Mantua Township Soccer Association

Happy New Year! Time sure flies when we are having fun! 2011 was another busy and exciting time for the Mantua Township Soccer Association, its coaches and players. I am happy to report we have fully implemented our on-line soccer registration process and look forward to the rewards and convenience it will bring. I really appreciate everyone's patience throughout the transition. I would like to express my extreme gratitude to all the players, coaches andparents for exhibiting exceptional sportsmanship this fall. Everyone's efforts and hard work resulted in MTSA receiving only two player infractions and no coach or parent infractions and for that, I want to thank you for your continued commitment to sportsmanship.

I am happy to report that we are going to continue our partnership with the Philadelphia Union Soccer team in 2012. Hopefully you were one of the lucky winners who won tickets to see a game and/or had the opportunity to be present when they visited Chestnut Branch Park. The children really looked like they enjoyed those large inflatable games. Keep an eye out, as we will be raffling off tickets again in 2012!

This fall was the debut of our new Dynamic travel uniform. The teams displayed them well and we got so many compliments on the design. This uniform does not retire and it will eliminate the need to purchase new uniforms every two years. We also updated the patches we hand out at tournaments. Coaches, please make sure you work with your respective VP's to get your new supply. They look great and we are really proud to display the new Mantua shield!

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the board members and the volunteers who make everything happen so our children have a quality club to play soccer. From the Board members, Coaching Staffs, Team Managers and those who organized the Fund Raiser's for your teams, I greatly appreciate your efforts. M.T.S.A. is an organization run entirely by volunteers and we are always in need of help for various positions. I encourage you to attend one of our meetings or give me a call if you have any questions. As always, Mantua Soccer will strive to bring the best soccer education to the children of our Township and surrounding communities.

Fundraising

Once again this fall, Mantua Soccer participated in the FootballMania fundraiser. We thank everyone for your support for this popular program. We had several first place winners this year and awarded over $5000 in total prize money, including a grand prize of $1000! For the spring season, we will be giving everyone a break from Joe Corbi and participating in the Charitymania NCAA HoopsMania. Each HoopsMania game card contains 8 random college basketball teams that will play in the tournament (you get 2 teams from each region). All cards have seeds 1 through 8 printed on them so everyone has an equal chance of winning. Frustrated by your office bracket pool? Try HoopsMania for a chance to win $1000!

Girls Travel Program

At no time in the history of Mantua Soccer have we had this many girls travel teams. In the fall we fielded 13 teams ranging in age from Under 8 (U8) to Under 19 (U19). Many thanks to all our Girls travel coaches and managers - without these parent volunteers we would not be able to provide all these opportunities for the players. In the spring we will be fielding 12 girl's travel team to include for the first time ever a U8 travel team approved by the Executive Board. It is a bit of an experiment - we are hoping it helps to give some players greater challenges as well as level the competition for those U8's playing in-house for the spring.

Congratulation to the U-15 Mantua Mustangs on winning their division and to the U9 Thrashers who went undefeated this fall. League and state rules prohibit us from declaring the Thrashers as champions because of their age group.

Mike Drees, VP for U8-U11 Girl's Travel Teams

Rich Cromley, VP for U12-U19 Girl's Travel Teams

I Hope Everyone had a Great time this Fall season and are Looking Forward to the Spring Season as I am. I would like to thank all coaches & other volunteers that dedicated their time to Mantua Soccer this Fall Season. Without all of you, we would not be able to do what we do. We really appreciate Your Time and the Effort you give us every year.

One change that I am proud to report for the upcoming Spring season is that we will have one U8 Girls Travel Team. Also, come next Fall, there will be one U8 Girls Travel Team and one U8 Boys Travel Team. There will be tryouts for the Fall season travel teams after the Spring season concludes which will be handled by the Travel V.P.'s.

We will still run the U7/U8 Recreation Program the same as we always have.
I hope everyone enjoys their time they spend with Mantua Soccer.
If anyone has any suggestions or concerns, please contact me anytime and we can discuss.
Thanks for everything.

Robert F. Kaufman
MTSA VP U7/U8 Recreational Program
U-5/U-6 In-House Program

I would like to thank all coaches, assistants, team mom's, and everyone else who volunteered their time during the 2011 Fall season. Without your help, we would not have a soccer program. Your efforts and generosity are very much appreciated.

Should anyone have any suggestions or concerns going forward, please feel free to contact me.

I hope everyone had a great time this Fall Season and I look forward to seeing everyone in the Spring.