Back to West Des Moines Premier Games

With 16 out of 17 families responding with a "yes" (one family has not yet responded), I will be sending in the application for the West Des Moines Premier Games this week.  I'm looking forward to a fun weekend full of soccer as our U11 team will also be down there at the same time.  I hope the weather is the same as the last two years.

I'm glad the parent group showed interest in attending this event again.  Though we are looking at a very busy spring, I believe that the lessons learned from this early-season competition will help put us in the best possible position to succeed through State Cup and, hopefully, into Regioanls.

Adding Another Event

I received an email today from the tournament director for the West Des Moines Premier Games (IA). They are really interested in getting us back to the event this year as the defending champs from 2006. I believe it is their thought that if we commit, it may help attract other higher level teams in.

The tournament has been a great experience for the girls the last two years. Quality fields, decent hotels with easy access to the fields, and a very manageable drive from the Twin Cities. The weather has also been extremely cooperative the last two years, but I know that by just saying this we'll probably be in for rain and cold this year :)

I had not planned on entering the tournament this year as we have the Jefferson Cup (Richmond, VA) in late March, then the Arsenal Elite Invite (Cincinnati, OH) in late April. Though I would have liked to do all three events with the girls, I hesitated to burden the parent group with the expense of three trips in a one month span. However, after receiving the solicitation email from the tournament, I decided to at least bring it up to the parents and see who would be interested.

Here is the email:

Guys,

This event really wants us back. See the email copied below.

This tournament is the weekend of April 14 and 15 in West Des Moines . We would return as the 2006 tournament champs.

I have been hesitant to bring this up as it would be sandwiched between VA in late March and Ohio in late April . However, a number of the girls have been asking if we’re going back, and some of you have mentioned it as well. Also, there is a chance that we will draw a play-in game for State Cup that will be played the weekend of Apr 27/28, preventing us from traveling to Ohio . We will know more about this after the draw in late March.

So… I am throwing this out there to see what interest we have. I recommend we attend. It has been a great event in the past; easy drive, nice hotels convenient to the fields, nice fields. Competition looks solid, especially if Eclipse joins up. I am already taking the U11s down there thus already planning on it, so if we get interest, I’ll sort out the schedules to be able to coach both teams.

I need a definitive yes or no response, not “ I guess we’ll make it if everyone else does. ” :) Don’t worry about offending me with a “no” because you won’t.

Technically this is a budgeted for expense, but with the addition of VA, the initial plan was to forego this event. Hotels are around $90 per night, other expenses would be around $50 per player. Parents who opt to stay in MN can look to send their girl with others.

Please try and get back to me by the end of the weekend.