We have added an electronic news letter service to provide our members with regular and current newsletters. A newsletter is a valuable tool to keep everyone informed about club happenings. We have created several lists, general information, coaching information, etc, from which members can select what Club news they wish to receive. Members can subscribe to these lists by typing their email address in the box below and clicking “Go”. Adding yourself to a list or lists only requires the completions of a couple simple steps.

Under no circumstances will members email address be given to anyone outside the club. For more on our privacy policy click here

Once subscribed members can easily subscribe to other lists, unsubscribe and change their settings.

 

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

 

Valley Tamales play great soccer in Holland 01 Aug 08

The U15 Girls Red Hot Tamales had an incredible Netherlands tour from July 18-28th. They had three 3-hour training sessions with Dutch coaches, toured Amsterdam, went on a canal cruise, went through the Anne Frank museum, toured the cheese and wooden shoe factories and went on a 30 km bike ride touring the countryside of Haarlem.

In addition to all of this, the girls played seven soccer games in four days and placed 3rd out of 15 teams from all over the world in the Youth Friendship Games Haarlem Cup. They also received the Fair Play award from the referees.

The Tamales first game was against the American Eagles. They came out hot, hot, hot and applied intense offensive pressure right from the first whistle. Playing in a 4-4-2 formation the Tamales executed many good passes and supported each other very well. The pace was quick, and the game was physical and the Tamales netted their first goal early into the game when Melanie Kehler-Stevens fed the ball to Sadie Horner who shot and scored. Horner scored her second goal minutes later off a pass from Alana Davidson and the score ended 2-0 at the half. Sydney Curts had a strong first half as she was consistently first to the ball and made lots of good passes. Chelsea Tancon had some key saves in the second half and Kim Robertson made some good defensive plays to get the ball out of the Tamales end and the girls earned a 2-0 victory.

ANOTHER WIN AGAINST U.S.

The Tamales got off to another sizzling start against the USA Quicksteps, Melanie Kehler-Stevens received the ball from Alana Davidson, dribbled, shot and then got her own rebound and scored. Jillian Paton scored a short time later to give the girls a 2-0 lead. Maddy Bams was a force to be reckoned with on defense [and did some awesome headers throughout the game] and Breanna Franks worked hard on the right side.

Paton netted her second of the game after receiving a long launched goal kick from keeper Chelsea Tancon. More great passing between Natalie deLange and Jillian Paton resulted in a well placed ball between Christina Paterson and Sadie Horner. Horner got the ball, shot and scored to make it 4-0 for the Tamales.

The Tamales were on fire and continued to launch attack after attack on their US opponents, and they scored 3 more quick goals before the match was done. Alana Davidson and Anneliese McNaughton scored two great goals from outside the 18 yard box and then some well placed passing between McNaughton and Paton resulted in another scoring opportunity for Horner who capitalized on it and scored to the end the game 7-0 for the Tamales.

INTO THE SEMI-FINAL ROUND

The Tamales third game resulted in a 3-0 loss to Sweden, but their 2 wins 1 loss record placed them in 2nd in their pool and they advanced to the A cup semi final round. A team from Wales was their competition for the first game of round 2. The Tamales came on strong and put on lots of pressure right from the start. Good hustle and teamwork provided a few scoring chances but the ball never reached the back of the net. Minutes into the second half, the ball hit the Tamales left post then rolled across the net and out of bounds.

Unfortunately for the Tamales the ref had turned his back on the play and called it a goal and would not reverse his decision. The Tamales were very determined to score and really upped the offensive pressure. Brittany Tilley tied it up for the Tamales with a beautiful shot, off of a penalty kick outside the 18 yard box. The girls kept the pressure up and maintained the control of the play for the final minutes of the match, but the score remained 1-1. It was a great team effort by the Tamales.

TOUGH LOSS TO ENGLAND

For the second game of round two, England was the opponent. Melanie Kehler-Stevens and Christina Paterson each scored but both goals were disallowed due to offside calls, so the score remained 0-0 at the half. The Tamales had a very good momentum going but the English keeper suffered a knee blow out and the game was delayed for 20 minutes so the Tamales momentum was thwarted. England took a 1-0 lead and then went ahead 2-0. The Tamales dug in their heels and worked very hard to set up a goal. Maddy Bams sent a long ball up to Anneliese McNaughton who made a rush and scored to make it a 2-1 game. With only minutes left England scored an offside goal but unlike the Tamales goals, it was not disallowed [even though the English linesman flagged it before the shot] and the final score was 3-1 for England.

WINNING ONE FOR COACH CRAIG

Day 2 of the final round saw the Tamales kick off to another Sweden team. Prior to the game, the team had read an email from one of their coaches, Craig, and had said that they would win the game for him. True to their word they won it 3-1 by playing an awesome match. The first goal was scored by Christina Paterson, with assists to Sadie Horner and Melanie Kehler-Stevens. Jillian Paton set up the next goal with a long kick up the middle to Alana Davidson who passed it off to Natalie deLange who used her left foot to put the ball into the back of the net. For the Tamales third goal Horner moved the ball to Kehler-Stevens who passed it back to Davidson. She fired off a long shot and the ball went off the inside post and into the net. In the final minute of play Sweden caught the Tamales off guard and scored to make it a 3-1 game.

SHUTTING DOWN THE SWEDES

The Tamales had their next game ten minutes later against the Swedish team they had lost to in round one, who were undefeated.

The girls were pumped and ready to play. Holly Brotherston, Maddy Bams, Melanie Kehler-Stevens and Kim Robertson did and awesome job on defense as they shut down the Swedes and Chelsea Tancon made some great plays in goal.

This game was very intense from start to finish and the Tamales made their fans extremely proud as they were the first team of the tournament to shut down the Swedes and earn a 0-0 tie.

The Tamales Netherlands tour was a great success and a wonderful experience that players and parents will remember forever. Special thanks to Warren Groom, Marc St. Jules and Chris Kelsey for the support and contributions they gave the Tamales, and also to coach Charlene Davidson for setting the wheels of the tour in motion.