I’ve been using social networking sites more and more, and finding some rather funny stuff. I use a great Twitter client called TweetDeck, which allows you to search the public timeline for certain keywords so you can monitor tweets with certain words. Very cool. Well, I had to share a rather funny tweet that scrolled across my screen today:

It must be embarrassing to still have a vocal soccer mom when you’re 32.

As the Fall soccer season approaches here in the US, there are thousands of parents who said Yes somewhere along the line and are faced with coaching a U6 or U8 team, having never coached soccer before. I’m working on a post that is a sort of ‘Welcome to Coaching’ resource, but I’m only one coach. So I figured I’d ask all of you coaches out there that have coached younger players before:

I’ll compile the best answers in the comments along with some of my own thoughts into a comprehensive post in the next week or so.

UPDATE: If you’re a new coach, I’m curious what worries you most about the upcoming season. I started a new thread over at Talk On The Pitch for you to share your thoughts and concerns.

After having the class canceled on me three times in the past year, I’m finally off to try and get my soccer coaching ‘D’ license this weekend (and next). Packing a 36 hour class into a weekend is quite a feat! Should be interesting to see what types of coaches are there. I did most of my pre-reading last night, but not sure how much I absorbed. It’s clear the USSF wants kids to play soccer in informal settings until they’re U12’s, but I’m just not sure how realistic that is. Read through the Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States. Do you really think your U6 and U8 players would stick with soccer if all they did was practice and never play in organized ‘matches’? I’m not saying you have to keep score and standings. But part of the fun for them is getting a colorful uniform, coming out on Saturday morning when the older kids play, and playing against another team while the parents cheer. It’s exciting and different than practice, even if practice is full of fun mini games and such. I know what they’re trying to get at with the whole ’street soccer’ concept, but I’m just not sure they’re going to be able to keep younger kids interested in the US if they don’t play ‘real’ matches until they’re 10 or 12. But I digress. For now, I’m off to be educated and hopefully escape with my State D certificate or if I’m lucky my National D license. Wish me luck!

I knew England had a number of soccer leagues in a hierarchical structure where teams could be promoted and relegated between them. But I never knew it was made up of 24 levels, 140 leagues, 480 divisions, and over 7000 clubs.

If England can manage to promote and relegate teams within 24 levels, why can’t we figure it out with just five or so? (Yes I’m being rhetorical )

As the fall season approaches, I’ve been talking with my assistant coaches about what events we should think about taking our team to this year. They say the best learning environment is playing in matches, so we try to provide additional playing opportunities for our team while also providing them with a fun weekend where they can gel and bond as a group. We attended six tournaments last year, which may seem like a lot, but most were local and the girls and their families had a really good time attending them (OK, the epic sandstorm probably wasn’t memorable in a good way) The goal is to provide them with more playing opportunities without spending a ton on travel.

» Read the rest of this post…

10 people were struck by lightning at a soccer match yesterday. Thankfully it looks like everyone will be OK, though some injuries were serious. The spectators unfortunately took shelter under a tree when the storm came through. I’ve had trees on my property take direct hits by lightning and they’ve had the bark plus large pieces of wood blown off them like the tree exploded from within. Scary stuff. Here’s a snippet on things to remember if you’re caught in a storm outside:

If caught in the open during a thunder and lightning storm and the hair on your head or neck begins to stand on end, go inside the nearest building immediately! If no shelter is available, crouch down immediately in the lowest possible spot and roll up in a ball with feet on the ground. Do not lie down!

If outdoors during a thunder and lightning storm, avoid water! Also avoid metal objects such as wires, fences, power tools, railroad tracks, etc. Unsafe places include: tents, golf carts, underneath trees. Avoid hilltops and open spaces. Where possible, find shelter in a building or in a fully enclosed metal vehicle, such as a car, with the windows shut.

Here’s hoping everyone makes a full recovery!

UPDATE: Here is a more in depth article about the recent spat of lightning strikes nationwide. 17 have been struck in the USA so far this month and seven have died. Be careful out there!

Parents and coaches often get tunnel vision with youth soccer based on the national association their kids register with. You just don’t realize there are other national soccer associations out there. As far as I knew, there were four national youth soccer associations under the USSF/US Soccer umbrella: USYSA, AYSO, SAY, and US Club. But this weekend by accident, I discovered there was a fifth: The United States Specialty Sports Association - Soccer. Originally a slow pitch softball association, they have gradually expanded into additional sports, including soccer. They became a USSF affiliate in 2001 and register both adult and youth soccer players.

Various affiliates are known for a certain ’style’. USYSA is very organized and structured. AYSO and SAY are more grassroots oriented and focus on recreational soccer. US Club is often seen as an ‘alternative’ to the USYSA with its own set of competitive tournaments and programs. Where does the USSSA fit in? Are any of you in USSSA affiliated leagues? What sets them apart?

Late last year, we posted some information about popular water bottles for young athletes and a potentially dangerous chemical in them called bisphenol-A (BPA). The FDA did not feel the evidence warranted banning the substance in baby and water bottles, but many consumer advocates did. After intense lobbying, it looks like the advocates are getting their way, as major retailers like Wal-Mart are pulling BPA based baby bottles off their shelves and water bottle maker Nalgene is phasing out the chemical as well (PDF):

A lengthy draft report from a part of the National Institutes of Health found “some concern” about the effect of BPA on fetuses, infants and children at current exposure levels. The NTP report is a model of thoroughness and nuance. Naturally, that makes it a flop in the court of public opinion.

With fear in the air, in the space of a few days Wal-Mart, Toy ‘R Us, CVS and others said they will phase out baby bottles containing BPA. Nalgene, a water bottle maker, and Playtex also said they will stop using the chemical.

The article goes into much more detail about the behind the scenes maneuvering. However, the reporter feels that retailers should not be making decisions like this, which I find odd. If people are concerned enough about the potential dangers of a product, for which viable alternatives exist, I see no problem in retailers dropping them from their shelves. That’s why the reporter’s cigarette question is a straw-man and misleading. There isn’t really an equivalent alternative for cigarettes. For BPA based bottles there is.

Good for the manufacturers and retailers! Why should we put our kids at potential risk when they drink from reusable bottles when there are viable alternatives?

The next time you have a player who seems to lack endurance and doesn’t improve with the rest of the team as the season progresses - ask about their eating habits. While it may not be as extreme as the example cited in the article, you’re sure to have a few junk food junkies. I’ve had players show up at practice with Burger King value meals in their hands and then they wondered why they felt so bad during practice!

OK, while I wouldn’t advocate shooting a soccer ball into an open police van, some of the shots this guy makes are pretty impressive, even if a couple might be fake - others sure look legit. And it is pretty funny watching the bewildered police chase him down the street. Cleary Nike has a hand in it and these commercials of theirs usually are legit (think Rooney’s camera hit).

H/T dibbo

In an ironic twist, the UK’s national football association has just banned competitive leagues for U8 players, something US Soccer has been pushing for a while. Scores and standings cannot be kept or published. Over at Two Footed Tackle, they cheer the decision:

The benefits of scrapping competitive football for under-8s are plentiful, as are the arguments in favour.

Firstly, it means that 6- and 7-year-old children are not subjected to that most cancerous of footballing evils, the over-competitive abusive parent. It’s been the subject of a growing discourse in the world of youth football, and is clearly problematic. Young players don’t like it, and it will become a big strand of Respect as the campaign develops. This is one that should be tackled at all youth football age groups.

No abuse, no pressure and no result means no stress. That is surely a good thing, at least at such an early age. The kids will hopefully be free to develop technically without having to ‘win’.

While I agree that kids this age should be working on skills and not winning, I don’t think eliminating scores and standings is the way to do it.

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Someone mentioned that the name of their girls soccer team was ‘The Pussycats’. Almost by reflex I was going to ask if he had a player named Josie, but figured I’d date myself badly.

A soccer coach in Kentucky was recently arrested in a sting setup by police:

Louisville Metro Police arrested a 25-year-old Louisville man after he allegedly arranged a meeting for oral sex with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl online, police said.

Which only goes to highlight why background checks are important. However, they can’t flag someone who has never gotten caught before, so parents should always be diligent - especially with their children’s online activities. Why? Read further down as to where this guy was working:

Haile was a coach at Mockingbird Valley Soccer Club in St. Matthews. According to Mockingbird Valley’s Web site, Haile coached a team for boys under 9 and also was on the staff of the Kentucky Youth Soccer Association. It also said he is a former coach at Waggener High School and is a graduate of the University of Louisville and Ballard High School.

Emphasis mine - he was working at the state soccer association! I sure hope he had a background check done!

Not calling out the KYSA or anything - like I said, you can’t identify a sex offender until they actually get caught. Just highlighting that it can happen anywhere and predators can be found in unlikely places!

They may start drinking.

I know, I know - I shouldn’t joke around because if a drunk ref showed up at my kid’s match I’d be a bit upset. But still, I found it hilarious the kids (at least they look like older kids) continued to do thier post-match drills while the ref was slowly (VERY slowly) helped from the field.

As leagues gear up for the Fall season, discussions are underway across the country on which teams will be placed into which brackets and which teams will play each other. Now a new discussion is taking place - how much will it cost to play those matches. A while back we talked about the impact of gas prices on youth sports and wondered if they really would have an effect. At least for our area, it has.

At last night’s meeting to discuss how our regional Challenge divisions would be organized, it was the clear preference of member leagues to help people save money on travel. In divisions where there were enough teams to make two or more groups, they would be organized by geography. Being on the eastern edge of our region, that means we’ll likely play teams in the eastern part of our region and not travel to the western side (which can be about 90 minutes max) Even if there was only one division, geography would be taken into account when matches were setup. In the Spring, the divisions/matchups will be based on the Fall results, which makes sense so you get competitive matches more often. But it’s nice to see the rising cost of gasoline being taken into account so quickly.

This is just a regional scheduling league, where maximum travel is 90 miles or less. Travel costs are even worse for our top level - Classic. Teams might travel 3+ hours to some away matches as there were only East and West divisions. Now there are more and more ‘Piedmont’ divisions, allowing teams from central North Carolina to stay local more often, instead of having to travel to the mountains (west) or the coast (east).

Are you all seeing this type of effect in your Fall brackets/divisions? How are your scheduling leagues/coordinators handling things? Are coaches/teams/leagues more willing to reduce travel, even if it means a less competitive schedule? Where do you draw the line?