Howdy! I hope your New Year is off to a great start!

Classes have begun for the new Spring Semester at Texas A&M and there are lots of cool things swirling around our program, coaches, and great players. In this journal entry, I will hit on some of those news items…

Spring Workouts Kick Off
Our players started working with our speed and conditioning coach – Paul Sealey – on January 18th. The spring is a very important part of our yearlong training calendar.

The Spring is when we do a ton of individual development work for all of our returning players, with the idea of “a rising tide lifts all ships.” We feel like if we can make each player faster, stronger, more agile, technically proficient, and tactically aware, then the entire team automatically improves. Then, when we start to train them as a team again, we can accomplish more and more on the soccer field.

The players will work out with Paul 4 mornings a week and then we will do some functional soccer training 1 afternoon a week for the first 31/2 weeks of the spring semester. Then we’ll add in more hours of soccer training in the afternoons starting on Valentine’s Day. We don’t actually play a spring game against an outside team until Rice comes to Aggieland for an exhibition match on Sunday March 25th.

VOTE for Top Moment of Aggies’ 2011 Championship Season
The 2011 soccer season was another successful and memorable season for the Aggies. In our last year in the Big 12 Conference we won our 12th Big 12 Championship Trophy and lead the NCAA in scoring offense, while securing our 17th consecutive bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament.

The Aggies are the most successful soccer program in Big 12 History, and we will be heading to the Southeastern Conference this coming July. But before we go, we need our fans to vote for the Top Moment in our 2011 season. Click on the link below that will take you to a cool video which already includes the Top 5 Moments and allows you to vote for your favorite.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS AND VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE

We Need YOU in the Aggie Soccer Club
The Aggie Soccer Club is a very important part of the total Aggie soccer program. It’s the best way for YOU to help the team!

The club is a specific booster club under the umbrella of the 12th Man Foundation which raises money and support for the soccer program at Texas A&M.

Each year, the club has been able to provide facility improvements and creature comforts for the club members and fans, but more importantly has provided needed training and gameday equipment and facility upgrades for the Aggie players.

Being a member of the Aggie Soccer Club gives you INSIDE ACCESS to the A&M soccer coaches and players. In 2012, members will take part in member only receptions with the players in the preseason and on game days, plus have the opportunity to get a gameday report from Coach G immediately before home games. Members also receive access to the Aggie Soccer Club Deck at Ellis Field – a new, covered club area with the most panoramic views of the field on game days.

There are 3 different membership levels available to ASC members, based on the commitment you can make to the team. So, please join today, and even better – recruit 2 friends to join with you. Just visit www.aggiesoccerclub.com to sign up right now!

Dine and Celebrate with the Aggie Soccer Players on Sat Feb 4th
The 19th annual Texas A&M Soccer Awards Banquet is set for Saturday February 4th at 6:30pm in the Zone Club at Kyle Field.

This is always a fun event for our players and fans. It’s a chance to see our players dressed up and celebrating the past soccer season. It’s the night where our players present the special team awards that they vote upon for their teammates, and it’s the first chance anyone will have to view the new movie highlighting our final year in the Big 12.

Tickets for the Banquet at $25 and include dinner. To make your reservation, contact Curt Magnuson at cmagnuson@athletics.tamu.edu today!

Facility Update News
Ellis Field continued to evolve into the best women’s soccer facility in America in 2011 with the completion of the public restroom facility in the southwest corner of the stadium. But, we’re not nearly finished with the upgrades!

This spring you’ll see construction of a new Aggie Brick wall on the north end of the stadium (Reed Arena end) followed by the addition of the new roof over the west-side grandstand this summer.

The new roof will extend over the entire 240 foot long west-side grandstand. It will cantilever over the Aggie Soccer Club Deck, the main walkways, and the upper 4 rows of the grandstand, providing comfortable shade to every seat on that side of Ellis Field on those warm Friday evenings of the NCAA season. And, because the roof will cantilever over the grandstand, no views will be blocked for our season ticket holders or club members on the west-side of the stadium.

The project is well along in the university’s process of approvals, bids, and construction policies. We expect to see crews out at the facility this May and completion of this phase of the Ellis Field upgrades done during the summer.

So, if you want a suggestion for 2012, I have TWO:
1. Buy Soccer Season Tickets as soon as they become available!
2. Become a member of the Aggie Soccer Club so you’ll have access to the Club Deck on the west-side grandstand!

Notes from My 1st SEC Soccer Coaches Meeting
I flew to Birmingham Alabama for the January 18 SEC Soccer Coaches meeting. I, along with the other Aggie soccer coaches, have been friends with most of the SEC coaches for years and years. And, I can say that it’s a great group of people who all want the very best for the sport. So, the meeting at the SEC offices were productive and enjoyable.

There were more than a few tidbits of info that I think will excite our fans. Here are 5:
1. In 2012 we will be playing all 13 of the other schools in the conference
2. Teams will have either 6 or 7 home games – actual schedule has not been distributed to us yet
3. There will be a post-season SEC Championship Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama
4. 14 SEC soccer games will be broadcast on Television (ESPNU, Fox Regionals, and CSS)
5. Televised games also should be available to the 70 million viewers with access to ESPN3

We were addressed by Commissioner Mike Slive. He expressed how excited he was to have A&M and Mizzou in the league and how 2012 would be a year of transition for all sports in the league. And that the future of the league is incredibly bright.

As coaches we worked on ideas for the 2013 regular season schedule and conference tournament and ideas to get the most SEC teams possible into the NCAA Tournament while allowing our best teams to advance to and win future College Cups. There is still much to be sorted out and decided upon, but I’m confident that we will find great solutions to issues and can see SEC soccer rise to the highest levels on the nation scene.

Stay tuned…more info will come out and as it becomes official, I will share it with you on www.coachg.com

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook
I try to tweet several times a day on Twitter. So, please follow me @CoachGSoccer and follow our program @AggieSoccer on twitter

Also, if you’re on Facebook, be sure to “like” our pages so that you get feeds of info on Texas A&M Soccer – LIKE us at: Coach G Soccer, Texas A&M Soccer, and Aggie Soccer Camp

REGISTERATION IS OPEN for the 2012 Aggie Soccer Camps
The Texas A&M Soccer camp is one of the most celebrated summer soccer camps in America.

The Aggie Soccer Camp has been described as the best camp in America for years and years, and every year we work to make the experience that much better for the players, so I hope you’ll check us out at www.aggiesoccercamp.com and sign up your player for a WOW experience this summer!

Gig ‘em!
-Coach G