State Cup Tournament:
The U14 Boys 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 Championships over the July 4th weekend. Playing at the Region1 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 U14 Boys 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:
We are pleased to welcome Chris Cheney back as head coach of this team for the spring. You all know him well, but in case you haven’t seen his impressive bio on our web site, here it is:

Chris Cheney
Chris Cheney is head coach of the boy’s varsity soccer team at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH. In his three years at KUA, Chris led his team to the school’s first-ever New England Class B Championship in soccer, and the Lakes Region Championship title twice. Prior to coaching at KUA, Chris was head coach of the boy’s varsity soccer team at Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire where he led his team to the Class I State Championship and was awarded the NH Coach of the Year. Chris has served as an assistant coach at Harvard University, Dartmouth College, and Wesleyan University for their European and Argentina tours. Chris has coached several State Cup Finalist Lightning Soccer Club teams, was head coach for the U17 NH ODP team, is President of the New England Prep School Soccer Association, and holds a NSCAA Advanced National Diploma. 

Parent Roles:
Team Manager - The U14 Boy’s team is looking for a parent to be the team’s manager this spring. Team Managers work with the coaches and with the Lightning organization to provide answers to any questions families have. A Team Manager is key to keeping everyone informed and organized, at the right place for practices and games, and with the right gear. If you want to know what's going on and you feel you can communicate clearly and quickly to people, this is the job for you! Please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if interested.

Assistant Coaches - We encourage parents with a soccer background and with interest in coaching to volunteer to be Assistant Coaches. It is very helpful to have another set of hands/eyes/feet at practices and games to assist the head coach. Some parents have very impressive soccer/soccer coaching backgrounds and can take on more responsibility in terms of managing games or practices if the head coach has a conflict, others just love to get out and run around and help. If you are interested in helping out as an assistant coach for this team, please contact us at 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 late February-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 Fees:
Travel Team – The fee for the spring will be $420, which covers NEP league fees, tournament fees, indoor and outdoor field rental costs, coaching fees, referee fees and select soccer kit items.

Player Pool - Generally Pool players participate in training but do not compete in games. However, NEP will allow pool players to play in a game when/if we are short players. We cannot guarantee games but there is a good likelihood of playing time. The fee for Player Pool for spring 2010 is $200.