So where does that leave us heading into our 2005 season? Our school district will now institute a pay to participate fee for all clubs and sports throughout the system as many districts locally have already done. I am told there are two reasons for this: 1) the continued lack of funding from the state and 2) the lack of “gate” money being made at varsity sports. People just don’t come out and watch us enough. Therefore, athletes will now have to pay $50 to play sports at CFHS. Although this is far better than the $400 we were faced with if the levy had not passed, it still poses a problem for many of our lower income families and a burden for all parents who are also asked to pay for summer leagues, winter leagues, socks, shoes, guards, etc. etc. etc.

If we carry 40 players between varsity and junior varsity we are looking at $2000 to cover their pay to participate fees. What I would like to see from the alumni is to double the donations we receive in a given year. Typically we take in about $500 a year which covers the maintenance of our high school web site at http://www.cfhssoccer.com www.cfhssoccer.com and allows us to buy t-shirts for the alumni game. And though I am ever so grateful for all our alumni have done, I don’t believe $500 is a great amount given our 200 plus members! If you would like to “sponsor” a player you could send us a check for $50, if you can only afford half a player…a check for $25.

This, of course, would cover your dues in order to play in our annual alumni game which is discussed at the close of this letter. For many of us a $25 or $50 donation is less than we spend on a dinner or a night out. But remember what it meant in high school when you were trying to scratch money together for that date or the gas for the car. I remember many soccer days where whomever drove to practice was asking for “gas money” for their driving us to and from practice. The boys today face these similar things and gas is, of course, much more expensive now! As their coach, I feel it is my responsibility to at least try and fundraise the money for these young boys to not have to pay to participate while still being able purchase the necessary equipment for the program. I hope you will choose to help us in this endeavor.

Now if I can take a moment I will catch you up on the 2004 campaign which saw us take that next step toward returning competitive soccer here to CFHS again. We still have a very young team with only 5 seniors graduating and only 3 starting. Our biggest loss will come with the graduation of our goalkeeper for the past 3 years, Nate Rausch. Nate received All-District and All-WRC honors this year and will be attending Urbana University next fall to play ball. Also receiving first team honors was sophomore Blake Claflin, who last year had received second team honors. This year’s second Team All-WRC awards went to junior Cory Leister and freshman Anthony Mara, while honorable mention was bestowed upon seniors Dave Barry and Daniel Koch. Our team on a whole improved steadily as the year progressed and peaked in the playoffs defeating Washington Massillon and Twinsburg before losing in the District Semi-finals to Stow who eventually lost to District Champions Jackson. The boys trained hard all season and kept a great attitude throughout. I am very proud of their efforts.

Our coaching staff this year consisted of ’92 CFHS alum Brandon Olivo serving in his second year as the varsity assistant coach and a newcomer to the program, Greg Lamey, who arrives via his home country of Jamaica to provide some new views and training ideas for our teams. Greg will return next year to run the JV team, but unfortunately Brandon’s position was cut by our district and he was asked to help coach the girls at a neighboring school that wears maroon and gold (not to mention them by name). We were also helped by a number of alumni who frequently came and practiced with the varsity and offered ideas and encouragement for the boys, and for that I am greatly indebted. I have been here 10 years now and it has always been my goal to create such a family within our team that alumni would want to come back and help and give back to our team and community. So great thanks to Dave, Savy, Eric, Tom and Matt for your dedication to our “family.” I look forward to having you guys help out in many other ways for years to come. I would also encourage any other help from the alumni that you can give. A special thanks goes out to Mark Sabino who sent enough Adidas backpacks for each player on the team. Donations like this are great and I really cannot begin to express how thankful we are for them. One thing I would still like to see more alumni involved with is in the coaching of our youth soccer teams. These boys and girls are so desperate for coaches who have played the game and can teach them about “the beautiful game.” It is something that takes one or two nights a week after work (school) and a game on the weekends. Find another alum who is interested and coach the team together. I will gladly help anyone who is willing. Just give me an email or phone call! WE REALLY NEED YOUR INVOLVEMENT!

We look hopeful toward this next year. Many of the seniors are in their third year of varsity ball and are expected to dominate their positions. We look forward to the return of Andrew Thomas whom we lost last year due to an ACL injury, as well as some exceptional freshman talent that we expect to have an immediate impact on the varsity. Our numbers have risen again to about 40 and we have a large and talented group of freshman coming in, many of which benefited from the two years of middle school soccer. It is truly a shame that this program has been cut, but we will fight for its return in the coming years.

Finally, I need to give everyone a head’s up on the alumni game scheduled for next fall. We tried two games last year; one where the alumni played themselves and one in which the alumni squared off against the varsity. Many have complained that the game being held in August is during summer vacations and it is difficult to put everything down in the summer and head to a match that we are all tooooo out of shape to play in! Thus your alumni board got together and conjured up a fall contest set for Saturday September 10th under the lights of Laybourne Field. Game time is 6.30pm and we can then go out for dinner and drinks after. That being said, many still wanted to keep the alumni v. varsity game; so we did. That game will take place during our preseason on Saturday August 13 at 5pm. Hopefully, this will give many of you two chances to drop by and say hello to old friends and to make some new ones. Even if you cannot play, we would still like to have you there to be recognized. Your board is looking at ways to make the event MORE OF AN EVENT and particular details surrounding the games will be made available in a summer news letter. What we ask now is that you save the date(s) on your calendar and to SEND YOUR DONATIONS NOW. In previous years we have had a great deal of you pay the night of the game and that becomes difficult financially for us. Plus, in asking you to “sponsor” a player this year so they don’t have to pay the $50 fee, it is imperative that we receive the money BEFORE AUGUST so that we can divide it up between the boys before camp begins.

Thank you all so much and I look forward to see this summer and fall.

Todd Hartong

write checks out to: CFASA
CFHS Soccer mail to: John Andrea

CFASA
c/o Todd Hartong
1614 23rd St.
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223