We are very excited to have such a great turnout of U10 boys who want to develop their soccer skills! We hope to see these boys learn and grow together for many years to come. One of the wonderful things about Lightning Soccer is how it brings kids together from all over the Upper Valley who share a love of the game. This team has boys from Canaan, Enfield, Hartford, Hartland, Hanover, Lebanon, Lyme, Plainfield, Sharon, West Lebanon, White River Junction, Wilder and Norwich! They will wind up on different high school teams certainly, but we hope they will always enjoy the fun of coming back together to play with their Lightning friends and to compete against boys from around the state and across the region.

One Team, or Two???
Depending on the number of players who accept a place on the team, we may run two teams so we can get more games. However, if there are a number of players who will miss games due to other sports commitments, it would be really wise to keep it to one team and divvy up the games equally among all the players. If you anticipate your son may regularly miss games, please let us know now. If we have 5-6 players who are juggling other sports and thus might miss games here and there this will definitely tilt things toward running one team rather than two. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your son’s availability. Thank you for your candor.

Head Coach:
We are pleased to announce that the head coach for the team will be Rob Johnstone, varsity boys’ coach at Lebanon High School. In addition to coaching for Lebanon, Rob has coached for Lightning Soccer over the years as well as leading a championship boys’ team in the NHSC summer league. We are happy to have such an experienced leader for this team. Here is his bio from the Lightning web site:

Rob Johnstone
Rob Johnstone has been the varsity boys’ soccer coach at Lebanon High School for the past 17 seasons. Rob was voted Class I Coach of the Year following the 1998 season, has twice been named to the New Hampshire coaching staff for the annual Lion’s Twin State Soccer Cup match with Vermont (1999, 2008), and his teams have been recognized with the Class I Sportsmanship Award on four occasions. Rob played soccer for four years at Middlebury College, graduating in 1988 with a B.A. in Religion. In the spring of 1988, Rob was the recipient of the Mike Wilson Trophy, presented annually to the Middlebury College athlete who, “while overcoming personal challenge, has shown such spirit, enthusiasm and unselfish devotion to the members of the team that is has been an inspiration in creating team morale.” Rob holds the NSCAA’s National, Advanced National, and Premier coaching licenses.

Parent Roles:
Team Manager - Every team needs a Team Manager and we are happy to announce that your team already has one! Jonathan Bynum, veteran Lightning parent, Team Manager from this fall and Assistant Coach as well, Jonathan did a fantastic job at both; we’ve asked him to do a return engagement and he has agreed. 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 have questions, Jonathan’s email is: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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. We are lucky to have two very competent parent assistants who have agreed to help the team. Joining Jonathan Bynum will be Mike Schafer, a former college player and long-time high school and youth coach with a NSCAA Premier License, Mike helped out the team this fall and will join again on a part-time basis (he is head of school at KUA so quite busy!). If any parents have soccer backgrounds they could share, please let us know about it at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

League Information:
Most of the teams in our club compete in the Granite State Youth Soccer League (GSYSL), and this team will as well. League web site: http://www.granitestatesoccer.com

Practice Schedule:
Practices begin in late March at Grantham Indoor (once per week) and move outside 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 is not yet set but is likely to be Huntley Meadows in Norwich, VT or Fullington Field in Hanover, NH. Practice schedules for spring should be completed by mid-February.

Game Schedule:
The league sets the game schedule by approximately April 1st; it is an 8 game schedule. Games begin in mid-April (the 2nd weekend of break) and conclude about when school is over in mid-June. In addition to the regular league games we may schedule a few friendlies with other teams if players want more games. We also will poll the team families for interest in participation in a mini one-day tournament.

Spring 2010 Lightning Fee:
The fee for the spring will be $275, which includes league fees, field rental costs, coaching fees, referee fees and soccer kit.