Florida Spring Training

The girls styling their "Clearwater Beach" shorts

HC United and the Wanderers

Clearwater Chargers and Wanderers

Eleven of Len's U-12s returned last Friday evening from 5 days of training, friendlies and beach time in the Clearwater Beach area of Florida. The girls trained each morning for about 3 hours and played two evening friendlies against the Clearwater Chargers -- the girls' hosts for the week -- and HC United. The first friendly match against the Clearwater Chargers resulted in a 0-0 draw. The match was a physical affair in which both sides had opportunities in front of the net but neither side could convert. The second friendly match took place at the Ed Radice fields in Tampa against HC United. The HC United girls were very technical over the ball and were athletic. The Wanderers were reduced to ten players and two guest players from Clearwater -- Casey and Brianna -- but managed to hold their own in unaccustomed Florida heat. Nevertheless, for about 10 minutes in the second half the Wanderers lost their shape and concentration, made some poor decisions and paid dearly by giving up three goals in quick succession. Ultimately, the three goals stood unanswered resulting in a 3-0 loss. All in all, the week was a great experience of team building, training and play. It was a pleasure to get to know some U-12s from Florida and see the fine standard of play down there. It was also a pleasure to work with the folks from the Clearwater Chargers and we want to thank them for all of their hospitality. We hope that we can reciprocate some day.