As you all know, I have been the head soccer coach at Wabash since last January, which meant very little time for recruiting the 2010 class. As a matter of fact, I started recruiting the 2010 at the same time I also initiated scouting for the 2011 class! Obviously, the sense of urgency that the former presented captured the majority of my focus, at least until the end of March.

In little over two months, the soccer program was able to generate a considerable amount of interest, thus receiving a good number of applications and deposits from student/athletes who were interested in attending our school and possibly playing soccer as well.

I was able to see some of the players play and others I did not. After much travel, game viewing, and recruiting efforts, I am happy to report that the following players were invited to preseason and will be part of our fall roster from day one:

Luis Quiroga Montano - La Paz, Bolivia

Jonathan Funston - Munster, IN - Purdue University

Oscar Eduardo Gonzalez - Guanajuato, Mexico

Andrew Kapsalis - Fishers, IN - Hamilton Southeastern High School

Matthew McClain - Chesterton, IN - Cherterton High School

David Rosborough - Loveland, OH - Loveland High School

Additionally, we will have try outs in August and based on the number of players who have paid a deposit and would like to play soccer at Wabash, we may be able to find a diamond in the rough and consequently make our team even stronger and deeper.

I am sure that with the returning talent and the additional freshmen, our 2006 fall season will take some interesting connotations, to say the least!

Posted by Roberto Giannini at 09:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What's up coach?

Just wanted to let you know that I'm feeling fantastic and I will be taking the adrenaline test very shortly. I'm playing in that Mexican League in which we are currently 3-1. However, in our game today (Sunday) a guy on the opposing team and me kind of got into a shoving match and he proceeded to chase after me throwing punches and trying to kick me while several spectators also chased me. After the chaos, I got a red card, go figure.

I'm also playing in a 7v7 League that will be run by Soccerville. I'm feeling great and working on my DEFENSE, for sure. I'm pumped and psyched for this coming season. As long as everyone takes it seriously and prepared I think this could be that turn around season for the program.

Adios and go USA, Italy aint got nothinnng!

Posted by Roberto Giannini at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Luggage Arrives

By Ben R.Esbaum

Today was certainly an eventful day. We finally saw the end of our luggage fiasco and had an official tour of campus. The campus is pretty amazing and although it has been near the building for our classes all along, I finally saw the University's soccer field. It was interesting during the tour to see how much our tour guide cared about making sure all of us knew about their university and their culture. There were numerous times Zach, Danielle (as they pronounce it), and myself were separated from the group, but each time we managed to catch up, the tour guide fully explained the current building or place of interest without once acting upset that we had managed to fall back once again.

As a group, we ate at La Choza for lunch. It must have been pretty intimidating for any passerbys of our group, as the majority of our 22-person group, well 23 including Dr. Rogers, stood over the average Ecuadorian height. Lunch was great because it was the first time all of us had a chance to hang out as a group outside of class and the food was obviously amazing. After lunch, most of us went our separate ways or with small groups to go to the airport to retrieve our much-needed luggage.

I think as a group we are all starting to become more comfortable speaking with our families and the students at the University, at least that is the case for myself. It's nice to actually initiate some of the conversation with my family now, as opposed to waiting anxiously for the next question.

In a final note about my family, my family is great. I have a five-year-old host brother who is a complete trip. My host mother told me last night that during the afternoon, he only drinks tea. So by the time we all arrive home, he is very hyper and wants all of our attention. Living with a family is really the best way to become more accustomed to speaking Spanish, even though it is a bit frustrating not being able to say everything you want. But all in all I think I will really enjoy being around my host family. Plus, they even introduced me to the greatest excuse for tardiness, "La Hora Ecuatoriana."

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Posted by Roberto Giannini at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am happy to report that Wabash has named Jeff Oleck as an assistant soccer coach and athletic intern for the upcoming 2006 season.

Oleck played for me at Valparaiso University, graduating in 2006 after setting the school record for shutouts with 14 as a four-year starting goalkeeper. His 1.72 in 2005 goals-against average is second-best in Crusaders history, and his career mark of 2.05 tied the school record. Oleck is second in Valparaiso history and third in Mid-Con Conference history in career saves with 345. He is a two-time Mid-Con All-Academic Team selection. He was a two-year letterwinner at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, where he earned All-City honors and was named the Most Valuable Defensive Player. Oleck was part of the Fightin’ Irish’s only undefeated soccer team in school history.  Additionally, Jeff was a member of the '83 State ODP team.

I am pleased that Jeff has decided to join the staff at Wabash. He is an outstanding individual with good family values and who performed very well as a goalkeeper at the Division I level. Jeff’s experience and expertise with the goal keeping position will specifically influence the kind of training our goalkeepers will receive and greatly improve our program as a whole. This is a huge step in the right direction to further advance our soccer program at Wabash.

Oleck will attend the National Soccer Coaches Association of America State and Regional goal keeping courses and the Indiana Youth Soccer Association "E" license course in Indianapolis this coming July. Jeff will start his on/off campus full duties on August 1st.

Welcome on board Jeff!!

Posted by Roberto Giannini at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our new Wabash soccer blog is finally live and I am very excited about it.

I have been part of the Wabash family for about four months and a half and I am happy to report that things keep getting better and better as days, weeks, and months go by. I spent most of my nights at the famous, or better infamous, Lew Wallace Motel, waiting for my house in Northwestern Indiana to sell. Unfortunately, things are taking longer than expected and I am still living in Crawfordsville without my family. Nevertheless, I was glad to move out of the Wallace and move in with the Taylors, at least temporarily. Ann Taylor, our Bio-Chemistry Professor, is on a sabbatical leave until July and she and her husband Patrick graciously offered me a room in their house in exchange for my help in taking care of their cat Ali and mowing the lawn once a week. It sounded like a good deal to me and even though Ali misses her family and sometimes keeps me up at night with her sad crying, I am glad I have this accommodation.

But enough about my relocating troubles and lets talk about soccer! The last four months have seen me spending lots of time recruiting, trying to put together our '10 class. Even though I came into the game quite late, I feel that the effort has paid off and I am happy with the players who will come to Wabash in the fall. †We had a nice spring season and the players have given me the amount of attention and dedication that I need in order to turn the soccer program around and achieve what everyone wants to achieve, winning!

Make no mistake about it, we have only scratched the surface of our effort and commitment but this beginning leads me to believe that we are headed in the right direction.

I have been traveling quite a bit in the last three months, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis, Bowling Green, Bloomington and more trips are waiting for me this summer, Arlington Heights, Evansville, Twin Cities, Kalamazoo, Muscatine, etc. in order to recruit our next generation of players, the '11 class. Additionally, I will be working several soccer camps, Valparaiso, IU, our own Little Giants' and ODP camps. I am sure that time will fly and sooner than expected preseason will be here!

I am looking forward to receiving news about our players' summer plans and travels, as well as their World Cup predictions, comments, and evaluations.

I feel good about Italy's chances, but that's nothing new, I always do! After all, I am Italian and even though I wish for the US to go as far as possible in the competition, you can imagine which side I will be cheering for on June 17, when Italy takes on the US in Kaiserslautern.

GO AZZURRI!

GO ITALY!

Posted by Roberto Giannini at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)