New travel soccer team
By Sande Snead CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Coach Todd Crawford (above from left) huddles with players Spencer Roch, Coby Keck, Drew Nicholson, Angel Martin and Nick Ruxton during a soccer practice. Angel Martin (left) practices kicking the soccer ball. (Photos by Ash Daniel)

When Todd Crawford's family was stationed at Fort Lee in 1982, his mother, Coach Betty Crawford, started the travel soccer program there. Todd played for a successful travel team, the Fort Lee Travelers, as a child. However, after the Crawfords moved, the program dissolved. Now, Coach Todd Crawford is reviving it.

Crawford along with Heather White, administrator for the team, unveiled the Virginia Arsenal Soccer Club on Nov. 1. Tryouts for boys and girls teams in the U10-U18 age groups for the spring season are Dec. 7-9. The teams will compete in the Virginia Soccer League in high-level tournaments in Virginia and all over the country.

"I saw that there was a need for a travel club to represent the elite players at Fort Lee and up towards Thomas Dale in Chester," said Crawford, a former military officer and NCAA Division I coach. "There were limited venues in the Fort Lee, Tri-Cities and southeastern Chesterfield County areas for these players to receive the technical training and guidance needed to prepare for the competitive arena of college athletics."

After his military service as a captain in the United States Air Force, Crawford had a successful coaching career leading the soccer programs at highly regarded Division I schools such as Virginia Military Institute, Longwood University and the University of Richmond. As Virginia Arsenal's director of soccer, he brings more than 25 years of competitive playing including military international matches. Through his experience as a Division I NCAA soccer coach, he will oversee a high level of training to Virginia Arsenal players. He attended top schools in the nation, as well as internationally, to achieve impressive certifications in coaching, player development, goalkeeper training and other aspects of the game.

"I'm finishing up a Chesterfield United tournament. Then, we are kicking off this new club so that military families and dedicated players from the Enon-Chester area who aspire to play soccer at the collegiate level have somewhere to play," Crawford said.

U-14 and below league play will involve practice twice a week with games on weekends, plus tournaments as the teams qualify to participate.

U-15 and up teams will involve tournaments only with practice a few times before the tournaments. Tournaments will take players all over the commonwealth, to surrounding states and beyond.

"Most players at this level have high school ball going on at the same time," White said. "They just need to practice together a few times before a tournament, so regular practice is not needed."

Crawford says practice will most likely be held in the Chester-Enon area since it's a central location for players coming from Fort Lee or from the Midlothian area. The teams will probably play at Point of Rocks, Harrowgate and/or Goynes Park, but the location will depend on where the players are from. If most players on a team are from Fort Lee, practice will be closer to the base.

Spring 2008 travel fees will be about $300 including league fees, coaches' salaries and tournaments. Virginia Arsenal is also offering a variety of winter indoor training camps at Chester Middle School. For more information, visit www.virginiaarsenal.com or call 303-9183.