I grew up playing soccer starting around the age of 10 and I loved it. I’ve played ever since then (wet behind the ears) and in most cases, I couldn’t play enough. I did the baseball thing for one season when I was a wee-lil runt and I had mixed success. Soon after that while attending Orange Glen Elementary School, a group of soccer players came to our school to talk about soccer and to spark some interest in the San Diego Sockers. Come to find out that our own John Napier was instrumental back then and responsible for bringing those players to the schools in our area and they left a lasting impression indeed. I can remember going out to the playground soon after that presentation as the entire school played what we thought was soccer. You’d probably call it a scrum with 500 kids chasing one ball but I remember it as a point for when I started playing soccer. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction, John.

I went on to play for Escondido High School for four years and then moved away for work and school but kept looking for soccer things to do. Joined teams up in Moorpark and Los Angeles, eventually playing with a Semi Pro team but couldn’t find enough play time so I put it on the shelf for a while. After coming back to Escondido from Texas some 13 years ago, I found another reason to get into Soccer again. I started coaching my son and eventually my daughter in the same club that I played in some 30 years ago.   It was known as the North County Youth Soccer Association (NCYSA) back then and only changed to the Escondido Soccer Club about 9-10 years ago. I was a horrible coach at the start but I think I’ve gained a lot of wisdom and researched a lot of coaching lessons to make sure the kids are having fun. That’s what it’s all about.

My son has moved on from soccer but I still get him to come out and help me referee some soccer games as much as a teenage boy will allow while playing in a band and having a girlfriend (not me, him J ). I still get to coach my daughter and we’re still having fun. This past year, our team was the Mad Skittles GU14 soccer team. We finished in second place for the season and escaped with a narrow win in the season ending tournament, AKA Super Soccer Saturday & Fall Classic against the Fire-N-Ice soccer team. Congrats to both Teams! Nonetheless, congrats for some great soccer for all the teams!

There has been a lot of excitement during the year and I’m happy to be part of the many things our Soccer Club has been able to accomplish. In the Spring Season of 2009, we were able to grow our registration numbers. We had some teams join us from Valley Center and now we’re going to reach out to other clubs to see if they have any interest to keep the kids in our area playing. The Spring League Season has always been about keeping the kids playing if they weren’t doing anything else. Bringing them out in a less stressful environment than the Fall Season to keep their skills up, spend time with their soccer buddies and overall have an enjoyable time during the spring. We’re going to continue that fashion this spring and we currently have sign-ups live on our site through the end of January. The Spring Season should start middle of February so sign up as soon as possible. (There is a $10.00 discount if you sign up before January 10^th - & we’ll be at Ryan Park the second weekend of January to take your registrations in person if you’d prefer that method over our online process)

Also for the Spring League, we were able to get some younger referees trained and licensed for the year. It was my distinct pleasure working with all referees this past year, specifically the new and young referees. You all have some great kids and I was able to spend some time mentoring a couple dozen of them this past year to help them become better referees than they thought they could be. I recall one young referee doing the Lines on one game and as I stood behind him giving him directions on where he should be standing, where he should be running etc…etc… He replied back to me: “Geesh, it get’s tiring doing it your way”. I had a good laugh with that. It’s not as easy as it looks and some people are just better than others. Being a referee takes a certain kind of person. It comes much easier if you’ve played soccer and those referees that do or did play, generally do well but the person that has a thick skin and can let coach and parent complaints roll of their backs and/or can respond to a stressful situation without getting frustrated is something that is hard to teach right out of the gates. In the past 3 years that I have worked with young referees, this year has been the best as far as not losing young referees due to hostile situations. Thank you to the parents and coaches for identifying that our young referees are doing the best job that they can and that it is better not to stress the referee out during the games as it will ultimately cost the club another referee and will put a horrible memory of soccer on that young person’s mind. Always contact me if you ever feel the need to discuss a situation or improvements that can be made.   Nevertheless, parents, coaches, players, family members….if you would like to become a referee or would like to learn the rules of soccer, shoot me an email and I’ll set something up.

The Escondido Soccer Club started a new program this year through Xara Soccer where the club purchased special training balls and development program for the coaches and players in the U6 through U8 divisions. The curriculum of both centered around adventures of two Dinosaurs and two Super Heroes, telling stories, using imagination and integrating that into games during practice. Kids were able to learn the game of soccer through some eventful games while having fun. Kudos to ESC for delivering this program!

In the Fall Season, we had our Competitive FC Heat teams do exceptionally well. I don’t have the final statistics in front of me but I believe that at least half our teams finished in the top three in their divisions respectfully. The Recreational Season seemed to go fairly well. We’re always going to have some issues to deal with but for the most part, it was very successful. Now we just need to do a better job at having our end of the year ceremony with ALL Teams at the same time.

Speaking of improvements, the Escondido Soccer Board of Directors has almost always been powered by volunteer energy. A lot of the work is really never acknowledged or witnessed as most volunteers are organizing soccer duties from the comfort of their own home or work computer or phone during their breaks at work and in between doing family errands. A lot of people put in a lot of time to make sure the kids in our community have a place to play soccer….”…striving to develop integrity and mutual respect through athletic competition within a safe, fun and supportive environment” .   We can always make room for improvements but we need your help. If you see something that can be improved, please bring it to our attention. If you have time to assist the soccer club, albeit only 30 minutes or an hour or two, we will gladly take you up on it. If you need help coaching, let us know. See someone else that needs help coaching, let us know as well. We have a bed of knowledge on the Board of Directors and we can pull together to get you what you need. There is always something that can be done from keeping the fields clean to filling up a low spot in the fields, to educate ourselves on how to get our kids to the next level in their development, etc… (not to mention we’re looking for someone to fill our open volunteer coordinator position – Apply within! We’re waiting for you J ).  

So now we’re in the period of the year where most kids and parents are taking a well deserved break from soccer. But for many others, some teams are still playing in tournaments for our Competitive FC Heat program or our Recreational All Stars. Each year at the end of the Recreational Season, players from each team are identified to try out for All Star teams. These All Star Teams go onto play a number of tournaments in and around the San Diego area and each year, our teams do exceptionally well. If you want to see how some of your old teammates are playing a little higher competition level, come out and support these teams in the New Years KickOff at Ryan Park on January 9^th and 10^th. I’m sure they would love to have you cheering them on while they represent the Escondido Soccer Club. It’s a great accomplish to make the team not to mention to be nominated to tryout.   Congratulations to everyone that was nominated.

After January, a new Board of Directors will come on board to lead our club through the next year. In the early part of the year, Competitive tryouts will begin for the younger aged players U8 through U13 and the U14 on up will fall close behind. So if you are interested in trying out and seeing if you have what it takes to play at a higher level, check to our website as well as go to the FC Heat website, www.fcheat.org for more information.

….and don’t forget the Spring League happening now J

I’d like to thank everyone for making this a very successful year and hope to see you again in 2010!

Board Members, Thank you for your tireless effort and the hundreds of man and/or woman hours you pour into the club!

It has been my distinct pleasure being your club President this past year. Thank you, and have a safe, enjoyable and prosperous Holiday and New Year!

Thom Terrazas