The use of technology in soccer for things like goal line calls, offside, and more has always been experimental, and even then has been controversial. While arguing over a referee’s call is often a soccer fan’s favorite pastime, few fans or officials support its use in the beautiful game. However, more often than not the debate is about technology’s impact on the flow of the game, not accuracy. Yet as technology is evaluated for use in soccer, we cannot overlook the fact the technology is imperfect and subject to errors.

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As you probably noticed, I’ve made a few changes here at On The Pitch. For a long time I’ve wanted to make the front page more than just ‘the blog’. So the front page is now much easier to navigate. You can easily view the latest posts, popular posts, recent comments, and my favorite posts by simply clicking a tab below the latest entry’s excerpt. The site can now be navigated via a high level menu, and as I add new features, there will be new tabs added as well.

So let me know what you think. This is just a start. At some point I’ll move the site to a fresh theme that is wider. However I want to work on some of the new features first. My goal is to make On The Pitch a complete youth soccer resource over time.

Now that the popular posts section is live, you can have an impact on what is listed there. Simply rate the posts you read by clicking the yellow stars at the end. The system will dynamically update the popular list, which can be helpful for new visitors.

What do you think? What could I have done differently? All feedback is welcome!

UPDATE: Yes, the tabs look bad in Internet Explorer (v5.5 and v6 anyway). Fixed now. They look fine in Firefox, Safari (fixing IE broke Safari slightly), Konqueror, and Opera. If you’re still using Internet Explorer, you really should consider switching to Firefox 3. It’s faster, safer, and uses MUCH less memory.

UPDATE II: Yes - I know the ‘Latest Post/Comments’ tabs on the main page are still messed up in IE. Just need to make the changes to that like I did the main menu. But gotta bolt. Will work on it tonight.

In this day and age of elite soccer programs that cost thousands of dollars for the nation’s top players to participate in, this is a welcome breath of fresh air:

Brad Friedel’s Premier Soccer Academy is the kind of program that makes a soccer parent do a double take. The kind of program that is followed up quickly with a “What’s the catch?” The kind of program that Americans have a hard time comprehending, even though clubs like his are relatively commonplace in other parts of the world.

And it has nothing to do with the state-of-the-art facility (which cost roughly $10 million and is located 30 miles outside of Cleveland) or the impressive roster of coaches Friedel, goalkeeper for the English Premier League’s Blackburn Rovers, has culled from across the globe. What comes as such a shock is the sticker price parents will pay for their children to take part in the residency program that is at the crux of PSA. The grand total for room and board at this year-round program that aims to seek out and develop the next generation of elite youth players? Absolutely nothing.

Now that’s paying it forward! Besides Bradenton, are there any other free soccer academies like this that aren’t tied to professional clubs?

H/T adhsgoalie94

Over at the NC-Soccer Forum, a soccer mom new to Select (Classic) is wondering about all the additional equipment costs. Not cleats and soccer balls, but uniforms (two - home and away), warmups, bags, plus practice gear that must be worn at every practice.

The bit about matching practice gear got me thinking and talking with some other coaches. Should travel soccer players be required to buy and wear matching outfits for practices? We all want our travel teams to look sharp during matches. When it’s cold out, warmups can be very cool, and of course every coach loves to have all the matching backpacks lined up in a row. It’s some bizarre psychological thing - don’t ask. But matching practice attire? Required?

I can’t imagine telling a player they had to go home because they didn’t wear the league certified gray T-Shirt with league emblem and matching black shorts. That seems so wrong.

On the flip side, I can see the team building aspect of having the players wear the same thing to practice. It can build a sense of team and equality, something other coaches noted as well. If you don’t enforce it, they won’t wear it. My daughter’s coach got them matching outfits last year, but didn’t require they wear them to every practice. So they didn’t always.

What do you think? Is matching practice attire worth it? Should a coach have a zero tolerance policy if someone forgets to wear theirs? Does it have that much of a mental impact on travel players?

I’m still on the fence about it. But I think I may give it a try this season to see how it works. My girls have come together as a team, but it might be interesting to see if something like this has the desired effect and brings them further. But I’m not sure I could bring myself to have a zero tolerance policy. Maybe make someone who forgets run some hills or something. But sending the player home from practice seems a bit much.

Thoughts?

Like many of you, Soccer Dad has urchins that love to go to soccer camp. We make an effort to send them to full day camps that can offer more than just on field instruction. Swimming, games, movies, dining hall, etc. are also standard fare to keep things fun. We are lucky to have so many universities nearby with solid soccer programs and the facilities to offer programs like this. But I digress. The key point is our two oldest are having a lot of fun this week at soccer camp.

As any parent of a soccer camper knows, the biggest challenge is the laundry and keeping them in clean clothes, especially if they swim each day. They need multiple changes of clothes, towels, extra shoes, socks, swim suits, and so on. You try to do laundry every night, but even then, the kids try to pick out different changes of clothes so they aren’t wearing the same thing every day.

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time. As we were emptying out the soccer bags after another day at camp, my wife pulled out a pair of soccer socks that looked, well, odd. Soccer socks are straight - no heel. Just a fabric tube. This pair had a heel and angled at the bottom. Whoops! One of them had grabbed and worn a pair of my black dress socks by mistake! I wonder if they ever realized it. Soccer Mom and I thought it was hysterical, but didn’t have the heart to point out this little fashion faux pas. So I blogged about it instead!

My U11 Girls team had one last hurrah at the NC State Games last weekend, and you just knew there would be a few Tales From The Lunachick Fringe!

The NC State Games are a huge annual amatuer sporting event styled after the Olympics, including opening ceremonies. The youth soccer tournament is only one of dozens of events, but attracts teams from across the state. So we were excited to be going as our last event together as a U11 team. The girls did well, reaching the bronze medal match, but that’s not what this post is about! It’s about the fun that ensues when the Lunachicks play soccer!

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Baseball Mom has a great list “You Know You’re A Coach’s Wife When…” from the perspective of a baseball mom. A number of them could just as easily be for soccer wives!

8. People are paying you for trophies, tournaments, and parties.

9. You have a category in your email address book for team people, so you can send out practice reminders and game changes.

10. You know the website to look up tournaments in your area.

11. Your crock pot gets a workout during baseball season.

I know I really shouldn’t make an attempt at this since I’m, well, the coach and not the coach’s wife, but what’s life if you don’t live a little dangerously?

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When I wrote about MRSA last year, the one thing that struck me was the massive overreaction to it in some places. Shutting entire schools down to sanitize every surface was a massive waste of money for little benefit according to scientists. These districts had succumbed to hysteria, stoked by the media, and lost sight of ‘acceptable risk’. Our teams take a cooler filled with ice water and towels to cool the players off with during hot events. Yet the risk of an MRSA outbreak is extremely small compared to the risk of a player suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke. If someone develops a safe additive for water to keep MRSA at bay, I’d be happy to use it. But until then, we as coaches keep a sharp eye out for infections and rest easier knowing our players have a way to keep cool. It’s a matter of acceptable risk and balancing the impacts of prevention vs the risk you mitigate.

A recent discussion thread at the NC Soccer Forum also touched on acceptable risk, but with a much more controversial subject: DUI. Though it veered off topic a bit, many posters were struggling to decide if a single DUI in a coach’s lifetime should preclude them from ever coaching again, or if it was an acceptable risk to allow them to coach (vs. someone who had multiple DUIs). Was your child more at risk riding with a coach who got a DUI five years ago, or with a coach who talks on their cellphone while driving all the time?

Think about it. Youth soccer has one of the highest per capita injury rates in youth sports, second only to football. We also put our kids (and us) at significant risk getting into the car and driving to practices, away matches, tournaments, and more. Yet the media highlights something like MRSA, which is extremely rare, and people lose any sense of acceptable risk. This isn’t trying to diminish the pain and suffering of those few families that have lost someone to MRSA. But it’s to easy to focus on the extreme and lose sight of the overall realities. In this case - putting your family in a car is one of the most dangerous everyday things you can do.

My point in all this was to highlight a recent article by John Stossel about the media’s tendency to overhype things that pose very little risk to the population at large. The jelly bean example is excellent.

So the next time you read about some scary thing that has a horrible ending, take a deep breath and investigate how likely this is to happen. Is it worth the hysteria or extreme measures to try and prevent it, or does it pose an acceptable risk? If someone tries to enact draconian rules in your league to mitigate an extremely rare scenario, will anyone step up to point out the problems with that? Thinking rationally when it comes to their child’s safety is one of the hardest things for a parent to do.

H/T Wreave

The 2008 USYSA Southern Regionals are underway here in North Carolina, with teams form across the southeast looking to advance to the USYSA National Championships. Here’s a look at the rather muddy and wet start to the event.

I’m only an hour or so away from the action, but don’t believe I’ll be able to get over to see any of it due to other commitments. Anyway, the local newspaper in Raleigh (News & Observer) has been publishing a number of articles related to youth soccer leading up to and during the event that I found enjoyable reads, so I figured I’d share them:

• Soccer spotlight on region highlights the economic impacts of so many visitors attending a youth sporting event.
• Soccer consumes families’ lives gives a high level look at the travel and commitment involved for kids playing on regional teams. The end of the article highlighted what many parents with kids on travel teams know - you spend a LOT of time with your kids, not only traveling to remote matches, but also before and after the matches. You wouldn’t think so - but it’s true.
• Regional tournament draws recruiters talks about some of the stress players endure knowing many collegiate recruiters attend events like this. A notable quote talks about how many recruiters don’t bother trying to see kids in high school since it’s so much easier to see the players at large tournaments like this. Something to consider if you play in high school but not for your local club.
• Finally both the N&O and WRAL, a local TV station, have photo galleries up.

The N&O doesn’t use any type of tagging system, so it’s hard to pull up just the articles related to the regionals, but you can check their main Sports Page daily. I highlight these to give a local flair to the regionals. Official coverage of all the regional tournaments can be found at the USYSA Championships site.

H/T Incite

Sorry for the recent silence, especially during the offseason when I can usually write the most. A lot has been going on with me, our league, and other stuff this Spring, which I hope to fill you all in on soon.

One of my favorite quirky comics is Rhymes With Orange, and this recent strip about ‘Youth Soccer From Above’ is all too funny (and true)

CNN picks up on something we were talking about a few months ago - how will high gas prices affect youth soccer? They have a video up that talks about the impact of high gas prices on youth sports, with the reporter following a girls soccer team to the Georgia State Cup. The interviews with various soccer parents made it clear that prices were having an impact, with parents talking about missing matches and carpooling more.

I definitely think leagues will need to be proactive in putting in place tools or procedures to help families carpool. Procedures will be especially important in terms of the safety of the kids, common sense procedures for the adults, etc. But I’m curious if we’ll see more creative ideas put forth to address the growing cost of travel soccer due to fuel prices.

What types of ideas are being floated around in your area besides carpooling? League realignments? Grouping matches on weekends (two every other weekend vs one every weekend)? Increasing referee fees? Larger leagues taking their mid level travel programs ‘in house’? Renting mini buses for longer trips (some economy of scale, perhaps, for larger teams)?

Anyone watching the Netherlands v Italy match in Euro 2008 saw a Netherland’s goal allowed that seemed to be  offside - except there was an Italian defender out of bounds behind the end line. So many wondered if that player factored into any offside decision. The answer is Yes. The question was did he leave the field of play without permission and stay there. Here is a quote from the USSF Advice to Referees, Section 11.11:

“A defender who leaves the field during the course of play and does not immediately return must still be considered in determining where the second to last defender is for the purpose of judging which attackers are in an offside position. Such a defender is considered to be on the touch line or goal line closest to his or her off-field position. A defender who leaves the field with the referee’s permission (and who thus requires the referee’s permission to return) is not included in determining offside position.”

Since the player did not leave with permission (an injured player is given permission to leave and be tended to), he was part of the play and put the attacking player onside.

Why would I bring this obscure point up? Because a bunch of people are curious, given my search stats for today…

So I figured I’d post the answer people were looking for. Hat Tip to winchester73 and the other folks discussing this at the NC Soccer Forum.

It was nice to finally watch the USMNT play top quality soccer against a top quality opponent like Argentina. Sure, it was a 0-0 draw, but it was a very exciting and hard fought match from what I saw. But even more exciting was the fact that 78,600+ fans packed Giant’s Stadium to watch a friendly soccer match, and the crowd noise never let up the entire 90 minutes. I actually had people ask if the match was overseas because the crowd was so big and so loud.

Of course there were only a handful of people at the bar I was at, and even though three of us were clearly watching the soccer match (the rest not watching anything in particular), the bartender wouldn’t put the match on the big screen in place of the NBA Final’s Game 2. Guess I can understand, but at least it was on most of the smaller screens scattered around the establishment.

With gas prices near $4/gallon in many places, the cost of driving even short distances is starting to be measured in dollars, not cents. Just driving to and from practices can start to add up for many coaches and families. But one other group is starting to feel the pinch - referees. With gas prices where they are, it’s costing anywhere from 16 to 27 cents per mile for your average vehicle. Hybrids might be around 10 cents, but they’re an exception (for now).

So picking a middle number, let’s assume the average referee is paying 20 cents a mile in gas alone. Driving 10-15 miles to your local soccer complex is costing you $4-$6 round trip. If you’re working a tournament in a nearby city, you could be paying around $12 to $25 round trip for an event 30 to 60 miles away.

I’m sure the pay scales vary a fair amount for referees, but here is what referees get paid in North Carolina. These are maximum fees per game for center referees and assistant referees, but most clubs pay the maximum:

As you can see, there is a large disparity between centering a U17 Classic match and a U12 Recreation match. But they all need officials, including assistant referees (AR’s). AR’s from out of town would have to work about one match just to pay for gas. What if a league has a makeup Challenge match and can’t find a local referee? Is it going to be worth it to spend $10-$15 in gas round trip to earn $15-$44?

Granted, most referee assignors try to arrange things so officials have a nice slate of matches on a given day. Work 3-4 matches and you’re likely earning enough to still make it worth your while, though you’ll still see a bigger chunk lost to gasoline. But for rural areas with small referee pools, tournaments, and situations where crews are needed for only one or two matches, especially AR’s, the officials may start thinking twice about accepting assignments because the gas to get there, even locally, will take a bigger chunk out of what they earn.

Clearly the pressure is there. While most referees do what they do for the love of the game, and not just the money earned, the ever increasing bite of fuel costs has to be concerning to officials. Are any state associations raising referee fees? Are leagues working in small fee increases in anticipation of higher referee fees? Are assignors finding it harder to fill in small holes in their schedules? What are you seeing in your neck of the woods?