2022 WORLD CUP is here!

 Thanks to everyone that participated in the Fall Soccer Season, especially to those that volunteered to coach at all levels.  We had increased participation at all levels, including Saturday Soccer (the Coffee League).  The next season begins in late March and registration for Spring will begin in late January / early February.  More info will be sent after the holidays.

Have a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas season.  But before you do, we have the BIGGEST soccer event on the planet starting this weekend!!!

USA vs England - World Cup Watch Party - Friday November 25th - 12:45pm at Open Outcry
I call it soccer and the Brits (wrongly) call it football. Thankfully the world will know what to call it a week from tomorrow. 

We are hosting an all ages event at Open Outcry (10934 S. Western Ave.) at 12:45pm next Friday (11/25) to watch our boys in Red, White, and Blue take on the Three Lions. John Brand has hosted us for English Premier League watch parties in the past, but this one might be the most-hyped match in American soccer history.  Kickoff is at 1pm on the dot - pregame starts around 12:30pm when I hope to get there.

We will have the TVs on with sound blaring.  Please come join us even for a little to sing along and watch the match that could theoretically send the USA to the next round of the biggest sports tournament on the planet.   This is the last game of the day, so we will likely be gone not long after 3pm.


KICS Soccer Camp - TOMORROW - Friday November 18th
Sorry for the last minute notice on this one - KICS has let us know they are doing a camp for players in grades 3 thru 8 as a charity event.

5:00pm - 6:30pm ( 3rd grade - 7th grade)
6:30pm - 8:00pm (8th grade - 12th grade)

https://evergreenparkhs.8to18.com/registration/activity_step

There is no admission fee. KICS is asking families to donate an unwrapped toy. Toys should be new and unwrapped. All toys will be donated to Inner City Impact.  There is a Meijer and Walmart on the way to the EPCHS complex if a toy can be picked up.

 

October 2022 - KICS Day Reminder

Tomorrow's weather at 8am will be warmer than all of last week's Homecoming, so there's no better way to spend the morning than at the Convent Field.  We will now only have TWO sessions as noted below.  Pre-K and Kindergarten will stay together as planned at 8am.  The rest of the Grade Schoolers will follow immediately after the youngsters around 9am.


Chicago KICS Day - Saturday October 22nd

Club soccer team, Chicago KICS FC, will be at our Saturday Soccer space (the Field behind the convent) this Saturday for a free soccer camp for all our Buckeyes soccer players.  
 
Pre-K and Kindergarten players will take the field early at 8:00 am. 
1st thru 4th Grade players will follow just after 9:00 am. 

This KICS day is open to all school families, whether the kids played in the Coffee League, MHR League, another sport, or even just sat the season out.  To register, please click on this registration link and show up at your scheduled time.  This will be the last soccer event of the Fall for our youth soccer players. Chicago KICS provides winter camps for those interested in more soccer between our St. Barnabas seasons.  Club members will be here on Saturday to answer questions about their programs. 

https://chicagokicsfc.leagueapps.com/leagues/soccer/3445335-free-soccer-clinic-st.-barnabas-school-1022

No Soccer this Holiday Weekend

After tonight's 3rd/4th grade games, St. Barnabas Soccer will be on break until early next week.  

Our Varsity and Junior Varsity teams have completed their regular seasons and are anxiously awaiting playoff invitations.  Our 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th teams have played a majority of the games and every time I see a Buckeye, the response to my question asking whether or not they are having fun is always a loud yes.  Thanks to all the coaches and parents so far this season. Combined with the perfect weather, the fall season has been spectacular.

The Saturday Morning Coffee League will also pause this weekend with two remaining weekends left for our little Buckeyes. The week of October 15th will be the last weekend of in-house play with schedules remaining unchanged on the Coffee League link above.

On Saturday October 22, Chicago KICS FC will be joining St. Barnabas Soccer for a season finale training day.  It is meant for all Buckeyes soccer players, not just Coffee League players, from Pre-K thru 4th grade.  If there are players from the Varsity and JV teams that want to participate, please contact me

The camp is free.  To attend, please fill out the registration link here or in the QR code below.

Pre-K and K - 8am to 9am

1st/2nd Grade - 9am to 10am

3rd/4th Grade - 10am to 11am

Go Buckeyes!

2022 Fall Soccer Update - Sept 16, 2022

IMPORTANT NOTE: It seems like the last few email messages have gone to the Spam folder for a lot of recipients.  Two emails were sent today to email addresses provided at registration - one for Coffee League and one for League.  If you did not receive those messages, please check your Spam folder and add the saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com to your contacts if you haven't already done so.  Thanks.

Week 2 of the Coffee League is tomorrow morning.  For the Pre-K and Kindergarten teams, the session is flipped from last Saturday.  Team 3, Team 4, Team 7, and Team 8 will play at 8:30a while Team 1, Team 2, Team 5, and Team 6 will play at 9:30a. 

Coffee League participates from Grades 1-3 will still start at 9am.  No changes there.


2022 League Soccer

Varsity and Junior Varsity started off with wins in the opening games, but both suffered defeats in their second games.  Varsity plays tonight at 5:30, while the JV team kicks off early tomorrow at 9:00am.  Both games are at Park 581 (the St. Walter's Field). The full schedule for all league teams can be found in the links at the top of any page of the Blog. 


2022 Coffee League

It will still be warm tomorrow, so whether you bring your own coffee, tea, water, or other is up to you.  We intend to provide coffee and snacks one more time at the end of the season. We will announce that in advance.  If you would like to coordinate with some parents on the respective teams to bring drinks or snacks each week, go for it.

Uniforms have arrived and will be distributed prior to tomorrow's sessions. 

Rules of safety in all leagues include the following: All children should have shin guards in order to play.  Cleats are not required or expected.  Gym shoes are perfectly fine.  If plastic spikes are worn, they must be soccer cleats. Baseball or football cleats with a spike at the top of the shoe are prohibited.  So are metal cleats. All jewelry is also prohibited including earrings.  Younger children can cover new earrings with tape, but the best rule of thumb is that if ears aren't pierced before the season starts, it's best to wait until afterwards. 


KICS Super Saturday

In previous years, Chicago KICS Football Club has hosted a fall training session for our youth players. This weekend session is a sample of programming offered by KICS in their camps and club teams for youth soccer development.  Once the program is finalized, we will have a separate, free sign-up. For early interest, please contact Kevin O'Kelly at saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com with any questions you might have. 

2022 Fall Soccer - Kickoff

After a full summer to rest their weary legs and enough time to recruit new Pre-school and Kindergarten All-Stars, St. Barnabas Buckeyes Soccer is back in action this first week of September!

2022 League Soccer

All of our 1st/2nd Grade teams opened the Fall Most Holy Redeemer League season on Tuesday night.  Beautiful weather and full squads had Buckeyes fans cheering.  The 3rd/4th grade season kicked off tonight and 7 of our 8 teams play on Saturday, including the Varsity and Junior Varsity opening games.  The full schedule can be found at the Schedule link at the top of the page of the St. Barnabas Soccer Blog. 

2022 Coffee League

The weather is still warm so coffee might not be necessary, but it is still early enough on a Saturday morning to enjoy a cup of joe while watching our newest and youngest players kick off for the first time.  We will have Afro Joe's Coffee tomorrow morning for adults and donut packs for kids after their games tomorrow.

Teams were distributed earlier this week and the schedules for those teams are listed on the Coffee League page at the top of this page.  The Coffee League season will run through mid-October. 

Uniforms have arrived but they were only for league soccer.  The Coffee League shirts will be here next week.  For tomorrow, please just wear shorts and a t-shirt - any color is fine.  

Rules of safety in all leagues include the following: All children should have shin guards in order to play.  Cleats are not required or expected.  Gym shoes are perfectly fine.  If plastic spikes are worn, they must be soccer cleats. Baseball or football cleats with a spike at the top of the shoe are prohibited.  So are metal cleats. All jewelry is also prohibited including earrings.  Younger children can cover new earrings with tape, but the best rule of thumb is that if ears aren't pierced before the season starts, it's best to wait until afterwards. 


KICS Super Saturday

In previous years, Chicago KICS Football Club has hosted a fall training session for our youth players.  This weekend session is a sample of programming offered by KICS in their camps and club teams for youth soccer development.  Once the program is finalized, we will have a separate, free sign-up.  For early interest, please contact Kevin O'Kelly at saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com with any questions you might have. 


We look forward to seeing everyone at the parks over the next 6 weeks. See everyone  bright and early tomorrow morning!

2022 Fall Soccer - Coffee League August Updates

Coffee League Soccer Update:

Registration is still ongoing this week and will close after Labor Day.  If you have met friends in the first few days and they are looking for activities for their youngsters, please send them to this blog, which will describe the program and provide the registration link.

The Coffee League events begin on the Saturday after Labor Day (September 10th) at the field behind the Convent.  Start times for Pre-Schoolers and Kindergarteners will begin between 8:30a and 10:30a for each 1-hour session. We will release those rotating schedules the Tuesday after Labor Day (9/6).

Start times for kids in 1st thru 3rd grade will begin each week at 9am for their 1-hour session.

2022 Fall Soccer - League Soccer Updates

Greetings Buckeyes!

Best wishes for a great school year starting tomorrow and thank you for your patience as we've worked through the updates for the fall soccer season. 

League Soccer:

For all League Soccer, coaches should be contacting their teams withing the next day or two.  Games schedules have not been released yet, but generally the first game is no later than the Saturday following Labor Day.  

Rules of safety in all leagues include the following: All children must have shin guards in order to play.  There are no exceptions to that rule.  Plastic spikes are allowed (and encouraged), but they must be soccer cleats.  Baseball or football cleats with a spike at the top of the shoe are prohibited.  All jewelry is also prohibited including earrings.  Some seasons, referees would let younger children cover new earrings with tape, but other seasons the referees have been strict and didn't allow for it. Best rule of thumb if possible is that if ears aren't pierced before the season starts, it's best to wait until afterwards. 

Lastly, it's always good to bring a bottle of water to each game and practice. It is great for the kids to have their own ball, but that is not required.  We have enough for team drills, but not enough for each child to have their own for individual drills and outside practice.  If you bring your own ball, please put your last name or initials on it.

Teams in the 5th/6th and 7th/8th Grade Leagues will play six regular season games before Sunday October 16th with the possibility of a few playoff games following the regular season.

Eamon Reilly, Jose Rivero, and Mike Rom will be coaching the Varsity Team.
Ed Curley, Thomas Krabbe, and Joe Oswald will be coaching the JV Team.

Teams in the 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th Grade Leagues will play up to 12 regular season games before Sunday October 22nd. There are no playoffs for the Most Holy Redeemer Fall League.

Marco Tinio and Jen Theodule will be coaching the 3rd/4th Red Team.
Jose Rivero and Stacy Antonopoulos will be coaching the 3rd/4th White Team.
Drew Youpel and Sable Smith will be coaching the 3rd/4th Gray Team.

Mike Hohenadel, Maggie O'Reilly, and Kathleen Hogan will be coaching the 1st/2nd Red Team.
Pat Farrell, Kaley Farrell, and Joe Piko will be coaching the 1st/2nd White Team.
Dan Payne, Jessie Carroll, and Marty Carroll will be coaching the 1st/2nd Gray Team.

Thank you to all the coaches who make these seasons so successful.

Please contact Kevin O'Kelly at saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com if you have any questions or haven't heard from your coach by Tuesday night.

2022 Fall Soccer - July Update (Registrations and Referees)

Hopefully everyone is having a great summer so far - we can't have asked for much better weather.   

REGISTRATION
We also hope your kids have been dribbling the ball around the house, yard, or park at some point over the last few weeks in anticipation of the Fall Soccer Season.  Team submission for the Fall leagues is approaching quickly. We are coordinating with the League hosts and are trying to finalize the number of teams.  If your child(ren) is/are interested in League Soccer, please click the following Registration link to signup.  https://registration.buzz/barnabas/  The In-House (Coffee) League Registration will be ongoing through the beginning of school if you are still deciding to do both.

REFEREES
We are looking for referees for the Fall Leagues.  Games for those will be played at Graver Park, Crescent Park, or the St. Walter's Field.  5th and 6th graders can referee games in the 1st and 2nd grade leagues while 7th and 8th graders can referee 1st thru 4th.  StB Soccer alums are also welcome for the older kids.  Each of the leagues has a small training for which they haven't shared details yet other than there will be training.  There are also some helpful videos on YouTube (about 30 minutes each) to go over the basic rules for first time referees.  All of these details will be better known closer to the season.  Please contact us to signup.

SOCCER INFORMATION
Just a reminder as we begin to use this email system more regularly, at the bottom of this email and all major email campaigns will be two links: one to Unsubscribe (hopefully you won't click that one) and one to update your preferences, which will allow you to customize which types of emails you receive (All, Coffee League, Camps, Watch Parties, etc.).  Let us know how we can best communicate with you.

Most StB Soccer In-Season updates will be posted more frequently on our Blogger page.  The website for the Blogger is: https://saintbarnabassoccer.blogspot.com/. It is mobile friendly, so it's a good site to bookmark.  Also, the initial game schedules for each League Team will be linked on the Blog with an ics download available for your individual calendars. None of the leagues use dedicated software, so we hope to have a single reference point for parents coordinating very busy schedules.  More to come on this.

Please email saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com with any questions.  We look forward to seeing you in about 4 weeks!

Fall 2022 Soccer Registration

Today's email about Fall 2022 Soccer Registration closing next Friday is not entirely accurate.  Soccer registration will continue until school begins in late August, however the website might shut down temporarily as the other sports finish their registration.  

Please continue to use the following link for Registration: https://registration.buzz/barnabas/.  It will be open at least through next Friday.  

Please email saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com with any questions.

Spring Season Recap, Summer Camps, and Fall Registration

Before we begin this newsletter, the St. Barnabas Soccer Community owes a huge debt of gratitude for outgoing Soccer Coordinator David Hladik.  Dave has administered the Buckeyes soccer program for the last seven years and with it has changed the face of our group. From showing kids intriguing soccer drills like sharks and minnows to teaching new coaches how to keep the kids from then swimming away, Dave has created a positive soccer community that we hope to continue building. From all of us coaches and fellow helpers, thank you very much Dave.

2022 Spring Season Recap

Our Spring Season lasted all the way into June, but after an undefeated regular season, the 5th - 6th Grade team lost 2-1 in the SWCSA Semifinals. A controversial penalty against our Buckeyes allowed St. Linus to advance. Coaches Rom, Rivero, and Balta were impressed with the kids improvement throughout the year and look forward to next season,

Our 1st - 4th Grade teams participated in the inaugural season of the St. Linus Spring  Soccer League. The league consisted of teams from Saints Barnabas, Linus, Alexander, Walter/Benedict, and Gerald and consisted of a 10-game regular season and a 1-weekend playoff bracket. After some strong play from all teams to start the season, none of the teams advanced to Semifinal Sunday.  Thanks to each of our Spring Coaches for weathering, no pun intended, this initial season. We look forward to participating with St. Linus again next Spring.

Six 8th graders, nine 7th graders, and a few JV call-ups struggled to field a full team most of the season due to weather and other conflicts, but Coaches Petto and Reilly reported that the Varsity Team had fun and vastly improved throughout the season. While our Buckeyes scored a victory over St Cajetan at their homecoming in the Fall Season, claiming some early  season bragging rights, the team placed 10th out of 14 teams this Spring and missed the playoffs for the second time this year. With a large group of 6th graders set to join the Varsity Team next fall, the future is bright heading into the 2022-23 Season.

We bid a happy coaching sabbatical to Jeff Petto after participating in Buckeyes Soccer for 8 years. Thank you for teaching our kids many life lessons and a few tips about the beautiful game. Hopefully we can catch you out at the Coffee League next season to welcome and advise our new coaches.

We also say farewell and best wishes to Mary Callaghan, Skylar Greene, Andrew Hollinger, Donald Martin, Connor O'Malley, Billy Petto, Jack Smith, and Kaliah Washington as they begin their next chapters in life. Rumor has it that Kaliah plans to try out for Mother McAuley's soccer team while Billy and Andrew looks to make the team at Marist.  

Summer Soccer Camps and Adult Rec "League"

Area high schools offer boys, girls, and co-ed soccer camps beginning the week of June 6th.  As a sample, Br. Rice (boys), McAuley (girls), St. Rita (boys) and Marist (all) each have camps costing between $50 - $90 per weekly camp listed on their Athletics Summer Camps webpages.

While it is not a camp or for kids, the Chicago Beverly Adult Soccer group (find us on Facebook Groups) hosts friendly, co-ed pickup games for players of all ages (16 - 65?) and skill levels (OMG to MLS).  Generally games start at 9am or 10am on Sunday morning depending on the weather and last for two hours. There is no cost, no membership, no obligations, just soccer for fun and exercise.

 

2022 Fall Soccer Registration

Sign-up for the 2022 Fall Soccer Season is now underway at  https://registration.buzz/barnabas/. 

In-House Soccer is our Saturday Morning Coffee League for beginner and intermediate players from Pre-K thru 4th Grade to develop their soccer skills. The league kicks off on the Saturday after Labor Day and runs until the end of October. Rotating weekly sessions begin at 8:30a / 9:30a / 10:30a at the field behind the Convent. 

League Soccer is competitive soccer, relatively speaking, played amongst other area schools. Players of all skill levels are grouped into two-grade levels (1st/2nd | 3rd/4th | 5th/6th - JV | 7th/8th - Varsity) per league.  The younger groups will play approximately 10-games over a 6-week period with no playoffs.  The older groups will play approximately 8 games with a short playoff after the regular season.  League Soccer practices begin when school begins. Games begin around Labor Day and the season lasts until the later part of October.  Game days are played upon the coordination of the League, but usually not on Sundays.

Please contact Kevin O'Kelly at saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com with any questions you might have. 

Have a great summer!