Pennsylvania Rush Newsletter
January-March 2015
As the spring season approaches and calls us to get outside and play, PA Rush is very excited and eager to continue our vision and growth as a club. What really inspires me as Technical Director is seeing our program improve, with more volunteers offering to help and more players developing their skills and enjoying their time on the field under the guidance of the best coaches in the area. Over the last few years, we have made some big improvements by adding more high-quality coaches and continuing to add active members, who are essential to the success of the organization. As the Technical Director, I will continue to make sure we have a clear, obtainable vision along with the ambition and ability to carry it out.
Winter Academy
The much in-demand Winter Academy was held at three venues during December and January: Unami Middle School, NexGen and our own indoor field in BucksMont. 114 players participated overall in the 6-week program, which also included a Goal Keeper Academy. The program has grown year after year, a testament to our great trainers, new and old.
Matt Cohen coaching the Winter Academy at our BucksMont location
Rush Select
2014 was the first year players from our club competed for positions on the Rush National Select teams; we sent 3 U14 girls and 3 U13 boys out to the ID camp in Casa Grande, AZ. The players knew it was going to be tough with over 200 of the best players from over 30 states nation-wide. We are proud to announce that Riley Krumenacker, goalkeeper from the U14 girls’ team, and Carter Houlihan from the U13 boys’ team made the respective teams.
Riley played in the Desert Classic in Phoenix, AZ, and ended up returning home with zero goals conceded and a championship medal. Carter will be heading to Italy with the U13 National Select team in the summer and we wish him the best of luck. The club is funding players that are capable of competing at this very high level with a program called the “Elite Scholarship Fund,” a new program that helps contribute to the cost of high-level players who have opportunities to participate in extra programs.
On a personal note, I have continued my involvement in Rush’s National Select program working with the U15 girls’ team, comprised of players from 8 different states from New England Rush to Hawaii Rush. My team and I traveled out to the Presidents Day Tournament (PDT) hosted by FC Del Sol in Phoenix, AZ, one of the most competitive tournaments in the west, and returned with the championship.
Kristian Bates and his 15G at the PDT in AZ. U13B at the Casa Grande, AZ, ID Camp
First Annual PA Rush/BISC Presidents Day Futsal Tournament
PA Rush, in partnership with BucksMont Indoor Sports Center, was able to run a very successful first ever Presidents Day Futsal Tournament. With close to 80 teams, futsal games were played from 7AM-10PM. When it was all said and done over $3000 was raised for the club. It was a great day for all those involved and we are looking forward to running many more tournaments in the near future. We would like to thank all those who participated and volunteered throughout the day to make this tournament the great success it was. Please enjoy these photos from the day and some of our very own PA Rush winners from the tournament!
U10G Futsal Champions! U12B Futsal Champions!
Lenape Valley Rush
PA Rush Soccer is pleased to announce that Lenape Valley Rush Spring Soccer registration is now open! Due to the tremendous feedback from past parents and coaches we have make some changes and improvements to our intramural soccer program that we hope will make us one of the best programs in the area.
One of the biggest changes was the hiring of Matt Cohen as Director of Coaching for Lenape Valley Rush. Matt holds a Sports Management degree and has run various leagues and tournaments in the area.
Current changes include a new academy style program for our U4-U6 age groups in the spring. Academy style training is centered around training players in an “education first” environment. As a club, we are striving to focus our coaching on building and improving players’ skills, confidence, initiative, and sense of teamwork.
Lenape Valley Rush U4-U6 Academy will be COED. Players will come together as one group one to two times per week. During this time, PA Rush professional and licensed trainers will lead a developmental-based training session for forty-five minutes. During the last fifteen minutes players will be split into small groups and play small-sided games (2v2, 3v3, 4v4, 5v5). The groupings will constantly change from game to game and week to week. Player development and team play will be emphasized rather than wins and losses. Scores will not be kept and good play will always be celebrated and rewarded. Currently we are offering an introductory rate for our Lenape Valley Rush Academy of $25 for U4 & U5, and $85 for U6.
Lenape Valley Rush is excited for what the future holds and is committed to improving the program in the hopes of making it the best in the area!
Register here or for more information visit Lenape Valley Rush spring 2015 information
Tryouts/Placements
Tryouts for our PA Rush travel teams start in April, please visit schedule for more information. As a club, we invite potential new players to come out and train with our current travel teams. For the U8/U9 players, both new to our club and moving from Lenape Valley Rush into our Travel (PA Rush) side, the club will have some training dates in March and April prior to tryouts. These training days will be free for any players trying out for the PA Rush Academy 06/07 travel teams. In order to receive the information please make sure you register for tryouts as the list of registered players will be used to communicate dates, locations and any other information on the sessions and plans for the travel season.
Any players interested in finding out more about PA Rush Soccer should contact Kristian Bates at Kristianbates@hotmail.com or call 267-403-1021.
Rush Rookies
Our Rush Rookies Program is the perfect introduction to our future Rush players from three to five years, to the world’s most popular sport! Our unique “games based” approach to teaching soccer provides every player the opportunity to develop motor skills, social skills, coordination, and general athletic ability in a stimulating, motivational, educational environment as well as giving the player and their family an amazing glimpse of the game within our club.
PA Rush has offered the Rush Rookies program again this past fall (2014) and winter (2015). We currently have thirteen Rush Rookies registered and participating in our winter program! All classes are held on Saturdays either at The Doylestown First Baptist Church or BucksMont Indoor Sports Center in Hatfield. Our winter session runs for eight weeks and all players receive a T-Shirt with our new logo (above) and a certificate of completion. The total cost of our winter Rush Rookies program is $95.
Summer Camps
PA Rush summers camps have been a huge success since we started them in the summer of 2011. Each year we find new ways to improve our program, while keeping the cost at the same low price as when we first started the camps. We offer five different types of camps including individual full day (9-3pm) and half day (9-12pm), travel team pre-season all Rush teams between U8-U14, high school pre-season U15-U18 and, new for this year, full day at Camp America. For more information please visit Summer Camp information or register here.
Camp information or questions please email: kristianbates@hotmail.com
Upper Salford Rush
In January we announced our merger with Upper Salford at the Upper Salford Park location. We are very excited for PA Rush to add a new site and to give Upper Salford players the opportunity to be part of the biggest soccer organization in the world.
We will be running Upper Salford Rush tryouts for certain age groups this spring, and we will add additional programs to this site in the near future.
For more information please email KristianBates@hotmail.com or Tom Haney (DOC Upper Salford Rush) at thmotivate@comcast.net
Turf Field and Facilities
In the last few months the club has been actively putting together a plan to have its own turf field; Gene Noce (board member and 05 boys coach) has been working with US Soccer Federation in securing a grant for the field. We are considering two locations, at Covered Bridge Park or at Camp America. We have a committee in place and welcome any members who could help with the process. We are going to push capital funding for this project with fundraising ideas, sponsors and a gift program. Anyone interested in donating to help speed up the process, or those willing to help with your time and expertize in any way please email me at KristianBates@hotmail.com.
We continue our Camp America partnership and will use their fields in the spring and fall with lights. Additionally, we will make some improvements to the parking lot at the PA Rush Complex before the spring season.
Message from our Technical Director
2014 has been a fantastic year for PA Rush, reaching 500 travel players, winning 4 State Cups and continuing to gain recognition within the soccer region. We have added some new, experienced, and very qualified coaches with great reputations, as well as board members that believe in our goals and vision of the club. That vision is to have five training days per week for the players without additional fees, by adding extra sources of income to help cover the cost. In the coming year we will continue our Player Development Program, Friday night finishing, and add extra goalkeeper training and speed and agility trainers and programs.
To all of our club members, players, parents, volunteers, board members and coaches, THANK YOU for making the past year such a success!
Sponsorship Information
Luka wants to add some info about what he’s doing.
Anyone interested in sponsorship please contact Luka Okoniewski at Lukapsu@gmail.com
Thank you to all our sponsors!