The Director’s Cut, 2021/22, Vol. 9
2021 has come and gone (almost). Our teams have continued to progress while our club is continuing to grow. Our overall record as a club is 165-134-51. We have completed 350 games this fall and did so while the pandemic continues to rage around us. When we started HVS 1.5 years ago, we had no idea we were starting a new club in the middle of a pandemic. We have had a number of challenges to deal with and we have met most of these challenges.
1. COVID. We started the season with a number of players falling ill or testing positive for COVID. Many of our opponents had to cancel games due to COVID. Our COVID Reporting Portal was blowing up. HVS did not have to cancel any games and we finished the Fall season with all games having been played. A big shout out to our COVID Committee for helping us sort thru information, online reports, and helping to keep our teams playing!
2. Special Events. We hosted seminars on college recruiting, nutrition, speed training, and our Town Hall Health Check. HVS Night was a huge success with hundreds of players and parents enjoying a great evening together. This was our first ever “social event” as a club and one we will continue to host and enjoy. We played two showcase games for our oldest players and over a dozen college coaches attended. We hosted an ID Date on Dec. 16 that drew over 250 players and allowed us to identify about a dozen new players for our teams.
Tournaments. Our teams participated in the Liberty Cup with 10 teams winning Championships and the HIT with 6 teams winning Championships. Our 2010 boys and girls participated in the Beach Fest Tournament where both teams won Championships. Our oldest girls participated in the NCSC Showcase in November. Our MLS NEXT teams played in MLS NEXT Fest with over 100 college coaches attending our games. Our girls’ teams will be in Florida early in January for the DPL Showcase and our NPL teams will head to Atlanta for the NPL Showcase in mid-January.
3. Sponsorships & Fundraising. We held our first ever Silent Auction which raised money for our Pass It Forward campaign. We also raised several thousand dollars for our Technology Fund. All together we brought in thousands of dollars to help support our programing and we appreciate all those who bid on auction items or simply donated to the cause. Many of our teams also held fundraising campaigns that helped reduce the cost of Team Fees for our families.
4. Social Media. We grew our online presence significantly over the past 12 months. We currently have 636 followers on Facebook, 1195 followers on Instagram, and 194 on Twitter. If you aren’t following us on social media, please join us.
5. College Recruiting. On the boy’s side Jackson Nabors has signed to play at Davidson College (D1). Kosi Udeh has signed to play at South Carolina, and Alan Melendez, Kaleb Jowers , Seth Acton, Nathan Tozzi , Bryce Burdette, Isaac Obermiller, Sims Tosh, Nathan Starzl, Braelen Francis, Topher LaRussa Josh Rowland and several other boys have been going on visits and receiving offers. With the MLS NEXT season continuing thru the spring, we expect quite a few more offers to come in. On the girl’s side, Natalie Chapuran has committed to play at the Univ. of South Alabama (D1), Alana Morton has committed to Jacksonville State (D1), Jessica Johnson has committed to Jacksonville State (D1) Camryn Davis has committed to Jacksonville State (D1), Riley Kate Hulsey has committed to AUM (D2), and Ella Moody has committed to AUM (D2). We expect many more boys and girls to make commitments over the next few weeks and months.
6. 2011 Futures. This fall saw us start a Monday night Futures program. This brought together the top young players (2011) from Hoover & Vestavia. The program has been a great success with over 20 boys and 20 girls in each group enjoying some great training and lots of fun. We appreciate the efforts of all the coaches who have given their time to help get this program off the ground.
Overall, it has been a very good year for HVS. We have added teams, players, and several new coaches over the past 12 months. We have a strong group of coaches that are committed to growing and improving our programming. It is hard to believe that we are just 18 months old. I can’t wait to see what the new year brings!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Mike
Mike Getman,
HVS Director of Coaching