Each season the teams in the ODSL vote for another team in their division which exhibits the best sportsmanship. The winning team is awarded the Randy Rawls Sportsmanship Award, named after one of the leagues original founders and its first President.  The award honors the winner’s sense of fair play, something for which Randy was renowned as he sought to bring soccer opportunities to the youth of Northern Virginia. The sportsmanship winners receive an amazing trophy for the team/coach and individual awards for the players. 

For the Fall 2015 season, three BRYC teams earned the prestigious honor, a number matched by only two other clubs particicipating in the ODSL and the only one where all three winning teams participated in the ODSL's Division 1, the highest level of competition.  Coach Erin Silks' U10B BRYC Force and Coach Yong Kim's U11B Strikers won the honor on the boys' side while the BRYC Lady Spurs won the honor among the U11 Girls.  For the fall season that team was coached by Rich Wyant, Tommy Rezendes, and Jim Godlove, stepping in after the untimely passing of the teams previous coach, Brian Godlove, who was named the team's "Coach in Honor". There is no doubt he looked down at them all season and is very proud of their accomplishment.

Every year for more years than he cares to remember, on the weekend before Christmas, Senior Division Deputy Commissioner Doug Alcorn organizes and BRYC hosts the Winter Alumni Game for women and men. Current players and alumni are invited back to get back on the field, share hot chocolate, catch up, and remember good times. Playing on Woodson HS Stadium turf, on the women's side, this year the Alumni fell to the current players 5-3. Meanwhile, the men, pictured below, playing on the Woodson HS West furf in ideal December conditions, played two simultaneous 30-minute small-sided games, mixing up the alums and the current players, before a final competitive game "between the 18's". For the men, like the women, it was a chance to catch up with old friends, appreciative of the opportunity provided by BRYC's host John Kelleher.

With a bit of wry wit, one of the girls' alumni player said, "It wouldn't be so bad if we could still run." Her dad, cheering on from the sideline as he undoubtedly did many times over his daughter's participation with BRYC, suggested it was the "Freshman 15" that probably did them in. No matter the score, everyone wins when they come off the field smiling, and of course, it's always great to see our alumni back on the field.

BRYC had its best tournament showing in several seasons, reaching the finals of in four different divisions, winning top honors as the best of 15 teams in the U19 Girls Division.  Josh Rock''s girls won the tournament championship for the second consecutive season with a team that included many of the same players who just two weeks earlier had fought it out for the HSGHSL Championship.  Meanwhile, coach Ryan Leary's U12 Boys were seeded into the second tier on Sunday but made the most of it, winning both their games and taking home Championship trophies.

Coach Keow Essig's U9 Boys hadn't allowed a goal in five consecutive games before reaching the finals against a powerful team from host Herndon who outmatched them in the championship game, but the boys proudly claimed finalist trophies, as did coach Dalila Belmadani's U12 Girls with a couple of Sunday victories before bowing out in the final match of the day

The U19 Girls were the only trophy-winning team to provide a photo taht proves it!  The webmaster looks forward to posting a story of their championship run when they provide it because unfortunately he didn't make it to any of their games.  Meanwhile the webmaster was lucky enough to see and photograph the U12 Girls and the U9 Boys...and the U12 Boys provided their own photo as well. 

  
   U9 Boys                                                  U12 Boys                                    U12 Girls

BRYC Thunder, a U16 Boys team coached by Scott Sarratt, entered the SFL Tournament facing an uphill battle.  Just to make it to the Championship Game, they had to face two fast and determined teams from Prince William. To make matters tough, two players were out for the morning game and others got lost and arrived late. Within the first two minutes, Thunder was down 0-2.  It looked grim. But then the late arriving players showed up, the team got back to their normal positions, and by halftime the score was 3-3.  At the end of the second half the score was tied 5-5!  It was time for PK’s to determine who went on…and Thunder came out on top, 2-0.

Next up was a higher ranked, well rested, team from Prince William that had had a bye the first round, facing a tired Braddock Road squad. At halftime Prince William led 2-1. Remarkably, the second half was all Thunder, who wore down and demoralized the Prince William boys, notching four more goals while holding Price William scoreless for a final score of 5-2.

In the Championship Game against a team from Vienna, Thunder chose field disadvantage in the first half hoping they could hold off the opposition and use the sun to their advantage in the second. Vienna pressed. Thunder played more defense than the coach liked. When the Thunder pressed, Vienna had counters.  After several close shots from both teams in the second half, the game was still scoreless at the end. On to PK’s for the second time.

Once again the Thunder prevailed, notching four out of five attempts while the Thunder goalie stood tall, blocking one Prince William shot while another went over the goal  for a 4-3 shootout win and the Tournament Championship for the second time this calendar year.  Congratulations to Coach Sarratt and the BRYC Thunder for their great SFL season-ending performance!

The Fall 2015 Regular Season has ended for the U4-U12 age groups. but action continues for the U14-19 Boys and Girls participating in Surburban Friendship League (SFL) Tournaments on November 14 and 15.  No matter how the regular season went, every team in the SFL has a chance to cap off a successful one or redeem themselves in post-season play against teams with similar records.  One BRYC squad last year which hadn't won a game all season wound up with four consecutive victories, including three in tournament play, to turn their entire season around.

And then there's the Herndon Youth Soccer All Star Tournament the following weekend, November 21 and 22. BRYC has entered five teams in the U8 division where the kids get their first taste of All Star competition but still play for the fun of it, with no scores being kept and no trophies awarded. Playing seven mini-games over the two days against teams from all over the Northern Virginia area is a great experience for players, coaches, and families. Thanks to boys' coaches Carlos Santizo, Tom Twomey and Dan Sweet, as well as girls' coaches Pierre Martel and Andy Lowden for stepping up to take our youngest All Stars to their first tournament.

BRYC has entered an additional sixteen tournament teams from the U9 to U19 age groups...where winning is taken more seriously. On Saturday each team will play four mini-games for the purpose of seeding them into Sunday's action where it's "win or go home", and the players and coaches just might experience the stress of penalty kick shootouts for the first time, but the weekend is still a tremendous experience, win, lose, or draw. Thanks to U9 coaches Keow Essig, Mike McGinn and John Kenkel; U10 coaches Scott Span, Dino Constantino and Jennifer Oleyar; U11/12 coaches Mike Essig, Ryan Leary and Dalila Belmadani; U13/14 coaches Joe Wiley, Kurt Langenbach, and Tracy Seamans; and U16/U19 coaches Scott Sarratt, Martin Quiroz, Cesar Zambrana, and Josh Rock for shepherding our more experienced playsers in All Star competition. Good luck to all.

Fall 2015 season came to an exciting end on Saturday night for the High School Girls when, for the first time in memory, two BRYC squads squared off against each other for the HSGHSL championship…Coach Josh Rock’s Psyche vs. DANGER!, coached by BRYC Commissioner James Sullivan and his assistant (and wife), BRYC’s Training Director Joan Smith.

It was quite a season for both teams, with Psyche finishing the regular fall schedule with a 9-0-1 record…near perfection marred only by a tie with, you guessed it, DANGER! On the way to that record, Psyche amassed an amazing league-best 47 goals, allowing only 7 goals against. In 7 out of 10 of their games Psyche scored five or more goals. Meanwhile, their BRYC opponents finished regular season play with a record of 7-1-2, allowing only three goals all season with all seven of their wins coming by way of shutout.

After winning their Saturday semi-final matches vs. talented teams from SASA and SYC, the BRYC girls were destined to face each other for the second time this season and it promised to be an epic battle. Both sides of the field were packed with friends and family, all there to cheer their team on. The girls on both teams are school mates, friends, and some team mates from All Star teams. Although it’s been a rivalry for years, it’s friendship and respect that underlies their battles.

The scene was set…the scoring juggernaut vs. the stingiest defense in the league. It was going to be a great game…and it was! After 90 minutes of regulation play and two five-minute overtimes the score was just as it was when the game started, tied at 0-0, so by league rules it fell to penalty kicks to decide the victor. Finally, after each team converted on their first five PK shots, when the 6th player came to the line for Psyche, her foot hit the turf and the ball rolled into the goalie’s waiting hands. All that remained was for DANGER! to make their last PK… and they did.

Coach Smith observed that she originally thought that an all BRYC final was great! Following the game she noted somewhat ruefully that it’s “impossible to really enjoy the moment and the victory when you look at the faces of the girls on the other team, girls we truly care about. The juxtaposition of emotions just wreaks havoc on the heart of a coach.”

Many, if not most of the girls on both Psyche and DANGER! will be graduating in May 2016. No doubt they are both looking forward to a rematch in the spring, maybe even in the tournament championship game! But it’ll be hard to top this one for excitement.  Congratulations to all the girls and coaches of both squads.

At the Coaches' Meeting on August 20, BRYC coaches received their "marching orders" for the upcoming year, most importantly including their rosters and practice schedules.  By this time, if you registered for the fall season but haven't heard from a coach, there's something wrong! You should immediately contact the League Director listed at the bottom of the "Contacts" page linked here and to the left.

For those of you who ordered uniforms as part of the registration process, your coach should have them by Labor Day and distribute them at your first practice thereafter.  If yoiu forgot to order a uniform, or you need to exchange a new piece that doesn't fit, then from 5:30-8:00 PM on Thursday, September 10, at Old Creek Elementary School, you will hae an opportunity to buy or exchange whole sets or uniform pieces.  This is your first, last, and ONLY opportunity to do so before the first game of the season and uniforms go back into storage.  Don't miss it.

Finally, BRYC extends its thanks to Zinga! Frozen Yogurt at the Kings Park shopping center for once again sponsoring a BRYC fundraiser, all day Saturday and Sunday, September 12-13, the opening weekend of our season.  Zinga! will be donating a generous 20% of every BRYC purchase to your soccer club...another way we try to keep registration fees as low as possible and support the club's activities.  Just identify yourself as a BRYC family when you make your purchase.  Why not make it a family (or better yet a team!) event after your first game of the season...or any other time over the weekend. Don't forget that every other day of the year Zinga! offers BRYC families a 10% discount off their regular prices. Don't forget to tell them BRYC sent you!

At the semi-annual Coaches' Meeting on August 20 in anticipation of the Fall Season, well over 100 BRYC coaches, including a fair number of first-timers, met with League Directors and other BRYC EXCOM members to receive their "marching orders" for the upcoming year, most importantly including their rosters and practice schedules. Commissioner James Sullivan (right) told them that their very first order of business was to make contact with their team members so that everyone knows their registration has been processed correctly and they have been assigned.

Realizing that some coaches were on vacation at the time of the meeting and others would be going on vacation over the following two weeks, nonetheless the league's goal is to have had all players notified by the end of August. If you haven't heard from a coach by Wednesday, August 26, feel free to contact the League Director indentified both on your age group page (under one of the drop-down menus for Mini-Kickers, Junior or Senior Divisions above) or also listed at the bottom of the "Contacts" page linked here and to the left. Fields are now open for practice as soon as the coaches are back from their own vacations and as soon as they can get their teams organized. The first games of the season are on Saturday, September 12.

BRYC uses and manages the Community Center, whose entrance is tucked neatly between Zinga! Frozen Yogurt and Hunan West Chinese Restaurant in the Kings Park Shopping Center at 8940 Burke Lake Rd.  BRYC is now accepting priced Contractor bids and offers of donations of professional labor to refurbish the Community Center, as described in the attached Request For Proposals. Please respond with offers to Craig Willett at jcwillett@verizon.net. The Community Center may be inspected by appointment by calling Craig Willett 703.980.7820.

After about nine months of construction, the beautiful new Kings Park Giant Food store reopened on June 18 with an evening ribbon-cutting ceremony, and to a crowd of excited shoppers on the following morning.  At the grand reopening Giant graciously presented a check to BRYC for $2,500. 

With support from Kings Park Shopping Center owners Regency Centers, along with Fairfax County Supervisor John Cook, BRYC has managed the Community Room in Kings Park Shopping Center for the past couple of years as a community resource for meetings and social events. The Giant contribution will help BRYC with some needed upgrades to the facility. Many thanks to Giant Foods for their generous donation.

In the picture to the left are (L to R) Scott Belcher, Kings Park Giant Store Manager, and Gordon Reid, President of Giant Food, along with Trish Moxie and John Davis from BRYC.