#CASLThrowbackThursday

#CASLThrowbackThursday

As many of you know, CASL was established in 1974, which means we are roughly 6 months away from entering our 40th Anniversary. A lot has happened over the past 40 years, and we'd like to start collecting and sharing those stories and pictures. Our first #CASLThrowbackThursday image is of the '77 Spartans - CASL's first National Champions. We hope that you will add your  "old school" CASL pictures to twitter, Facebook  and/or Instagram and give us a hashtag shoutout so we can start compiling all of these wonderful, fashionable pictures! Just look at those uniforms. I was playing U-11 around this time, and I remember those Adidas uniforms: hardly absorbed any sweat, were over-sized, and were a nice polyester-blend type material. 

'77 CASL Spartans: 1995 National Champions

I have to highlight a few ladies and a gentleman in this picture:

- Melissa Sutton (back row, 7th from left): Melissa was an all-star standout at Furman University (my alma mater) from '96-'99. She is ranked NUMBER 7 for all time leading scorers in the South Conference. She tallied 37 goals and 32 assists for 106 total points in her career.

- Liz Burnette Gibbons (front row, second from left): She and I didn't know each other too much growing up, but our paths have since collided as we share mutual friends and both of our families visit the same beach!

-Beth Silverstein (front row, first on left): Beth and I grew up in the same neighborhood and my parents are still just houses away from hers. Shoutout to the Blenheim neighborhood that produced lots of other soccer standouts in Raleigh

-Coach Izzy Hernandez (first on left, standing): my former high school coach at Broughton. He is not only part of the CASL Hall of Fame but also the NC Soccer Hall of Fame. 

Whether it was 40 years ago, 20 years ago, or 20 hours ago, please share your throwback pictures with us on Facebook, Twitter (@caslnc #CASLThrowbackThursday), and/or Instagram. We are now in a digital age, and we want to remember all of the hard-copy pictures out there - take a picture or scan them with your Iphone or other smartphone and post them to social media!

Call for Nominations - CASL Spotlight

CASL Spotlight

Do you know a parent who has gone the extra mile behind the scenes to keep your team organized and moving in the right direction? Or, perhaps, you saw a player display good sportsmanship by helping an opposing team member off the ground? Or, maybe you would like to recognize a player's achievements off the field: honor roll, volunteer hours, or college acceptance. Another option would be to recognize an entire group of people (team, coaching staff, etc.). There are countless recognition opportunities that are going on in CASL on and off the field, and we want to know about them! 

I strongly encourage you to submit someone you know for the CASL Spotlight. He/She will be featured in the weekly CASL Connection (e-newsletter) that is sent to all of our members and also receive recognition through social media. We can definitely keep the nominations anonymous if you'd like. You can nominate someone any time of the week. All you have to do is email me (katharine.kelley@caslnc.com), include "casl spotlight" in the subject line, and provide some bullet points that outline why you are nominating this person for the spotlight. If you have a picture, that would also be great to attach so everyone can put a face to the nomination.

CASL Tower this Weekend

Don't forget, this Saturday is the 2nd annual pig pickin' at the Carolina RailHawks. For $15, you can enjoy all you can eat BBQ and live music. Other vendors will be on hand as well. If you but a CASL Tower discounted ticket, as low as $9, that's only $24 for an awesome Saturday night. The RailHawks encourage coming early to games, and this Saturday, the festivities start at 4:45pm. Even if you don't come early to the game, post-game fireworks are included in the price of your CASL Tower ticket. Click HERE to purchase your CASL Tower tickets! This is a big game for the RailHawks as they fight to hold on to the number one seed in the league and the right to host the NASL Soccer Bowl in November. The team is about to go on their month long summer hiatus, so don't miss one of your last chances to see the RailHawks in action!

Update on Regional and National Competition

This has been an exciting weekend for all CASL members. Here's a brief update on the teams who were competing in Regionals and Nationals over the weekend:

ECNL Teams
- U18 ECNL Ladies team had a hard-fought weekend as they had to battle the top teams in the country through weather delays. This morning, the team resumed a game that was on an extended weather delay from yesterday. The team fought against the Ohio Premier Eagles ECNl, but fell short with a 2-1 loss. The ECNL U18 ladies were shooting for a three-peat National title. We are all so proud of this team for the legacy they leave with CASL and the ECNL.

-U17 ECNL Ladies team went 1-1-1 over the weekend. They came away with 4 points, but that was unfortunately not enough for them to advance to the Nationals next month. 

U16 ECNL team will play in Richmond, VA next month at the
ECNL National Finals -they are four wins away!

- U16 ECNL Ladies team advanced from their bracket over the weekend and earned a trip to the National Finals in Richmond, VA next month. Over the weekend, they went 2 and 1 with wins against Texas Rush and Arsenal FC. They lost to Colorado Storm, but they had enough points to maintain the top seed in their group. 

-The U15 ECNL teams had a tough bracket and were not able to advance out of their group.

-U14 ECNL: while they didn't play this weekend, they already earned a trip to Nationals. They will be playing in Richmond along with U16 team. 

We are proud of all of our ECNL teams for representing CASL so well in Colorado. This is an honor to qualify for the playoffs, and CASL was well represented across all age groups! 

CASL Elite
- U18 CASL Elite girls were competing in Edmond, Oklahoma over the weekend in the USYSA Region III Championships. They defeated Oklahoma, the team that ended up advancing out of their pool, yesterday morning, but were unable to earn enough points earlier in competition to advance out of their pool as the wildcard.

Academy Teams Competing in US Development Academy Playoffs
- U18 Academy boys defeated DC United last night in their first game of the US Development Academy Playoffs in Texas. 
-U16 Academy boys will start competition today.
The games will take place every other day. We will keep you updated on the latest results!

CASL Teams Competing for Regionals and Nationals

U-13 CASL Rockets Girls: Singer Challenge Cup Champions!

This has been a successful year for CASL teams across all divisions of play. The U-13 CASL Rockets Girls and the U14 Girls Cyclones took home the their age group's Singer Challenge Cup in May. In that same month, the U-13 CASL Azul Girls took first place in the Seaside Soccer Classic Tournament, while the U14 CASL Fusion boys won the bronze division. There were many more team accomplishments this spring that I'm not aware of just yet, so please feel free to post your team's successes  below so your team can be recognized. 

Now it's time for our ECNL, Elite, and Academy teams to have their turn to compete for a title. The U15 and U17 ECNL ladies' teams will be competing this weekend for the opportunity to compete in Nationals that will take place in July in Richmond, VA. They will be heading to Colorado for the playoffs. The U18 ECNL ladies' team will actually be competing this weekend for the National Title. They will be taking on the Michigan Hawks ECNL on Friday for the chance to go on to the quarterfinals on Saturday and the championship on Sunday. 

The U18 '94 CASL Elite ladies will also be heading off to Edmond, Oklahoma to compete in the USYSA Region III Championships. They will be taking on teams from South Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in their immediate bracket. Edmond, Oklahoma has been a successful destination for CASL teams in the past, at least for one team that I know of (see picture - it's not quite "throw back

Thursday" yet, but I wanted to include it - working at CASL has sure made me reminisce a lot about playing). It was actually 14 years ago (wow!) that the '84 CASL Elite girls (my team growing up) came away with the Region III championship in Edmond, Oklahoma. We were U15 at the time, and back then, the chance to compete for Nationals was only an option once you hit U16, so we never got that chance. But, hopefully, the '94 CASL Elite ladies will get this chance! Good luck in Edmond! 

Finally, the CASL's Academy teams will be heading to Frisco, Texas for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs. CASL's U17/18 playoff group includes Real Salt Lake AZ, DC United, and St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri. The U15/16 playoff group for CASL's Academy team includes Baltimore Bays Chelsea, Colorado Rapids, and Revolution Empire. Both teams are playing for the opportunity to compete for the National Championship. Good luck to all of our teams heading off for competition!

Blog updates

You may have noticed some additional blog updates - we've added a feature that allows you to subscribe to the blog so you can get emails when new posts are created. I thank Jennifer Scott, a parent with CASL Premier Black Ladies '01, who sent me an email telling me about this feature. Thanks, Jennifer! Once you submit your email address, you will then have to verify your email address to follow the blog. We also added a translation tab so in case English is not your first language or you want to share this information with anyone else, they have the option to translate it to their first language. 

If You Can't Beat the Heat, Join It at CASL Summer Camp!

When I graduated from college, I was one of those college grads that wasn't quite prepared to deal with the real world. I tossed around all sorts of ideas like teaching English in Costa Rica, pursuing a graduate degree in psychology, joining the Peace Corps, and travelling among countless other ideas. However, in a flurry of indecisiveness, I moved back to Raleigh. However, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I connected back up with Charlie Slagle who I had met when I was playing for CASL U-19's. He had told me, if I came back to Raleigh to let him know and he would put me to work - he did just that. I spent the summer working the skills camps at night and then running the full-day camps. 

Find the CASL Summer Camp that best fits
your child's needs and skill level

Tim Evans, Director of Camps and Academies, is now leading the charge of a full slew of CAMPS that offers CASL and non-CASL players of all abilities the opportunity to improve their game. Tim knows what it's like to come through the CASL system. He's from Raleigh and was a stand-out CASL club player and high school player at Broughton.

Camps are run by CASL coaches and staff who have tailored camps to fit certain needs and/or skills. The temperatures are starting to creep up into the comfortable upper 80s and 90s and will soon be the lovely, hot, sticky summer weather we all know and love. But, don't let this get you down. The skills/goal camps are at night so temperatures are much more manageable. The half and full day camps are equipped with plenty of water breaks in the shade, air conditioned relief in the Radford building, and the closed in fitness center at WRAL Soccer Center. CASL also has the resources to have an Athletic Trainer on staff and housed at WRAL Soccer Center, so your kids are well taken care of.

I encourage you to search through the variety of camps that are offered multiple times throughout the summer. Your child will not only have FUN but also work on his/her touch, make new friends, and enjoy being outside even if it is hot! If you have questions about camps, you can send any questions to Tim Evans (camps@caslnc.com). 

CASL Spotlight

On another note, I invite you to email me (katharine.kelley@caslnc.com) and nominate an athlete, coach, player, parent, or referee for the CASL Spotlight. Our goal is to recognize the small and large accomplishments going on in CASL.  Whether it is good sportsmanship, first goal, team manager duties, extra duties, accomplishments in school or other activities, etc., we want to hear about it! If you'd like to submit someone for consideration, email me and indicate "CASL Spotlight" in the subject line and attach a picture and appropriate info. This person will be featured in our weekly e-newsletter (CASL Connection) and through social media! 

CASL Blog Launch: Introduction and RailHawks Tickets

At CASL we are home to approximately 20,000 players, parents, coaches, referees, and volunteers. With so many people and so much going on, it  is important that we do our best to keep you updated on the latest information, news, stories, and updates in the organization. This blog will serve as a means to do just that.

Katharine Kelley

Introduction

My name is Katharine Kelley, and I am the new Director of Relations with CASL. I grew up here in Raleigh where I attended St. Timothy's/Hale High School (currently St. David's) through 10th grade then went on to Broughton High School where I graduated in 2002. From there, I went on to attend Furman University where I played women's soccer for four years. I found my way back to Raleigh after graduation and spent four years working for the Carolina Hurricanes/Kids 'N Community Foundation while completing my Master's degree at NC State. 

Youth soccer has changed a lot (for the better!) since I came through the system, but I am excited to come full circle with CASL having been a player and coach with the organization. I hope to get the chance to meet many of you at CASL events down the road - please stop me and introduce yourself if you ever see me out and about!

Some of my favorite CASL memories:
- Region III Champions at U15
- Representing North Carolina at Region III at U14, U15, U16, and U19
- Being inducted into the CASL Hall of Fame
- Any time we won State Cup
- Having a good game against HFC Quest in the Fall of 2001 because that's when I was recruited to play at Furman University
- Creating friendships that I still carry with me today

Carolina RailHawks - Purchase discount tickets to Wednesday's game against MLS Chivas USA!

CASL Tower at WakeMed Soccer Park

As many of you know, the Carolina RailHawks and CASL have created a partnership that allows CASL players and their families to attend RailHawks games for discounted prices and sit in the best seats in the house - the CASL Tower! I experienced my first game the other night. If any of you were there, you got to experience a thrilling finish to a soccer game - three goals in the last few minutes of the game and the game winner coming in stoppage time. Be sure get your tickets for the game on Wednesday when the RailHawks take on Chivas USA in a Round of 16 match up in the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. If any of you are like me, you may not know what this is. I learned  that this is a 100 year old tournament that is open to all US Soccer Federation affiliated teams which includes teams from the North American Soccer League, like the RailHawks, and MLS teams. The competing 68 teams (of which 16 are left) are competing for prize money. The winner takes home $250,000, runner-up wins $60,000, and the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will receive $15,000. In addition to bragging rights, there's a lot at stake! The RailHawks will be looking to avenge last year's heartbreaking loss to Chivas on Wednesday. Tickets are selling fast, so take advantage of the opportunity to sit with friends in the CASL Tower. 

I look forward to staying in touch with you all. There will be many more posts to follow, but be sure to stay up to date with CASL through facebook, twitter (@caslnc), and our weekly CASL E-Newsletter - CASL Connection.