The Chelmsford Sunday Soccer Club's Blog

Part of keeping up this blog is to be a bit obsessed with weekend weather. Today is ookie-ook outside, but Sunday looks good. Rain will end Saturday night and temps in the 50’s by our kick-off time. I am not sure that we will see another Sunday this nice this month. It might even be the last nice day we see this month.

Kick-off at 8:30 AM at Murphy Field. Seems simple enough, but …you’d be surprised.

At the field we are going to talk about where we are playing in November and December as well as an option for January, February, and March.

Bring a white shirt and a dark shirt and an ability to pass the ball.

Lawrence

This Sunday we are playing at Murphy Field. Kick-off at 8:30. This is annual “No Excuses Sunday”. So, be there ready to play. No excuses.

Last week saw the return of the legend Tony Rabbito to the field. I hope that we see some more returning players this week. It was a good game last week. But we all know by now that I want everybody to play. More fun when there are lots of players. If too many of you show up, we have a plan for that. Good problem to have.

Last Friday afternoon I came into my house and asked my family to come meet the new member of our family. I had just returned from Soccer Stuff in Acton with my new soccer ball. Some of you met “Umbro” this past Sunday. If you have yet to meet Umbro, come out and play Sunday. You don’t know what you’re missing.

If you want to be the full-time goalkeeper, wear grey. Otherwise, bring a white shirt and a dark shirt.

Lawrence

There was a traffic detour that caused us to start a bit late last week. But…only a bit. Murphy is set-up this season with one big field and two small ones. While waiting for people to arrive, we just started playing small-sided on one of the small fields. It was a good, crisp game. When we got numbers, we moved to the big field. In this way, Murphy is a perfect place for us to be right now.

Weather looks great for Sunday. Kick-off at 8:30 AM. Perhaps you might want to leave a little extra time to navigate construction detours. See you Sunday.

Lawrence

A few overdue announcements here. HR wants you all to know that Danny M. has been named July Employee of the Month, Chris B. has been named August Employee of the Month, and Ryan C. has been named September Employee of the month. Of course, their photos will go up on the wall in the lunch room and each one will get a coffee mug. Congrats, guys.

The rain stopped last week at the right time and the weather was perfect. We started out playing a small-sided game and then had a good game on the big field. Crisp passing. Really.

Let’s kick-off at 8:30 AM on Sunday at Murphy Field. Bring two shirts. One dark. One white. Oh, and somebody should bring a soccer ball.

Lawrence

At this point, we are kicking off at 8:30 AM every Sunday at Murphy Field. We are playing on the big field when the numbers support this.

There is some rain in the forecast this weekend. We do not play when it is raining or the grass fields are very wet. If it has rained we will play if the field is not soaked and there is no standing water. My look at the weather shows that we should be in good shape for this weekend.

Bring a white shirt and a dark shirt and be ready to play. If you need to leave the game early please give me your keys to hold until the game is over.

Look forward to seeing you all this week.

Lawrence

8:30 kick-off at Murphy. If it has stopped raining by 8:00 AM or it is very light, we will play. I do not think that the field will be too wet.

Please bring a white shirt and a dark shirt.

Note: If you have to leave the game early, please give me your keys to hold until the game is over.

Lawrence

Perhaps a silly thing, but this is my favorite time of year to play soccer. I play all year round. But this time of year is my favorite. Not too hot. Not too cold. Usually not too wet. Playing on grass fields. Nice. But, we all know that these days don’t last. Late summer becomes early fall. Early fall becomes late fall and then winter. We still play, but we’re in the sweet spot now.

It seems to work well to start at 8:30. We did not have so many late-game defections. It was a very good game on the big field. Looking forward to doing it again this week. Please strive to arrive in time to be warmed-up and ready to kick-off at 8:30 AM.

Just a few housekeeping details:

No slide tackles

The reason we are always harping on bringing a white shirt and a dark shirt is so that we can balance the teams. Bring two shirts

No grey shirts

If you wear grey, you are the permanent goal keeper for the day

When we do not have players who intend to play keeper the whole game, we share the duty. Take your turn in goal

Lawrence

I have been having a bit of trouble posting this week’s blog. I guess I need to get “Blogs for Dummies” and then read it.

We are playing at 8:30 AM this Sunday at Murphy. That is an 8:10 AM arrival time and an 8:30 AM kick-off time.

Sorry about the last post getting messed-up.

Last week we discussed starting at 8:30 AM. To do this, we need you at the field by 8:10 AM. Remember that this is the thick of rush hour traffic. So, leave extra time. Bring a white shirt and a dark shirt. See you Sunday.

Lawrence

Taking a break from the havering for a few quick updates.

A reminder that we have moved to Murphy off of Mill Road. Lovely grass fields.

Start time has returned to our traditional 9:00 AM. But you should plan to arrive by 8:43 so that you are warmed up and ready to kick-off at 9:00.

Some people enjoyed the 8:30 AM start time that we had in the heat of the summer. I would like to hear what other people think about start time. I am up early anyway.

Would those of you nearer to McCarthy go there a bit early to see if any of our players are there (and did not read this blog)? McCarthy is not the closest field to my house. Jack Walsh Field is the closest field to my house.

Another hurricane. Ida. The forecasts show that it will have passed us by by the weekend. Sunday should be a great day for soccer. Since it is a holiday weekend, we can play a nice long game.

Starting this Sunday, we are relocating to Murphy Field. Let’s please try to be able to kick-off by 9:00. Arriving with enough time to warm-up, put on your cleats, and have a cozy little catch-up with your friends before 9:00 would be great. Kick-off at 9:00 AM.

Murphy Field is a beautiful grass field. It is located off of Mill Road (near Russell Mill). As it is grass, we are not using it if it rains. We are not using it if it is still wet/soaked. Sure, a little drizzle doesn’t matter. But not substantial rain. I anticipate that we will stay at Murphy until late November. That is our usual pattern.

I want to thank everyone who helped us work out where we would be playing next. This game has a pretty long history now. It pleases me to see that a number of the men who are playing now were kids I coached or played on my kid’s teams. Nice.

As a student of history, I recently came across a local Chelmsford law from the mid 1800s. Not sure if it is still on the books — even enforceable. It seems that, with the exception of goal keepers, “footballers or members of football societies may not wear grey shirts whilst in the execution of a football match. The keeper of the goal posts and nets may wear grey as appropriate.” This goes on to say that fines can be levied, etc. I am consulting with lawyers to see if we should be worried. To be on the safe side, leave your grey shirts at home (unless you’re playing keeper). Bring a white shirt and a dark shirt so that we can balance the teams.

If anybody is coming from North Chelmsford or the area of the McCarthy Turf, can you swing by McCarthy in case anybody goes to the wrong field out of habit? Thanks.