VFW

Hello FORCE parents, Hope everything's well. I just wanted to share something with you all. I was uploading the final results from the various tournaments that the boys competed in, actually, the only one that posted the division wide results was the FOR tournament. You can download and print out the results if you go to the handout section of the website. Nevertheless, when I was looking at the results, I looked at how the other VFW teams did. BOYS: 3rd grade Gold, FORCE, 2 wins - 1 loss, Second place 4th grade Gold, Red Storm, 0-3, Lost in Friendship Game 4th grade Silver,Red Dragons, 0-3, Lost in Friendship Game GIRLS: 3rd grade Silver,Red Waves, 0-3, Lost in Friendship Game 4th grade Silver,Scorpions, 0-3, Lost in Friendship Game 2-13! With three tournaments (WLA, FOR and Tigers) done, we have JETS, Dodgers and VFW left. I don't know how the rest of the 3rd and 4th grade VFW teams did in Tigers or WLA but I know they aren't 8-1! Please share the results with your boys because that's where we could have been...like the rest! Talk to them about why we practice twice a week, why it's important to show up at every practice ready to play and learn, why each one is accountable and how they each complete a team effort. Mark, Scott and I have always said that our goal is to bring everyone up together, to be solid 1 through 10. We learned from last year that we can't have just one or two score but we need the whole team to contribute in order for us to hang with Ikaika. We are following the FORCE path...we have come a ways but we still have a long way to go. Mark and I talk daily (and nightly) about how or what we can do at practice to better prepare the boys. Mark is continually searching for the right motivators and guest speakers (Coach Erin, Coach Natalie, Jason and Coach Kevin) to help out and talk to the boys. My nephew, Mark, has told me how lucky the boys are with what we are teaching them at such a young age. The drills, plays, firsthand knowledge about the game, and additional coaches are things that he wished he was taught when he eight or nine, not while he was in Junior high. He's always telling Jordan how lucky he is and how he can be better than all of his cousin's because of what he's learning at his age. He also told Jordan that his old SEYO team didn't win any tournaments until he was in Junior high. Once the boys believe in what were saying, they will be unstoppable! Please tell your boys to keep up the good work! On another note. We have almost used up our FORCE fund. So far, the FUND has paid out $217+ for supplies (Nike bags, training DVD's and balls, blank DVD's and our First aid kit), about $400+ for Jason's ball handling clinics, Erin's and Natalie's clinics and $610 for the Dodger's entry fee. Roughly about $1227. We all have personally paid out about $1400 for the tournament fees this year along with our monthly gym fees...about another $100 or so. The total for this tournament season is about $2800, in which our FORCE fund paid for about half of that. Needless to say, Mark, Scott and I have taken care of the coaching aspect, as well as your ongoing help at practice. We are asking you all for help in selling the ad's for our tournament booklet and to replenish the FORCE fund again. Mark had said that our goal was to fund enough money to support us for the next tournament season and now we know what the costs are. Once again, we are to bring in at least $700. Anything over that is refunded back to us at 50%. If we sell $1700, minus the $700 that goes to VFW, we get back a reimbursement check for $500 (50% of the $1000), almost enough for the Dodger tournament fee. If you have any questions, please feel free to talk to me at practice on Wednesday. It could be worse, we could be like the rest of the teams! Thanks again, Jon