U13 Boys Green Spring 2010 Team

By accepting a position on a New England Premiership team, you are accepting a slightly greater commitment in time and fees than a Granite State League team. NEP teams will compete against clubs from other states in New England, requiring greater travel distances for away games. However, because the level of competition will be higher at these matches, the Lightning SC Board of Directors and coaching staff feel that the NEP represents the appropriate level of competition for this team. 

NEP League Schedule:
The NEP League schedulers arrange the schedule so that a club plays its farthest competition (in our case Rhode Island and Connecticut clubs) at the double-header festivals, which take place in a central location (e.g. the Seacoast Complex in Epping, NH or Citizens Bank Fields in Lancaster, MA). The “Regional Games” listed below are home or away games against other teams in the league, but are not double-headers.

PLEASE NOTE: We have a team commitment on the final Sunday of school break in April (April 25th). Please take this date into consideration when you make your travel arrangements.

NEP Game Dates:

• Sunday, April 11th – Games #1 and #2 – Location TBD
• Sunday, April 25th – Games #3 and #4 – Location TBD      
• Saturday or Sunday May 1st / 2nd –  NEP Regional Game #5
• Saturday or Sunday May 8th / 9th –  NEP Regional Game #6
• Saturday or Sunday May 15th / 16th –  NEP Regional Game #7
• Saturday or Sunday May 22nd / 23rd – NEP Regional Game #8
• Saturday or Sunday June 26th / 27th  – Games #9 and #10 – Location TBD

Memorial Day Tournament:
In addition to the above games your team will participate in the Needham Memorial Day Tournament in Needham, MA. Please block out the date.
http://www.needhamsoccer.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.needhamsoccer.com/tournament

State Cup Tournament:
The U13 Boys Green team will be participating in the NH State Cup, a 3+ game tournament held in southeastern NH over several weekends in May and June (these dates will not conflict with NEP).   If your team wins the tournament or is granted a wild card, they will represent the state of NH  in the US Youth Soccer Region 1 Championships in West Virginia over the July 4th weekend.  Playing at the Region1 Championships is not only an incredible honor, but an opportunity to compete against some of the best clubs and players in the U.S.  By accepting a position on the U13 Green team, you are making a commitment to the club, the team, other team families, and the coaches to participate in the State Cup  and potentially the Region 1 Tournament.

Head Coach:
Once again we welcome Mike Doherty back as head coach of this team. You all know and love him well, but in case you haven’t seen his impressive bio on our web site, here it is:


Mike Doherty
Mike Doherty is the former men’s head coach at Colgate University. During his 20 years as head coach, Mike was named the Lanzera National Coach of the Year, the Patriot League Coach of the Year, and earned two NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year honors. He also captured two Howard Hartman Awards as Colgate’s coach of the year. Mike coached an All-American, nine first-team all-region players, 28 first-team all-Patriot League selections, and one Patriot League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, two Rookies of the Year, and two tournament MVPs. As the former Managing Director of the Lightning Soccer Club, Mike helped build the club to compete at the state and regional levels in numbers not seen before by the club, sending two teams to the Region 1 Championships. Mike serves as the Associate Director of Admissions at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH.

Parent Roles:
Team Manager – We are happy to announce that Sarah Roberts has agreed to continue as Team Manager for the spring. Sarah will continue to work with the coaches and with the Lightning organization to provide answers to any questions you have, in addition to keeping everyone informed and organized, at the right place for practices and games, and with the right gear! If you want to reach Sarah you can email her at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Thank you Sarah!

Assistant Coaches – As always, we encourage parents with a soccer background and/or interest in coaching to volunteer to be Assistant Coaches. We hope some of the parents who helped out in years past (John Kelly, Spencer Craig) will do so again, schedules permitting. New parents who are interested, please let us know of your interest. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Practice Schedule:
Practices for NEP teams will begin in early March at Grantham Indoor (once per week) and add in an outside practice once the turf at KUA is cleared of snow (end of March) for a couple of Sunday practices. Regular outdoor practice schedules begin after the April break. At that time, practices will be twice per week, either Mon/Weds or Tues/Thurs. The time and location for practices will be published early to mid-February.

Spring 2010 Fee:
The Travel Team fee for the spring will be $420 which covers NEP league fees, tournament fees, field rental costs, coaching fees, referee fees and select soccer kit items.

A player designated as an "Alternate" for a NEP team trains with the team and may be invited to compete in games as space permits (if another player is sick or can not make a game). Alternate player fees are$225.