Put Saturday, May 14th on your 2011 calendars!
After many discussions with older soccer alumni, despite support of the Western program, I discovered that many are not interested in playing in the "official" alumni soccer game each year, for various reasons... mostly because it's no fun for a slow 45 year old has-been to chase a speedy 20-something soccer star down the field. Additionally, many folks reported interest in coming back to WWU and participating in a soccer function with the people they shared memories with at Western.
I've been wanting to organize something like this for a long time, and hope to encourage everyone that has fond memories of Western Soccer to come back to WWU on May 14th, 2011 for a fun get together open to all WWU Soccer fans... and hopefully on the old grass field on campus! Depending on the numbers, I'm thinking of a friendly kick around with ex-players to start, and then opening it up for other family members to join in once our ankles/knees/backs give out.
I'm throwing this out to a lot of folks, hoping to develop as much interest and feedback as possible. The idea is to plan the event to coincide with WWU's "Back to Bellingham" festivities that will be taking place the same weekend (I highly recommend the Wilson Library gathering... I attended this at the last B2B, and there's nothing like enjoying a nice cold one and some great food in that classic library setting.) Here's a link...
WWU B2B http://www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/WWH/wwu_page_43.jsp
Anyway, I've been in touch with many folks like Simon Evans (Michigan) and Steve Storer (Minneapolis) about returning to B-ham for a soccer reunion... and Jimmy Myer must be there representing with some good tropical island mana from Bali. And speaking of island adventure, Allan Wright's going to have to move some of those zephyr adventure tours around to make this date... hope to see you Al!
I know if I can get Blaine Donnelson to show up, he can give Doug Keller an altrec order to cross the border from Vancouver and make an official appearance. Darin Koob is in the middle of starting up a new business, so hopefully he'll be there representing... with some coffee! After the George and Dragon shindig, I'm planning to see Jim Bialek, Steve Bowmer, and Dan Higgins in attendance... and Tony, you gotta come back for a Sheik reunion! Jon Fleck, Tom Venable, and Kevin Quinn are still Bellinghamsters, so they better be there, rolling out the red carpet. Dale Kepley... put down that chair and get on up there! Kolya Rice... cancel class, it's time for a roadtrip. Santee and Sammy... bring your Kells kilts!
And what old fart soccer alumni party would be complete without Tom Bunnell... "Here's to Brother Bunny!" It's folks like Jason Woodward, who is usually going 100 different directions with his four beautiful blonde children, that will be difficult to corral. As for the ladies, I will need some help in this department, as I'm not in touch with many lady alums. But I recently met with Debbie Carter and Annette Duvall at a lunch meeting, and I'm hopeful they will be able to help motivate the ladies to head back to B-ham and join us for some soccer fun that weekend... Stephanie Armesto... you better be there!
In other cool news, along with Debbie and Annette, Peter LeBarge, Dave Miller, Scott Harrington, Brad Swanson and I met with others to discuss a proposal to bring soccer back to Western! Not sure if you're aware, but both the Men's and Women's Soccer Teams play their home games at... uh... Whatcom Community College... ugh! Can you believe that... well, I couldn't when I first heard it. Thus, there is a proposal in place to build a sweet soccer stadium on campus and bring both team's back to their fans... it would be awesome!
Anyway, lots to talk about. Drop me a line, keep me updated on your status, and let's spread the word and make May 14th, 2011 a memorable reunion for all you soccer nuts out there... more details to follow!
