DRUM ROLL PLEASE.............After almost 100 name submissions and a couple of votes to narrow the field and then decide: The CASL Mascot, which is a Plott Hound, (the NC State Dog) is CLEATS! We will notify the winner, who submitted the name, tomorrow.
CLEATS will be unveiled at the CASL Cup on May 21-22. Of course, Cleats may be seen earlier but officially its debut is at the CASL Cup.
Thanks to all the CASL players that submitted names! We really appreciate it!
Charlie Slagle
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Where are we in the Name the Mascot time line?
The deadline for Naming the CASL Mascot passed last Friday and later today the CASL staff will vote to see what names will be on the final ballot! The mascot costume is being worked on right now at, believe it or not, a Mascot Costume Company!
The CASL Mascot is a Plott Hound. The Plott Hound is the state dog of NC (who knew?). The winning entry for the type of mascot was submitted by Meghan Poirier who plays on the 1993 CASL Spartan Elite Black and is a junior at Apex HS!
There were almost 100 distinct name entries that the staff will choose from. Of course, there were some repeat suggestions and also some unique suggestions. Some of my favorite unique suggestions are: The Plott Hound “Thickens,” CASL Rascal, WRALie pronounced Raleigh
When will the CASL Mascot grace the fields of CASL? It is our hope that the CASL Mascot will debut at the CASL Cup which is May 21 and 22nd. This will liven up CASL’s end of season recreation tournament. I may challenge the mascot, at that time, to race me in the “Magnificent Mile” run in downtown Raleigh
Thanks to all that submitted names and soon we will have a name for our HOUND!
Charlie Slagle
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
What is upcoming at CASL and other soccer in the area?
It is always good to look on the CASL website to find out the happenings in and around soccer in the area. A few things sprung out to me as I perused the home page this morning:
1) CASL Cup and other summer tournaments-The Recreation CASL Cup for CASL teams only is May 21-22. This is a fun time and the CASL mascot will hopefully make its debut at this event. Also, the Chelsea 7's tournament will run from June 24-26. This unique tournament is in its 3rd year. It offers 7 v 7 games in a fun atmosphere! The Chelsea 3's will be played on August 6-7. This is a fun 3 v 3 tournament that kicks off the fall season. For more info, go to the CASL web site.
2) The Railhawks open with 3 home games beginning with the season opener against last year's champions, the Puerto Rico Islanders on April 9th. The Islanders beat the Railhawks in last year's championship series. CASL members can get 20% off of Railhawks tickets. For more info, you guessed it, visit the CASL homepage!
3) The CASL Golf Tournament is on April 28th at Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State. Come join me and other CASL staff and supporters at this fun event. For more info........visit the CASL homepage!
4) The CASL Camps and Academies go into high gear during the summer months. If you want to learn to score, learn to keep the ball out of the net as a gk, get better at your skills or just have a general soccer experience, the CASL Camps and Academies are your ticket! See the CASL website for more information!
5) The US Women's National Team is training for the 2011 FIFA World Cup and one of their last tune-ups is at WakeMed Soccer Stadium on May 18th against Japan. We need to send our women's team off on a good note as they head to Germany for the World Cup. For ticket info....see the CASL web site!
Tonight....do not forget the 8 pm kickoff between the US Men and Paraguay from Nashville, TN. Hopefully the Yanks will make "sweet music" and get a "W" against this SA opponent!
Keep posted by checking the CASL web site often.....there are charitable giving options, Season Kicket specials and news about CASL teams and players on the website all the time. Enjoy your surfing!
Charlie Slagle
1) CASL Cup and other summer tournaments-The Recreation CASL Cup for CASL teams only is May 21-22. This is a fun time and the CASL mascot will hopefully make its debut at this event. Also, the Chelsea 7's tournament will run from June 24-26. This unique tournament is in its 3rd year. It offers 7 v 7 games in a fun atmosphere! The Chelsea 3's will be played on August 6-7. This is a fun 3 v 3 tournament that kicks off the fall season. For more info, go to the CASL web site.
2) The Railhawks open with 3 home games beginning with the season opener against last year's champions, the Puerto Rico Islanders on April 9th. The Islanders beat the Railhawks in last year's championship series. CASL members can get 20% off of Railhawks tickets. For more info, you guessed it, visit the CASL homepage!
3) The CASL Golf Tournament is on April 28th at Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State. Come join me and other CASL staff and supporters at this fun event. For more info........visit the CASL homepage!
4) The CASL Camps and Academies go into high gear during the summer months. If you want to learn to score, learn to keep the ball out of the net as a gk, get better at your skills or just have a general soccer experience, the CASL Camps and Academies are your ticket! See the CASL website for more information!
5) The US Women's National Team is training for the 2011 FIFA World Cup and one of their last tune-ups is at WakeMed Soccer Stadium on May 18th against Japan. We need to send our women's team off on a good note as they head to Germany for the World Cup. For ticket info....see the CASL web site!
Tonight....do not forget the 8 pm kickoff between the US Men and Paraguay from Nashville, TN. Hopefully the Yanks will make "sweet music" and get a "W" against this SA opponent!
Keep posted by checking the CASL web site often.....there are charitable giving options, Season Kicket specials and news about CASL teams and players on the website all the time. Enjoy your surfing!
Charlie Slagle
Monday, March 28, 2011
What happened over the weekend? AND what is the story with this weather?
A cold and wet weekend was with us here in Wake County. Fortunately, we got all the games in on Saturday although it was unseasonably cold and looked like we would get precipitation all day. Yesterday, was mainly a washout and the CASL scheduling staff will be working on rescheduling those games early this week and getting the information out about the make-up games as soon as possible!
The US Men's National Team garnered a good tie in front of 78,000+ in Giants Stadium against Argentina. The US hung in there and came back to tie the game. Messi is unreal and he should be watched as often as possible as there is no one better now and maybe, when his career is done, he will be acclaimed as the greatest player of all time. The US, of course, had trained in town last Monday-Thursday in preparation for that game and the game tomorrow night in Nashville against Paraguay, which lost to Mexico on Saturday.
Some locals had big weekends. Zack Shilawski scored his first goal of the season for the New England Revolution in a 2-1 victory. Zack played for CASL, Cary HS and Wake Forest. This is his second year in the MLS. Chicago Fire captain, Logan Pause, played all 90 minutes in their game. Logan played for Durham Jordan, UNC and a couple of local soccer clubs including CASL. Will Hesmer was in goal for the Columbus Crew, Will is from Wilson and played at Wake Forest Univ. Rookie, and newly signed, Tyler Lassiter was one of the substitutes for the New York Red Bulls but did not see action. Tyler played for CASL, Wake Forest Rolesville HS and NC State.
Also, CASL's own Damon Nahas just returned from a week of being on the US National Team staff with the Under 15 Girls National Team Camp. Damon coaches a couple of teams for CASL including the 1994 CASL Spartan Elite Black team. Two members of that team, Claire Wagner and JoAnna Boyles were at the same camp but were with the Under 17 US National Team. Damon also runs Next Level Academy and Net Sports.
Let's hope Spring returns soon and let's all have a great week of soccer!
Charlie Slagle
The US Men's National Team garnered a good tie in front of 78,000+ in Giants Stadium against Argentina. The US hung in there and came back to tie the game. Messi is unreal and he should be watched as often as possible as there is no one better now and maybe, when his career is done, he will be acclaimed as the greatest player of all time. The US, of course, had trained in town last Monday-Thursday in preparation for that game and the game tomorrow night in Nashville against Paraguay, which lost to Mexico on Saturday.
Some locals had big weekends. Zack Shilawski scored his first goal of the season for the New England Revolution in a 2-1 victory. Zack played for CASL, Cary HS and Wake Forest. This is his second year in the MLS. Chicago Fire captain, Logan Pause, played all 90 minutes in their game. Logan played for Durham Jordan, UNC and a couple of local soccer clubs including CASL. Will Hesmer was in goal for the Columbus Crew, Will is from Wilson and played at Wake Forest Univ. Rookie, and newly signed, Tyler Lassiter was one of the substitutes for the New York Red Bulls but did not see action. Tyler played for CASL, Wake Forest Rolesville HS and NC State.
Also, CASL's own Damon Nahas just returned from a week of being on the US National Team staff with the Under 15 Girls National Team Camp. Damon coaches a couple of teams for CASL including the 1994 CASL Spartan Elite Black team. Two members of that team, Claire Wagner and JoAnna Boyles were at the same camp but were with the Under 17 US National Team. Damon also runs Next Level Academy and Net Sports.
Let's hope Spring returns soon and let's all have a great week of soccer!
Charlie Slagle
Friday, March 25, 2011
What is on Back of the Net Tomorrow?
Tomorrow on the radio show, "The Back of the Net" (on 99.9 the Fan from 7-8 am every Saturday, hosted by me, Charlie Slagle) will be an array of guests. We will have CASL's own Caroline Lindquist, who plays for the 1993 CASL Spartan Elite Black. Caroline is a junior at Ravenscroft and just returned from participating in the US Under 18 National Team camp in California.
US National Team member, Carlos Bocanegra, was interviewed during the team's stay in Cary this week. It will be great to hear the insight from one of the veterans of the US squad. They will play Argentina in NY Saturday night in a friendly. We will also talk to Curt Johnson, the President of the Carolina Railhawks. He will be talking about the team but also about the Railhawks hosting a game in May between the national women's team of Japan and the US Women's National Team. This will be one of the last tuneups for our women before heading to Germany to play in the FIFA Women's World Cup.
As I write this blog, I am trying to procure for tomorrow's show one of the top high school coaches in the area to talk about his team and the other area teams.
Hopefully, the predicted rain will hold off so that we can get some, if not all, of the CASL games in tomorrow.......we shall see!
"Have Fun and Remember it is Just a Game!"
Charlie Slagle
US National Team member, Carlos Bocanegra, was interviewed during the team's stay in Cary this week. It will be great to hear the insight from one of the veterans of the US squad. They will play Argentina in NY Saturday night in a friendly. We will also talk to Curt Johnson, the President of the Carolina Railhawks. He will be talking about the team but also about the Railhawks hosting a game in May between the national women's team of Japan and the US Women's National Team. This will be one of the last tuneups for our women before heading to Germany to play in the FIFA Women's World Cup.
As I write this blog, I am trying to procure for tomorrow's show one of the top high school coaches in the area to talk about his team and the other area teams.
Hopefully, the predicted rain will hold off so that we can get some, if not all, of the CASL games in tomorrow.......we shall see!
"Have Fun and Remember it is Just a Game!"
Charlie Slagle
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What connection does the Norwegian on the US Men's National Team have to CASL?
Yes, a strange question....but bear with me. There is a player, Mikkel Diskerud, on the US Men's National team. Mix, as he is called, grew up in Oslo, Norway. His father is Norwegian and his mother is an American from Arizona. He moved through the soccer ranks in Norway and played on various national teams as well as a professional squad, as a youth for Norway. Due to his mother's heritage, Mix could also play for the US. He was called up to play for both the US Under 20 and the Norwegian Under 20 team. Players do not have to decide until they are called up, and play, for one of the full national teams as to which country they will represent for the rest of their career. Mix was called up for the US first and has 3 caps (playing in 3 games) for our national team. He had determined that he would go by the "first come, first served" philosophy and the US called him up first. Therefore, his national team fortunes lie with the US!
How does this fit into CASL, you may ask! In the summer of 2008, one of the parents, Bill Bullock, of my 1993 CASL Spartan Elite White team, arranged a trip to Scandinavia for the team. We were the first American side to play in a tournament, the Eskils Cupen in Helsingborg Sweden, in the 40+ year history of the event. We were quite an attraction being the only American team of 650+ teams in the tournament. The team did very well and took home the champion's and fair play trophies for the tournament.
Then the group traveled to Norway where we played two friendlies. Our tour operator, arranged for two 17 year old Norwegian soccer players to be our tour guides in Oslo. They were Chris Ager and, yes, you guessed it, Mikkel Diskerud. Therefore, our tour guides from 3 summers ago both play in the US or for the US. Chris is a player at Boston College, so he was down in our area for the ACC Soccer Tournament and Mix is training with the US National team at the same complex, WakeMed Soccer Park.
I guess there is only one explanation, "IT IS A SMALL WORLD!!"
Charlie Slagle
How does this fit into CASL, you may ask! In the summer of 2008, one of the parents, Bill Bullock, of my 1993 CASL Spartan Elite White team, arranged a trip to Scandinavia for the team. We were the first American side to play in a tournament, the Eskils Cupen in Helsingborg Sweden, in the 40+ year history of the event. We were quite an attraction being the only American team of 650+ teams in the tournament. The team did very well and took home the champion's and fair play trophies for the tournament.
Then the group traveled to Norway where we played two friendlies. Our tour operator, arranged for two 17 year old Norwegian soccer players to be our tour guides in Oslo. They were Chris Ager and, yes, you guessed it, Mikkel Diskerud. Therefore, our tour guides from 3 summers ago both play in the US or for the US. Chris is a player at Boston College, so he was down in our area for the ACC Soccer Tournament and Mix is training with the US National team at the same complex, WakeMed Soccer Park.
I guess there is only one explanation, "IT IS A SMALL WORLD!!"
Charlie Slagle
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
What is the Early Bird Special in Recreation Registration?
This year, as we unveil recreation registration for next fall's season, CASL will implement an Early Bird component. The Early Bird replaces regular registration. Anybody applying and paying during the Early Bird time frame will be guaranteed placement on their team from the spring, if you elect to stay on that team. Anyone else applying during the Early Bird time frame will be guaranteed placement on a team.
If you do not apply during the Early Bird time frame, there will be an increase in the cost (generally $10) and veteran players will not be guaranteed that they will return to their spring team. Also, new registrants will not be guaranteed placement on any team (this all depends on spaces available on teams in each age bracket and whether the fall schedule has been completed (therefore, it is time sensitive-the later you apply the less likely it will be that there will be a spot available)).
Someone might ask, "Why does CASL start registration so early and why the perceived early deadline for guaranteed placement?" CASL starts Recreation registration about midway through the previous season to allow for soccer to be fresh on the minds of CASL members. It also allows the coach to encourage his/her team to register to be on the same team the next season. The guaranteed placement deadline may seem early but there is a lot of work to do to get ready for the next season. The recreation administrators must form teams, find coaches for those teams and, during the summer of each year, move teams up an age bracket. This all has to be done before the scheduler can schedule all the games for the season. We, therefore, work backwards-we determine when we need to give practice and game schedules out to the teams and then work back to as long as it takes the scheduler to schedule the 2,500+ games per season and then how long it takes the recreation administrators to form the teams. After doing that, we determine when the Early Bird ends and placement can't be guaranteed.
Some may complain that the having to pay more after the Early Bird time period is unfair. There is a component of this that is trying to encourage people to register and pay before the guaranteed placement deadline, for sure. However, the CASL staff spends many extra hours dealing with people that miss the deadline and want to get back on their previous team. We hope that the Early Bird price structure decreases the 20% of the applicants that apply after the guaranteed placement deadline.THEREFORE, my advice is to "APPLY DURING THE EARLY BIRD & ALL WILL BE GREAT!" You'll save $ and get back on your spring team, if that is your desire, for returning players and you will get on a team, guaranteed, if you are new to CASL or didn't play during the previous season!
Charlie Slagle
If you do not apply during the Early Bird time frame, there will be an increase in the cost (generally $10) and veteran players will not be guaranteed that they will return to their spring team. Also, new registrants will not be guaranteed placement on any team (this all depends on spaces available on teams in each age bracket and whether the fall schedule has been completed (therefore, it is time sensitive-the later you apply the less likely it will be that there will be a spot available)).
Someone might ask, "Why does CASL start registration so early and why the perceived early deadline for guaranteed placement?" CASL starts Recreation registration about midway through the previous season to allow for soccer to be fresh on the minds of CASL members. It also allows the coach to encourage his/her team to register to be on the same team the next season. The guaranteed placement deadline may seem early but there is a lot of work to do to get ready for the next season. The recreation administrators must form teams, find coaches for those teams and, during the summer of each year, move teams up an age bracket. This all has to be done before the scheduler can schedule all the games for the season. We, therefore, work backwards-we determine when we need to give practice and game schedules out to the teams and then work back to as long as it takes the scheduler to schedule the 2,500+ games per season and then how long it takes the recreation administrators to form the teams. After doing that, we determine when the Early Bird ends and placement can't be guaranteed.
Some may complain that the having to pay more after the Early Bird time period is unfair. There is a component of this that is trying to encourage people to register and pay before the guaranteed placement deadline, for sure. However, the CASL staff spends many extra hours dealing with people that miss the deadline and want to get back on their previous team. We hope that the Early Bird price structure decreases the 20% of the applicants that apply after the guaranteed placement deadline.THEREFORE, my advice is to "APPLY DURING THE EARLY BIRD & ALL WILL BE GREAT!" You'll save $ and get back on your spring team, if that is your desire, for returning players and you will get on a team, guaranteed, if you are new to CASL or didn't play during the previous season!
Charlie Slagle
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)