National Association Intercollegiate Athletics

Red River Athletic Conference

Saturday 15th October 2016

Kick off 15.00 Actual 15.16

Wiley College Wildcats 1 University of the Southwest Mustangs 0, attendance 32

8′ 1-0

@ Panthers Stadium

Spring Hill High School

2800, East George Richley Road

Longview, TX 75605

No admission or programme.

This had always been my plan, but at Wiley’s own pitch at the college. When I arrived home on Friday night and checked the very good Wiley College Facebook page, it said the game had been postponed, which was not a great surprise as their home match on Thursday had been abandoned due to heavy rain, leaving the pitch in a right state. However, something made me look at their Facebook page on Saturday morning and a posting at 9.31am said the game was back on and even had the address of the new venue. It certainly helped that the visitors had already travelled from New Mexico and certainly didn’t want a wasted trip. I expected the game to be played on an outside pitch, so was very pleased to find it was in fact at the schools American Football Stadium.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III

American Southwest Conference

Friday 14th October 2016

Kick off 19.30 Actual 19.31

Le Tourneau University Yellow Jackets 0 University Texas Dallas Comets 5,  attendance 125

13′ 0-1

16′ 0-2

58′ 0-3

74′ 0-4

81′ 0-5

@ LETU Soccer Field

Joyce Family Athletic Village

Weller Drive

Longview, TX 75602

No admission

Team Sheet, free, double sided.

A little over an hour from Mount Pleasant saw me arrive in Longview and time to grab some food before kick off. Walking round the pitch towards the stand I also managed to bag the last team sheet at the match as they were on a table near the refreshment stand and free to pick up. As for the match, it was as comfortable as the score line suggests.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Friday 14th October 2016

Kick off 16.00 Actual 16.05

Northeast Texas Community College Eagles 0 Tyler Junior College Apaches 9,  attendance 47

5′ 0-1

12′ 0-2

22′ 0-3

35′ 0-4

37′ 0-5

40′ 0-6

65′ 0-7 (pen)

67′ 0-8

68′ 0-9

@ Eagles Soccer Field

County Road 4740/2866 F.M. 1735

Mount Pleasant, TX 75455

$5 Admission

No programme.

Second time in three days I had seen Tyler rattle in nine goals and again they eased off as if not to embarrass the opposition by getting double figures.

This was really awkward to locate as the address makes little sense and my SatNav didn’t recognise it in any configuration of the names or numbers. In the end I got an address in the vicinity and used the old method of writing down a route from there. The early kick off also meant a double opportunity by way of a 50 mile drive south to Longview, home of Le Tourneau University.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Wednesday 12th October 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.07

Tyler Junior College Apaches 9 Angelina College Roadrunners 1,  attendance 103

7′ 1-0

8′ 2-0

9′ 2-1

10′ 3-1

11′ 4-1

47′ 5-1

50′ 6-1

53′ 7-1

55′ 8-1

88′ 9-1

@ Pat Hartley Complex

South Palmer Avenue

Tyler, TX 75701

No admission or programme.

I can’t remember ever being at a game with this many goals so early on. When Tyler started the second half with with another goal blitz it looked like this might go on to be a massacre, but they just took their foot off the gas as if they had taken pity on the visitors.

The following photos are poor quality due to camera malfunction.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 2 (Fall Season)

Sunday 9th October 2016

Kick off 13.00 Actual 13.03

Goodfriend United 3 Young Guns 2,  attendance 13

13′ 1-0

35′ 2-0

52′ 2-1 (pen)

82′ 2-2

90′ + 1, 3-2

@ Campbell Green Recreation Center, Pitch 4

16600, Park Hill Drive

Dallas, TX 75248

No admission or programme.

This is the only pitch at the complex that hosts matches in the N.T.P.S.A. There are no facilities here, apart from a couple of portaloos , although the centre may be open when more people are here using the other pitches.

The match was 4th v 1st and the first defeat of the season for the league leaders.

The following photos are poor quality due to camera malfunction.

International Friendly Match

Saturday 8th October 2016

Kick off 17.00 Actual 17.39

Mexico 2 New Zealand 1,  attendance 40,287

29′ 1-0 G. dos Santos (pen)

46′ 1-1 M. Rojas

56′ 2-1 M. Fabian

@ Nissan Stadium

1, Titans Way

Nashville, TN 37213

Admission $48 + $9.95 fees, Print at home ticket.

No programme.

Nissan Stadium is home to Tennessee Titans of the N.F.L. as well as Tennessee State University Tigers American Football team. It was opened in 1999, as the Adelphia Coliseum, then named The Coliseum (2002-2006) and then LP Field up until 2015 when it took on its current name. Capacity here has increased very slightly from when it opened and currently seats 69,143.

I opted for flying into Nashville and doing an overnight stop, as this worked out cheaper than a day return, despite the extortionate hotel prices. Airport hotel was again the best option for accommodation. Despite this being a 25 minute drive to the city, it was easily done by catching the local bus into Downtown Nashville for a very reasonable $1.70 each way. The return bus, which has a stop across the road from the footbridge linking Downtown to the Stadium, passes here at twenty minutes past the hour, so very convenient, even though the match was very late kicking off, but that just seems to be what happens for matches involving Mexico, along with the usual problem of most of the crowd still having not learnt how to read, so once again we had the first half hour of the match looking like an attempt at the Guinness World Record for highest number of participants playing ‘musical chairs’.

I thought the crowd for this was very impressive. There can’t be too many countries in the world that could pull in 40,000 plus for a friendly versus New Zealand, let alone when hosting it in another country. Next up for New Zealand is a game versus U.S.A. on Tuesday. I’m not a betting man, but I think I can safely say that the crowd for that one will barely be a quarter of today’s turnout, especially as it is midweek. Good to see, that despite it being a friendly, there weren’t wholesale substitutions. Mexico only made three, on 61, 66 and 73 minutes, whilst New Zealand made six, two of which were in the final five minutes.

The following photos are poor quality due to camera malfunction.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Friday 7th October 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.01

Jacksonville College Jaguars 1 Coastal Bend College Cougars 2,  attendance 85

10′ 0-1

29′ 1-1

53′ 1-2

@ Washington Avenue

Jacksonville, TX 75766

No admission or programme.

I had seen the visitors earlier this season, albeit in a friendly, but they were just as impressive, especially going forward.

The following photos are of poor quality due to camera malfunction.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Tuesday 4th October 2016

Kick off 16.00 Actual  16.20

Ranger College Rangers 2 Eastern Oklahoma State College Mountaineers 1,  attendance 60

14′ 0-1

21′ 1-1

66′ 2-1

@ 1100, College Circle

Ranger, TX 76470

No admission or programme.

Another late kick off due to the women’s game beforehand overrunning. Oklahoma had a man red carded two minutes after going behind, with Ranger having a man sent off themselves with ten minutes left.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 4 (Fall Season)

Sunday 2nd October 2016

Kick off 15.00 Actual 15.11

El Diablo Blanco 0 Lone Star Republic 1,  attendance 13

73′ 0-1

@ Samuell Garland Park, Pitch 15

11500, McCree Road

Dallas, TX 75218

No admission or programme.

This was my second visit here, having previously done a game on Pitch 7. Today’s game was on a pitch only used occasionally for N.T.P.S.A. matches and easy to see why. There are at least 2 plastic manhole covers on the pitch and the pitch markings themselves are certainly not done to correct measurements.

Lone Star Republic remain top of the league with this win, but left it late. According to their Manager they had five regulars missing today, but still had too much for the team in 4th place.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III

American Southwest Conference

Saturday 1st October 2016

Kick off 19.30 Actual 19.31

University Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders 2 Concordia University Texas Tornados 0,  attendance 348

4′ 1-0

41′ 2-0

@ Cru Soccer Field

University Drive

Belton, TX 76513

No admission

Programme free, 4 pages.

This was a perfect double with this afternoons game as it was on the way home and only a few miles off route. It always looked like a home win once the hosts went in front early on and it may have made for an interesting finish if Concordia had converted a penalty five minutes from time.