The Premier Soccer Club in West Michigan
and a non-profit 501c3 organization
Player Registration for Older Boys Spring Select Teams
Player registration for boys selected to the Select Spring 2009 Boys U15 through U18/19 teams will be held on Tuesday December 2, 2008, from 4:30-8:30 PM at the Sports Spot of Kentwood. Players and parents are encouraged to fill out the forms ahead of time and bring them to registration. The player registration forms can be found online by going to our Forms page, and going down to the section labeled "Select Players Registration Packet". In addition to the forms, please bring a 1"x1" photo, and players new to the GVSA league must bring a copy of their birth certificate.
MLS Cup bound! Crew storm past Fire
After falling behind the Chicago Fire early in Thursday's Eastern Conference Championship game, the Columbus Crew stormed back with two second half goals and won, 2-1. The Crew will now advance to their first MLS Cup in club history vs New York Red Bulls. MLS Cup 2008 is Nov. 23 in Los Angeles. Watch it on TV on ABC and ABC HD at 3:30 PM EST.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Winner of the 2008 MLS VW MVP Award
See Schelotto in action by clicking here
Chad Marshall, 2008 MLS Visa Defender of the Year
Sigi Schmid, 2008 MLS Coach of the Year
MLS Cup 2008
COLUMBUS CREW vs. NEW YORK RED BULLS
Sunday, Nov. 23 - 3:30 p.m. (EST) at Home Depot Center, Los Angeles
On ABC and ABC HD TV
Milan Benefit Tournament
The Milan benefit tournament held by the Grand Rapids Crew Juniors on October 30th was an outstanding success. Over 500 players on 47 teams came together at the MVP SportsSpot to help support Milan and raise money for the Milan Miracle Foundation!!
Special referees Jeff Brown, Pat Doyle, George Moni, Doug Jackson, Bjorn Hansen and Chip Hoebeke manned the center of the fields and really gave parents good reasons to complain about the calls! With 57 mini-games in four hours the players, parents, and siblings were hopping from one field to another trying to catch all the action and not miss a thing.
While the play on the field was in good spirit, fun, and entertaining, what was taking place at the front desk was even better. The parents rallied around Milan and her family with amazing generosity. The most exciting part of the night was the generosity of the players. Boys and girls bringing in crumpled up dollar bills and bags of coins from their piggy banks were the order of the evening for many of our young Crew players.
The sense of community, the demonstration of unselfishness, and the act of caring for others were the big rewards from this event.
Well done Crew families!!!! Thank you for all the support, you’ve made us very proud to be a part of this club!
Chip Hoebeke, GR Crew Juniors President
Winter Training
We will be offering winter training this year as three 6-week sessions. For more information, please see our Academy Training page.
Girls U14 MRL Team has Successful Season
Congratulations to the Girls U14 MRL team on a very successful season. In tournaments they went unbeaten at NSR Tournament in Saginaw, tying state champions Hawks 2-2. They went one better in the NSR Gold Cup by reaching the final. On the way to the final, they tied the Eclipse 0-0 and beat highly ranked Team Chicago Blue Dolphins 5-1 in Semi's, before losing to the Eclipse 2-0 in the Final.
In state cup the team went one better than last year by reaching the quarter final stages. In league play the team should be very proud of their first season in the MRL where they went 3-2-2 and competed very well against some high level competition in their bracket. They had a great last weekend by beating state champions Hawks 2-1 in Detroit and tying Vardar 1-1.
This team has only been together for 3 seasons and has come a long way as their ranking shows by being in the top 10 in the region and top 35 in the country.
Congratulations to all the team and especially the really cool good looking and laid back coach. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Girls U14 Black Win Capital Area Classic Silver Division
The girls won 4 straight games to take first place in the Capital Area Classic in Lansing over the weekend of September 27 and 28. They won their last 2 games by beating two premier teams, Midland Fusion 2-0 and in the finals they won 3-2 against Michigan Rush CA.
In the final game they scored their first goal within 52 seconds followed closely by their second goal at the 5 minute mark. In the 2nd half the other team was able to even the score 2-2. With only 3 minutes left in the game the Crew scored their winning goal to clinch the championship.
Cleats for Kids
MVP Sports Spot and Grand Rapids Crew Juniors are partnering with "Cleats for kids" to bring gently used soccer equipment to area kids.
If you have unused soccer cleats, balls, shin guards, shorts, socks, or uniforms in good condition, please consider donating them to the Cleats for Kids program. The goal is simple, to provide gently used indoor and outdoor soccer gear for kids that want to play soccer but lack proper equipment. For more information, click here.