
site ~ the Portage Soccer Complex. The fields will be seeded in spring 2015 and should be
playable the following year.