We are very excited to have such a great turnout of young 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, Hartland, Hanover, Lebanon, Lyme, West Lebanon, White River Junction 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.

Head Coach:
We are excited to announce that John Brigham will be the head coach of the U8 Boys team. John has many years of soccer experience, playing on a Division 1 team at U Mass, coaching there upon graduating, and coaching for Lightning for the past 6-7 years. John is a member of the Lightning Board of Directors as well. Here is his bio from the Lightning web site:

John Brigham

John played striker and midfielder for the University of Massachusetts Division 1 soccer team (2 year letter winner, 1980 & 1983). He went on to coach the U Mass JV Men’s team in 1984. He reports with humor that his highlight win that season was a 1-0 victory over his "safety school," Harvard. A three-year Varsity player in high school and captain his senior year, John credits his high school coach, Leo Williams, for inspiring his lifelong love of the game. Since moving to Norwich, VT with his wife Deanna (also a Lightning head coach) and their three children, John has coached Lightning soccer for six years (both boys' and girls' sides) and Norwich Recreation soccer for five years.

Parent Roles:
Team Manager - Every team needs a Team Manager. 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. We are lucky to have two very competent parent assistants who have agreed to help the team. They are Rob Adams and Tim Gardner, alums of Dartmouth’s Division 1 soccer team. Welcome Rob and Tim!

Team Information:
In this age group only 12 players are permitted to “suit up” for any given game. Therefore we will divide the team into balanced thirds and only two groups will attend each match. This will give each player a 6 game schedule, a few home, a few away, and will result in plenty of travel for parents and players who are just starting “travel soccer,” as well as a healthy practice-to-game ratio. The coaches will divide the group into balanced thirds after they have had a few practices together.

League Information:
Most of the teams in our club compete in the Granite State Youth Soccer League (GSYSL), and this team will as well. All U8 and U9 teams are in the “EDP” division of the league which stands for “Early Development Program.” This means that there are certain rules governing the match format. Each game begins with a mandatory round of 4 v 4 (four players vs. four players) for 30 mins. and then, if the coaches wish, the format can be switched to 6 v 6 for the next 30 mins., or remain 4 v 4. The purpose of this is to ensure a lot of playing time for each player and many touches on the ball. The League does not post standings for this age group and there are no end-of-season play-offs.

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. They try to schedule most of the EDP games on Sundays with games on Saturdays only as needed. 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. This team will not be enrolled in a tournament over Memorial Day Weekend, although we may poll the team 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.