Children and adults all around us are homeless, hungry and in desperate need of items this holiday season.  There are over 5,000 people in the Sacramento region that are homeless.  Of those, youth and young adults ages 14-24 make up nearly 10% of the total population experiencing homelessness*.

*Source: SacHousingAlliance.org

Help the U14/15 Boys Academy fight hunger and homelessness in our greater community!

From December 9th to December 18th the Academy team will be partnering with the Sacramento Homeless Union Gospel Mission to help feed families and provide needed supplies this holiday season. Our goal is at least 700 food and toiletry items by December 18th!

The Mission serves over 9,000 meals each month and provides shelter for anyone to come in out of the diverse weather, keeping safe from the heat, cold and dangers of the streets 365 days per year. Seven days a week a homeless individual can get a warm meal, fresh clothing, a place to shower, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste, shaving cream and razors and numerous other items they need.  Mission volunteers are active in the community, supplying food boxes to families who are unable to adequately feed their children, and the elderly who barely make ends meet.  For Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas they distribute a bountiful holiday meal.

The Mission operates without tax or government support of any kind, funded entirely by generous donations of individuals and organizations in the community.  Your contributions will make it possible for them to help people make meaningful life changes and become contributing members of society.

Donating is as easy and is as effective as a hat trick!

Check your panty, or pick up an extra food or toiletry item or two at the store (please see the list below for needed items).

Drop your donation off into the boxes labeled “Food Collection Box” in the entrance of Placer United Soccer Indoor Training Center located at 1091 Tinker Rd., Suite 300, Rocklin, CA  95765.  “Tinker” is open weekdays in the afternoons from 4:45pm to 9pm, and 9pm to 5pm on Saturdays.

Help Spread the Word! Forward this email to friends and family and encourage them to donate.

Make a Tremendous Difference With A Simple Donation of Food or Toiletries Below.

Canned

• Soup
• Meat
• Vegetables
• Sauces
• Beans
• Peanut ButterJelly
• Chicken, Tuna

Boxed

• Cereal
• Rice
• Pasta (all types)
• Containers of Oatmeal
• Granola Bars
• Trail Mix Packs
• Water Case

Toiletries

• Soap
• Body Wash
• Deodorant
• Razors
• Toothpaste/ ToothBrushes
• Shaving Cream
• Combs
• Lotions
• Tissue Packs
• Wet Wipe Packs

Other

• Blankets
• Tarps
• Backpacks
• Duffle bags
• T-Shirts
• Beanies/Hats
• Socks
• Umbrellas
• First Aid Kits
• Garbage Bags
• Gloves
• Hand Sanitizer
• Hand Warmers

Together, we can help give less fortunate individuals in our area the perfect gift by fulfilling their needs this holiday season.

Placer United U14/15 Boys Academy

Questions?  Please contact U14 Academy Coach Kevin Unsworth or Manager Chemene Phillips

Thank you in advance for your support!

U17B 99 Gold – 2015 soccerloco Surf College Cup Seaside Champions

The Placer United boys and girls teams that traveled to San Diego over the holiday weekend had a great Thanksgiving at the 2015 soccerloco Surf College Cup. The new Surf Cup showcase format really suited us as four Placer teams continued where our younger’s left off at Summer Surf by playing through to the last day to earn Surf Cup championships.

U16G 00 Gold – 2015 soccerloco Surf College Cup Stone Steps Champions

Each of the final day games had tons of college coaches filling up the sidelines as they scouted for their next group of players. With parents chewing on fingernails the Placer boys and girls gave it their all and left everything on the field.

At the end of some tense, nerve wrecking, back-and-forth, fast-paced action-packed games, three Placer teams succeeded in being named Surf Champions.

U18G 98 Gold – 2015 soccerloco Surf College Cup Moonlight Champions

A big congratulations to the following teams:

• Placer U16G 00 Gold – Surf College Cup Stone Steps Champions
• Placer U16B 00 Gold – Surf College Cup finalists
• Placer U17B 99 Gold – Surf College Cup Seaside Champions
• Placer U18G 98 Gold – Surf College Cup Moonlight Champions

U16B 00 Gold – 2015 soccerloco Suf College Cup Finalists

Great job Coaches Jason Gantt, Matt McDougall, and Ron Benjamin! Go Placer!

U10B 05 Black celebrate the win with Coach Jorge

A big congratulations to our U10B 06 Black team and Coach Jorge for taking home the 2015 U10 NorCal Platinum 3 Cup Championship.

The boys had a great run in this year’s NorCal event beating a very strong Livermore team in a back and forth semi final game. The team followed up that win by beating the highly favored mighty Mustang United team in the final.

Congratulations again boys. Go Placer!

A big congratulations to the Placer United U12B 04 Gold team as they were crowned Champions of NorCal U12 Premier Division last weekend.

The team has already complied an impressive list of championship wins:

• 2015 NorCal Spring Premier Division
• 2015 Davis College Showcase
• 2015 Summer Surf Cup
• 2015 Davis Premier Cup

The Fall Premier League title will now be the 5th major competition the boys have won this season.

Congratulations to each player, parents and Coach Paul!

Great job, Go Placer!

A huge congratulations to the eleven boys and seven girls from Placer United Soccer Club who were chosen to participate in this weekend’s By-Invitation-Only PDP Camp held at Davis High School. To have a total of eighteen players represent the soccer club is a really high achievement by our coaches in the 2003 and 2004 boys and girls age groups. Great Job! Go Placer!

2003/2004 Girls

• Karley Garcia
• Emma Hofmann
• Kate Killer
• Lucy Newlin
• Kellie Pagador
• Grettel Sainz
• Emma Schafer

2003/2004 Boys

• Jared Bautista
• Lucas Bost
• Payton Brennan
• Jacob Goehring
• Robbie Mora
• Donovan Sessoms
• James Shepard
• Lucan Summers
• Chase Tanon
• Jackson Tucker
• Rami Zantout

Alumna, Jessica Raybe, Arizona State

October 21, 2015—Pete LaFleur
editor@collegesoccer360.com

Arizona State sophomore forward Jessica Raybe (Lodi, Calif.) – who scored early and then set up the decisive penalty kick in double overtime at Washington – is the top honoree among CS360’s week–9 Primetime Performers Honor Roll for Division I women’s soccer, covering games played from Oct. 12–18, 2015. Raybe is the CS360 National Primetime Player of the Week, while the 15 Primetime Performer honorees for week–9 also include another Pac–12 player in Arizona platoon-starter goalkeeper Lainey Burdett (Las Vegas), the CS360 National Freshman of the Week.

The CS360 Primetime Performers (which began in 2009) highlight players who perform at a high level – both consistently and in timely fashion – during games that carry potential significance to postseason qualification and positioning (i.e. based on quality of opponents and other situational factors, beyond raw stats. The week–9 Primetime Performers include several from teams that were locked in key midseason showdowns against top contenders for their respective 2015 conference regular-season titles (which, in many cases, also carry the bonus of serving as the conference tournament host team).

Raybe and her team headed to Seattle last week desperate for a win, particularly on the road versus one of the nation’s top teams. The sophomore delivered with an early goal and later played a key role in the sequence that produced the winning penalty kick in double overtime, for that 2–1 win over the Huskies (cs360 #15). The result was ASU’s first win over Washington since 2011 (first in Seattle since ’05) and marked only the second time this season that the Huskies have allowed multiple goals. Most importantly, the win at Washington helped ASU’s climb back to .500, which is require as a minimum for receiving an NCAA at-large bid (the Sun Devils now are 5–7-1). ASU also sliced its RPI from triple-digits to 86, with the obvious hope that more quality Pac-12 results could drop that RPI even further into NCAA-bid range (usually at least the 45-50 range). Regardless, a loss (and maybe even a tie) at Washington could have pit an end to ASU’s postseason strategy.

Raybe opened the scoring in the 12th minute, after taking a pass from Madison Kmetko and guiding her shot over the ’keeper into the far-right corner (she also had scored in the previous game, a 1–1 result vs. UCLA). With another 1–1 final looming, Raybe forced the action after splitting two defenders and poking a feed from Whitney Kanavel before being impeded by the onrushing ‘keeper Megan Kufeld (drawing a “last defender” red card and PK). Kanavel then cashed in the penalty try versus backup Sarah Shimer to complete the dramatic road win (105’). BURDETT held back Washington State during a big 1–0 road victory, saving all nine shots on goal (a season-high nine saves) while her busy game also included defensing 25 total shots and six corner kicks. Burdett helped the Wildcats remain in the top half of the highly competitive and talented Pac–12 Conference.

An early enrollee who began her college soccer career at Arizona during the 2015 spring semester, Burdett has split time this season with second-year player (redshirt freshman) Rachel Estopare, going 5–2–1 in her eight starts. The 15 week–9 Primetime Performers include three goalkeepers, three back-line defenders, a pair of holding/defensive midfielders, three other midfielders and four forwards. Burdett is the only freshman among the group, along with nine seniors (one of them a fifth-year player), three juniors and a pair of sophomores.

Two of the week–9 honorees hail from California hometowns and two others are from New York, with the other 11 hailing from 11 different home states: Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Two players among the week–9 Primetime Performers – Duke junior defender Christina Gibbons and Western Michigan sophomore forward Emma Kahn – were named to the CS360 Primetime Honor Roll earlier in the 2015 season. Seven on this list have teammates who were Primetime Performer honorees earlier this season: players from Arizona, Arizona State, California, Duke, Hofstra, Mississippi and Wisconsin.

Selection for the CS360 weekly awards is based on any/all of the following “primetime” criteria (i.e. not solely based on raw stats):

• Performed at a high level in a game that could be key to the team’s postseason qualification, typically in a game involving a top-50 team from the CS360 Composite National Rankings (or in a game involving a conference favorite/leader from a league not represented in the CS360 top-50).
• In general, preference is given based on the quality of the opponent, contribution to team success and other situational factors involved in the player’s accomplishments.
• Exhibited strong leadership and/or involved in clutch performances, such as gamewinning goals, noteworthy comebacks, late scores, momentum-shifting play, all-around performance/consistency, filling role/gameplan, team spirit, etc.
• Overcame adversity or extreme circumstances (for the team and/or individual).
• Bonus consideration is given for key performances away from team’s home field and/or against a traditional rival.

October 15, 2015 — If you were unable to attend the Placer United Information Night, following is the slide show presentation.

SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD

October 7, 2015 — Placer United Soccer Club will host an Information Night to provide current and prospective competitive soccer players and their families with an opportunity to learn about the new US Soccer Mandated Player Development Changes.

The focus of the meeting will be on the new calendar birth year mandate process and how that will affect the next tryout season. In addition, standards for age groups U6-U12 and U13 and above will be defined by Director of Soccer Operations, Paul O’Brien In order to eliminate confusion and misinformation.

This is an important review and we hope that you will be able to attend with your player.

Thank you
Placer United Soccer Club

Date: Wednesday, October 14th

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Placer United Soccer Indoor Training Center (Tinker)

Abena Aidoo, midfielder, Placer United U16G 00 Gold

Abena Aidoo of Placer United’s U16 Girls 00 Gold team, was called up to the U17 Women’s Ghanaian National Team Camp as they prepare for the 2016 U17 World Cup qualifying matches in January. Placer United reached out to a Northern California Ghanaian representative so coaches could take a look at Abena and make a decision on bringing her to camp. The camp will take place in Accra, the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an estimated urban population of 2.27 million, from October 11-20.

“I am beyond blessed and grateful for this opportunity to represent my home country.” said Aidoo.

Aidoo is a 4.0 GPA sophomore student-athlete at James C. Enochs High School in Modesto. She drives three times a week to Rocklin for soccer training with Placer United.

Soccer Highlights

• Named to the Top 18 All-Star Team this past January at the Region IV ODP Championships in Arizona.
• Competed at the 2015 Region IV Olympic Development Program (ODP) camp in Linfield, Oregon, and was selected to play with Region IV this November at the Inter-Regional Competition in Boca Raton, Florida.
• Selected as a First Team All-League Player as a freshman playing on the varsity squad for Enochs High School.
• Member of the Placer United U16 Gold team which won the
  2014 National Premier League (NPL) Champions League championship. The team also represented Northern California at the NPL Finals this past July in Westfield, Indiana.

“We are very proud of Abena and her latest call up into the Ghanaian National Team camp,” said Ron Benjamin, U16 girls coach at Placer United  “She has the work rate, desire and capabilities to play at the next level. This will be a great experience for her and we wish her the best of luck.”

Abena Aidoo prepares to take a shot on goal at the soccerloco Surf Cup tournament in San Diego in 2015

U12B 04 Gold – 2015 Davis Premier Cup Champions

Congratulations to the U12B 04 Gold and U13B 03 Gold teams who both took home first place at the Davis Premier Cup tournament held at the DYSL complex this past weekend. The U12 boys scored a grand total of nineteen goals in four games on the way to securing their second Davis Championship series trophy of the year.

U13B 03 Gold – 2015 Davis Premier Cup Champions

The U13 boys erased their early summer final disappointment at Davis by beating the Ethos Earthquakes in the Premier Cup final on PKs in a very lively and competitive game

Congratulations to both teams! Go Placer!