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June Newsletter 2022

Welcome to the Kings Hammer June Newsletter 2022! This edition features Supplemental Tryouts, State Cup & Presidents Cup Winners & Finalists, ECNL Girls Playoff Teams, Summer Camps, FC Cincinnati Kings Hammer Family Night, USLW & USL2 Final Home Games, and more! If you have a player, coach, or team to be highlighted in future newsletters, please send photos and stories to info@kingshammer.com.

Welcome to the Kings Hammer June Newsletter 2022! This edition features Supplemental Tryouts, State Cup & Presidents Cup Winners & Finalists, ECNL Girls Playoff Teams, Summer Camps, FC Cincinnati Kings Hammer Family Night, USLW & USL2 Final Home Games, and more! If you have a player, coach, or team to be highlighted in future newsletters, please send photos and stories to info@kingshammer.com.

Supplemental Tryouts – July 13th

Are you or someone you know still looking for a team? Kings Hammer will be holding Supplemental Tryouts on July 13th for the following Premier Programs:

Players attending Supplemental Tryouts must register through PlayMetrics. Please click the links above for tryout locations & to register.

Congratulations to our State Cup & Presidents Cup Winners & Finalists & our ECNL Girls Playoff Teams!

Kentucky President’s Cup

  • Winners: 
    • G13U – KHA Bluegrass G09 
    • B16U- KHA South B06 Blue 
    • B18/19U – KHA South B04 Blue 
  • Finalists: 
    • G17U – KHC G05 Premier 1 
    • B17U – KHA South B05 Grey 
    • B18/19U – KHA South B04/03 Grey 

Kentucky Soccer Village Cup Semi-Finals

  • G11U Div1– KHA South G11 Red 
  • G11U Div2- KHB G11 Premier 1 & KHA South G11 Grey 
  • B11U Div1- KHA South B11 Red 
  • B11U Div 2- KHA South B11 Blue & KHA South B11 Grey 
  • B12U Div 1 – KHA South B10 Red 
  • B12U Div 2- KHA South B10 Grey & KHC Classic B10 Dozier & KHS B10 Premier 1 

Kentucky State Cup Semi-Finals 

  • G14U – KHA Bluegrass G08 & KHC Classic G08 Zepf 
  • B14U – KHA South B08 Blue & KHA Bluegrass B08 
  • B15U – KHA South B07 Red 
  • B17U – KHA South B05 Red & KHA Bluegrass B05 
  • B18U – KHA South B04 Red  

Ohio State Cup Semi-Finals 

  • G18U – KHA North G04 Red 
  • G19U – KHA North G03 Red 
  • B16U- KHA South B06 Red 

ECNL Girls Playoff Teams

  • KH G05 ECNL NL
  • KH G06 ECNL NL
  • KH G08 ECNL RL

Congratulations to the following teams that advanced to Regionals!

National Championship Series (Regionals in Westfield, IN 06/24-6/29)

  • G14U – KHC Classic G08 Zepf
  • B14U – KHA South B08 Blue
  • B15U KHA South B07 Red
  • G15U KHA North G07 Red
  • B17U – KHA Bluegrass B05
  • G18U – KHA North G03 Red

Presidents Cup (Regionals in St. Louis, MO 06/16-06/20)

  • G13U – KHA Bluegrass G09
  • B16U – KHA South B06 Blue
  • B18U/19U – KHA South B04 Blue

Best of luck to KHA North G04 Red as they have advanced to Nationals in Orlando, Florida July 19th-24th!

Summer Camps Have Begun!

Looking for an opportunity to stay sharp this Summer?

Register today for the Kings Hammer Summer Camp Series! Camps will be offered at our North, Sycamore, Central, South, and Bluegrass locations for boys and girls U4-U15 now through July 28th.

For more information on Summer Camps and to register click here.

FC Cincinnati Kings Hammer Family Night – August 6th

Save the Date! All Kings Hammer friends and families can now take advantage of special Club Partner ticket pricing for:
FC Cincinnati vs Philadelphia Union
Saturday, August 6th – 7:30pm
To purchase tickets, please click here and enter portal password KH22. Deadline to purchase is 7/22. If there is a need to purchase more than 8 tickets, feel free to call Trevor Phillips at (513)977-5423 or email Phillips@fccincinnati.com.
Help Kings Hammer set the youth soccer night club attendance record and purchase your tickets today!
FC Cincinnati’s own Lucho Acosta wants to see you there! Click here to watch the video.

USL-2 & USL-W 

Kings Hammer FC USL League Two and the new USL Women’s League only have a few home games left at the Mustang Athletic Complex at Bishop Brossart High School in Alexandria, Kentucky. The final USL-W home game is tomorrow at 7pm against Racing Louisville. We encourage players, parents, coaches, and staff to attend if you haven’t yet. Also, make sure to come out to the USL-2 game on Friday as they take on Toledo Villa at 7pm. The USL-2 team is currently at the top of the division and will be working hard to stay there!

June Education: Helping Our Children Navigate Setbacks

I overslept this morning.  The report due to my boss today is missing. My flight home got cancelled.  I didn’t hit my quota this month. The promotion at work went to the other person.  The dishwasher leaked water all over the kitchen.  I wrecked the car last night.  My company announced they are downsizing.

We all suffer setbacks in life.  Some small and easy to manage.  Some large and more life changing. Our children are not immune to setbacks either.

  • Missing the bus
  • Not getting a good score on the math test
  • Not getting invited to THE party
  • Failing the driver’s test

And if they play in a sport, they will likely suffer setbacks there as well…

  • Not having a good practice, or not being able to perform a desired move
  • Missing the game winning shot
  • Losing the big game/race, or not even being in the big game/race
  • Not making the desired team, or not making a team at all

This last one is timely, given many have just left the Tryout/Team Formation portion of the club calendar and our older players are just beginning HS preseason and will be coming up on tryouts for those teams.

So, how do we help them navigate and persevere through the ups-and-downs of soccer.  Note the action is NAVIGATE, not AVOID.  Like us, our children are going to suffer setbacks in their journey, whether we are ready for it or not.  Here are five key actions that may assist you in being ready to successfully manage a setback.

1.STAY CALM– regardless of the situation, be composed, and do not overreact, and remember it is about them not you. Distressed facial expressions, tone of voice and language can make things worse for our child.

2. LISTEN AND EMPHASIZE– allow your child to tell their story. Let them share thoughts and feelings and acknowledge them. Do not diminish their feelings or concerns with “It’s no big deal.” “Don’t worry about it” or other attempts to make them feel better.

3. ENCOURAGE THEM– remind them that this setback does not define them. Who they are is more than this one setback. Congratulate them on their efforts and their willingness to risk failing.

4. FIND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES– when they are ready, talk with them about what they can learn from this. Encourage them to focus on themselves and discourage BLAMING others (coach, teammates, weather, etc.) for the setback.

    • Focus on process (skills, effort, attitude, etc.) not outcomes (goals, wins, etc.)
    • Focus on mental and emotional approaches to setbacks.
    • How can they reset themselves to allow for success?
    • What future efforts would they like to make?

5. SUGGEST SOMETHING FUN TO DO– it may be beneficial to engage in a fun activity “Do you want to get some ice cream?”“I think your favorite movie is playing now”, “Let’s go get some lunch!” in order to provide an outlet for your child to remove themselves from the negative feelings they are having.

Click here to read the full story.

2022-2023 Event Series Announced

We are excited to host 11 fantastic events in the Cincinnati and Lexington markets and 4 events in the Murfreesboro market! Within our event series, our main goal is to provide a quality event experience for every level of team from all types of clubs and programs. Each event will provide unique event experiences and appropriate levels of competition for all teams at some of the best facilities in Ohio, Kentucky, & Tennessee. Thank you for making our event series some of the best tournaments in the region. We can’t wait to see everyone this year at our Kings Hammer Events! Special thank you to our event sponsors: Nike, Trophy Awards, and PYB Sports!

GK Union Save of the Month

Congratulations to Rohan M from KH Sycamore B10, Sophia W from KHA South G10 Red, & Barrett M from KHA South B03/04 Black for being named the May GK Union Saves of the Month!

Did you make an incredible save or a game-saving block? We want to see them!

Post your best saves in the Kings Hammer GK Union Facebook group or share on Twitter using the hashtag #KingsHammer. Be sure to share throughout the spring season and YOU could be selected for our Kings Hammer Save of the Month! GK Save of the Month winners will be announced the Friday of the first full week of the following month.

Click here to view the May Saves of the Month!

Keeper Wars Ink Event Recap

Kings Hammer and the Kings Hammer GK Union partnered with Keeper Wars Ink to host a National Qualifying event over the weekend of June 18-19. Around 60 Goalkeepers participated in the first annual event representing 10 states across the region. This was the first Keeper Wars event hosted in Kentucky or Ohio.

Keeper Wars CEO and Co-Founder Casey Clark stated, “We are thrilled to have partnered with Kings Hammer to bring our Keeper Wars Ink national platform to the state of Kentucky! The +10 states of keepers that came out to compete at our national qualifying event was amazing to see. It is always exciting to see a new location embrace our unique event and come out and support us like they do. This event doesn’t happen without the support of USYS, Town & Country Sports Complex and of course Kings Hammer! We look forward to building on this annual event for years to come!”

Kings Hammer Director of Goalkeeping Lou Liberatore on what it means to partner on this Keeper Wars event: “I’d like to thank Casey and his team for putting on a great event here in the Greater Cincinnati are for our Kings Hammer GK Union Keepers, other keepers in the area, and in our surrounding region.  It was great to see so many keepers in one place from different local and regional clubs and the quality of competition created for all was fantastic.  Casey and his team did a great job from start to finish and the feedback from our GK Union members has been fantastic!  The interest Casey and his team took in not only hosting a quality event, but getting to know what we do with our Kings Hammer GK Union program by coming to a training session and asking questions about what we are building in the area was excellent.  Thank you again for partnering with us and looking forward to next year!”

1st Place Kings Hammer GKs:
  • Mac Ravenscraft (KHC B13 Premier)
  • Nikola Milisic (KHA South B11 Blue)
  • William Finn (Former KH B09 MLS Next joining FCC Academy in the Fall)
  • Austin Nowak (KH B06 ECRL)
  • Sydney Fredstrom (KHA South G11 Red)
  • Bailee Class (KHC Classic G09 Owen)
  • Madilyn Mitchell (KH G07 ECNL)
2nd Place Kings Hammer GKs:
  • Gabriel Crist (KH B10 ECNL)
  • Kendall McGarvey (KHC G05 Premier 1)
3rd Place Kings Hammer GKs:
  • Riley Johnson (KHA South G12 Red)
  • Miles Mullen (KH B08 ECNL)

Content Feedback

We want to hear from you! Please take a minute to complete a Content Feedback survey with 9 questions. Your answers will help as we start creating content for the 2022-2023 Season!

Click here to take the survey now

Kings Hammer Fan-wear & Event Gear

Kings Hammer fan-wear and event gear is available now on the Kings Hammer Online Shop! GK Union gloves will be available to order soon. Be sure to follow us on social for the restock announcement!

Click here to check out the Kings Hammer Online Shop now!

Follow Kings Hammer on TikTok

Hey Kings Hammer families! We’ve just joined TikTok! Give us a follow for more fun content! Click here: Kings Hammer TikTok

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Tryout FAQ’s

How do I register for tryouts?
ALL soccer-athletes MUST COMPLETE the tryout registration online before participating in the tryout process. Click here to register now!

*Please make sure that you register online at least 24 hours in advance to ensure that the soccer athlete is in the system and we have your information to notify you after the tryout process.  There is a Registration Steps document on the Tryouts page that will walk you through the process. Each soccer athlete should attend both tryout days if possible. If you are unable to attend both days please reach out to the Program Director listed below.

Birth Years for the 2022/2023 Season
For the 2022/2023 season, Kings Hammer will follow U.S Youth Soccer’s guidelines and will organize its teams by birth year:

*Interested players must register to try out for their birth year.

Can my child play up an age group?
Any player playing up will be at the discretion of their respective director. All players need to register and attend the tryout for their correct age group.

What should I wear/bring to tryouts?
Please come prepared with a fully inflated soccer ball, proper footwear, shin guards, and water. Each prospective soccer-athlete will receive one free Kings Hammer Soccer Club tryout t-shirt with a tryout identification number on the back of the t-shirt.  Each prospective player will be identified by the identification number throughout the process and MUST wear this t-shirt at each tryout session for the 2022/2023 soccer year.

We will not be able to attend tryouts or are new to the area and missed tryouts. Is there a process in place to allow for an alternate tryout?
Yes! If you are not able to attend tryouts or missed the tryout dates, please register and then contact the Director for the Program/Age Group you wish to tryout for so that arrangements can be made. We also hold supplemental tryouts throughout the year. Roster openings may be limited after the initial tryout period.

What are the differences between Academy and Premier?
Our Academy provides a highly competitive environment for higher-level soccer athletes. This program provides those athletes with the best local training offered by our qualified and professional staff. Our Academy teams play at the highest possible level providing showcase opportunities to College, Professional, and National level programs.

The Premier Program is a community-based program. The Premier Program provides the opportunity for players to play other sports or have other interests outside of soccer. This program is designed to be flexible, convenient, and affordable.

Can I try out for multiple programs?
We encourage anyone who wants to tryout for all levels to do so. Current KHSC players can ask their coach/director for guidance if they are unsure about which program to tryout for. You will need to register for each tryout separately.

If I tryout for a program and don’t make it, can I try out for another program?
Yes. If you don’t make an Academy team, we strongly encourage you to tryout for a Premier team, attending tryouts for at least one day.

If you don’t make a Premier team, the Classic Program may be an option. Contact Michelle Okumura (michelle@kingshammer.com) if you’d like to pursue this option.

Will there be more than one team in each age group?
Yes, when possible, there will be more than one team per age group, per program. It all depends on the number of players at tryouts and their skill level.

If my child doesn’t make the top team, can they move up during the year?
Yes, there may be opportunities to move up throughout the year as long as the coach/director feels it is in the best interest of the player’s development. There may also be opportunities to guest play across all levels.

What can I expect after tryouts?
After tryouts you can expect communication from the club in the form of an email.  (Please double-check that your email is correct in the PlayMetrics system, this is the email we use) This will either be an acceptance email, offering your child a position on a team, or an email letting you know that they should tryout for a different program. Players who are offered positions on a team may also receive a phone call from their coach. All communication will come within 24-48 hours of the end of the last tryout. You will then have 24 hours to either accept or decline your email before your spot is offered to another child.

What are the next steps if my child makes a team?

  1. If you are new to the club, you will receive more information regarding your uniform ordering in your confirmation email.
  2. If you are part of the Academy or Premier Programs, you will receive the link to Demosphere to register your child in the state system in your confirmation email as well.

How long is the season?

  • Academy
    • U11-U14: August-November, January-May (possible post-season in June)
    • U15-U19: November-May
  • Premier
    • U7-U14: August-October, March-May
    • U15-U19: November-December, March-May

My child is in middle school but plays on a U15 team. Will there be a fall U15 program for trapped players?
Yes, we will offer a program for trapped 8th graders for the fall season depending on interest. The program will run from August to October and is open to players that are currently in the 8th grade that will be playing on a U15 team starting in November 2022. Questions please contact:

Academy North: Ryan Handbury | ryan@kingshammer.com
Academy South Boys: James Thomas | james@kingshammer.com
Academy South Girls: Chris Black | chris@kingshammer.com
Academy Bluegrass Boys: Dan Ensley  | dan@kingshammer.com
Academy Bluegrass Girls: Megan Adkins | megan@kingshammer.com

Can a team come to the club and join as a team?
Yes! The team can join the Classic Program. For more information please reach out to Michelle Okumura at michelle@kingshammer.com.

Who is in charge of hiring coaches?
If you are interested in a coaching opportunity, please fill out the following coaching form – https://kingshammer.com/interested-in-coaching/

Program Directors:

Academy North: Ryan Handbury | ryan@kingshammer.com
Academy South Girls: Chris Black | chris@kingshammer.com
Academy South Boys: James Thomas | james@kingshammer.com
Academy Bluegrass Boys: Dan Ensley | dan@kingshammer.com
Academy Bluegrass Girls: Megan Adkins | megan@kingshammer.com
Premier Xenia: Brent Lewis | brent@kingshammer.com
Premier North: Wil Cagle | wil@kingshammer.com
Premier Sycamore: Ryan Handbury | ryan@kingshammer.com
Premier Central: Michael Ratliff | michaelr@kingshammer.com
Premier South: David Shemilt | dshemilt@kingshammer.com
Premier Versailles: Brandon Cummons | brandon@kingshammer.com
Premier Lexington: Fonyam Atanga | fonyam@kignshammer.com