La La and K Mart Rule the Day

We had another edition of Utah Champions League at training this morning...5 vs. 5 (including goal keepers)... first goal wins....winning team stays on....every 15 minutes, we mix up the teams and continue the games. Teams are chosen randomly. We keep track of everyone's wins and losses during the tournament (including goal keepers).

Today's champs....Lauren Hair and Katie Martinez each won 71% of their matches.


This is a great way to add some spice to training as well as give the players an idea about how they are as competitors. They may be thrown into situations where they have to play a role or position they are uncomfortable in doing. And they have to figure out a way to win as many games as possible. So La La and KMart are the queens until the next round of Utah Champions League.

New Ute: Colorado Rush import

Well, the NLI's have been trickling in yesterday and today for our incoming class of 2008 high school graduates. First thing in the morning, when the e-mail came in notifying us that Katie Martinez had faxed in her paper work, we were fired up. As we said yesterday, this is the culmination of a long process and an exciting day.

Katie plays for the Colorado Rush soccer club and attends Chatfield High School in the Denver area. She is a midfielder by trade but is versatile enough to play different positions. We first saw her play in a women's league game in Colorado in the spring of 2006. Former Utah great Dominique Barcellona coaches with the Rush and tipped us off to Katie. She immediately reminded us of current Ute senior, Kiley Jones. And we think, like Kiley, she will be one of those players that just quietly plays the game of soccer at a very high level.

Katie is not the biggest player but is VERY tough for her size...excellent defensive skills and a good header. As with almost all the Colorado Rush players, she is very clean and confident on the ball.

We welcome Katie and her family! More details about her will follow at www.utahutes.com when we get all the NLI's in and put the official release out.