Baton Rouge brings in new coach

BATON ROUGE, LA -- The Baton Rouge Capitals of the Premier Development League are proud to announce the hiring of their new head coach Helio D’Anna for the upcoming 2008 season.

“Coach L” as everyone calls him, is the current head coach of Lincoln Memorial University’s men’s and women’s soccer programs, both of which have been flourishing under his leadership the past four years. He has been named an NSCAA/Adidas Regional Coach of the Year, which puts him in contention for the National Coach of the Year award along with seven others.

Being a native of Brazil, he brings a different style of soccer to the field and is also able to parlay those connections into bringing in young Brazilian talent to play in the US.

His men’s team, the Rail Splitters, went to the Division II Championship Game this year, losing at the end of the game 1-0. They ended the season ranked second in the NCAA DII. Under his leadership the LMU men’s program has achieved:

NCAA DII Championship Game Appearances 2007
NCAA DII Final Four Appearances 2006, 2007
NCAA DII Tournament Appearances 2006, 2007
South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Champions 2007 (Co-Champs)
SAC Tournament Champions 2007
GSC Regular Season Champions 2004
GSC Tournament Champions 2005

His women’s team has also been doing extremely well, and he brings to Baton Rouge a very impressive resume. He will direct the Capitals for their second season, which begins play on May 10 & 11 at Olympia Stadium (Perkins & Kenilworth) and whose regular season culminates on July 18.

D'Anna has already begun recruiting players for the Baton Rouge team. This, along with attracting the best players in Louisiana, should result in a very strong run at making the playoffs this season in a division that includes last year’s PDL North American Champions, the Laredo Heat.

Upcoming dates for tryouts will be posted on the Capitals official web site: www.brcapitals.com, which should be in middle to late March.

“Many people don’t know this, but the last two players to win the Hermann Trophy (soccer’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) were from Louisiana. Jason Gary, who is from outside of Baton Rouge and went on to play at University of Maryland, is now with the Columbus Crew and Joseph Lapira, who is from Lake Charles, went on to play at Notre Dame,” said James Vilas, the Capitals Owner.

Lapira, who played last season with the Capitals, was recently drafted in the MLS SuperDraft last month.

“We have a lot of talented players here in south Louisiana and having the Capitals allows these youth men to play in a professional environment while being exposed to some of the best players in the country that will soon be the superstars of tomorrow,” said Vilas.

This new relationship with this caliber of coach will allow many of our local younger players who are searching for recruitment opportunities, to work with someone who has a decade of experience in the collegiate arena. Obviously, this will allow for a great expansion of opportunities to our local soccer-playing youth.

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Major League Soccer Comes To LSU Today
By Robin Fambrough
The Baton Rouge Advocate – March 28, 2007

Fans who want soccer to have a “Major League” impact in Baton Rouge may get what they want tonight.

The New England Revolution of Major League Soccer play the New Orleans Shell Shockers in an exhibition set for 7 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.

“This will be an incredibly hard game against one of the best professional outfits in the country,” Shell Shockers coach Kenny Farrell said in a news release. “The Revolution are a first-class team with players who have starred at the very highest level, but we won’t be over-awed and hope to put on a sizzling soccer spectacle for the Baton Rouge public.”

Ticket are $15 in advance and can be purchased at the Baton Rouge Soccer Association office located at 142 Lobdell Ave. Tickets are $20 at the gate.

Tonight’s contest will be the second Louisiana exhibition in four days for the Revolution, a 3-1 winner over Olimpia Honduras on Sunday at New Orleans’ Tad Gormley Stadium.

That match attracted 8,947 fans. Both matches are part of Miller International Soccer Series. The goal of the Miller series is to bring top soccer competition to Louisiana, including professional teams from Central America like Olimpia-Honduras.

“Our goal is to bring the highest level of soccer here to Baton Rouge and to Louisiana,” BRSA Executive Director Gary Buete said. “We’re excited about this and we see this match as a way to start doing that.”

The Shell Shockers are part of the Premier Development League that also includes the new Baton Rouge Capitals. Buete is the general manager of the Capitals, who open their season in May with games at Olympia Field.

Two notable players for the Revolution, forwards Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan, are currently playing with the U.S. National team.

However, the list of players set to compete for New England is impressive. Forward Adam Cristman, previously of a member of the U.S. Youth National squad, scored two goals Sunday in New Orleans.

Defender Avery John plays the Trinidad-Tobago national team. Forward Shalrie Joseph and defender-midfielder Steve Ralston have international experience. Goalkeeper Matt Reis and defender-midfielder Joe Franchino are other Revolution players to note.

Defender Colin Rocke and midfielder P.J. Kee help lead the Shell Shockers.

“Our purpose is two-fold,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. “We certainly want to spread the good word about soccer. These matches are also important part of our preseason.

“We’re looking for consistency. We need to be able to play on a high level consistently. Matches like this will hopefully help with that.”

Ex-Baton Rouge High player Fred Mince is one of the Shell Shockers’ goalkeepers. Josey Portillo, a 16-year-old who attends Grace King High, is also on the New Orleans roster.

Notes:
Revolution players and coaches spent part of Tuesday afternoon helping St. Bernard Project crews with efforts to rebuild St. Bernard Parish homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Buete said the Capitals had their first practice Monday at Independence Park. The Capitals host Dallas-Fort Worth for their home opener on May 12.

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Godwin Named Louisiana Coach Of The Year

Crossroads soccer coach and Louisiana College Head Men's and Women's Soccer Coach Derek Godwin has been awarded the LSA Coach of the Year award.

Godwin has been working with Louisiana players and coaches since the early 90's and has a true passion for the game. He has been involved in some form or other with the game of soccer since becoming a youth player in the 1940's in England. His playing career lasted a very long time and took him to such great heights in the English Cups against Wimbledon and other English teams.

After a very impressive playing career he moved into coaching where he excelled as developer of all soccer players no matter what their level of play or gender. He was awarded the British Empire Medal by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 2nd in 1978 for his service in the field of soccer.

After coming to the United States in 1992 He transformed a struggling soccer program in Alexandria, LA., into today’s Crossroads Soccer Association (now 1300 players) and has gone on to share his coaching knowledge with youth soccer coaches and players around Louisiana and the United States.

Godwin will be presented the state COY award at the Louisiana Soccer Association's winter Annual General Meeting on January 7, at the Holiday Inn South in Baton Rouge.

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