Dear Bolts Nation:

Memorial Day Weekend is here! It's so surreal not to be at a soccer tournament this weekend. Our schedules have been turned upside down, our lives have changed, our paychecks have been impacted and, for many of us, coping with life’s new stressors can be challenging during these unprecedented and complicated times.
We are all in this together so reach out anytime with issues or even if you just need to connect.

Please take a moment to remember why we celebrate Memorial Day and honor the tradition. Remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Please send us any questions.

Stay Home, Stay Safe & Stay Healthy!
Bolts Columbus Cup
SAVE THE DATES October 10th & 11th 2020

We will be hosting the 3rd annual Bolts Columbus Cup this October!!
Registration will be available shortly, but a few of the highlights for this year's event will be:
  • Games on Saturday and Sunday only. No games on the Monday holiday.
  • We have secured all turf fields at Union Point, Lovell Field and Legion Field in Weymouth. If we need to expand this we will expand to only fields on the South Shore so that families and coaches with multiple teams can easily get from field to field.  
  • All games on turf including two fields under the bubble at Union Point. The bubbles will not be coming down this year due to the COVID crisis and the cost associated with taking the bubble down. This will provide shelter in the case of poor weather for all players and families. 
  • All teams U11-15 guaranteed three games plus playoffs.
  • All U9/10 teams guaranteed four games with no playoffs. 
  • No more than 2 hours between the end of game 1 and beginning of game 2. 
  • Tournament Apparel Available through Fine Designs at all locations (see event logo above). 
  • Food services available at Lovell Field, and new this year at Union Point provided by the Barrett Restaurant Group.  

Can't wait to see you there!
THE FOUNDATION E-Book Training Guide
On behalf of the Bolts we want to provide you with the Soccer Foundation E-book on YouTube using  this link   that is made up of an extensive series of skills training sessions. 

Without the direction of a coach you can train at your own pace and sharpen your skills based on game specific situations. This book has been put together by Alex Ainscough. Alex returned from playing professionally in Germany and spent endless hours putting this together. To find out more about Alex and what he does go to  www.ainscoughssoccer.com

We hope that this E-book helps you to stay active and keeps your skills sharp.
VIRTUAL TRYOUTS
We welcome players to our club anytime. For players who are not currently in the club, we want to provide this opportunity because traditional in-person tryouts are postponed due to COVID19. The virtual tryout process is described below. Bolts are planning on holding evaluations for players as soon as we have a ‘return to play’ date.

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Please complete the following PROSPECTIVE PLAYER FORM
  2. Download & watch this BOLTS VIRTUAL TRYOUT YOU TUBE
  3. Use this PDF with the schematic & details to set up each drill. VIRTUAL BOLTS TRYOUT – FULL VERSION
  4. Make a video of YOU demonstrating these skills and e-mail it to DAN COLWELL Director of Scouting & Talent ID
OR
upload into this  DROPBOX LINK
OR
upload to your YouTube channel and share the link with us.

Any questions or issues with the process, please  EMAIL US

PROCESS
Video entries will be accepted through June 15, 2020 . Players will be notified via email one of the options below regarding assessment once videos have been viewed.
Final team selection notification will go out no later than June 20, 2020.
Virtual tryout video entries are for any players age 7 to 17.

In order to be as transparent as possible and help expedite the tryout process for both prospective players, email video entries will receive an email response from a Bolts staff member.
The response will include one of these:
  1. PLAYER WILL BE OFFERED A 2020/21 ROSTER SPOT
  2. PLAYER IS STILL BEING CONSIDERED FOR A 2020/21 ROSTER SPOT
  3. PLAYER IS NOT CURRENTLY BEING CONSIDERED FOR A 2020/21 ROSTER SPOT
Chat with the Pros series continues....

We had a fantastic chat last week with Sean Kelly (right) and he shared his experiences as a youth player and his journey to become a professional and even what he is doing currently as a coach

This week, we focus on Goalkeepers. We will have a chat with
Gavin Carlin - West Brom    Tuesday May 26th at 6PM 

Gavin (pictured below) started playing soccer when he was 7 years old and never looked back. With aspirations of playing professionally, he dedicated the next decade of his life to the sport. Spending countless hours working on his skills, Gavin developed a deep knowledge and expertise that would allow him to represent his home country, Ireland, on the national level. In 2007 he realized his dreams of playing professionally when he was contracted to play for West Bromwich Albion. During his time at West Brom, Gavin was exposed to the top international coaches, managers, and players of his time. 

Gavin is going to be sharing his experience of playing in the Premier League Academy as well as give our goalkeepers and aspiring young academy players some great advice and tips that may help them on their journey. Gavin will also be answering any questions our goalkeepers a nd players from our club.

Video Chat details
May 26th at 6PM
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://nhc.accessionmeeting.com/j/1152325588

Next week, we visit with Shane Supple - Ipswich Town First Team Goalkeeper + National Team Squad in 2018 v USA + France. We will get back to you with details of that video chat.