August 18, 2009

Friends,

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the dog days of summer. After a July where the temperature never reached 90 degrees we have moved into the heat and humidity just in time for pre-season training to begin. The players have begun to come in today with the rest arriving in the morning and then it is off to the races.

Before I go on just a quick note to say thanks to all our alums who attended the 13th Annual URI Men's Soccer Golf Outing on August 10th at Fenner Hill Country Club in Hope Valley, RI. It was a beautiful day as opposed to the Monsoon we had last year that cancelled the tourney. We had a great group of people along and it seems everyone enjoyed themselves. I surely did getting my money's worth (and swings in). To no surprise TEAM KENNEDY (fincluding Kevin Kennedy '03) took home top honors in this best ball scramble for I believe their 3rd championship in 4 years. Many thanks to our corporate sponsors Rams Football Club, The Tanke Family (Michael Tanke '11), Wadsworth Publishing (Valerie Tanke) and Joint Ventures Physical Therapy (Dan Brownridge '01). Of course we would be no where without our tee sponsors Charlie O’s Tavern, Lebron James & Shaquille O’Neal (The Pryess Family & Matt Preyss '11), Kingston Pizza, Herf Jones, The United Way, Rhode Island Elite Soccer Academies, URI Women’s Rowing Team (Associate Head Coach Jessica Lizzi), URI Men’s Golf (Coach Tom Drennan), Russell Blank ’77, Goal-4-Rams 6 v 6 Soccer (Ed & Brian Bradley '92) and our friends at University Spirit in the Kingston Emporium. Thanks for all your support of the tournament and program.

Anyway, I just returned from a short vacation with the family in Iowa and Minnesota where Sheila, the kids and I visited her folks in Iowa and sister in Minnesota. It was a short stay but good one since I feel like things have been buzzing and the summer just got away from me. Between our very successful camps those I worked at Notre Dame and Georgetown as well as recruiting it was a whirlwind. I'm sure it really came down to the excitement and anticipation of pre-season and the fall campaign. Time does fly when you are anxious to get at something...

We are so looking forward to what lies ahead and it all begins with the home opener versus DEFENDING ACC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION BOSTON COLLEGE on Tuesday September 1st at 7:00 pm here at the URI Soccer Complex. It is not one to be missed! You can check out the rest of the schedule at www.gorhody.com but the season highlights include our A-10 play which begins on October 3rd and includes our usual interstate Darby with Brown University on Saturday September 19th at 7:00 pm which is also our Grassroot Soccer Fundraiser game. Last year we raised over $1,000 ourselves for this aids education through soccer organization and hope to raise even more in 2009 with the help of the Brown Bears. We've made this an annual event between the two schools and you can get more information and find out how you can help by going to www.grassrootsoccer.org.

One of the biggest highlights of the fall will be HOMECOMING WEEKEND which is October 16th-18th. The weekend kicks off with an Atlantic-10 match versus St. Joseph's at 7:00 pm followed by a pep rally in Keaney Gym and fireworks. Saturday we have an Alumni vs Alumni game at 10:00 am, a luncheon at 11:00 am and football against Hofstra University at Noon. The weekend is complete with the back end of our A-10 doubleheader versus Temple University at 1:00 pm. We will send you more information and a registration form in the coming weeks but MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW and join us in Kingston!

Finally, keep an eye on the our web page on the URI athletic website (www.gorhody.com) for your chance to procure a URI "Vintage" game jerseys. Alums and friends will have the chance to get their hands on jerseys filled with memories and worn by some of Rhody's best back when the team wore Kappa, Nike and Diadora game kits. We'll be posting photo's of the memorabilia soon and give you your chance to pull on the URI colors again.

Well, tomorrow cannot come any sooner. Keep us up to date with what is going on in your neck of the woods and make sure you follow the team through the 2009 season. All the best...