December 26 -- Some folks just can’t get enough soccer!  There was no snow on the field this year...just a glorious late December sun overhead... as currrent and former U16/19 Boys and Girls gathered for their annual alumni get-together at Wakefield Park on December 24. 

Organized by long-time Senior Division Deputy Commissioner and U16/19 ("She Devils") Girls coach Doug Alcorn, and (just as) long time U12 - U16/19 Boys coach John Kelleher (who now has two very active U4 boys of his own and just might complete the cycle again), more than a dozen girls and over two dozen boys got together with current and former soccer teammates and opponents for an afternoon of fun...and hot chocolate! 

Not content to take the winter off, the senior boys and alums continue to play at Wakefield every Friday night from 6-7:30 PM, weather and field conditions permitting.

Thanks to Doug and John for the group photos to freshen up the web page as we wait for the spring season!

November 12 - Congratulations to the U13/14 Girls "Danger," coached by the husband and wife team of James Sullivan and Joan Smith, for their undefeated Fall 2011 season, winning the Red Division of the two-division league before entering the season’s final game against the Springfield Youth Club (SYC) Cobras, winners of the Blue Division, who were also unbeaten but once tied by another SYC squad. In a game every bit as exciting as you would expect based on their records, the SYC team fell behind early in the second half (giving up their first goal of the season) before coming back to even the game (with the BRYC squad giving up only its second goal of the season) in heart-stopping action.

In a game played for "bragging rights", both squads had a lot to be proud of as the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Check the U14 Girls League page for a more complete story and lots of photos to accompany the team photo at the right.

Meanwhile, in U16/19 Boys tournament action in the Suburban Friendship League, coach Mitch Peyser’s U16 Boys (below left) took first place in their division with a 2-1 win over North Virginia Soccer Club and a 1-0 win over Annandale in the finals.  It took three tournament wins for Coach John Kelleher’s U19 Boys (below right) to claim the championship trophies in their division, beating Annandale 2-1, Chantilly 4-2, and upsetting a second team from Annandale in the finals, 1-0.  League Director/Coach Greg Walsh’s team also went undefeated in tournament action, but a 3-1 win over Haymarket and 2-2 ties with two squads from Alexandria was only good enough for third place in the tournament after a very sucessful season.  Congratulations to all.

November 4 -- It’s been a long time since a season required almost as many "rain-makeup" games as regularly scheduled ones.  That’s probably an exaggeration, but not by much.  This has to be the wettest fall season in recent memory, with more canceled practices and rescheduled Saturday games than you can count on just your fingers and toes. 

This weekend brings an end to the "regular" season, but not so fast.  Most of last week’s (October 29) games are scheduled to be made up next week on November 12.  Check with your coach if you’re not sure yet about your makeup game schedule.

Before the season disappears into distant memory, don’t forget to get a team photo.  Whether or not you purchased one on Photo Day earlier in the season , you’ll want to get one out on the pitch.  Two coaches have been kind enough to share team photos with the webmaster in the last few weeks.  U5 Boys coach Bernie Fructuoso and his assistant Lenny Lapetina are wrapping up their first competitive season with the high-spirited Pirates, pictured above right after enjoying their post-game snacks.

And U19 Boys coach Bob Heyer and his assistant Nick Gardner (who have coached more seasons together than the webmaster can recall) are wrapping up their Suburban Friendship League season with the Magic before taking the team to the Herndon tournament. 

Bob liked last season’s All Star jerseys so much that he got a complete set for his team to wear during the regular season.  With a twenty-player regular season roster (because at this age you never know which boys are going to show up on any given Saturday), Bob gets a team photo after each game so he can recall who was there. 

On October 1 vs. Annandale, when this photo was taken, Bob had only eleven of his players.  In the SFL tournament next weekend, and the Herndon tournament the following week, with the prospect of a number of games each day,  he’s surely hoping to field a full squad of eighteen.

November 1 -- Matching the impressive performance of Brian Conaway’s U14 Girls "Icebreakers" squad last year, this season’s "Danger", coached by Joan Smith and James Sullivan, sports an enviable...

October 1 -- With a host of makeup games already on the schedule and the end of the season not all that far away,  another blustery Saturday didn’t prevent most BRYC teams from playing their Week 4 games...or for keeping their date with Olson Photography at the Canterbury Woods Elementary School gym for their individual and team photos.  With as many as four teams scheduled for photos every fifteen minutes, the photographers were jumping and the gymnasium was alive with almost as much activity as on the pitch (below left).  Coach Shane Hartzler got his U10 Girls to pose for an informal team photo before stepping before the professionals (below right).

Meanwhile, a brisk business in T Shirt sales in the hallway kept BRYC volunteers busy, raising money in order to keep the club’s registration rates as the lowest possible levels.  The Webmaster/All Star Coordinator was excited when he spotted Katelyn H., U14 Girls goalie on the squad coached by Joan Smith and James Sullivan, sporting a warm-up jacket emblazoned with all the tournament, BRYC, and opposing team patches she’s collected in six previous six All Star appearances.  (In both of the annual tournaments in which BRYC participates, the players trade patches with their opponents at the end of each game).  Katelyn’s was the finest display of patches the All Star Coordinator has seen.  Katelyn is pictured below, modeling her collection of patches and as she posed for her "official" photograph. 

September 24 -- After over two inches of rain on Friday made fields too soft for play on Saturday, it was a relief to see clear skies on Sunday afternoon when the all of the U12 Boys and some of the...

September 10 -- While all of BRYC’s sodden grass fields were closed on Saturday, a few Senior Division BRYC teams were lucky enough to play their games on the turf at South Run, Franconia, and Pine...