Our First Official "W"

~~ Surge v Pizzuto's: 3/25/09 ~~

Our first actual game included plenty of passing,

lots of moving to space & stepping to the ball,

and some truly impressive teamwork overall.

Way to play, ladies ~ 5-0 felt pretty good.

GOOOOO SURGE!!

Since the Jolly Rogers forfeited our 3/18 game we've now got two WINS on our record.

BUT LET'S NOT GET COCKY!

See you at the next match: and DON'T FORGET YOUR JERSEY! (Bri)

WE DID THE BIG CLIMB!

We soooo look like superheroes here. And really...we are. Think about it:

• 69 flights of stairs (at 19 steps each)
• 1,311 individual steps (plus the landings)
• 788 vertical feet
• $2,803 raised BY US [so far]

There's still time to donate ~ April 10 is the cutoff for us to raise funds. So do The Surge a favor click on over to http://www.llswa.org/site/TRC/Events/BigClimb?pg=tprogress&fr_id=1040 and throw down a few dollars. Seriously! Every penny counts. (Seventy-five cents of every dollar goes directly to RESEARCH, and it may suprise you to know that the research that LLS does on blood-borne cancers actually helps find avenues to cures for tumor-centered cancers [which are harder to study] -- so what the LLS is doing is really the center of it all.) We'd appreciate your help.

The Columbia Center is the tallest building in Seattle.

The view from the top is pretty impressive. Did you know that during business hours you can go to the observation deck for $5? Yeah. Look DOWN on the Space Needle. (take visitors here instead! It's cheaper and you can see farther!)

These scenic views were taken by our very own Nabela Koob, who surreptitiously snuck her camera along for her heart-pounding stairwell climb. WAY TO GO, Nabela...way to take some shots for the team!

Check out that picture above: the Smith Tower (lower left) used to be the tallest building in the city...until the Columbia Center came along and dwarfed it.

Our waterfront is pretty spectacular. Especially when you can see all the way to the Olympic Mountains. Mind you, on the day we did the Big Climb, we were lucky to see ANYTHING at ALL. The hundreds of sweaty bodies circulating the observation deck were doing a pretty good job of fogging the windows from the inside. Priceless.

Here we're enjoying the comforts of the escalator on the way down AFTER the climb...waters in hand, and smiles on faces. Well, everybody's smiling except Monique - who's folding her hands together in a way that indicates low blood sugar is imminent! ((but never fear, Monique: there were plenty of options - Panera bagels, yogurts, free energy bars...eat your heart out))

A number of our team opted to join the National Marrow Donor Program, which normally costs $100 to join (can you believe it!?) - so perhaps someday one of us will get the chance to literally help somebody save their life. More details at http://www.marrow.org/

How we finished....?

Well our fastest racer clocked in at twelve minutes and our oldest racer did it in 13:45....though she swears that if that fat dude in front of her would have MOVED HIS FAT ARSE when she asked him to let her pass (but his Maslow's needs were a lot more dire than hers, his pudgy feet wedged against each wall as he strove to remain upright & in motion, his sweaty paws grasping the hand rails on both sides of the stairwell for support as he dragged himself upward...he was like a big hairy X of a man filling the entire stairwell void....) -- she would have been able to finish closer to 13min flat... But since she was assuming some sort of victory-shot photo opportunity was awaiting her as she emerged from the stairwell, and since she had no way to pass the fat guy [aside from scaling his rotund, groaning mass from behind, which seemed HIGHLY unappealing] she just decided to let him finish first so she wouldn't have to have him in her "finishing photo."

Guess what: there WAS no "finishing photo."

She's not competitive at all.

OR egoistic.

No.

BUT LET'S MOVE ON TO THE ACTUAL FINISH TIMES:

(wanna see the numbers? then you must click on this image to enlarge it....we didn't want to brag TOO blatantly here).

You'll see here that a few of our team members' names aren't listed. Kerry, for example, who underestimated the clusterfark that would be happening in the parking garage just before our race time. And then there was Andy, who unknowingly signed up as a "climber" rather than a "racer" (& therefore didn't get a timing chip). And so forth.

Not bad, Surge! In fact...awesome!

Even our recently hospitalized team member did fantastic (considering the state of her lungs!) And those of you who were hung over....well, you make us proud too. In that 'extra-perky' way that hungover stair climbers make us proud. Such inspiration you provide! Heh! We RULE!

The Big Climb "Surge"

Here's one last shot of our fantastic team! Left to right, top to bottom:

• Bri "Babbilicious" Babb
• Jess "I'll Never Get Pnemonia Again" Whitsitt
• Nabela "Thank God She Brought Her Camera" Koob
• Kerry "The Timless Racer" Ward
• Brittany "Why Move Back to Kansas When Things Are So Awesome HERE" Kreimendahl
• Monique "It's OK to Call Me 'Mo'" LaFollette
• Emily "Self-Proclaimed Lagging Lungs" Glenn
• Ivy "I'm Playing A Soccer Tournament After This Race, Ain't No Big Thang" Bjornson
• Kristina "Let's Do This Again" Armenakis
• Sarah "Holy Crap She's Fast" Brooks
• Not Pictured: Sean "The Sprintmaster" Machak
• Not Pictured: Andy "Two-At-A-Time" Castle
• (...the dudes on our team decided to take our team photo for us, rather than be in our photo. But we love you, fellas. We do.)

People are talking: The Surge has made its mark! Doing something good for the community AND promoting awesome soccer values....pretty cool. Several women approached us, asking how they could join our team.

Word. See you at the game.

Let's bring it.

Go Surge.

Spring Schedule!

The Spring 09 schedule has finally been revealed!
Click this link below to keep up with Surge games and weekly practices.

SURGE Spring Schedule:
http://www.teamcowboy.com/schedule/73E7D720-7DF6-6552-F6F3-BD55DC5F095B/2674/public


Practices Continue!
Since mid-January, we've not let rain or snow or sleet or hail or (yay!) sun keep us from getting together for Sunday practices. From strength training to agility drills, from ball skills to scrimmaging: we plan to keep these Sunday practices going strong in tandem with our Wednesday night games.

(think, bikini body! think, 'wedding arms!' think, give-and-gos that take us there! think, powerSURGE!)

Anybody is welcome to join us for our practices, for our conditioning sessions at American Athlete Greenlake, and at our games. Field time preference is given to team members who come to practice, and subbing opportunities / team openings will go to those who show up & give it their all. We like familiar faces. We like consistency. We like to win!

Our next practice: Offense v. Defense Scrimmage at 1pm, Lower Woodland #2 on Sunday, 3/15/09.

Tournaments!
We're looking for a few regional women's open tournaments to participate in during summer/fall: if you've got a contact or know of a tournament somewhere in the area (BC? Oregon? Washington? Sure!) -- send it along to raincitysurge@gmail.com.


Below, see what The Surge has been up to the past few weeks.

"And here's the drill..." - Lorena and Betsy demonstrate.

Now it's our turn: dribbling technique, defensive strategy, "scissors," & more.



Here, we're putting it into action against the UW Women's Club team.

Our first-ever-playing-together-performance revealed that we're definitely competitive.

Bri moves so fast that this picture is blurry. (not complaining, just saying.)

Nice save, Keep.


Off the field, we've been sweating it out in the gym.

Core work, strength training, plyometrics, agility drills...

Good times.

Here, Britt and Bri are climbing some stairs in preparation for The Big Climb.

The Surge has assembled a team of 12 ~ together we're raising hundreds (maybe thousands!) of dollars that will help the Lukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The big climb is 1,311 stairs ~ 69 flights ~ ONE COMMON CAUSE: finding a cure.

See our Team Page:

http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/BigClimb/1020607002?pg=team&fr_id=1040&team_id=10640

And hey, donate!

Or join us!

We'll be huffing and puffing up to the top of the Columbia Tower on Sunday, March 22 at 9:30am.

While Brittany and Bri were on the stair mills, other members of the team found themselves working on the social aspect of soccer.


And then there's the pro's....

Betsy suggested a GRAND plan: get together to watch a professional soccer match to see the game played at its highest level!

"It's like soccer homework, but with BEER!"

We love our coach, she gives us realistic goals we can achieve.

Like black and tans, and soccer fans.

Monique & Bri at the George & Dragon.

Stacy & Katie at the George & Dragon.