This is a good thing for US Soccer. Because I think the National team’s experience is finally filtering down to MLS. That Columbus stadium was as packed as Anfield on Derby Day. But the US side, in both games, seem to play with a lot more confidence than in past years. The skill level is still pretty wide between a mid-table team like Fulham and most US sides.
And it is clear people are turning out for these matches in bigger numbers than before.
Thrown in by: Soccer Dad on July 30th 2005, 9:51 am | Email
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Filed under: Parents
I came across this the old fashioned way. My kid’s grandparents took them (and my wife) up to Washington DC for week of seeing the sights and after the trip they sent this clipping (from a PRINT magazine - oh my!). Jeanne Marie Laskas lamented in a recent Washington Post Magazine column how she may go to all her daughter’s games, but she is not a soccer mom. First she notes the culture of the chair, which is so true:
It’s so hot the grass is brittle, little prickers stabbing my skin and making me itch. Sitting here on the ground like this, I am understanding so much.
I am understanding this culture of chairs. All the soccer moms have lawn chairs, and so do the soccer dads. But not just any old fold-up things. These chairs start out as long cylinders encased in canvas bags. Slip off the case and the chair falls out, all leggy and limp, but then suddenly, miraculously, it finds its own joints and opens into a sling seat. Some of the chairs have cup holders cradling sparkling spring water. I see one with an ottoman attachment, and another with a little umbrella that pops up to provide shade.
I have to admit, I’m amazed at the complexity of some of these chairs - the extended footrests (yes, I have one), the umbrellas, the team logos - all for just $14.99 at Wally World! But is it the mark of a soccer mom?
Thrown in by: Soccer Dad on July 24th 2005, 12:26 pm | Email
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Filed under: Ramblings
This post is a tad late, but hey, not every blog post has to be in realtime! Over at The News Blog, Steve Gilliard comments at length about an article in the Guardian: Racial divide driving a wedge into soccer’s grassroots. Both pieces raise some interesting points, but I agree with Steve that the Guardian piece lacks some context. I’ll try to provide some more from the point of view of a town where soccer is exploding. So why is it that many youth leagues are mostly white outside of the cities (and many inner city soccer leagues struggle)?
We held our annual coaches meeting this week and had a lot on the agenda! In addition to the various rule tweaks we always discuss, the main topics of discussion were forming a non profit corporation for the association and pursuing membership in the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association. Moving towards affiliation meant we had to reduce our field sizes and numbers of players in a match. Those are fairly big changes. But the benefits of affiliation also weighed heavy on our minds. In the end it was unanimous - we’re going to incorporate and hopefully apply for affiliation at this winter’s NCYSA board meeting. We also debated a number of minor things that I’ll talk about after the flip…
As our league has grown, we really wanted to be able to provide our kids with some soccer opportunities in the area. Last year we held a weekend mini camp for our registered players that was run by some local school coaches and officiating folks for the county. We had a great turnout and the kids had a lot of fun. But looking ahead, it was clear the parents were looking for something longer term (i.e. a week) and with more intensive instruction. So we wanted to explore what it would take to do a longer camp.
Seems like the Spring season just ended! I’ll admit I enjoyed the break in May and June, but I’m ready for things to kick off again. It just seems like it all hits at once. I’m sitting here in the administration tent of our league’s first week long soccer camp (more on that later), our registration period for Fall just ended, and the coaches just approved some significant changes for our league as part of pursuing affiliation with the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association. We also have our first challenge teams which will start practice this week. Whew!
While we still have the usual stragglers coming in after the deadline, we had a good return rate. 2 of our 3 older divisions saw a small growth (about 10 players each) and one was down about 15, though this was due to demographics mostly - we had a wave of kids age out and the incoming group wasn’t as big. Next year there is a much larger wave moving up. Our little ones (U6) did very well - they went down by 40 kids, but thats from the Spring where we have a special age in date for 4 year olds (March 1st vs August 1st)
Once the stragglers come in and we flush out our registrations, I expect we’ll have just about 500 players across our 4 divisions, which for us is very good. We’re not seeing the explosive growth of the past two years since most folks know we exist now, but there are a number of large subdivisions opening up this year, so the Spring may result in lots of new players.
So we’re off! This will be an interesting season for us due to the upcoming changes related to affiliation - I’ll keep you all posted.
We’re coming up on the deadline for registrations for the Fall 2005 season. Our league has 3 ways to register. You can register online, over the phone (we have a nifty voice response system that asks a series of questions to get all the information needed), or via paper form available at the soccer fields. We email reminders, put up banners in town, and put posters up in area businesses. And yet, people still forget to register, including many who have played in our league before.
I guess its human nature. Over the past 2 months, we’ve see registrations trickle in at a rate of 4-8 a day. But today, the last day of registration, no joke - we’ve had at least 30. I guess people really like to wait till the last minute (this coming from the worlds foremost procrastinator!) And if previous seasons are any indication, we’ll have dozens of parents frantically calling us this week to try and get their kids in late.
Do folks in other leagues out there have this same problem? I know some leagues don’t require everyone to register, but we found it so much easier that way so we had an idea of who was coming back and who wasn’t. If you do face this same problem, what do you do to try to get folks to get their registrations in? Is the swinging of a bat involved?
Well, now that registration is winding down, I’m sure I’ll be posting more often as we ramp up the Fall 2005 season. Tomorrow night is our annual coaches meeting and we’re discussing all sorts of stuff - incorporation, state association affiliation, new rules, etc. Should be exciting!
Thrown in by: Soccer Dad on July 04th 2005, 6:47 pm | Email
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Filed under: Ramblings
I’ve had a number of people mention this short film to me that played on IFC in June during their Short Film Collection program. Here’s a little blurb about it:
Soccer! Sugar! Rebellion! Oh my! "Cleats" is an epic comedic romp on the greatest battlefield of them all - a suburban soccer field! Everybody is here; the coach who just wants to win, the rival team with slick moves ("web of death!"), the team’s only hope with a severe case of ADD, and the loner who just wants to be accepted. You’ll fall in love with the cast of characters, and root for the Cleats of Imminent Doom all the way through to the very last goal. The film is written and directed by Craig Hammil.
And have you guys ever watched the Independent Film (IFC) channel? We saw a short film called The Cleats of Imminent Doom, about two girls soccer teams in a championship game. *dies* ItwasthecutestfuckingthingI’veeverseen.
But beyond that there is little about it on the net. Most of the people who have asked if I’ve seen it have been local friends in person who were rolling on the floor laughing while watching it. There isn’t a whole lot about it on the web. Found the casting call for it though - the things you find online…
So has anyone seen this? Its not anywhere on IFC’s website or in their July schedule of short films. Too bad.
