U10 Girls Roster Spring 2010

We are very excited to have such a great turnout of young girls who want to develop their soccer skills! We hope to see these girls 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 girls from Enfield, Etna, Hartland, Hanover, Lebanon, Lyme, Orford, West Lebanon 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 girls from around the state and across the region.

Head Coach:
We are happy to announce that the head coach of this team will be Rick Bourdon. Rick has over 25 years of experience coaching youth soccer and holds a USSF National “C” License. Since moving to the area five years ago Rick has coached Lightning teams nearly every spring and fall season. A parent of four soccer players, including two alums of the DIII powerhouse Middlebury College men’s team, and a varsity goalkeeper for the Dartmouth women’s team, Rick is particularly gifted coaching the technical fundamentals of the game. We are very excited to have a coach with his experience lead this young team.

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. If you are willing and interested to help out as an assistant coach, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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 the team has 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.
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 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.