In the waning days of 2014, the D.C. Council has approved the development of the new 20,000-25,000-seat stadium for D.C. United in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Southwest Washington. The legislation’s passage targets the opening of the stadium in 2017 and ensures that D.C. United will make the District of Columbia its home for generations to come.

“We are grateful that D.C. United’s future in our nation’s capital is secure,” said D.C. United Managing General Partner Jason Levien. “This is a historic victory for the team and its fans, the city, the region and the sport of soccer in this country."

The approval of the new stadium bill is the culmination of more than a decade of efforts, including most recently two-and-a-half years of work by D.C. United and District of Columbia leadership. In July 2012, the team’s ownership first met with the Mayor about securing a new stadium. In July 2013, they announced a signed term sheet, and an agreement was transmitted to the D.C. Council in May 2014.

BRYC Recreational Soccer has been a season ticket holder with D.C. United for many years, using up to eight tickets for every home game to reward volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their support for the recreational soccer program.  

As it has for a number of sesons, Dick's Sporting Goods has once again made a significant donation to BRYC's Recreational Soccer program by offering gift certificates and merchandise to be awareded at the annual (Boys' and Girls') Coaches Challenge in early December, where coaches from the fall season just ended will compete for the coveted title.  This season Dick's has provided Pugg goals, great for training, and $200 in gift certificates to be awarded to a number of lucky coaches at the end of the contest.

For the convenience of many, if not most, BRYC families, Dick's has just opened a new store at the Springfield Town Center, open 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM daily through Christmas. Sporting goods or all shapes and sizes are always much appreciated by both kids and coaches and the new store is a convenient place to shop. Besides opening a new store, Dick's is offering 10% off a variety of merchandise through special coupons for BRYC families only. Just click on this coupon link and print out your coupons before you head to the store.

Thanks to Dick's for their continuing support of BRYC.

With perfect (if you like cold...but at least dry!) weather and almost perfect numbers, BRYC's Annual High School Girls and Boys Alumni Holiday Games were played on Saturday December 20...the girls at Woodson West and the boys in the Woodson HS stadium.  For the girls (young ladies!) 17 alumnae dating back to Coach Doug Alcorn's "She Devils" class of 2004 "...showed the 17 youngins how to play."  For the boys (young men!) John Kelleher reports that most of the 25 were alumns, with just a smattering of current Senior Division players...but age doesn't matter.  It's the tradition and the camaraderie that count. 
 
Thanks to Doug and John for all you both do for the current group of BRYC's most senior players, and for arranging the this most anticipated holiday event for BRYC's players from the past.

It's an honor to be selected for an end-of-season All Star squad, but in what may be the lowest temperatures for an All Star tournament in recent memory, players, parents, and coaches had to endure two days of bitter cold to reach championship matches on Sunday.  At least four teams did so, including the second division Champion U10 Boys coached by Mike Essig; first division Finalist U11 Boys coached by Sean Flanagan; second division Finalist U11 Girls coached by Joe Wiley; and first division Champion..the "creme de la creme", U19 Girls coached by Josh Rock.  The webmaster endured the same cold to capture some great photos..and got an assist from an assistant coach and a parent or two .  It's hard to choose from the hundreds of photos but these three are the webmasters favorites.

  
  Even Viennna's goalie applauded           The U19 Girls' semi final match vs.             The U19 Boys, coached by Mitch 
   this stop during a nine-round PK            NVSC was a thrilling, come from                Peyser play some hard-headed
   shootout in the U11 Boys semis.         behind 2-1 win. (Photo by M. Quiroz)            soccer, but lost in the semi-finals.       

Complete photo sets for these three teams are linked by clicking on the action photo above.  Additional photo sets are posted for coach Jennifer Oleyar's U9 Girls and coach Mitch Bennett's U10 Girls.  And, while the webmaster didn't get to their games for action photos, team photos are posted for the trophy winning U10 Boys coached by Mike Essig and the U11 Girls coached by Joe Wiley and Tye McGrath.

And finally check out the three photos below which will give you an idea of just how cold it was!

       
      U19 Boys cheering section on Sunday.     U9 and U19 Girls players bundled up on the sidelines, waiting to go in, coach!

In a ceremony in the atrium of the Fairfax County Government Center, Braddock District "Champions of Character" awards were present to middle-school football player Matthew Orjuela, former recreational soccer League Director and still very active parent Beth McHale, U19 Girls recreational soccer player Marisa George, and NVSL coach, U6 coach, not to mention "Friday Night Lights" organizer, John Kelleher. Joining the honorees in the photo are Fairfax County Braddock District Supervisor, John Cook; Fairfax County Director of the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, Chris Leonard; and former BRYC President, now Braddock District Representative on the Fairfax County Athletic Council, Marcia Pape. For more on each of the honorees, follow the link to the complete story on the BRYC.org home page.

The BRYC Dynamo U11 Boys (ODSL) team finished their Fall 2014 season with a perfect 8-0 record, en route to their first-ever Division Championship in just their third season in ODSL, and hot on the heels of taking Finalist honors in Spring 2014.  The Dynamo, coached by Anthony Pagano with the assistance of Michael Cranna and Julie Little, scored 44 goals with only 8 goals allowed – both best in Division 2 - while beating all comers.  Dynamo’s success has been building since its inaugural season.  Dynamo also took Finalist honors in both the 2013 and 2014 Battlefield Tournaments, earned ODSL Division 3 Finalist honors in in the Spring 2014 season, and have lost only one game in their past two ODSL seasons.  The Dynamo boys will continue their rise to Division 1 in Spring 2015, where they hope to bring home more silverware.  Congratulations Dynamo!  For more information on Dynamo including schedule, statistics, results, standings and other information, please visit the team’s official website.    

U13/14 Girls League Director and Spirit Coach Jon Fredrick and his team have a reason to feel proud after coming away with a season-ending playoff win over a very tough team from the Washington DC...

The webmaster realized that he'd been remiss in not posting any action photos this season so on the final Saturday he ventured across the street to get a few pictures of the final game of the season...

Sunday, November 2 -- Like a proud parent announcing the birth of his first child, U16/19 League Director Mac Squires called the webmaster moments after the final whistle blew to announce that "DANGER...

It isn't every season that a team with a great record is also able to earn the respect of its opponents as the best sportsmen in the ODSL, but during the Spring 2014 season, Coach Mohammed Diaw and his U11 (now U12) Boys, now in their third season in the highly competitive ODSL, did just that.  Finishing second in their division with a record of 5-1-2, the team won the post-season voting by each of the other clubs to bring home the Randy Rawls sportsmanship award for their first time...the only BRYC squad to be so honored.  Team Manager Eddie Colter took the team photo after their first game of the fall season, where the boys are off to another fast start with a record of 3-0-1 at the midway point. Along with all the other ODSL award winners, the boys will get to attend an upcoming DC United match in recognition of their accomplishment.  Congratulations to the boys and their coach not just for winning games but for being good sports at the same time.

For some folks the summer has flown by all too quickly, but for many BRYC coaches and players it has been "forever" since the spring season ended in early June, waiting for the chance to get back on the pitch once again.  

As they have for the last several seasons, our friends at Zinga in the Kings Park Shopping Center, are offering BRYC families a "healthy" 20% off on all purchases our opening weekend of play, Saturday and Sunday, September 6 and 7, for coming in wearing a BRYC jersey, shirt, jacket, or cap, showing your blue or gray BRYC pride.  What better way to cool down after the opening game of the season than with a delicious treat at Zinga!

The BRYC U11B Lions (ODSL) arrived at the Mountaineer Open Cup in Martinsburg WV on Sunday June 22, 2014 ready for action! The first game proved to be a quick win with the Lions challenging the host club's Tri Cities (TCSC) Galaxy from the beginning, coming away with a 2-0 victory.   The Lions next faced a Chantilly team that was ready to take advantage of any weakness. Chantilly scored first and the boys had to recover quickly but that they did, regaining their focus and finishing the game with a win by a score of 3-1.

Before the third game the Lions had a few hours of rest and were ready for a challenging TCSC Elite team.  Once again the Lions came out strong. Another 2-1 victory brought them to the championship game.  With less than an hour rest from the heat and the three  previous games, the Lions were ready.  They went into the game with the Front Royal (FRSA) Rox team and kept their cool.The Lions showcased their strong foot skills and innate team ability, bringing their best to the tournament final in winning the championship game by a score of 4-1.  The Lions showed that all of the hard work they have put in with countless training hours paid off. Congratulations to Coach Carlos Merino and the boys for the great showing.

At its regularly monthly meeting in July the BRYC Executive Committee regretfully accepted the resignation of Commissioner Dan Lemieux (far right) and unanimously voted to name James Sullivan (near right) as the new leader of the BRYC's recreational soccer program.  Lemieux had served the organization in various capacities, including coach and League Director, before assuming the position of Registrar which he held for two years immediately prior to being named Commissioner in 2012, replacing David Knight in that role.  

With no "obvious" replacement waiting in the wings, the EXCOM was thrilled to learn of the interest of Sullivan, who has coached for BRYC (now at the U16/19G level) for a number of years and attended countless EXCOM meetings as an observer, contributing sage advice and counsel on numerous occasions.  He comes to the position well-liked by all, and, without saying, highly recommended by his wife, BRYC's outstanding Training Coordinator, Joan Smith.

Lose something at the field?  The first thing you need to do is look in the field shed or storage box.  If it's not there, or if you find something and want to locate an owner, just email the BRYC Webmaster to have an item listed as lost or found on the web page dedicated to just that. Include the date, a brief description of the item lost or found, the location, and your contact information.  

Don't miss the chance to report found items or claim lost ones. Notify the webmaster if you find something, and check the Lost and Found page if you’re missing something.  We're doing our best to reunite owners with their possessions.