Over at Throughball, Josh wonders why Mark Cuban isn’t buying an MLS club when he has the billions to waste on a football team in a new league that hopes to compete with the NFL. Good luck with that!

Anyway, after commenting on how fun it would be watching Mark Cuban react to the wonderful world of soccer as we know it, he scores comedy gold:

Moreover, don’t you think the MLS be a lot more fun with Cuban around? Can you imagine his postgame outbursts after one of his players was sent off? What would he say about international soccer, FIFA, or Sepp Blatter?

Mark Cuban as an MLS owner would be just like Eric Wynalda, only slightly less drunk and with a lot more money.

I’m so glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read that. My keyboard and screen would have never been the same.

Youth soccer is inherently a social sport for the parents. Standing on the sidelines for matches and practices seems to be an ideal situation for socializing. So it isn’t uncommon to have soccer teams doing activities off the field together. Now granted, you want to broaden your child’s social horizons, so limiting their socializing to their soccer team isn’t a great idea, but who says that all their time with their soccer team has to be on the field. Some of my best memories as a soccer parent are often from the socializing that goes on between the matches, at end of season parties, etc. So I read with interest a recent thread over at the NC Soccer Forum about ideas off field activities:

Just curious if anyone does any "off field" activities to help build "team bonding" between players…(ex. trips to the mall, camping, swim parties. etc.).

And if so, which activities seem to be more feasible, or works better for you…

Thanks
DH

There were some interesting responses:

• An equipment Passback drive
• 5K runs
• Tournaments (the time away from the fields)
• Amusement Parks
• Pre-season team meetings at Hooters (U14 boys )
• Team dance/ball
• Dinner out (Japanese steakhouse, etc)
• Indoor rock wall climbing
• The beach
• Pool outings
• Pumpkin carving at Halloween

I’m sure other teams out there have done neat off the field activities. Care to share some ideas?

Over at The DCenters, D has a post up about how the success of the Wii gaming console and it’s ‘WiiMote’ could hurt the popularity of soccer in the US:

Video games are important to the context of modern soccer, and to sports in America. Many a US based fan played the FIFA or Winning Eleven series and got a taste of the broader world of soccer. Hell, I wouldn’t know for the first thing about Huddersfield if it weren’t for FIFA ‘02. Video games are intrinsic to US youth culture, and to many of us adults.

The Wii vs. PS3 battle that played out last year demonstrated that the was a huge desire for the experience of full immersion. When confronted with a choice between a better looking game or one that allowed for a participatory user experience, the market went for the new experience. Games that had felt like third person games suddenly felt more first person. Boxing and tennis do not have a great deal of traction in this country, but they in the forefront of the Wii Sports package with Baseball and Golf. The Madden football series now supports Wii control, and certainly once can imagine that pretty much every game executive wants to see Wii type play in their games.

The problem is that this interface works very well for games that deal with the hands, but not the feet or the head. And that’s where soccer faces a problem. It’s a game where the hands and arms are verboten, thus removing most of the technology that the Wii exploits.

This is an interesting argument, which on the surface seems to be sound. However, I don’t believe we have much to fear from the popularity of the Wii.

» Read the rest of this post…

I’ll be heading out to the Wrangler/McDonald’s tournament this weekend along with my U10 Recreational team. They had so much fun at the Rec State Cup last fall, we wanted to give them another opportunity to face some new opponents. The State Cup champs will be there too, so we could have a very fun rematch. If you happen to be out at the Bryan Park Annex Saturday afternoon around 3:30 or 6:30, you’ll find Soccer Dad wearing his ‘coaching hat’ on Field 15 A or B trying to contain himself.

Good Luck Storm! Go Red and Black!

I’ll admit that I’ve only seen a flip-throw done once or twice and even then it was on TV. So I had some fun watching YouTube videos suggested by the folks over at the NC Soccer Forum. This video shows one heck of a long throw with what appears to be little effort. Here’s another in a match situation that resulted in a score.

My favorite is this one by far. You may think all you have to worry about is the ref when you crowd the throw in. Um, no. This player found that out the hard way:

Ow! Here are a bunch of other flip throw videos.

UPDATE: Wow! Here’s a ten year old girl doing a decent flip throw in a U11G match in California.

While it is always tough when a season ends, this season was different for our travel teams. Our league joined the NCYSA last year and formed our first travel teams in the Fall. My son was invited to play with one of our U10 Boys Challenge teams - one of 7 teams that were ‘the first’ travel teams for our league. The U10s were also special because they were made up of many kids who started playing at age 4 or 5 when our league was first created in 2002. Needless to say, it’s been an educational season for the players, coaches, and parents. Here are the U10 MYSA Strikers after their last State Cup match. My eldest is 2nd from the left up front - that’s dirt smeared all over his face. He met the ground pretty hard on a couple of occasions.

I just wanted to say how proud I am of this team. Made up of 10 boys (one player was out of the country when this was taken) and a girl, including three true U9 players, this team entered the fray ready to play.

» Read the rest of this post…

There are thousands of soccer goal compilation videos out there, but most only highlight a dozen or so each. Why stop there when you could make a compilation of sweet goals into a short movie length feature? Here you have it. Over one hour of some of the best goals in history (at least according to the video’s creator). Enjoy and grab some popcorn!

Can you sit through the whole thing? At least it’s got music to go along with it!

I haven’t written anything about Bab Bradley being named the ‘real deal’ coach of the USMNT yet because there wasn’t a whole lot to say. I’m not sure having him dangle for a few friendlies was accomplishing much. He was a good coach before he got hired and I don’t think anyone would say he performed some type of unexpected magic in the friendlies. It was clear US Soccer was searching in vain for a higher profile candidate, but in the end, they settled. I mean no disrespect to Coach Bradley - my point is that is how it appears, even if that’s not what they did.

I knew I wasn’t going to hop up and down and shout from the tree tops if he got hired or fired for someone else. I honestly wasn’t that hyped up over who they chose, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.

» Read the rest of this post…

This seems to be a week of bad news for youth soccer. A girls soccer coach in suburban Illinois has been charged with 14 felonies, including sexual assault, sexual abuse, and obstruction of justice.

Authorities said 36-year-old Gustavo Nicosia was arrested at his workplace and was transported to the Naperville Detention Center, according to a news release. Nicosia was being held on a $500,000 bond, and was due in court Wednesday afternoon.

Naperville police said Nicosia had a sexual relationship with one of his players, who was just 16 years old. Authorities said she came forward after telling her youth minister about the alleged relationship. Police said they were also investigating allegations that have been made by an 18-year-old female. Police said one of the incidents took place at the Just For Kicks soccer facility in Plainfield. Authorities also said Nicosia worked at Galaxy Soccer Club and the Naperville Lightning Soccer Club.

He is currently out on bond and is forbidden from coaching female players.

» Read the rest of this post…

I found this over at the NC Soccer Forums, apparently an email from the NCYSA to the coaches who have teams going to the State Cup Final Four in Greensboro. I agree with the poster - I’ll have some of what they’re smoking:

Important Notes Regarding the Final Four. Please review with your players, parents and coaches.

No Pets Allowed at Bryan Park. Do not be astounded and flabbergasted when you are asked to remove your pet from the facility. You can lock them in the hot car, in which HARD COPY will be interviewing you for pet-abuse; or you can sell it to an unscrupulous black-market individual who will do "who knows what" with Fido. Bottom line, leave the pets at home.

There is NO alcohol allowed at any NCYSA Sanctioned event. If alcohol is detected, then you will be escorted from the facility and there will be more problems than Elliot Ness chasing Jim Beam at a wine-tasting convention.

» Read the rest of this post…

I’m about a month late posting about this, mostly because it was passed right as our season was winding down and the end of season tournaments and such were ramping up. I’m still playing catchup.

I forgot my folio, so my notes were sparse and the official minutes aren’t out yet. There were somewhere around 40 clubs represented in person and via proxy, including most of the larger clubs in the state. After some discussion about the inaccuracy of the January AGM minutes, which made it seem like the program had already passed, we discussed the latest version of the proposal.

A few minor things caught my eye, including the insertion of a clause prohibiting Academy players from serving as ‘guest’ players in tournaments (i.e. Challenge or Classic). I don’t recall that being discussed in the committee meeting, but I may have missed it. I personally don’t see why you would keep them from playing in a tournament as a guest here or there. A little competition won’t warp them for life!

As expected, the supporters of the academy had gotten the numbers they needed. Very few clubs opposed it, but it was clear many smaller clubs had not been able to attend the meeting or send in a proxy. Most of the attendees were vocal advocates of the program. The debate was spirited, but few if any minds were changed.

» Read the rest of this post…

I stumbled across this post over at the NC Soccer Forums and it took me by surprise.

During the lightning/rain delay, a couple of young adult spectators had a ‘tailgate’ party in which beer was consumed in what appeared to be pretty large quantities.

First, in a county park, where there is a no alcohol policy; second, these were people associated with one of the better teams in the U17 age group. The outcome was a couple of Cabarrus County citations for alcohol in the park, after & between the matches - a breath-a-lizer test on the individuals, and a very public display of what not to do in front of your children.

The NOT cool factor in posting this is the fact that many times on here, forumites discuss and giggle over their consumption interests. I have read on several occasions (here on this forum) about the drinking in parking lots of regular season matches and at tournaments.

Now, I love to tailgate and will admit that I’ve tailgated with alcohol at collegiate football games, etc. I’ll even admit that I’ve consumed alcohol in state parks where it’s prohibited. Granted, I understand why it’s banned in many parks - because too many people don’t know when to say when.

But at a kids soccer match? Am I just being naive here? I consume my fair share of beer, but it would never even cross my mind to drink it at a youth soccer tournament. Especially knowing the issues we can have with sober soccer parents sometimes

I consume alcohol in front of my kids and they know why I can and they can’t and the impacts of irresponsible drinking. In the evenings after all the matches when we travel to tournaments, you’ll usually find most of our team parents in the hallway or a designated ‘adult’ room drinking beer and socializing while the kids roam about the other hotel rooms in our block playing Playstation, watching movies, having dribbling contests, you name it. The key ‘role model’ issue being responsible consumption and no driving.

But drinking during a youth soccer tournament just seems wrong to me. Tailgate, have a good time, grill some good food, but leave the beer at the hotel!

The next time a baseball fan ribs you about soccer and diving, show them this. I can’t believe he and his coach threw such a fit when the ump didn’t buy it. Kudos to the ump for throwing the whiner out of the game, even if it most likely was due to obscenities shouted vs the actual fake injury. I’ve said it before - players in all sports dive. It’s just more prevalent in soccer.

When they have this outside the breakfast bar area:

Blogging live from Jacksonville. Here’s hoping our Sunday match goes a weeeee bit better than our Saturday matches They were educational!

I’ve had this in my draft queue forever - I’m so slack. LDSM posted this months ago and I’ve been meaning to share it because it’s a great take on soccer from a player’s viewpoint. Not sure if the girls at New Generation Soccer wrote this or not (can’t find it in Google beyond a couple of MySpace pages). It’s excellent all the same:

People don’t play soccer because it’s fun… Ask any soccer player, most of them hate it, but we couldn’t imagine our life without it… It’s part of us, the Hate/Love relationship… It’s what we live for… We live for the practices, parties, cheers, long rides, tournaments, bitches, the tight ass cleats, Gatorade, & coaches you hate but appreciate… We live for the way it feels when you beat your rival by a goal in the 90th minute, & you know those 2 extra sprints you ran in practice were worth it… We live for the way we become a family with our team, we live for the countless songs we sing in our head when we run all those miles… We live for the playoffs, championships, we live for the homies we make, the practices, memories, the pain, the nice cherries we get when we make a slide tackle, it’s who we are… We’re Soccer Players!!!

Nuff said.

Update: I meant to touch on this when I first saw this. A lot of people talk about how parents force their kids into sports and there is this general assumption that all soccer parents are freaks. Well, we are - to a point. But what many people fail to understand is that these kids who play on travel teams and practice so hard are often doing it because they love to do it. Are there kids only playing to please Mom and Dad? Sure. But I think they are more the exception than the rule. What reminded me of this was a statement made by the coach of Hayden Barnes, the boy who died when a soccer goal fell onto him:

The boy’s mother told News4 that the accident was nobody’s fault and she doesn’t blame anyone.

"When you looked in his eyes, and you look at a kid’s eyes when they really love something, and they just lit up when you talked soccer, when you played soccer, anything to do with soccer," said Jim Carden, who runs the team. "He also was a good student, but that seemed to be his passion."

For many of us, that’s why we do what we do. The countless hours in the mini-van, standing in freezing rain on the sidelines, coaching teams, etc. Because for many kids soccer is more than an activity - it’s a passion.