New Recruits

From top to bottom are my three newest recruits. Jordan Grace from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Eric Wright from Harrisburg, Illinois and Griffin Groves from Olney, Illinois are the latest young men to sign a letter of intent to play soccer for RLC this fall.

Jordan played forward for the University Heights Academy in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He had several accomplishments this past fall including being named to the all district team and scoring 40 goals in his senior season! He set a school record of 100 goals in his four years at UHA. He's a talented player with a no quit attitude. He'll make a very nice addition to our squad this fall.

Eric played Keeper this past year for Coach Gregg, but he played the field his freshman through junior years. Eric did a great job at Keeper this past season as he stopped 7 out of 8 penalty kicks. He was named to the All South team this past year and he is very eager to get started at RLC. Although Eric did a great job at Keeper I'm probably going to use him on the field as a midfielder.

Griffin set the Olney High School record for career goals and assists this year. He was all sectional, all-state Chicago Fire all academic team, Decatur Herald first team, and all-south for two years. He's a very talented player that can fill any position on the field.

I'm very excited about these three young men. They are going to be an excellent addition to our 2009-2010 squad.

Recruiting News

Since my last post a few things have happened regarding recruiting, so I thought I'd pass those things along to you.

I am no longer trying to recruit the young man from Venezuela. He has other interests than RLC, so I have withdrawn my scholarship offer to him. I have decided to spend my time and energy on another international that has a great desire to play at RLC.

His name is Antony Kabui from Nairobi, Kenya. Some of you know that I tried to get Oscar Walunde and Antony to come to RLC last fall. However we had limited time last year and they could not get an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in time to get here last fall. We have plenty of time this year, so I'm confident that we will get Oscar and Antony. I have been in touch with Robert Mbatia (our contact in Kenya) several times this past week, and he assures me that the paper work for Oscar and Antony will be faxed to RLC this week. When we receive the paper work we can then forward the student visa requests. Once Robert, Oscar and Antony receive the paper work they will set up an appointment with the U.S. Embassy to see if they can get approval to come to the States on a student visa. That will be the hard part. So, if you're a praying person I request that you join me in praying that the boys will get approval from the Embassy. Hopefully the boys will be able to get here by June so they can get acclimated with the area, and put in some time with the team.

I'm very excited about the way the '09 team is shaping up. I have three - five more spots to fill on the roster and we will be set. I've tried to focus on recruiting talented midfielders, and I think I've been successful. We should be able to build an attack from the back, possess the ball in the middle and send it forward on a consistent basis this fall.

I am still waiting on an answer from two young men that I have offered scholarships. Once they give me a yes or a no, I will then be able to fill the other three - five spots. When I get those spots filled I'll post the news.

Update on 2009 Recruits and Scheduling

The 2009-10 recruiting year is off to a great start. Here's a rundown on how the squad is shaping up.

I'm bringing back four starters from the 2008 team. Andy Jerome, Logan Gregg, Tyler McKibben, and Jared Butler will bring back some experience and leadership to the team this year.

I've signed seven new young men, and offered scholarships to three more. The young men that I have signed are Micah Duncan, Tyler Appleby, Josh Sears, Joel Harrison, Cesar Garcia, Juan Arreola, and Jared White.

I'm in contact with three international players, two from Kenya and one from Venezeula. Hopefully, out of those three, we will get two of them.

The schedule has been set for 2009. I have scheduled 19 matches and one scrimmage. I'm waiting on one other coach to schedule a scrimmage with me. That will put us at 21 matches. Last year, because we got such a late start, we only had 13 matches. Included in this year's schedule is a trip to Southern Mississippi where we will play Southwest Mississippi Community College and Pearl River Community College. This should be a fun and challenging trip for our squad.