Over the past week, our old boy Omar Dreidi dropped by with his friend Ahmad Shami, a friend from Palestine who is in graduate school in DC and Ameer Yusuf from the current team. We enjoyed dinner at the Firehouse in Richmond and remembered old times and teammates. One special topic of discussion was yellow cards,a topic Omar and Ameer know something about. Omar has completed his graduate program and is considering his next step, some of which opportunities will be pretty exciting.

Passing Through

The wedding of Jamie Pettengill in Indianapolis brought several of his team mates through town in February. We spent an hour or so in Tim Hortons remembering old days and telling stories that were at least partially true according to our memories. I updated them on the team and soccer program as it is today and I heard from them stories of medical school and practice, trips to China and Brazil and life after EC in general. I did make a promise regarding honors for the team they played on---details to come. Histories like theirs make me more confident speaking to prospectives today.

Rubber Bands and Craig Bellamy

The latest thing in warmups and workouts seems to be the use of elastic bands. For a chuckle, look up Craig Bellamy's warmup on YouTube. Well, we're under way with our own program, developed by Rob Richardson with an eye toward reducing the number of muscle injuries (largely groin and hamstring) that afflicted us last year.


Along with some running and more routine pushup and situp sets, the guys go twice a week at this point.

Participation is voluntary but just about everyone has been active.

I'm sure the guys in London (who I'm visiting soon) will be quick to copy

The spring non traditional season will begin after break and we hope the mild weather continues
into the spring

We had a solid edge in fitness this past season and we intend to build on it.