On The Touchlines

with Ken Gamble

March 27th, 2005 - April 5th, 2005

More Cowbell!

     As Christopher Walken (as legendary record producer Bruce Dickenson) would say, "I Got a fever and the only cure is more cowbell, baby!"

     Well, it's close to playoff time and even Christopher Walken would be welcome in soccer stadiums around the state. Official word from Greg Brewer at AHSAA is that artificial noisemakers (Cow Bells) are legal for spectators at outdoor sporting events.  Air powered noise makers such as Air Horns are not permissible.  Drums fall in the same category as cow bells, in that they are man-powered and therefore allowed.
 

 Things never change

    This funny post was spotted on the Alabama Live Sports Forum in June of 1999: (It's nice to know some things never change.)

    FanAnon, a self-help program for the control-challenged, can now help fans of high school and youth sports, its founder announced yesterday.

    "For the past decade we've been able to bring relief to thousands of professional hockey and college football enthusiasts," reports psychiatrist Dr. Kilda Umpp, FanAnon founder. "We hope now to do the same for those who attend children's athletic contests. We see this as a vital, expanding market."

    FanAnon combines three elements in its unique approach:

1. The traditional 12-step program. "The hardest part of the program is getting the fan to admit that there is a power higher than himself," says Dr. Umpp. "We have to work to convince him that the guy with the whistle has the authority to make decisions that might affect the outcome of the game." Recovering fans, who serve as buddies for those who suffer ref distress, often accompany new members to games.

2. Anger-management techniques. "We've heard moving stories from fans who berated coaches, screamed at children on the field, insulted parents of opposing teams, and even intimidated officials. We call this 'game rage,'" explains Dr. Umpp. "To combat this we use behavior modeling.  Fortunately, we have only to look as far as the young athletes themselves for good examples. Remarkably, they manage to endure defeat, express their disappointment in appropriate ways, and then go on to resume normal social and academic lives quite quickly. We try to give their parents the same resilience. Children have an advantage, however: they tend to look upon athletic games as play, a concept long lost on adults."

3. Hormone therapy. Sometimes, the fan is merely hormonally-challenged, reports Dr. Umpp. "When a fan suffers from testosterone poisoning," says Dr. Umpp, "it's relatively simple to provide a wife with a kit -- similar to that used for bee stings -- with an estrogen antidote. During the game she can give hubby a quick injection and he usually calms right down." For major events, like state high school soccer championships and Little League All-Star games, FanAnon recommends an estrogen patch.

     FanAnon is now opening chapters in most cities. Players may refer their parents, although the program is most effective with those who recognize that they need help. Schools and athletic clubs may refer their entire fan base and enjoy group rates. For more information, call 1-800-NOBOOS
 

Lagniappe:

Good links to soccer (and other appropriate) articles:

      Girls basketball coach files complaint against officials.
      A post-game, locker-room conversation between referees, caught on tape without their knowledge, has sent East High basketball fans into a rage, put referees on the defensive and prompted a discrimination claim from one of the city's most successful coaches.

Alabama Public Radio Feature Story on USA Men's game in Birmingham
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wual/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&sid=15&id=756266&pid=217 

     Soccer Radio Diary feature by Bobby Puppione for Alabama Public Radio. You can click on the link, go to the page, and then click the "MP3" button to listen.

Soccer Hodgepodge

At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?" The little boy nodded in the affirmative.

"Do you understand that what matters is how we play together as a team?" The little boy nodded yes.

"So," the coach continued, "when offsides is called, or a handball is not called, you don't argue or curse or attack the referee. Do you understand all that?"

Again the little boy nodded.

"Good," said the coach. "Now go over there and explain it to your mother."

(Submitted by Otto Mueller to the Alabama Ref e-mail list)
 

• Well, it's Liverpool two, Ipswich nil, and if the score stays this way, I've got to fancy Liverpool for the win...
• He had an eternity to play that ball, but took too long.
• Well, it's a fabulous kaleidoscope of color: almost all the Brazilians are wearing yellow shirts.
• Their manager, Howard Wilkinson, isn't here today, which strongly suggests that he may be elsewhere.
• I am a firm believer that if one team scores a goal, the other need to score two to win.
• If a team scores early on, it often takes an early lead.
• You cannot possibly have counted the number of passes made, but there were eight.
• And so they have not been able to improve on their 100% record.
• With the last *kick* of the game, he scored with a *header*.
• These were provide to a soccer referee's e-mail list by Greg Dunlap.

1. What is the US Men National Team's highest finish in a World Cup?
2. Which Alabama high school player holds the state record for most goals in a career?
3. Which Alabama high school holds the record for state soccer championships with 8?
4. What was Pele's real name?

More on Soccer Courtesy - February 1999:

     There is an unwritten rule in soccer taught to teams when they reach their teenage years. If your team is in possession of the ball and not in a position to immediately score a goal, and a teammate or an opponent goes down with an injury you are to kick the ball out of bounds to allow the official to bring on medical help. When play resumes the team who is awarded a throw-in since the other team had kicked the ball out of bounds. Instead of throwing the ball to their own team (in effect gaining possession by the injury) they return the favor by throwing the ball to their opponent.

     There is no requirement that they give up possession but its a nice bit of sportsmanship. Often the throw-in is a long throw-in to the opponent's goalkeeper so as not to give the opponent an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

     This unspoken act of kindness has caused an English Football Association game between Sheffield and Arsenal of London to be replayed. Arsenal did not accept a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United because the winning goal was tainted by an apparently innocent breach of ethics. In the game at Arsenal's field, a Sheffield player went down, and the Sheffield goalkeeper kicked the ball out of bounds, a normal tactic. After the injured player was replaced, Arsenal put the ball in bounds with an overhead throw.

      Normally, the ball would have been allowed to bounce directly to a Sheffield player, but this time it was intercepted by Nwankwo Kanu, a young Nigerian substitute just acquired by Arsenal. Not grasping the significance of the soft inbounds toss, Kanu kicked a crisp pass to Marc Overmars, a seasoned Dutch teammate, who instinctively banged the ball in the net. The Sheffield team went nuts, and many of the Arsenal players were openly unhappy, but the referee did not nullify the goal because there is no rule governing it. He counted the goal, and the game ended at 2-1.

      Immediately afterward, the coach of Arsenal, the Frenchman Arsène Wenger, announced that he was declining the victory. "I offered the replay because it wasn't right to win that way - it wasn't Arsenal," Wenger said, adding, "The best we can do is offer to replay the game here against Sheffield United." The game will be replayed on Tuesday, at Arsenal's field, with ticket prices cut in half to avoid any suggestion of chicanery to set up an extra payday.

1. If you said the quarterfinals in Korea in 2002 you would be wrong. In 1930 the US make the semi-finals in Uruguay where they lost to Argentina 6-1.  They had beaten Belgium and Paraguay 3-0 in their first two games.
2. National team player, Catherine Reddick, scored 211 goals for Briarwood Christian from 1997 to 2000.
3. The Fort Payne Girls won 8.  One in 2003 and 2001 and a record six championships in a row from 1991 to 1996.
4. Pele was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, into a very poor family.  He was later nicknamed Pele, the meaning of which has never been explained.

Ken Gamble
 

One on one with ... Decatur High's Meg Adams
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/sports/050331/adams.shtml  

     I hear all the time (and read on the al.com soccer forum) that Alabama soccer has it worse than other states because of restrictions that High School soccer or rather AHSAA puts on its players. 
     Check out the recent discussion between coaches on the Soccer-Coach-L e-mail discussion list.  This is a list of about 600 coaches with a good mixture of club, school and college coaches from all over the country (and world) - many of whom coach both club and school teams. 
      You will find from the discussion that most state athletic associations put some sort of restrictions on players and coaches.  Even more interesting are the comments from high school coaches in states where there are no restrictions on playing soccer for both club and high school teams at the same time. Where possible, I have highlighted the state (that the coach making each comment is from).
      As long as there are abuses (or the appearance of abuses) by club sports you can expect state high school athletic associations to continue to push for tighter and tighter restrictions against outside sports.  We only have to look at the recent Mississippi High School Athletic proposals and Dan Washburn's recent comments to see what they would prefer the future to look like.
     Below are some of the coaches' comments.  I have abbreviated most of the comments while leaving the intent of the message as close to the original as possible.  I have made no editorial comments.  I'll leave those up to you.  The main point is this is a complicated issue with two valid and not necessarily opposed viewpoints. Most of us want what is best for our children/players. 
     Keep in mind that many of these coaches are involved as both club and school coaches. The links to the full comments are at:
http://lists.mun.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A1=ind0503e&L=soccer-coach-l

• Some HS coaches - or perhaps its school policy - don't permit a player to play both HS soccer and club soccer. I can imagine the reasons... concerns regarding injury, burnout, perhaps even coaching and loyalty.
• I know here in Illinois, kids are not allowed to play with their club teams during high school soccer season. It is against IHSA rules. The kids may organize a Sunday practice on their own but no coach can be present to train them. I am both a club coach and a high school coach. I would love to hear if this is legal where you live. Thanks!
• Here in New Hampshire, there is no rule preventing players from playing clubs and HS at the same time. However, such dual-activity is probably *not* in the best interest of the player, academically or physically, IMHO... Something will suffer.
• I don't encourage or discourage girls on my hs team to do both, but I have two that did. Both outstanding players who will play small college ball.  They mostly only played on week-end games for the association teams. We had the rule when post season play comes about they chose one team. I feel the demands are then too high and injury may occur. Washington
• In Florida no rule prohibits players from both teams but there are prohibitions on high school coaches coaching any club team "out of season" where the roster is made up of greater than 50% of the high school team. In our area, most of the older club coaches are affiliated one way or another with a high school team so there is cooperation.
• On my club team, I am only allowed to coach 5 players from my high school team. Players are not allowed to play club and high school at the same time. Some opt out of playing high school to stay with their club teams through spring but they are NOT allowed to play both. Players moving from high school to high school has been a problem before and coaches still try to recruit as well. I know it happened to me when I played but now there are coaches who have strong reputations for getting kids to move to their district and leave their current HS team.
• Many state athletic associations have rules which cover outside activity. Strictly speaking they don't regulate what the student can do in his "Own Time". But the courts have agreed that what a student does in his own time can affect what the school (or athletic association) allows him to do in his school time - such as playing on a team or being involved in a school
  activity. Alabama
• This is disturbing. 'Discourage', 'advise against', are fine. 'Not allow' seems to be losing perspective. This is school and coaching, teaching kids about teamwork, responsibility to others and making choices. The player's duty to the team is to attend practices and games and do their best by the team. The only requirement that the HS should be able to make
  is that if selected, the player will give that team priority if there is a  conflict. I ponder whether terminology like 'not allow' has more to do with the adult egos involved than anything else. Canada
• I guess burnout is probably part of the problem. When you watch these girls play club all year round and then come to high school season, they are pretty spent when they get there. Some of them are even starting to flip flop between wanting to play and not wanting to play. I have seen 3 All-Americans quit soccer all together in the past year and a half due to burnout. They could have played at Division 1 schools but chose to live life instead. Their club teams emphasized specialization in one sport and playing year round. It just didn't work for these 3 kids. It's a shame but it happens all too often anymore and this may be the reason why.
• California has the same rule. If a player plays club during the HS season, he or she cannot play HS soccer. And if the player does so his HS team may be in jeopardy. I think it works out here and most club coaches respect it and schedule around it. Upper level coaches here are with their teams almost 9 months of the year even with this rule. It is good for the players. They learn from another coach, play with some other players in a different system, learning different patterns of play. They may get a chance to play different positions. And playing for your school still means something, even to ODP players.
• Same applies here in Illinois and I agree with both you and Mike. I think it is way too much to do both at the same time. This is coming from someone who played nationally and also spent the majority of their life playing soccer, 3 practices a day, along with weight training and running. It can cause career-ending injuries, just like it did to me.
• Here in Ohio players are not allowed to participate for their club teams during the high school season. This is an Ohio High School Athletic Association rule. The coaches /schools / clubs have no say.
• I'm a club and hs coach in Florida. I've had A LOT of problems with my club players coaches discouraging his players to play high school ball, claiming that it "ruins" players. I've been coaching for 13 years, and will go back to Europe to get my UEFA 'A' Licence. I've coached at nearly all levels from rec (which I still do) up to semi-pro in the UK. I wouldn't say that playing for me would ruin players, I think that I know what I'm doing :)
• I am not going site cases although I believe the OHSAA site does (or did) list certain relevant cases. In general, what you are going to find is that membership in the high school athletic associations is voluntary and therefore if you wish to participate you do so according to their rules and regulations. You do not have to be a member of the high school athletic association and there are in fact schools that are not here in Ohio - not a lot, but they do exist. Because the purpose of the rules is to prevent a competitive advantage being gained by a team, with economic discrimination often being a factor as well, the courts tend to side with the high school associations on this issue. There has been recent attempts in the largest cities to field club teams in the fall as opposed to playing for your high school but I have yet to hear any great success story associated with this.
• Yes, any high school can restrict the players on their team by whatever criteria that they want. If the HS doesn't want players who are also playing REC soccer at the same time, they can do just that. It is then up to the player as to what she wants to do. If she wants to play HS soccer, then she has to quit playing REC soccer. I am not saying that it is smart for the HS to place such a restriction, but they clearly can do so if they desire.
• Our state, Colorado, has a rule that you cannot play with the club if you are playing for the high school.
• In the late 50s and early 60s in high school sports, coaches were forming clubs made up of their high school players playing in Leagues during the season made up of other teams from other high schools. The QUESTION - WHY? Simple, the High School Sports Association has the authority to limit the amount of time you may practice your "student athletes." In order to get around this, high school "coaches" simply formed other non-school teams and practiced additional times.
  A friend of mine was on two Basketball teams [high school & AAU type] and three baseball teams [high school, Little League & American Legion] during one high school year and all 5 teams had the same high school coach. Any question that they practiced more than the hours allowed under the high school sports association rules? Every day but SUNDAY plus games at night and on Saturdays.
      Very simply, being on a high school team is a privilege not a right [this has been settled in court] and as such the student is required to meet certain conditions to participate in school sponsored extra curricula activities such as:
    Where You Live
    What school you attend {in some states you may play for a public school while attending
  private school if the private school does not have the sport]
    What grade you are in school [8th graders can play high school in some states}
    How old you are [maximum age 19 they had 20+ before this rule]
    Grade Point Average [varies usually at least 2.0]
      The high school sports association does not care about a SINGLE school - their mandate is to provide a HEALTHY exposure to SPORT for the high school student making them a "student athlete."  The IDEA of banning outside participation in the same sport during the same season is strictly injury prevention AND school work / grades.
      One aspect that occurs is a club coach will align themselves with a high school and create the same situation as the high school coach being the coach. I have an acquaintance Tony, who uses the high school soccer coach as his advisor. What does he advise on? Oh, who should play where, what formation to run. Why would this not be OK? Well you see the high school coach has Tony run his formation and try the players where he sees them playing on the high school team. Naturally Tony's team probably would be better served if they played based on the talent that Tony has. Nothing like having no real center mid because the high school coach wants to see that player playing as a forward.
      I also say many unsuccessful lawsuits have been filed over high school sports. I say this having coached my first high school team in 1968. It's called being 60 years old and involved a few decades. One parent sued because their son would not be able to get an NBA contract if he didn't play his senior year in high school. Actually the idea was he wouldn't get a college scholarship. His GPA was 1.75 and he never took summer school classes. They lost, he went to junior college and ended up playing Division II back in the 70s.
  Many of what would be lawsuits now were appeals to the high school sports association [I sat in on a few as a consultant] in the old days. Usually the kid was cut from the team. In one case, the player was cut after the school was redistricted and 6 members of the previous years State champions were suddenly attending that school. They were juniors and she
  was a senior who had been a bench warmer the previous two years. Nevada
• As usual, I'm not surprised to see such glaring inconsistencies with these policies from around the country and the different opinions on what is right and wrong.
      I'm in the camp of let the players play but of course I'm also biased (I guess). I think such restrictions probably are borne from concerns more about player loyalty than anything else, with the concerns about injury and burnout being more window dressing than substantive. I couldn't imagine my daughter, or any kid, practicing more than once a day during the week and attending a club training session or two just to stay connected with the team and then playing some games on the weekend. I also think a player should be able to play in tournaments, etc. even if that does pose a conflict with the HS team - unless it is Varsity. I
  think freshman and JV soccer should be all about player development and participation, not about do or die commitments to scholastic soccer. Above all of this should be academics. Of course, any such participation should be because the player REALLY loves the sport and
  not because a parent and/or coach, such as myself, wants them to play.
• I think that JP has nailed this down appropriately. school athletics are extra-curricular, voluntary, a privilege...I am fully supportive of the schools' rights to make any rules they choose. we don't have to like them.....and if so, we should lobby them for explanations as to why they would place restrictions on kids' free time, but in the end it becomes the players'/families' choice whether or not to participate. As long as they define the boundaries
  up front, we can make informed decisions. It's the ones that sneak the penalties in on you after they set no boundaries and then catch you doing something they now decide is unacceptable to them...those are the real pains... Florida
• The HS sports associations impose these rules in an effort to make their sports fair. Club leagues have a certain mobility factor built in, so that the teams generally play well-"matched" opponents, and poor-quality opponents drop out at the bottom. HS sports
  don't have that kind of feature, and thus the HS associations impose rules on how much a team can practice and how far before the season, and restricting recruitment, and so forth. This is where the rules about outside team play come in. As Pete pointed out, it wouldn't do for a rich community to subsidize off-hour practices by a HS team when the poorer schools can't. The point is that these rules are part of a package that assumes that the educational aspect and old-school-ties are the main objectives, not the development of world-class players.
       Over the years, I've come to believe that HS soccer is generally not much of a contribution to player development, because the coaches with real soccer teaching ability are the exception. To come from a HS program run by a coach who is known as a good teacher can look good on a player's resume, as can winning a district or state championship, but those generally only open the door for the player to get a look from a college coach. And then there's the question, if the kid's interest is to develop as a soccer player or the US soccer community is interested in a great national team, whether collegiate soccer has any particular value either.
        The discussion also pushed one of my hot-buttons: kids who make conflicting commitments to two teams or two activities. For a kid to take on more commitments than he/she can meet is to let other people down and to show themselves as unreliable and dishonorable. Ohio
• Injuries are real, burn out is real; they are not "window dressing". And a fair number of young athletes are overloaded with multiple concurrent team commitments.
      It is best that club coach and HS coach not be the same person and that they arrange to have separate seasons. It is not fair for club coach or HS coach to ask a young player to "choose". These grown up people should arrange that the young players can enjoy the pleasures of both experiences. So club coach should take a vacation from coaching during the HS season and the HS coach should release his players after the HS season ends.
• That is one of the most level headed responses to this situation I have ever read. Every time I hear a club coach complain about high school soccer or a high school coach complain about club soccer it only reinforces in my mind that adult egos are interfering with kids trying to have fun playing a game.
• Philosophically I think that HS soccer other than varsity should be all about player development and participation. So club soccer is a constructive adjunct, as well as the tournaments, etc. that go along with it.
      I think it should be a no-brainer for club soccer coaches to have to - to WANT to - communicate with the HS coach regarding players and conflicts if there were "shared" players.  I think that your attitude would suit me very well in my situation! Wish you were in New Jersey.
      I also think that playing for your school is a privilege, and an honor, and should take precedence over club soccer with regard to practices, etc. I'd be content to have a (club) player attend one or two training sessions per week and play in games for the club team, while attending all of the HS training and making HS the priority. I do also think that my club team program is very strong, and very beneficial in terms of player development.
• I honestly have no problem with my high school girls playing club, as long as the respect from the club coach is shown, during the high school season, for him to call/email and let me know what tourneys he's doing, when he needs the players etc. Getting a 15 year old girl to ask, is to me, well kind of snide.
       If this was done before the high school season started, I could get the hs girls together and let them know who would be where and why they are missing practice. High School soccer is a privilege, and nobody owns a spot, so when the club players aren't there, its up to the girls that are there to make it difficult for me to not select them....they control their own destiny!
• In Southern California, it is simple math: The top players are very heavily concentrated on gold and premier teams. For boys, there are fewer than 50 such teams from U16 to U18, many of which club teams have been playing together year after year, eight months
  out of the year. There are a great many more high schools than 50. LA Unified School District alone has about 52 high schools. The talent therefore gets diluted. The high school season is awfully short. Few high school coaches receive the money that the top club coaches earn. The top universities, many of whose assistant coaches are club coaches or club trainers, know this.
• Along these same lines, there has been some conflict over which looks better on the college applications: club teams or HS teams. Most kids in my region favor club teams as being more "exclusive" or "prestigious" or better trained (not necessarily true, IMHO :-). Which, of course, eventually leads to scheduling conflicts often hurting the HS team.
• I am quite interested in some feedback from the list regarding the issues raised by players playing for two different groups during the same season.
       Specifically, how would you deal with the inevitable conflicts? A starting player misses a HS training session due to club commitments. All of your other players are attending. How could you start that player when they are missing sessions and maintain some semblance of institutional control?
       The same would apply if you were the club coach and a player was missing training to attend their HS training session.
       Given two players of equal talent, one shows up for your training and the other is at their other activity... which one starts? Gets the play time?
• I'm not sure what the regulations are in Massachusetts and whether his club coach violated them, but he ran a Sunday practice every 3rd week during the high school season. This additional load did not seem to be an issue for my son (or us) and in no way conflicted with his HS schedule. In fact, his high school team experience was so abysmal, he genuinely looked forward to these Sunday afternoons and it probably had the effect of preventing burn-out (after 15 practices and ~ 6 games of ugly kick and run, he got to play 2 hours of beautiful possession soccer).  Personally, while I understand, the admirable goal of preventing
  burnout, I think that whatever legal activities an individual chooses on his own time are of no concern to our tax-dollar supported public schools.
• During the High School season our club team goes to a schedule of just playing tournaments.
• I stand corrected. In an earlier post it was indicated to me that some High Schools do restrict players from participating in club activities and do have the right legally. I was wrong. I guess I'm just shocked that as a nation we seemed to have lost our ability to protect one's right to freely participate in ones own interest. What other freedoms are we so willing to give up? Don't get me wrong, I truly believe that to much of a good thing can be detrimental. Playing club ball and High School is really to much. Any normal thinking person would agree. While I can understand the negative impact playing both could have on a player, I believe this should be left to the player and the parents discretion. I cringe when people try to dictate what others can or can't do with their free time. Not everyone feels it's to much. Everyone should have the right to make up his or her mind. Not a school board.  For example I see nothing wrong with a club team holding technical training sessions to keep the skill levels up.

      As you can see it's not just Alabama's High School Athletic Association that limits participation in outside sports during the high school sport season - most states also have some sort of restrictions.

Ken Gamble

The thing I love about sports is the emotion it brings to a world where true passion is such a scarce commodity.   In a society where personal, political and religious beliefs are muzzled for fear of offending, sports remains one of our last legitimate outlets.  It allows us to scream and cheer and wear our bias on our sleeves like medals of honor earned in combat. Here we can state our case, argue the obvious and steadfastly defend indefensible positions without fear or remorse. 
Ken Burger - Charleston South Carolina Post and Courier

How do schools decide what you do outside schools?, Answer me this?
http://www.misssportstalk.com/index.php?showtopic=14751&hl=proposal

Mobile-area schools sponsored the proposal, and it was obvious it was aimed at outside organizations such as AAU and club teams. There had been concern about the influence these organizations and their coaches have had on high school athletes.
"This is putting kids back in the (high school) coaches' hands," UMS-Wright principal Ed Lathan said. "They will be doing what they are trained to do and paid to do. This should also involve more kids, especially younger ones and junior varsity kids."
Said Huntsville City Schools athletic director Wade Lipscomb: "This will put us on equal footing with states around us. It is about schools wanting their coaches to coach their kids."
http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1111140925164521.xml

Mississippi wouldn't be the first state to adopt such regulations. Louisiana and Alabama have had rules in place for more than 15 years that prevent students from playing for their school team and an outside team during that sport's season.
"It keeps kids from coming back to your school team hurt and from being coached by a coach who may not be up on techniques," said Dan Washburn, executive director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association. "Our coaches love it because they don't want anybody else coaching their kids."
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=171923&messageid=1108082707
 

Coming Friday - Club versus High School Soccer

USA vs Guatemala game analysis:

Note that this review is without benefit of tape replay, so I reserve the right to change my mind once I see the replay of the game.

The crowd was about 32,000. Someone forgot to tell Guatemala it wasn't their home game. The crowd was probably 90% Guatemalan at 5pm and about even at kick-off. It was probably about 60% pro-USA by 7:15pm. The crowd got loud as soon as the game started. In most sections everyone stood throughout the entire game

The field was beautiful - the best looking pitch I have ever seen.

Game Thoughts:

      I felt our speed of play was just overall much quicker and faster than Guatemala's.  It seemed that we always had time and space with the ball.  And we pressured them immediately every time they got the ball.  We were also much taller and stouter so there was little chance for them offensively in the air.  On our attacks and counter-attacks we had even numbers and were even "numbers up" at times - which is certain death for a defense.

     Guatemala's #11 Guillermo Ramirez was very impressive (best on their team by far) but Ruiz was held in check by the physical play of Onyewu.  I really hadn't expected Onyewu to play, based on his poor play against Mexico.  But he matched up well with Ruiz.  But he still had some poor early touches and give-aways. He also got caught out of place on a couple of Guatemala's attacks.  But overall he probably won his way back into the fan's good graces.

     The defense also kept Guatemala's other scoring threat, Pezzarossi, well in check. Our back four did well on defense, but what really impressed me most was the way that one of the back four was involved in almost every attack.  I saw Cherundolo involved in lots of the attacks from the right side and even saw him trying a diving header on the left post one time.  I saw Onyewu push up on all the free kicks - big body and big header.  Even Bocanegra pushed up occasionally.  I don't really remember Gibbs doing anything offensively, but he was a force on defense. 

     As always, Keller looked great in goal.  Pablo Mastroeni wasn't as visible as usual, but it could have been his defensive assignment behind Donovan taking up his time. They need Reyna to come back as a playmaker in order to release Donovan to make more attacking runs.

    It also appeared that most of the US attacks out of the 4-4-2 were down the wings so it could be the the game plan purposely bypassed the midfield and attacked the weaknesses of Guatemala's outside midfielders.

     My son's first comment this morning was that Landon Donovan must have been the fastest person on the field last night.  I have to agree. Watching him track down that attacker that had a 15-20 yard head start was amazing.  Donovan is so much fun to watch and a constant threat.  He looked like he was trying to make up for his mediocre effort at Mexico City.  Ralston did much better than I expected.  Eddie Johnson is the best scorer/finisher to come along for the US in a long time.  Eddie Lewis is my favorite left winger and did not disappoint. He really looked in top shape. He abused his defender time after time.

     I really enjoyed seeing defenders wrapping the arm (the arm that was away from the assistant referee and out of the center ref's line of vision) around the attacker AND the attacker backing in and hooking the defender try to get away or expose the holding to the referee. There was a lot of backing in and falling to get calls or backing in and bridging the defender to make it appear the defender was coming over the back.

     The first question, I asked many people after the game, was about the "handball" late in the second half.  I was close to the action and it appeared that the Guatemalan defender deliberately batted the ball away right in front of the goal and the ref.  It was so blatant I couldn't believe it.  I want to see the replay if it was as bad as I thought. 

What did you think?

 
Ken
 

Good links about the game:

Bouncing Back - US Follows Loss to Mexico with shutout of Guatemala
http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1112264583221840.xml

Birmingham Blast - U.S. Dominates Guatemala in 2-0 Victory
http://www.ussoccer.com/

US takes three points at Legion Field
http://ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/469794.html

United States 2, Guatemala 0
http://www.al.com/sportsflash/local/index.ssf?/base/sports-5/1112231905308460.xml&storylist=alabamasports

Birmingham, Alabama, becomes little Guatemala http://www.al.com/sportsflash/local/index.ssf?/base/sports-5/1112229808296970.xml&storylist=alabamasports

Guatemala 0 - 2 USA
http://ussoccerplayers.com/game_time/469842.html

United States dominates, wins match 2-0
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/3501074?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=2737


U.S. wins qualifier versus Guatemala 2-0
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/national/2005-03-30-usa-guatemala_x.htm?csp=34

Guatemalan fans traveled from all parts of US to see game
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/469830.html 

Landon Donovan Headed Back To MLS
http://www.southernsoccerscene.com/professional.htm#donovanback

US vs Guatemala (more)

US looking towards new strategy against Guatemala
http://ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/469601.html

Very good analysis on tonight's World Cup Qualifier at
http://ussoccerplayers.com/game_time/469408.html

Good background on the game at http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/exclusives/468934.html

MLS has provided the backbone for US Men's National Team:

I was looking through some old soccer columns I had written years ago and came across this note from October of 1998 - CHICAGO - New US Soccer coach, Bruce Arena, fulfilled his promise to immediately rebuild the U.S. national soccer team with young MLS payers when he put nine first-timers on his roster Wednesday for a Nov. 6 exhibition Australia. All 22 on the roster play in Major League Soccer, only three were older than 30 and only five were members of the World Cup team that went to France.
Looks like Coach Arena knew what he was doing - Ken.

Calendar of Soccer Events for April 2005
Links to each event are on-line at http://www.decatursports.com/calendar.htm

• Southern State Challenge (HS Soccer Tournament) - April 1st and 2nd, 2005 - Hosted by Grissom and Randolph - teams participating will be Christian Brothers (Memphis), Father Ryan (Nashville), McCallie (Chattanooga), Farragut (Knoxville), Altamont (Birmingham), Riverside (Greer, SC), Randolph and Grissom
• 2005 Tennessee Valley Middle School Soccer Finals - Boys & Girls - April 2nd, 2005
• The Atlanta Silverbacks Women’s soccer team will hold an open tryout/combine on Saturday, April 2nd from 9-11 am and 2:30-4:30pm. The tryouts will be limited to 50 participants and will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis. Please direct questions to laura.fedrigo@atlantasilverbacks.com  
• April 3-8, 2005 – AHSAA Referee Classification Exams
• April 9-10 - Boys ODP Showcase for 90-92’s with 93/94’s at Liberty Park in Vestavia
• Sixth Annual OMHS JV Invitational Tournament - April 15 & 16, 2005 at Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham, Alabama - The teams committed are: Oak Mountain, Thompson, Huntsville, Pleasant Grove, Grissom, Mountain Brook, Bob Jones, Homewood, Fort Payne, and Vestavia. We're looking for a few more teams to round out another bracket. Contact Tony Galloway or Sherri Spears
• "Kick A Goal for CCFA 2005" Soccer Exhibition - Saturday, April 16, 2005, The Orthopedic Center - Crestwood Hospital - and Knology present "Kick a Goal for CCFA 2005." This will held in conjunction with the Huntsville Spring Classic at John Hunt Soccer Complex in Huntsville, AL.  For additional information about this event, tickets and or if you would like to volunteer to help, please contact Anneta Simmons @ asim0908@knology.net , 256-509-6521.
• April 16th and 17th, 2005 – HSC Spring Classic Tournament
• Thunder Road Classic Soccer Tournament - April 16 & 17, 2005 at the Auburn Soccer Complex in Auburn, Alabama
• Hoover Havoc Soccer Tournament - This event is taking place in Birmingham, AL on April 22, 23 & 24, 2005. For additional information please visit our website at www.hooverhavoc.com  or call 205.978.8663
• Shelby County Shootout Youth Soccer Tournament - This year's tournament will be April 29 - May 1st at the SportsFirst fields
• April 30, 2005 - Last day of season for Alabama AHSAA Junior High and Middle School soccer teams.

Lagniappe:

The difference between a kick and a pass is a thought.

Katie Esser is a sophomore at Auburn majoring in Business Finance who is very involved in a campus ministry called the Wesley Foundation. The Wesley Foundation is a Methodist-sponsored ministry program that allows college students to get together and meet people who share similar beliefs.

This summer two different groups of students will be traveling outside the country to do mission work. The first trip, which Katie is a part of, is to Juarez, Mexico. The trip is in May 2005 and there are about 20 students going for eight days. The second trip is in July and about 18 students will be heading to Bolivia for three weeks. On both trips, they will be doing physical labor missions, and also relational missions where they will spend a good deal of time with the local residents.

When they were thinking of ways to relate to these people, with whom they don't share a common language, they remembered that soccer is a HUGE sport in both Mexico and Bolivia. As a part of both trips they are hoping to organize some soccer games/tournaments for the local children.

They are looking for any soccer equipment that you or your children might have outgrown or are ready to get rid of. Items that would be most helpful are: jerseys, shorts, balls (any size), socks, cleats, shin guards, and keeper gloves. Don’t worry about the size or condition of things, as long as the balls hold air and the clothes are intact, they will work; holes, stains, tears, and faded fabric are NOT a problem!

If you have anything that you would like to donate, it would be very much appreciated! To make arrangements to get the items to the Foundation or have them picked up please e-mail Katie at esserkl@auburn.edu and they will find a way to pick them up from you. Katie will be in the Birmingham area this week for Auburn’s spring break. You could leave them by your front door and she’ll come pick them up. They really appreciate any and all soccer items and will be sure that they find a new home in Mexico or Bolivia where the equipment will truly be appreciated.

High School Soccer

The Alabama High School Soccer Coaches Poll is now out for Week #6 at http://www.decatursports.com/hs/top10.htm

The First NSCAA Region III Rankings for High School Teams should be out in the next few weeks.  http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/index_E.html

On the girls' side I expect that Huntsville and Vestavia will be ranked quite high.  In addition the Briarwood girls might also make the first Top Ten poll.  In girls soccer, NSCAA Region III includes Georgia and South Carolina.  Last season three Alabama girls teams finished their season in the final Top Ten: #5 Spain Park (20-6-1), #6 Huntsville (24-1-1) and #7 Oak Mountain at (26-1-0).

On the boys' side three Alabama teams also finished the 2004 spring season in the NSCAA Region II Top Ten Poll.  The 6A and 5A state champions #6 Shades Valley (21-4-5) and #7 Briarwood (24-4-1) finished well.  In addition Grissom (20-1-1) finished in ninth place. This season I would expect Oak Mountain (10-0-2) to be ranked very highly in the first poll.  Briarwood (7-0-2) and Shades Valley (12-1-1) should also be listed in the first NSCAA Region II poll.  Region II includes Alabama and Georgia on the boys' side.

Some Soccer Trivia - (Answers at end)
 

1. Which two US players won the Golden boot and Silver boot award?  HINT - Both will be in Birmingham on Wednesday night.
2. Where did the word “soccer” come from?
3. How did referees come to be known as "referees"?
4. With which hand did Diego Maradona score his infamous World Cup (Hand of God) goal against England? Hint - He relied almost exclusively on the foot on the same side of his body.
5. How many goals, to the nearest hundred, did Pele score in his first class career?
6. When the World Cup was first organized, FIFA said that if a team won the World Cup ____ times, they would keep the trophy forever. How many times did they say?
7. Which country has won the most world cups?
8. A match is called off (abandoned) when ____ red cards are shown to one team.
9. What percentage of Penalty Kicks are successfully converted?
10. How many different teams have won the World Cup?

Bizarre Goal

A bizarre goal allows Carlisle to take a 1-0 victory over Halifax in England. 

With just a minute left in a scoreless match the ball rolled through to Ian Dunbavin, the Halifax keeper.  A Carlisle forward, Glenn Murray, collided (albeit softly) with Dunbavin who had collected the ball easily.  The keeper took exception to the push and reacted by stomping on the heal of the Carlisle forward as he turned around right at the edge of the penalty box. 

After a round of soft pushes between the two players, the referee broke it up and using his hand signals, the ref waved for the players to "play on" giving the keeper the advantage of being able to distribute or punt the ball instead of a free kick from his own penalty box.

Two of the Halifax players were now retreating out of the box and the ref was waving for the keeper to play on. Unfortunately, the keeper mistakenly thought the referee was awarding him a free kick and waving him to move up and take the kick outside the box.  The referee tried to stop the keeper from stepping outside the penalty area, but as soon as he had walked outside the box, the referee had no choice but to blow the whistle for illegal handling by the goalkeeper. 

The goalkeeper then dropped the ball to argue with the referee and the Carlisle players immediately stopped the ball and touched it forward for a quick shot into an unguarded goal.  It was quite honestly one of the funniest moments I have seen in soccer.

TRIVIA ANSWERS:

1. Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley
2. In the late 1800s it was the practice of the well-to-do students at Oxford University in England to shorten the length of some common words. At the same time they would add -er to the end of the word. For example, breakfast became known as "brekkers". There were two forms of "football" being played on campus at the time. One used the Rugby Rules and the other form used the rules governed by the Football Association of London. The prior was called "ruggers" on campus and the latter as "soccer" which was short for association and included the popular "-er" ending used by the "in" students.  The phrasing caught on and became the popular nickname for the sport. In the United States it is used to differentiate soccer from what the rest of the world refers to as American Football - the pointy variety.
3. They were originally bystanders who disputes were “referred” to. Later they were formalized as part of the game as “referees”.
4. It was his left hand
5. Pele scored 1283 goals
6. Three
7. Brazil - Four times.
8. In FIFA rules when five red cards are shown a team would drop below the 7 players required on the field and the match would be called.
9. At all levels including youth play the percentage of penalty kicks that score is 94%.
10. The answer is seven, and the teams are Brazil, Italy, West Germany, Uruguay, Argentina, England, and France.

Ken Gamble

Lagniappe:

"The beauty of soccer is that every player gets to be the quarterback when the ball is at their feet", remark by Lori Walker, NBC Analyst in the 2004 USA-Germany Olympics semi-final game.

This is one of the reasons that I believe that soccer is so popular with young players. No one is relegated to play right field (baseball) or offensive line (football).  Everyone gets a chance to be the quarterback (or pitcher).

Lagniappe:

Check out the latest soccer movie at http://www.gameoftheirlivesmovie.com/ about the US Soccer team that defeated England in one of the greatest soccer upsets ever.

Did anyone else notice early in the first half of the US-Mexico game when one of Claudio Reyna’s shin guards came out of his socks? The shin guard looked like it was no more than 4” long and suitable for a U6 player at best. It certainly met only the very minimum standards and would not have met the current high school standards.