Head Coach: woodken4 [at] gmail [dot] com (Kenny Wood) 623-332-8586
Manager: russelljtheii [at] hotmail [dot] com (James Russell)
U10 Gunners Photo Gallery
A photo gallery for U10 Gunners.
2013 Spring Schedule
Click HERE for Gunners 2013 SWL spring schedule
UPDATED Spring Schedule!
We have added a game and rescheduled a game, so please note the changes.
Also, don't forget to mark your calendars for the
Durango Shootout Tournament, May 11 - 13.
| Date | Time | Home Team | Away Team | Location |
| 3/10/2012 | 10:15 AM | F.Monster Sq | U9B Gunners | Farmington Complex 2 U10 |
| 3/17/2012 | 11:30 AM | U9B Gunners | F. Rockets | Escalante 1 east U10 |
| 3/24/2012 | 1:00 PM | U10 Boys Klo | U9B Gunners | Escalante 1 east U10 |
| 3/31/2012 | 9:00 AM | A. Vipers | U9B Gunners | Aztec, Hartman U10 |
| 4/7/2012 | 11:30 AM | U9B Gunners | A. Crush | Escalante 1 east U10 |
| 4/21/2012 | 10:15 AM | U9B Gunners | Kirtland Roa | Escalante 1 east U10 |
| 12:45 PM | U10 Cortez | U9B Gunners | Escalante 1 west U10 | |
| 4/28/2012 | 10:15 AM | The Suns | U9B Gunners | Kirtland Elementary 3 U10 |
Coach's Email Week #5
What a weekend!!!! So much fun and we proudly came away with 3rd place. What a great team experience. I can’t thank the families enough for making the trip to Denver. It means so much to us as a team. Thanks again. For those that did not go, I hope you enjoyed your weekend away from soccer.
So our boys were tested in Denver. As a coach, I was able to learn what we need to work on going forward. Having the boys play such strong competition allowed me to see a few things we could work on. We are going to work on speed with the ball and without. We are also going to work on finishing at full-speed. Our boys played their hearts out and never gave up. I was super proud of the passion they displayed.
A bigger goal of ours was also met. It is very important to Janet and myself that the team bonds. We want them to understand what it means to be on a team, on and off the field. I have to admit, I got a little misty eyed at the Rapids game when I looked over and saw the boys having so much fun together. That was worth the drive to Denver.
Going forward, we have two weeks of league matches, then Copa Del Sol Tournament here in Durango. We would like to use Copa Tourney as a way to make some soccer memories with players from both squads. This is a fun, fast paced, 4v4, player-coached tournament. The kids will be making their own jerseys and coming up with creative team names. We will enter three teams.
#1 Harry, Austin, Aiden, Brian, Liam, Tristan
#2 Everett, Sam, Evan, Ben, Ian
#3 Elliot, Chase, Zane, Logan, Cole
We are so excited about practice this week. Cant wait to get on the field and begin our lessons learned in Denver. The boys made everyone so proud.
EACH BOY SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF HIS PERFORMANCE IN DENVER !!!!
Janet and John
Denver CYS Cup Schedule....
http://events.gotsport.com/events/schedule.aspx?eventid=19107&FieldID=0&...
Game time have changed. Here are the times for Saturday. Sunday's game times will me determined by our first two games Saturday...
SATURDAY...
9:00am Broomfield Tigers vs Durango United Gates Field 12a
12:00pm Colorado Storm Wookies vs Durango United Gates Field 12a
SUNDAY...
We will play at 10:00am at Gates Field. Then maybe Championship Game at 1:00pm Gates Field.
Here is link to field location...
http://www.soccerfieldsofcolorado.com/maps/gates_north_713
Looking forward to this weekend. Sorry about last minute changes in game times. GOING TO BE A GREAT FIRST TOURNAMENT FOR THE BOYS!!!!!
Coach's Email Week #3
BIG SMILES!!! We are so proud! What a great way to spend the weekend. The United and Gunners both put on a show. So happy and proud. We could not be more pleased with how the teams performed this week. Practice – great, Matches – fantastic.
Practice was amazing. The boys know what to expect at practice and what we expect from them. A special kudos goes out to Sam and Zane this week. Both have demonstrated great sportsmanship and have been fantastic team players. Both of the boys received a juggle net.
United week three, practice we continued to get ball touches. We also did some different drills that helped us to create space. In addition, we talked about what to do in the open field, after we create space. Against the U10 boys Saturday, we “held those boys feet to the fire and have an amazing team” quoting Danny U10 coach. I was so proud of how the guys played. Not once did anyone get discouraged and we applied non-stop pressure against an older very skilled team. I would like to point out that Harry and Elliot did a phenomenal job goalkeeping. All the United boys should be very PLEASED with their performance. This week we are going to concentrate on finishing. I have some good drills on my practice board that will help us to learn…when to shoot, when to create space and finally how to make a strong precise shot on goal. - John
Gunners week three, practice went well on Thursday! I think the boys are getting use to me and I them. I have to step up what we have on the agenda for practice because these boys are very skilled and ready to be pushed. We had a great game on Saturday against a tall team. I had the opportunity to really see what position draws out everyone’s strengths. Zane and Evan did a phenomenal job tending the net for us and both play in the field just as well. I’m excited to head into this week with a clearer picture of what we can improve upon and have another exciting weekend game. - Janet
In closing, thanks again for being on-time, wearing practice jersey, bringing water and a ball. Anyone interested in goalkeeping, should check out the FREE Monday night clinics at Escalante and Riverside. 6pm – 7pm 9/12, 9/26, 10/10, 10/24
See you Tuesday…
John LeSage
Janet Mosher
First DYSA Games
United and Gunners...So proud of you guys. Everyone played amazing today. Cheers to the upcoming season, we are going to have some fun.
Where are we playing?
Here is a link to directions to the fields in our league. I hope everyone has fun tomorrow....
Gunners Fall Schedule
| Date | Time | Home Team | Away Team | Location |
| 9/10/11 | 11:30 | Piranhas | Gunners | Farmington #2 |
| 9/17/11 | 10:15 | Gunners | Monster Squad | Escalante 1 |
| 9/24/11 | 9:00 | BYSL Cosmos | Gunners | Bloomfield |
| 10/1/11 | DENVER | |||
| 10/8/11 | 10:15 | Kirtland | Gunners | Kirtland Elem |
| 10/15/11 | 10:15 | Gunners | United | Escalante 1 |
| 10/29/11 | 9:00 | Thunder Cats | Gunners | Escalante 1 |
| 11/5/11 | 10:15 | Gunners | Rockets | Escalante 1 |
Coach's Email Week #2
Coach’s Email Week #2
Hello to everyone and I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Week two is in the books. First DYSA games are right around the corner. Also, thanks to everyone for wearing practice shirts. It was much easier to scrimmage and drill using the scrimmage jerseys (pennies). Not only were we playing like a team, we were looking like one too.
Week two, we continued to try and get ball touches. We also began to focus on creating space and learning how to defend during different scenarios. Learning to create space, we had the boys set up on different grids trying to dribble thru 2 defenders, 1 at a time. We later played some games with one attacker and multiple defenders, teaching the boys how to best help one another defensively. We were faced with some challenges Tuesday and we learned from them. It is my personal mission to teach these kids soccer in a fun and simple manner. Always remembering that the game is the best teacher.
Our teams are really bonding and getting into a practice groove. It was awesome to see some new friendships forming on the field. I was also very encouraged by Thursday’s practice. Everyone really stepped up. The communication on the field, could not be any better. Evan and Chase both received awards for outstanding sportsmanship at practice.
This week… We will continue drilling in hopes that our boys get lots of ball touches. I would also like to expand our drills geared towards creating space. In addition, you will see drills and hear me talking a lot about “improving your position on the field.” The boys are becoming field aware and it is time for them to always be thinking a step or two into the future. We will begin drilling this with some simple give and goes. As we progress, we will give the kids options and start to see them take advantage of what is presented to them on the field. Given that we play our first games this week, instead of a 10-15 minute scrimmage. We will have a 15-20 minute scrimmage to end each practice.
Our practices are very active. The boys do move quite a bit. I hope that everyone has time after school to drink some water and eat some food. In closing, I can’t wait to see them take the field Saturday for their first DYSA games. I hope the boys are as excited as I am.
See you Tuesday…
John LeSage
970-769-9031 970-365-6241
p.s. Jynn will get you the schedule as soon as we have it. Goto durangosoccer.com and check out our teams. Feel free to post any information or pictures.
Great News!!! We got super lucky...
Janet Mosher will be joining John as the U9 boys Co-Coach. Janet played for the FLC Women's Soccer team and spent 5 years as Varsity Soccer Coach at Ignacio High School. She is a fantastic member of this community with her involvement in Leadership La Plata with LLP Steering Committee and Volunteer LLP Curriculum Committee, and Co-Chair and President of Southern Ute Headstart Policy Committee.
Janet is a wonderful communicator and will be a great addition to the team. Along with Janet, you will see FLC Women's Soccer player Amanda Snider helping. Amanda is volunteering her time with the group and will be there as much as her FLC schedule will allow her to be.
Rapids vs FC Dallas Game
For those of you who requested tickets for the game, they were purchased yesterday. The tickets are 24$. We will be sitting in section 109 with some other teams from Durango.
Please make a check payable to U9 United and give to Jynn before September 6th. Thank you for your prompt payment. The game is going to be AWESOME!!! Such a fantastic way for us to all spend some time together.....
Hotel Info for Fall Tournaments
DENVER (Sept 30 and Oct 1) Tourney Oct 1 and 2nd
Drury Inn East
4380 Peoria Street
Denver, CO 80239
303-373-1983
Cross Streets: I-70 & Peoria
Please give my name Jynn Furnas. Doing so will help with reservation and rate.
ABQ Gaylord Sheppard (Nov 11 and 12) Tourney 12th and 13th
Please reserve you hotel room by calling the # below..........
Holiday Inn Express
Bernalillo, New Mexico
For Reservations call Pamela with Group Sales at 505-266-7829 and or email her at ehis [at] gmail [dot] com
$85/night
November 11th - November 12th
Group Booking Name–United
Deadline for Reserving Room - October 15th
THESE ROOMS GO FAST. PLEASE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS SOON.
Coach Email Week #1
Coach’s Email Week #1
Hello to everyone. First of all, thank you for all of your support. Each week, time permitting, I will try to give you an update via email. In this email, I will address the past week (practice and game) and my plan/goals for the upcoming week.
Week one was super fun and great getting back on the pitch. We have a very strong group of 16 boys. Kate and I discussed the best way to handle 16 boys and we have come up with a plan. We split the boys into 2 teams. When we split these teams, we did it in a fashion so that we have two very strong teams. They are not set in stone. As the season progresses, if we need to make changes, we will. Both of these teams will practice together. During league play, each team will have a game scheduled for Saturday. When we attend tournaments, we will mix and match the teams so that the boys have some different opportunities to play and make memories with different kids. We are currently looking for co-coach that will be a great fit to our team. I anticipate that coach helping us very soon. Also, we will be getting some help from older players in the area. Going forward, I see lots of playing time for each boy and plenty of opportunity for each boy to improve his skills.
Practice…Our main focus this past week was getting ball touches. We also, concentrated on different ways the boys can communicate on the field. It’s important that the boys get used to our practice format. Each week we will try 4 or 5 different drills. We will introduce 2 new drills a week. By mid September, I hope the boys have some favorite drills and we can use those more often. The drills we are introducing are very versatile. Meaning, given what we are trying to accomplish, I might change some of the parameters of the drill to teach the boys different skills. Yet the basics of the drill will be understood so the boys wont get too confused.
I wish we could have played on Saturday. Thanks to everyone for showing up nice and early so I could get some pictures. Obviously, it was not safe to play.
This week…we will continue our goals to have the boys touch the ball and begin to get back into soccer shape. I am hoping to also spend some time encouraging some new friendships. It is very important to me that our boys recognize that they are a team and what that means on and off the field.
Each week I will send the boys home with a skill they can practice at home. Thursday I instructed the boys to practice a certain drill at home. I look forward to learning who did so. A big difference will be made with your sons skills while playing at home. Whether that is alone or with family and friends it is important to gain the confidence that comes from mastering a certain soccer skill. Plus, it is just plain fun!
Thanks again for your support. I look forward to getting to know each and everyone of you better. Please feel free to contact me with any concern or suggestion. In addition, I will be available to you after practice.
John LeSage
970-769-9031
970-375-6241
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