January 2010 Archives

From time to time, I always look back on this speech and remind myself of certain things. And hopefully when people read this, it will remind them of certain things, too.

"I'm a very emotional and passionate man. I can't help it. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special. It's so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it."

With the 2010 girls soccer season set to kick off in a matter of weeks, who are some of the players to keep an eye on this spring?

The 2010 Pepsi Showdown, the largest high school girls soccer tournament in the country, kicks off April 6 at 23 different sites throughout the Chicagoland area.

New Trier, Barrington, Wheaton South, Cary-Grove, Huntley, Glenbrook South, Hersey, Maine South, Lyons, Wheaton North, St. Viator, Loyola, Homewood-Flossmoor , Wheaton Academy, St. Ignatius and Lake Forest were the 16 teams that earned one of the top seeds.

The complete tournament bracket may be found at www.pepsishowdown.us. Here is the complete game schedule for the 2010 showcase:

The Second Annual Pepsi Showdown College Showcase - partnered by YourSeason.com - received positive feedback after the Dec. 30 event last week at the Chicago Sports Zone in Melrose Park. Close to 200 players received 120 minutes of playing time in front of college coaches from all Midwest states (and Texas), and it's safe to say most players walked away tired at the end of their event.

The 2010 showcase will take place Dec. 29 at the Chicago Sports Zone, and it will feature an added combine portion and college coaches Q & A panel for coaches, parents and players.

The goal is simple - to provide players an opportunity to shine in front of college coaches, while providing one site for college coaches to come and see hundreds of high school players from all over. But it's also a great opportunity for players to play with different players and high school coaches from different schools to see players from outside their area.

The 2010 event will return to its four session format of underclassmen boys, underclassmen girls, senior boys and senior girls. You don't need to head to Florida or another state with a club team to be seen in December 2010.

The opportunity is right here.