July 18, 2008
Assistant Coach Tyler Pagano
I am happy to announce that Tyler Pagano has accepted our offer to join our staff as an Assistant Coach during our 2008 fall season.
Tyler is a former Valparaiso University stand out player who started all three years with the Crusaders after he transferred from UMass after his freshman year. He graduated from Valpo with a degree in Sport Management.
Tyler primarily duty will be the supervision and coaching of the Reserve Team, as well as helping out with the Varsity team practices, recruiting, and travel arrangements.
Tyler's experience at the collegiate level, his knowledge of the game, and desire to learn and improve his coaching skills, make him a great addition to our soccer program.
Welcome on board Tyler. We are very excited about your appointment!
Posted by gianninr at 11:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Josh Pedersen, Class of 2012
What up Brothers? My name is Joshua Pedersen and I graduated from Wheaton North High School in May. I have been playing soccer since I was 3 years old and competitively since I was 8. I played 2 years of Varsity at my high school, Junior year in the back and Senior year at center mid and forward. I played on the Chicago Fire Juniors for club and moved around to all different positions due to injuries and lack of commitment from my fellow teammates. I plan on returning to the back for my Wabash career. I live very close to my high school and we have a turf field so the accessibility to play is always there. I play close to 4 or 5 times a week for hours at a time. I have also been working this summer and saving some extra spending cash for the school year. I can not wait for the season and am anxious its about a month away. I hope all of you enjoy the rest of you summers until its back to the grind at school
Joshua Pedersen, '12
Posted by gianninr at 01:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 15, 2008
Greetings from the Southern Hemisphere
Hey guys ! how are you? Here everything is going perfect. I just came back to my city from a month trip. I went to a colonial city called Sucre and a tropical one called Santa Cruz. Before that I crossed swimming a strait on a lake called Titicaca. It was about 1 km long so not too long. But the lake is 12000 feet above the sea level and the water was at 7 degrees Celsius (44 Fahrenheit ). That's pretty much it around here.
Now I'm getting ready for the season. My ankle is healed and I'm playing soccer regularly besides going to the pool every day. I push my calves to hard yesterday and now i cant walk! I'm crawling in my home from one place to another.
Oh! besides that I'm planning to invest on a turf field. Do you know how much the square feet costs there ? That was was little bit off the topic. Anyway, I'm looking forward for the season. Cant wait. Ill be in touch more often.
See you.
Diego Aliaga, '10
Posted by gianninr at 03:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 07, 2008
The Return of Thomas’ Soccer Blog
If any of you have ever seen the movie Office Space or Wanted and read the comic Dilbert, I think you would be able to adequately guess what Corporate America is like. I work in the Corporate Headquarters for a very large scrap recycling manufacturer and although the majority of company’s employees work in the “yard,” a few select individuals get to work in the Corporate building. I am one of those lucky individuals. I wear business attire, save for a tie and jacket to work, a far cry from my usual attire at school; and I am not allowed to use my “colorful” vocabulary. The work itself is not bad: I am putting together a management training guide, a stock option powerpoint, a ‘new hire’ powerpoint, and various other intern related work. But, as I am sure you all know, work can get very monotonous. So I decided to take a little vacation and head to New York City for the long weekend.
Three high school friend’s of mine and I took last Thursday off and drove all night to the Big Apple to visit a few friends living in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The drive only took 10 hours, allowing us to arrive in Manhattan at 9 in the morning for some legendary non-existent New York City traffic. Apparently everyone in the city likes to get the hell out of there whenever possible. There were no delays, traffic jams, or any such thing my entire time in the city. That was an added bonus. We parked in Brooklyn, on the street, allowing us to avoid some ridiculously expensive car garages, another added bonus. Armed with fanny packs, disposable cameras, lots of maps and tourist books, we took the city by storm (we also gave the peace sign and the thumbs up in every picture, sticking to true tourist form).
If you have never been there, it is an unbelievable time. I am originally from the city and every time I return, I have just as much fun. Being an unaware tourist is one of the joys of going to the city. Walking around, exploring, and taking in the sights can provide an individual with numerous days of activities. However, my friends and I were only allowed to wander around on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday so we had to make the best of our time. We hit Chinatown, Little Italy, Times Square, the Financial District (Ground Zero), Yankee Stadium, Central Park, Midtown, and all the tall buildings an acrophobic could handle.
By far the funniest thing we did was play stick ball and run-down in the middle of central park. Right in the middle of the park, where thousands of people walk everyday, we decided it would be fun, and extremely appropriate to start playing stick ball with a dead tree limb and a tennis ball we had just found. By the end of the game, numerous locals were watching our childish antics in awe and slight amusement. I don’t think we broke any laws because a few of “New York’s Finest” returned a foul ball to us with a chuckle. Also, the night life of the city is unparalleled in the United States. The city really does not sleep; people are really out all night. There was entirely too much for us to see but we sure tried our best.
The city was a welcome break in between the monotony of the work week and I strongly recommend a visit to the city at some point. And sightseeing is actually one of the more fun things to do on vacation, as I am sure Devin and Funstuff will confirm.
I hope everyone’s summer is going well and I will see you all soon,
Thomas 
ps. The Dark Knight in 10 days
Posted by oleckj@wabash.edu at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 05, 2008
Jake Woloshin, Class of 2012
Whats up fellas. My name is Jake Woloshin. I went to Noblesville High School and Varsity soccer. I played outside mid.
My summer has been awesome! I just got back from Spain on July 3rd. I visited many places including Barcelona. I got to go in Camp Nou and a bunch of other places. I was also fortunate enough to have been there when Spain clinched the Euro championship over Germany. It was insane!! Other than that I have been working at Verizon Wireless Music Center and just hanging out. I am really pumped for the season to start up. See you all soon.
Picture taken at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain
Jake Woloshin, '12
Posted by gianninr at 03:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
June 29, 2008
About Time
Spain won the EURO 2008 Championship, and I am glad it did.
First of all, Italy went out at PKs against the eventual champs who scored against every opponent they faced and had only 2 goals against, giving the Azzurri a little vindication.
Mostly though, I am glad that Spain won because the country has always produced great soccer players, great club teams, and their Liga is one of the top three domestic championships in Europe.
Over the years, Spain had failed to reach any hardware and even though its various teams mostly played good soccer and competed well, they always choked at the very end. Other nations, including Italy, have had their share of good and bad luck, but Spain seemed to always find the negative outcome of things.
I am also glad that Germany has not won because it didn't deserve it. Germany has won lots of trophies in its history, some just a product of pure luck, associated with lots of resilience, typical of the German tradition, but without deserving the wins and without a good team (1990 World Cup and 1996 Euro come to mind). Something that Spain had many times, without ever becoming winning teams.
So, I am happy for Casillas (one of the two best keepers in the world, the other being Buffon, of course!), Torres, who at 21 is just so dramatically impressive that I don't know who may be able to stop him, Puyol, the veteran who had seen so many games go bad, Sergio Ramos, one of the best attacking defenders in the world, and my personal favorite, Fabregas, who at 22 has so much talent, charisma, and personality to stay on top of the soccer world for another decade.
Well, Spain, congratulations. A victory well deserved and not just for this season, but for the decades of great soccer players and teams that I, and other fans, have enjoyed!
VIVA ESPANA!
Posted by gianninr at 05:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Pat West, Class of 2012
Hey guys what's up. My name is Pat West. I was the goalkeeper from Brownsburg High School and club keeper for Westside United. Not a lot has been going on this summer for me. I have been working when I can and just hanging out the rest of the time. I've gone to a couple concerts this summer. I've already seen Jack Johnson and still am going to John Mayer, Rush, and Dave Matthews. Music is a big part of my life. I have been working out and running, trying to get ready for this coming season with you guys. Hope everything is going well.
Pat West, '12
Posted by gianninr at 01:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
