First Annual Texas Hold'em Tournament

Attention any and all Sodium friends, family and fans;

The first annual Texas Hold'em tournament will be held 2/6 @ 5pm at Ernesto's off Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy from 5pm to 10:30pm. The buy-in is $40 and includes appetizers and the re-buys are $20. First place prize in $500 and the first 10 spots get prizes if we fill the minimum seats.

Please reply to thuscpoker@yahoo.com if you plan to attend so we can get a head count and please invite all your friends! The proceeds go the THUSC, Sodium and Mercury teams. The first 110 respondents will get a seat, the rest will have to wait until the next tournament.

Thanks everyone for your participation.

[Don't forget to invite friends & family!]

From behind the short stack I'll be yelling; ALL IN!!

The Weekend Update

I saw in an earlier email from Kristina the word "Whirlwind". What a great word used to describe the events of this weekend.

Sodium actually had players playing in 4 different tournaments in 3 States this weekend! I will try my best to round them up for faithful fans and followers.

OSU 7v7 Indoor Tournament - Corvallis, OR
Laura C played with a mix of players from other indoor teams, Mercury & Platinum.

FC Portland Winter College Showcase - Hillsboro, OR
Taylor C, KJ, Easton & Emmy played for U15 Ireland in this U16 College Showcase. The team finished 1-W, 2-T, 1-L. The Sodium girls definitely held their own against these older teams. Thanks to Gaff & Ireland for the the opportunity!

Region IV '96 ODP Championships - Phoenix, AZ
Lexi, Mac, Jadyn, Andrea, Taylor M & Eli represented Sodium and the State of Oregon for the '96 team. The squad made it to the semi Finals before a fierce battle with Cal South (1-0) ended the extremely good run for the girls. Congratulation to all the players!

Greater Renton Football Club Winter Classic - Renton, WA
Erika & Taylor L assisted team Sapphire in capturing the Tournament CHAMPIONSHIP!! Nice job ladies!

Wow, thanks Sodium for being flexible and loving this great game enough to guest play and give it your all. And thanks for all the help parents in carpooling and organizing these great events. If I missed anyone, please let me know so I can add them. Thanks.

Up Next;
Spring League starts on 2/6/10 with our first match against Hotshots!
Blue Mountain Exchange 2/26/10.

Get rested and ready for Spring League Sodium, every game counts from here on out!

GO SODIUM!!

Rise Up

If this doesn't give you goose bumps, nothing will.

Notice the last words on the screen; Rise Up

Think about what than means Sodium. Who will Rise Up this Spring season? Who will have worked the hardest, who will have improved the most and lead the team?

Will it be the old guard; Camp, Cook, Coon, Owens, Sonnen, Lautenbach, McMillan or Reid?

Will it be the new guard; Frey, Beard, Moscoe, Priest, Theriau, Chance, Luty, James or Kearney?

Or will it be Sodium's newest addition Easton Kawawaki?

Who will be the HERO?

GO SODIUM!!

Sodium vs Northern Idaho

Sodium played the newly formed squad from Northern Idaho Saturday night. A solid performance was turned in by the entire team.

The fact these girls are fired up for Spring league and to take the field as a collective unit was evident as the ODP players raced to join their teammates fresh off the bus from a 5 hour practice session in Salem.

Smiles & laughter filled their faces as the team traded stories and were excited to hit the field together. The play was pretty one-sided as the Sodium keeper, Taylor Luty, touched the ball just a couple times the entire match and the warriors left the field with a confident 7-0 victory.

Practice this week will be with guest teams (Ireland, Sapphire & the ODP squads) in preparation for the trip to Phoenix and the College Showcase Tournaments.

Best of luck lady warriors, let's give them a taste of Sodium style!

GO SODIUM!!

Week Recap

WOW, what a week! Can you say 'blink and you'll miss something important!'
Well, lets start with College Night. On Wednesday night THUSC put on its first of three College Nights which included DOC [and Sodium coach] Tom Atencio talking about the state of the club. A former THUSC player spoke about her recruitment by Oregon State. Laura Schott [HC PSU Womans Soccer] spoke about the recruitment process from a coaches perspective and about the difference between Div 1,2,3 and NAIA schools. The session ended with Ron Sattler giving us a preview of whats in store from a financial standpoint.

On Friday morning Sodium was stunned to get an email from coach Tom Atencio that read;

Sodium Nation;

I have officially pulled Sodium out of the OSU 7v.7 Tournament (with a full refund) do to a better opportunity that has come up for all available players. Do to ODP and injuries, the U15G’s Sapphire and Ireland are in need of guest players respectively for the college showcase tournaments they are both entered. I have placed all available Sodium players not attending the ODP regionals in Phoenix on Ireland and Sapphire rosters for the next week. See training and game details below…

Players with Sapphire for Renton Showcase in Tukwila, WA January 16-18:
[4 Sodium players listed]

Players with Ireland for FC Portland Showcase Hillsboro, OR January 15-18:
[5 Sodium players listed]

Players with 1996 ODP Phoenix, AZ January 15-19:
[6 Sodium players listed]

Winter Exchange Saturday January 9th :
1:30 Rec Center #2 with Ireland- [3 Sodium players listed]
5:00 Rec Center #1 with Sapphire- All available Sodium players
7:00 Rec Center #1- All Sodium Players including ODP players

Winter Exchange Sunday January 10th:
12:30 Rec Center #1 with Sapphire- [4 Sodium players listed]

Training Monday January 11th:
7:30 Rec Center #1 with Sapphire- [4 Sodium players listed]

Training Tuesday January 12th:
6:00 Rec Center #1 Normal Practice- [4 Sodium players listed]; Optional for [4 Sodium players listed]
7:30 Sunset High School- [5 Sodium players listed]
7:30 Rec Center #1 with Neon- All 1996 ODP Players

Fitness Wednesday January 13th:
Normal fitness training all Sodium Players

Training Thursday January 14th:
6:00 Rec Center #1 Normal Practice- [4 Sodium players listed]; Optional for [4 Sodium players listed]
7:30 Sunset High School- [5 Sodium players listed]
7:30 Rec Center #1 with Neon/Sapphire- All 1996 ODP Players, [4 Sodium players listed]

The Ireland and Sapphire managers will be in touch with all of you today in regard to tournaments details.

Take advantage of this adjusted schedule!

Tom Atencio
Director of Coaching and Player Development
Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club
Portland, Oregon USA
(503)626-1923
www.thusc.org

So, basically, our Sodium team is being divided up to play with our 2 U15 teams at U16 College Showcase tournaments! What an honor and how exciting for the girls!

I didn't list the players because they know who they are and I was asked not to.

Great News! Welcome Easton!
Team Sodium...

Please extend a sincere welcome to Easton Kawawaki and her parents, Nicole and Keith.

While looking for an opportunity to stay fit and get more time playing the game this winter, Easton joined Sodium Team Black at Tualatin Indoor and definitely showed us her "stuff". Easton had already made plans to join us at the Blue Mountain Exchange, but as of this week, Easton has made the official move to THUSC and will join team Sodium for the remainder of this year. She has experience playing every position (except keeper to date) and she is a great addition to this talented squad. Easton looks forward to time on a field of green with the players of team Sodium.

When I added up her experience...Easton has been playing soccer for 9 years. It made me realize that all of our players now have been playing this game for over 50% of their young lives! What passion and dedication these young women have to excel at this game and succeed as a team.

Keep up the good work all of you and WELCOME EASTON!!!

Monthly

February
2/6/10 - Spring League Play Starts Up. All remaining games count towards State Cup placement.
2/26 to 2/28 - Blue Mountain Exchange (WA)

March
Celtic Cup (CA)

April
State Cup (OR)

Keep working hard warriors, come April, they aren't going to know what hit 'em!

GO SODIUM!!

team on 3...

Sodium Takes Phoenix By Storm!

The travel rosters for the ODP teams going to Phoenix have been announced. We want to recognize the hard work put in by all the ODP players in December to earn a spot for the upcoming trip and extend sincere congratulations to the following players:

Every one of Sodium's '96 ODP players were selected for the roster:

Lexi Frey
Mac Kearney
Jadyn McMillan
Andrea Theriau
Taylor Moscoe
Eli Beard

Other Sodium players selected for the roster:

'95 ODP player - Jill Farley

We also want to say kudos to KJ and Emmy Owens...they have been selected as alternates for the '95 team.

Congratulations girls! Go get 'em in Phoneix!!!

GO SODIUM!!

Futsal Ends With Sodium vs Sodium

The Futsal season ended as it had begun; Sodium Green vs Sodium Black.

Regardless of what the outcome was I would like to say 'Thanks' to the girls who played this indoor season and to the parents who made the trek every game to root on your team. This was a great experience and I think it helped the girls develop their skills.

Next Up:

1/9/10 - Boise ID friendly.
1/17/10 - OSU Indoor 7 v 7 Tournament (Defending Champions)
2/26/10 - BME (Defending Champions)
3/2010 - Celtic Cup (California)

Hope everyone has had a chance to work off those Holiday goodies, it's going to be back to the pitch from here on out!

GO SODIUM!!

Happy New Year

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy, safe and injury free 2010!

This could be your year Sodium to really shine and represent Oregon well. Hard work, dedication, passion and skill development need to be at the forefront of everyones mind as we enter into this new year.

Best of luck to all in the coming tournaments and league play.

GO SODIUM!!