Good Day to All and a belated Happy New Year!

     We hope this note finds you well, rested and getting back into your routine after the Holiday Season.
The kids are certainly ready to get started on a new soccer season and the weather has allowed many to
be outside on a regular basis to keep their skills fine-tuned and focused on the games ahead.

   We have many initiatives on our radar screen as the New Year starts. Our new Board of Directors will
officially meet for the first time later this month. We have two seats to fill and candidates for both that
will be reviewed at our upcoming Board Meeting. Additionally, Dan Wichmer, Kelly Ross and I will be
attending the Missouri Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) Annual Meeting in Kansas City this month as
the elections officers of Vice-President, Treasurer and Registrar will occur at that meeting. As many of
you may know, our own Kelly Ross is the President of MYSA and his position will not be on the ballot for
elections as he is in the midst of his term. There are other initiatives we are working on but will update
you on these as we get closer to implementation.

     The New Year has also reaffirmed the breadth and depth of soccer in Southwest Missouri. Lake Country released the Winter Indoor schedule this past week and with it came an all-time record for number of teams registered for an indoor session at 213 teams from across the region (876 games in this session).
There are many new teams joining us for the first time and we hope their experience encourages them
to play at Lake Country in future leagues. Please note that we will be playing league soccer seven days a
week this session to accommodate all teams. Please be patient as we try and meet all the requests on a
fair and equitable basis.

     In closing I would like to remind everyone; players, parents, fans, coaches and officials…appropriate
conduct is critically important to our sport. We have and will continue to hold all stakeholders
accountable for their conduct on and off the field while on Lake Country property. Everyone has done
an outstanding job in this area and we really want to emphasize this as we embark on a season with
more teams than ever before. This is our opportunity to further the sport in the region and show all
who desire to be a part of soccer in Southwest Missouri and the state that Lake Country is a program
that deserves consideration and provides an experience among the best in the region for recreational
and competitive youth soccer.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the dome over the next few months…Good Luck to all the
Teams, Players and Fans!

Be Well,

Bill D. Garoutte; President,

Lake Country Soccer Board of Directors