Fisish Strong

Courtney Harvey, Sophmore, Billings, MT.
Finishing the 2011 Spring season 6-0-1 has left our team with an abundance of confidence and high expectations for the 2011 Fall season.

As most know the past year has consisted of many changes to the woman's soccer program here at MSU-Billings. The loss of six seniors along with their leadership and experience will most definitely be difficult to replace. A new head coach has also brought it's fair share of adjustments and difficulties.

With all this being said I have the utmost confidence in the future of our program. The intensity of games and practices this spring has shown the heart and dedication each girl is willing to put forth to accomplish our common goals. Wojtek has handled the new coaching position very well and positively encourages each one of us to be the best we can be for each other, for him and for the program. It's reassuring to know we have a coach that stands behind our team on and off the field and is willing to put in the amount of work required to be a successful program.

Many people would look at our team with an attitude that the 2011 Fall season is a season to re-build the team and adjust to all the changes. Expectations may be low from an outsiders point of view but as a team and a family we hold each other to high standards. We know next year is another shining opportunity to come one step closer to achieving our ultimate goal... winning a national championship!!

I hope everyone has a WONderful summer and I already can't wait to see what the future holds for our team. Goodluck on finals and see you all in early August!

Looking Toward the Future

Danielle Gordon, Senior from Atkins, IA

As we enter the last week of spring, we plan to keep our momentum going into our final three games.

We are now 4-0 and looking to finish strong this spring season.

This spring has flown by and is bitter sweet. For many of us summer is a time to spend time with our family for a couple months, but at the same time we are leaving our second family and trusting in them to put in the work during our time away.

Knowing that though, I have the utmost confidence in our girls. I love knowing these girls will put in the work necessary for us to be successful next fall. It is always hard to leave the group for months at a time, but I know when we see each other again in August it will be like we have never left.

These girls mean the world to me and I would do anything for them... Thank you girls for everything.

Finish Strong.

Spring Check In

Kristen Kastellic, Sophmore from Phoneix AZ

This week, the team spent most of our time focusing on our next game against Rocky. We came out to practice hard everyday preparing for the game. Unfortunately, on Friday we found out because of the weather we would postpone the game from Sunday to next Wednesday, April 6 at 4pm. We were pretty disappointed the game got moved because all of us we really pumped up and ready to play! On the bright side, it gives us a few extra days to get ready for the game! I know all of us are very excited and can’t wait get Rocky back for our loss against them in preseason.

On our off day from practice, Friday, we had a busy but fun day! First we went and cheered on our Yellowjacket tennis team in their matches against CSU – Pueblo. It was the first competitive tennis match I’ve personally ever watched so that was a lot of fun to see and support our fellow athletes! [Note: When entering the tennis bubble to watch don’t come in with 20 people while they are in the middle of the match and try to walk behind the courts. Apparently your not suppose to do that :)]

Next, we surprised Don at his going away party! We all signed a ball and a framed jersey and presented that to Don at the party. There was a nice video there to celebrate Don’s time as a coach at MSUB. It is very sad to see him go, he will be missed. But we all wish him luck at University of Wyoming and thank him for all the years of hard work he has put into this program!

After Don’s going away party, our team went to volunteer at Eaglefest. Eaglefest is an annual event to raise money for Eagle Mount, an organization that provides opportunities in recreation for children and adults with disabilities. We were in charge of running carnival booths for children and it was a lot of fun! I was in charge of the face painting station and had a blast attempting to paint Spiderman faces and the cartoon character Diego from Nick Jr. Our team looks forward to this event every year because it is always nice to give back to community!

It is weird we only have 3 full weeks left of spring soccer! I would be nice if the weather would warm up for these last weeks so it actually feels like spring :)!

A New Chapter

The Yellowjacket lady soccer team hasn’t missed a beat from the recent resignation of head coach Donald Trentham and the promotion of new head coach Wojtek Krakowiak. In fact, things could not look better. Coach Krakowiak, a huge contributor to our success this last season, has even more to offer than his coaching abilities-- his experience. We opened the succession with his very own words. “I know how to win a NCAA tournament, and I can take you there”. With Krakowiak’s own history of a NCAA division I championship in college and a heavy duty experience in the MLS, his words came without denial.

Practice kicked off with everyone proving themselves. For the most part, we have stuck to the regimen of last season, with some occasional changes. Every day is a new day for growth and development, competition and challenge, and character building and unity.

Practice in the snow made for an interesting afternoon, but it is just another factor that our team must overcome. We continue to prove our dedication as a family to the next chapter of the Yellowjacket history book; a continuum of the past 15 years of hard work.

In the past few weeks, we have had our jump-start into our spring season with a little inside competition from Billings’ own U16 and U18 club teams also coached by Wojtek and assistant coach and alumni, Kari Foreman. The games turned out to be a success, with all of our players stiff and sore on Sunday morning, and a 2:0 winning record to kick off the spring season. We look forward to a promising, civil game this upcoming Wednesday against rival team Rocky Mountain College.