Mandatory Athletic Meeting

The mandatory Athletic Meeting will be Wednesday August 3 at 6 pm in the High School Auditorium. Athlete's parents need to attend this meeting. Additional information is available on the school's new athletic website (goNWpanthers.com).

2016 Westview Soccer Shootout Recap

This past Saturday, the Panthers traveled to Amish Country to play in the Westview tournament. It was amazing to see all these Amish in their buggies pulled by 1HP going down the road. The soccer complex just east of the Blue Gate had been mowed but not very short. The temperatures are "only" in the eighties for the morning game but half the team was already hot before stepping on the pitch due to the fact that once of the mini buses did not have any of the two AC units working at all. The morning game against Huntington North was won by a Matt Thornton goal, 1-0. The afternoon game was a little different story. It was very steamy and our opponent (Argos) was a little stronger then the one we faced earlier in the day. Argos beat us fairly easy, 5-1, the lone goal coming from the elder Auky (nice slip to the right). There is a lot of work to be done to get ready for Game #1 against Tippecanoe Valley High School on August 18 (home game).

Alumni Game 2016

The Alumni Game will be played before the Red-Black scrimmage scheduled for Thursday August 11. The venue is the game field behind the Nappanee Elementary School and the time will be announced soon. Follow Coach Duerksen on twitter to get the latest on the alumni game and Red/Black game.

2016-2017 SEASON ABOUT TO START

The new season starts this coming Monday with a full week of two-a-days. The first practice will start Monday August 1 at 9 am and will go until about 11 am. We will start at the track. Players will need to bring their running shoes and soccer cleats. Make sure that the Physicals have been completely filled out and signed and turned in to the Athletic Office before the start of the first practice. Monday's second practice will be from 1-3 pm. All week, practices are from 9-11 am and 1-3 pm and all morning practices will start at the track. The school has developed a new website for NorthWood athletics only. You can find it at goNWpanthers.com and the schedules for both Varsity and JV have already been posted. This week is a moratorium week where the coaches can not have contact with the players. If players organize a pick up game or a run, they can do that but players and coaches won't be together until Monday August 1. All four (4) NorthWood coaches will return for this season. Head Coach Brad Duerksen and Asst. Coach Dijkstra will coach the Varsity and start their 20th season at NorthWood. Seth Douwsma will be back for another season at the helm of the Junior Varsity while Kyle Dijkstra will be here for the first two weeks of practice (before he returns to Bloomington to finish his last semester at IU) to work with the keepers. Once out of college, Kyle would like to move back to this area and is hoping to spend even more time with the Panthers next season. We are expecting a decent number of players to come out Monday and at this point the weather forecast for at least the first day seems to be very good.