Braving the Elements in the Name of Soccer

This team is hard-core.
After all...it was SNOWING!
Even so, twenty people showed up at our last practice for passing drills, some scrimmaging, and - as promised - PUSH-UPS.

Oh yeah, baby: The Surge has heart.

Next practice will be on SuperBowl Sunday....and we know how you love your American football, so we're planning a quick, thorough, awesome ass-busting workout indoors. Be on time and we'll end on time.

Train with us!
Sunday Feb 1, 2pm - 3pm @ American Athlete Greenlake.

If you're on the team be SURE to show up to try on jerseys to confirm your size! The order is being placed REAL SOON and we want you to LOOK GOOD!

One last reminder to team members: be sure to submit your bio if you haven't already...a few sentences of introduction will do! If you need creative help, let us know.

Send the goods to raincitysurge@gmail.com and hurry: our sponsor wants to make us famous real soon!

And we deserve famous, don't we?!

That's right.

Circuit Work & Full Team!

The latest Surge gathering involved a 32-station circuit workout! Betsy put us through the paces, encouraging participants to work on good form and strength building. See photos below.

Our next practice will be outside at Bobby Morris Park, 3pm on January 25.

We're happy to say that a healthy number of team members paid their Spring fees, which brings us to a very exciting and important announcement: THE TEAM ROSTER IS NOW FULL FOR SPRING 2009.

If you are a committed team member but haven't yet paid (you know who you are...and so do we!), be sure to pay by Feb 1 - either online at http://www.raincitysoccer.org/Payment.aspx or get us a check - doing it by check will save you $3!

For next week's outdoor practice, be sure to come dressed for the weather & bring the following:
- water!
- a ball! (we all need one - it's soccer, ladies...and soccer takes balls)
- your check if you haven't already
- your awesome selves!

The plan for this Sunday (space-permitting) is to run some passing drills, do some scrimmaging, and do MORE PUSHUPS! Yeah!

Our practices remain open to EVERYONE, so we're hoping to see you there whether you're 'on the team' or not! Please sign up on Team Cowboy so we can plan for the # of people who will be there - if you're not a member of the Rain City Surge on Team Cowboy, please email raincitysurge@gmail.com and we will invite you to join!

After all, practice is where it all happens -

just see the photos below for proof!

(special thanks to Lucero's sister for taking some snazzy snaps!)

Kerry and Jess fill out the paperwork: membership has its privileges!

Betsy tells us what to expect.



One minute of magic!


Rotate!

Switch again!

Push it.

Watch that form!

Wendy & Lynn fill out their membership forms for American Athlete.

Welcome to the team!

See you at practice.

Next Practice: 3pm at American Athlete Greenlake on Sunday Jan 18

The first-ever Surge soccer practice boasted 22+ enthusiastic players, some eager on-lookers, & plenty of interest. It was inspiring to see our active and talented players show up ready to sweat.



And sweat we did.
Coach Betsy put the team through its paces: thighs (& other various muscle groups) are still burning as the core-strength-intensive warm-up launched a series of drills involving trapping, short-passing, sprinting, and strength-building.


Quotes we heard during our first practice (& since) include:
"This is a workout!"
"I'M LOVING it!"
"I'm impressed."
"My adductors love soccer."
"Holy squats! I need to do more of this!!"
"This is...like...a real practice! Awesome!"
(and, our favorite:)
"When are we meeting again!?"


The answer:
Our next practice will be Sunday January 18, 3pm-4:30pm at American Athlete Greenlake.

"We're working toward great fitness and great soccer skills - you just can't have one without the other," observed team co-founder Jess Whitsitt.

"Which is why all players who financially commit to the team will get a full gym membership at our sponsoring gym, American Athlete Greenlake (score!), while players who are just looking to join us for practices are always welcome to come (free of charge) for designated practice sessions.

"We're looking to build a community of hard-core women soccer players who are fit, strong, and injury-free. Our plan is to alternate outdoor conditioning, skill drills and scrimmages with indoor training at our sponsoring gym. "

(find out more about the gym at http://www.americanathletegreenlake.com/)

Want to commit to the team? Good! Show us the money. Our first team fee [for Spring] is $100, payable January 18 by check (or cash). If you prefer, use the convenience of PayPal at http://www.raincitysoccer.org/Payment.aspx - - but just be aware that there's a $3 "convenience fee" added onto that, so if you go that route it will cost you $103. "Easy" comes at a premium! Ha.

We're looking to have 100% of our spring roster identified by February 1 -- that means everybody who plans to play with us in WSWSA in the Spring Season (early March) needs to pay up!

Remember: everybody who shows up for practices will get the conditioning and practice we've got planned - so even if you can only join us for Sunday practices, we're loking forward to you being a part of The Surge community!

BUT!! Paying team members get more...snazzy jerseys...a wicked-awesome gym membership...and guaranteed play-time during the Spring season [& beyond, as long as you keep paying!], bragging rights, and more. (heh)

Be in the know - become a member of the Rain City Surge on Team Cowboy! Practices and other team events are announced here, but in order to get the most up-to-the-minute information, please email raincitysurge@gmail.com and let us know you'd like to be a part of the Team Cowboy list.

Practices Begin!

~~Get Your Practice On~~

Practices Begin January 11

2pm-3pm at Bobby Morris Playfield

(at 11th Ave & E. Pine on Capitol Hill)

EVERYBODY WELCOME

Calling all interested women

who aren't afraid of playing outdoors

in any weather!

Bring a ball.

Be ready to run.

Be there rain or shine (or snow, grr).

OUR PRACTICE PLAN includes amping our soccer skills and general fitness from good to great. And beyond. We're starting outside practices on Jan 11 - so be ready for whatever the weather brings! We will alternate outdoor practices with indoor training sessions too at our sponsoring gym, American Athlete Greenlake (at no charge for Rain City Surge team members!) - the idea is to compliment our field scrimmaging, outdoor skill drills & conditioning by incorporating circuit-workouts and strength training. Check out the gym at http://www.americanathletegreenlake.com/.

We'll be posting our practice and conditioning schedule using our Team Cowboy page. To be a part of it all, please email us at raincitysurge@gmail.com and we'll invite you to the Team Cowboy community.

If you're not "ready for that kind of commitment," you can always find info about our practices at http://www.raincitysoccer.org/Home.aspx?Team=Rain%20City%20Surge. Also, find us on Facebook where we will announce practices and events as well.

OUR GAME PLAN includes playing this Spring with WSWSA (competitively!)...So if you're serious about this team, bring your checkbook. Nobody's going to make you pay to practice with us - but we will need to slap some cash down to reserve a spot for Spring play pretty soon. So during this first practice we'll be talking team fees and things of that nature.

Player cards! If you plan to play with us, you will need a player card issued by the Washington State Soccer Association. Please get one now so you're ready - details are at: http://www.wssa.org/player.php

Thanks to everyone who braved the snowstorm on Jan 4 to meet for our first info session - and thanks to everybody who's already contacted us via email expressing interest. We're stoked about how many soccer ladies are feeling The Surge....

Hope to see you all 2pm Sunday Jan 11 at Bobby Morris!

Questions etc - send them to raincitysurge@gmail.com.