Upward Sports Fans,

Upward Sports Ministry is excited to announce registration is open for their 2008 Flag Football and Cheerleading league sponsored by FBC Smyrna.

They are pleased to offer another year of building character, learning sports, having fun, and growing closer to God (not only for our children, but for our parents, coaches, and community).

By registering early (during July), you help them plan more efficiently for a winning season. You are encouraged to register online at www.smyrnafirst.org/upward/upward.htm. Additional information is available at the Upward Sports website along with a downloadable registration form if you don’t want to register online.

Deadline for registration is August 9, 2008.

Click here to learn more about all Smyrna Vinings sports programs.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Sports Program, Upward Flag Football, Upward Cheerleading

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Smyrna Soccer Club announces registration dates for the Fall 2008 season.

Open registration for Fall 2008 will be held at the Smyrna Community Center

Registration forms (click here) w/payment can be mailed to and must be postmarked by Monday, July 14, 2008:

Click here to learn more about all of the Smyrna Vinings Sports Programs.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Sports Programs, Vinings Sports Programs, Smyrna Soccer Club

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The Smyrna Soccer Club, a member of the Georgia State Soccer Association, will be holding tryouts for the Academy and Select soccer teams.

Scott Snyder has recently been named Director of Coaches for Smyrna Soccer, responsible for both the Select/Academy and the Recreation divisions. This newly created position brings one of the top soccer coaches to the Smyrna Academy and Select programs and the community is excited about the future of the program.

If you have an aspiring soccer player, be sure to attend tryouts this week. Tryouts will be held at Campbell Middle School (directions) at the corner of Atlanta Road and Campbell Road. The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, May 27, 28 and 29, 2008

U-10 Co-ed and Girls 6:00-7:30 pm

U-11 Co-ed and Girls 6:00-7:30 pm

U-12 Co-ed and Girls 7:30-9:00 pm

U-13 Co-ed 7:30-9:00 pm

Don’t forget to bring your soccer cleats, shin guards, soccer ball and water. If you have any questions, be sure to contact Scott Snyder at ScottSnyder@Westminster.net.

Information about Scott Snyder

Scott brings over 20+ years of coaching experience to the club. He has coached at the high school level for 15 years, winning 5 state championships and having an overall record of 191-79-39. He has been recognized as the state coach of the year 6 times and was named the Southeast Regional coach of the year and a finalist for National Coach of the Year in 2006. Scott is currently head coach at The Westminster Schools.

Scott started out working in Tennessee (Oak Ridge Soccer Club, Premier Soccer Academy; amongst others). He also worked with Tennessee’s Olympic Development Team (ODP) for two years as a head coach while in Tennessee.

He moved to Georgia in 1999 and immediately began working with AFC Lightning, where he coached for 3 years and won promotion to Classic 1 with his team there. He then worked for Metro North/Silverbacks/NASA for the next 4 years, while training teams from Marietta and Smyrna.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Soccer Club, Smyrna Academy Soccer, Smyrna Select Soccer, Georgia State Soccer Assocation

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You may have noticed the proliferation of these signs recently. Part of the ongoing trails projects in Cobb County, an extension has been added to the Silver Comet Trail.

The Cumberland Connector is an extension of The Silver Comet Trail, starting from the Silver Comet Connector at South Cobb Drive, heading east along Cumberland Parkway, then north on Atlanta Road. There is a trailhead at the new Oakdale Park that was recently built on Atlanta Road with parking and bathroom facilities.

From there the trail continues north on Atlanta Road, cuts across Spring Hill Road to Paces Ferry Road, crosses over Paces Ferry Road at Spring Hill Parkway and the trail continues on until Mount Wilkinson Parkway, where the trail traverses I-285 on its own trail bridge, then heads along Cumberland Parkway to Cumberland Boulevard and continues on Cumberland Boulevard until stopping just shy of Cobb Parkway.

In total the Cumberland Connector is a little over five miles. But best of all, using the Cumberland Connector you will now be able to ride your bike to the Cumberland Mall. If anyone goes shopping at Costco on their bike, let me know because I would love to get a picture of someone coming back from a Costco shopping trip on their bike.

Technorati Tags: Silver Comet Trail, Cumberland Connector, Smyrna, Georgia, Smyrna Vinings Trails

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Well, now that the we know the swimming pools will be open this summer, where will you plan to splash in the sun and keep cool.

As mentioned earlier today, you can always head to the Tolleson Park swimming pool off of King Springs Road to take a break from the summer heat and the City of Smyrna also runs the Senior Aquatic Center off of Church Street.

A couple other options for you to consider are:

Cochise Riverview Club

The Cochise Riverview Club is is a private swim, tennis and meeting facility for its members who are residents of the Vinings Community.

Members in the Cochise Riverview Club must live within the boundaries of the designated area as defined in the By Laws of the Club. Residents must live in single family dwellings with a minimum lot size of one half acre. Residents of the Cochise Subdivision have priority on a waiting list, if any.

West Smyrna Swim & Tennis Club

The West Smyrna Swim & Tennis Club is also a private club, but not quite so stringent on membership requirements. West Smyrna Swim & Tennis Club is located in Smyrna off of North Cooper Lake Road at 3816 W Cooper Lake Drive.

Tomorrow, we’ll cover those neighborhoods that offer pools as part of the homeowner amenities. As hot and humid as it gets here in the South, this has always been a highly sought after neighborhood amenity.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Vinings Swim Clubs, Cochise Club, West Smyrna Swim and Tennis Club

The kids are no doubt flipping in excitement over word that pools will indeed be open this summer.

Recently, the Smyrna City Council adopted the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s new guidelines regarding drought restrictions, which will become effective April 1. The city has been under a Level 4 Drought with all outdoor watering prohibited.

Pools in Smyrna will be open this summer. The exemption applies to all personal and neighborhood pools as well as Smyrna’s two pools, the outdoor pool at Tolleson Park and an indoor one at the Senior Aquatic center on Church Street.

Additionally, hand watering of existing landscape can be done between midnight and 10 a.m. for 25 minutes on an odd-even schedule. Odd-numbered addresses can water Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Even-numbered addresses may water Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. No watering is allowed on Friday. Hand watering, of course, means not sprinkler systems are permitted.

City of Smyrna residents must complete an Outdoor Water Use Registration Program to water professionally installed new landscape. Completion of the program would allow them to water the new landscape for a longer period of time. New, professionally installed landscape can be watered up to three days per week, between midnight and 10 a.m. with no time limit for up to 10 weeks.

The Outdoor Water Use program will be available online beginning March 15 at www.urbanagcouncil.com.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners approved similar guideline on February 26th, which would impact those residents in Smyrna Vinings not in the city of Smyrna. Cobb County’s guidelines do vary slightly including hand watering only being done from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. And the county requires residents to apply for a County Landscape Exemption form before watering newly installed landscape.

Be sure to check out Cobb County’s watering guidelines and the Smyrna watering guidelines to learn more.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Swimming Pools, Vinings Swimming Pools, Cobb County Swimming Pools, Watering Restrictions

Smyrna Vinings Sports Registration Time

It’s hard to believe sometimes how early registrations start for Spring sports programs in Smyrna Vinings. It may be cold outside, but it’s time to register your children sports stars for the upcoming Spring season. Check out the Smyrna Vinings Recreational Sports page for more information on area leagues, but registration time is upon us.

Here are just some of the registration upcoming registration dates:

Smyrna Basketball Club - register now, tryouts 1/26 and 2/3

Smyrna Toddler Soccer - league starts 1/26, so register immediately

Smyrna Soccer Club - Last Minute Walk-in Registration 1/24

Smyrna Little League Baseball - 1/19 - 3/1

Smyrna Girls Softball (Rhyne Park) - 1/19, 1/26 and 2/2

Smyrna Swim Team - 2/18 - 4/27

Click here to access more information on these and other Smyrna Vinings sports programs.

A Trail of Wheels

DATE: Saturday, November 17th

TIME: 12:30 -1:00

LOCATION: Vinings Academy on S. Cobb Drive

MORE: No Cost but Space is limited!!

Prior to the start of Vinings Academy’s 1st Annual Chess Tournament, A Trail of Wheels will be holding a bike safety class!

Giving a bike for Christmas?? Get tips and great safety advice plus a discount on any purchase from their shop in the Publix Shopping center!

The City of Smyrna recently held two public information meetings to gather more input on the master plan for the future North Cooper Lake Park. Steve Ciaccio with the City of Smyrna provided an overview of the current status of the park and the upcoming process.

The North Cooper Lake Park is a 52 acre property located near the end of North Cooper Lake Road and fairly close to the Silver Comet Trail access point. At 52 acres, this park is by far the largest park in Smyrna. However, due to the terrain, there are about 17 acres which would be considered developable. Beyond that, trails would appear to be the best use for the remainder of the property.

The two meetings allowed the citizens of Smyrna to ask questions and make suggestions regarding the property. It was a general consensus that a passive park made more sense given the limited access to the property. Ideas include a large open field, picnic areas, biking and walking trails.

After these two meetings, the master plan will be developed and then presented to the mayor and the city council in which the master plan will be adopted. The funding for the park comes from the bond financing from 2005. The monies allocated to the North Cooper Lake Park will only cover Phase I, which is anticipated as improvements to the access road and the creation of a large grassy field. Subsequent improvements would need to be funded through other means, perhaps a future bond deal.

Obviously, one of the neat aspects of the park’s future is the close proximity to the Silver Comet Trail and the consideration of putting bike trails on the park property.

On Saturday the 20th, new park features at Lake Court Park will be dedicated at 10:30 a.m. This park is at 3500 Lake Drive, Smyrna, 30082. The Lake Court Park new features are funded with City of Smyrna parks and recreation bond referendum monies.

New features include the City’s 2nd fenced, off-leash dog area, trails, volleyball courts, bocce courts, a restroom facility and expanded parking.