GOALS May 15th!

Giving Opportunities to Athletes who Love Soccer

Tuesday, May 15th 6pm

Sahlen's Stadium

We hope you are all ready for the second night of Giving Opportunities to Athletes who Love Soccer! It was great to see so many GOALS veterans return to the team this year and it was our pleasure to welcome many GOALS rookies to the team this year! We hope you also enjoyed seeing friends from years past and meeting new team members!

Rhinos Updates

Rhinos Improve to 6-0

 It was great seeing so many GOALS team members and their families at the Rhinos home opener vs. the Charlotte Eagles on May 5th! Those who were there know the Rhinos won the game 1-0. Since then the Rhinos have won an additional 2 games to bring their record to 6-0! For great Rochester Rhino's coverage check out Jeff DiVeronica's soccer blog Devo's Direct Kicks. Remember- all GOALS participants received a Rochester Rhinos Pro Pass- your season ticket for all of the Rhinos home games!

Drew Cost named USL PRO Player of the Week

GOALS assistant coach and Rochester Rhinos midfielder Drew Cost was honored as the USL PRO Player of the Week for the week of May 1st. Drew's strong performance helped the Rhinos remain unbeaten! We encourage all GOALS team members to congratulate Drew when you see him Tuesday night! See what the USL PRO league has to say about Drew HERE.

Player Spotlight

This week's player spotlight is on GOALS assistant coach and Rochester Rhinos goalie Brandon Miller.

Brandon Miller

Position: Goalkeeper
Date of Birth: 12/26/1989
Height: 6' 0" Weight: 175 lbs
College Experience: UNC Wilmington
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina    

Why is participating in the GOALS program important to you?

Participating in the GOALS program is important to me because I really enjoy connecting with the community and the best way to do that is to interact with families in programs such as GOALS.  It is particularly important for me being a rookie and someone new to Rochester to really get to know our fans and community in Rochester.  Having fun and seeing a smile on each child's face is just another bonus of working with the program.   

What do you hope the GOALS athletes get out of this soccer program?

The biggest thing for me is that everyone has fun and gets a chance to meet other people and do what they love.  I want the athletes to realize that we, as players, are just regular guys even though we are professional athletes and we are there to get to know them and have fun with them just as much as they are there for the same thing.

What advice do you have for young athletes that want to improve?
Work hard.  One of my favorite quotes that I first heard in high school is "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard".  It always makes me feel better when I know I have worked my hardest at something, no matter the results so that is the best advice I can give a young athlete.

How has soccer shaped who you are? What life lessons have you learned?
Soccer has had a huge impact on my life and who I am as a man today.  I have learned many lessons over the years from the various coaches I've had.  One of the biggest life lessons I have learned is how to work with and communicate with others, especially people of different backgrounds.  Not everyone comes from the same place and has dealt with the same issues as you so you have to be willing to be open minded and have open lines of communication in order to have successful relationships with not only your teammates, but people in general.

Next Rhinos Home Game! Let's have GOALS cheer them on!

GOALS Updates

At our first GOALS night on May 1st  your child was assigned to an age and a team. These assignments were based on age and additional information on your application. Based upon observations from the first GOALS night we have made some slight adjustments to team assignments. For example. you child may move up an age group due to their size and ability. We hope these adjustments will lead to a positive and fun experience for all players.

Supporting the National Inclusion Project

GOALS and the Pieters Family Life Center are very thankful to receive grant funds from the National Inclusion Project. The National Inclusion Project is a foundation that was started by Clay Aiken, of American Idol fame. Clay Aiken is on the current season of The Celebrity Apprentice raising funds for the National Inclusion Project and raising awareness on the benefits of inclusion. Clay has made it to the final round of this reality show and you can support the National Inclusion Project by watching the final episode on Sunday, May 20th at 9 pm on NBC Channel 10.

Stormers Soccer Club visits GOALS

Members of the Stormers Soccer Club of the Rochester District Youth Soccer League will join us on Tuesday. Stormers players will assist with soccer skill drills and scrimmage with GOALS team members in the youth division. The Stormers are based out of Brighton and many of their players attend 12 Corners Middle School in Brighton. The Stormers volunteered at GOALS last year and are looking forward to having some fun and playing some soccer with GOALS!

Dinner Donated by Jeremiahs Tavern

We would like to extend a heartfelt "Thank You" to Jeremiahs Tavern for their generous donation to GOALS. Dinner on Tuesday, May 15th will be pulled pork sandwiches provided by Jeremiahs. You may best know Jeremiahs Tavern because of their chicken wings, voted Rochester's best by the Democrat and Chronicle for 10 years in a row!

GOALS @ PFLC

GOALS @ PFLC kicked off the summer season at the Pieters Family Life Center on Saturday. GOALS @ PFLC is an additional opportunity for GOALS team members to come together, have fun working on soccer and social skills, and learning about nutrition through snack preparation. There are still openings available for this Saturday morning program. If you would like additional information please email us at info@pietersfamilylifecenter.org.

GOALS on Twitter

A great way to keep in touch with Rhinos Players, Pieters Family Life Center staff, and other GOALS families is through Twitter. You can follow the Pieters Family Life Center at @RocPieters. We are using the "hashtag' #RocGOALS.

Look forward to seeing you on the field!