I spent the day in Columbia yesterday, enjoying some more HS soccer action. Glendale played Cape Girardeau Central at 10am followed by a match agains Columbia Hickman at 1pm. Winning one and losing one, it was a long day with a frustrating outcome. I thought the local paper provide a fair and insightful evaluation while focused on the local team. See it here:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2004/Oct/20041010Spor011.asp

I also passed out information on my homepage to several of the parents who were unaware of it. When I asked the refs if they were interested in seeing video, I received a very positive response so there are now four fellows in that community who will be looking for video.

Today I took in the game between Drury and Missouri Southern which I was anticipating because I know folks on both teams. Brandon Donat graduated from GHS and is starting for Drury while the coach at MSSU is Kylie Cirillo, former Director of Coaching for Springfield Soccer Club and also coach for my nephew's U-16 team in 2003. Drury came out on top 2-0 which was a fair outcome. I chatted with Dale Donat about how I was hoping to measure my ability to capture the faster college match as well as I seem to be doing with the GHS matches.

I won't have time to work on the tape until later this week but I offered both coaches my card and an unedited copy of the tape on DVD if they email me a request. Both appeared interested so I'm looking forward to finding out if they follow through on that. Dale & his son Brandon will be looking for a copy as well and their thoughts will help me determine how well I accomplished my goal. Interestingly, Dale also seems to have anticipated my longer range plans which he was very positive about as well. His words were "I think you could make a name for yourself in Springfield with your soccer video". Wish me luck :)