*** FLASH *** u play 3/6 @ kelly 1 against DMS441 @ 1:00pm. BT
Great News! We are playing March 6th, Saturday, at 1:00 in the afternoon. We will play at Kelly Park against a Divine Mercy team. This team is very tough; most of the kids are students at Divine Mercy. They spend three to six hours per day at soccer training or weight-lifting; and the DMS 6th grade team tied the Melbourne High Varsity team 3-3. I heard that the ovens at Divine Mercy's kitchen were out for three weeks before anyone noticed. Their soccer players eat their meat raw. I'm not saying their goal tender is good; just that he is ten feet tall, weighs two-tons, breathes fire, and could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing.
We have our work cut out for us.
Our schedule is posted on the right side of this blog.
Bob Dylan greets President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama during the Civil Rights concert in the East Room of the White House on February 9, 2010.
Yesterday’s practice was quite exciting. It appears that we have the makings of a nice little soccer team. With the brisk cool air, the players were gamboling like a bunch of puppies.
Our next practice will be Tuesday at 5:00 pm. With the sun setting as early as it does, we can only get a full 80 minute practice if we start at 5:00. If we go to all the trouble of dressing and driving we might as well play for a bit longer.
Some players cannot show up exactly at 5:00. No worries.
It is official! Our first soccer practice is Tuesday February 16th at 5:30pm. We will meet at the point of the traffic circle closest to the Cocoa Beach High School baseball field. Our practice will take place at the fields behind the track/football stadium.
Players should have: a ball, shoes and shin-guards. Do not worry about the size of the ball; just pump it up with air. There is a water fountain at the baseball field bathrooms, but thirsty players need to bring a water bottle. Comfortable shoes are a must. Cleats are good; but flat bottomed shoes are fine. Kids at this age grow like weeds; better comfortable flats than too small cleats.
Until the season starts, we will have practice on Tuesday and Thursday. Once we begin playing games, practice will be one day per week. If a kid cannot make practice, it will not effect the time he or she plays during the game. I understand that there are many other demands on the young players time; homework, instrument practice and differential calculus. The first practice is important because it is our chance to meet each other and get off to a good start. The goal of practice is for the kids to have fun; if they are not disappointed at missing a practice, I am not doing my job. More fun = better soccer.
While I will be shuttling kids on and off the field during the games; the goal of having each player play the same amount of time remains the same. Assuming a player attends all eight games; he or she should play exactly the same amount of time as every other player. Your child should expect to play for long, uninterrupted chunks of time. We are trying to encourage players to take risks and be creative; nobody gets pulled because of a bad play. The kids need to know that they will get taken off the field not because of some aspect of their play; but only because their allotted time has expired.
Executive Summary: 1) Practice 5:30 pm on Tuesday and Thursday. 2) Must have ball and shin-guards. 3) Attendance at first practice is important. 4) Meet Tom on the sidewalk by the handicapped parking nearest the Cocoa Beach High baseball field.
The pirouette is classic Zidane. He turns the attack forward at speed, hauls it to a stop, freezing defenders, then accelerates past. His control of the game led France to a 2006 quarterfinal victory over Brazil in the rematch of 1998's World Cup final.
2010 Spring Information
Welcome to the 2010 U-14 Spring Season! Practice begins on Tuesday, February 16, 2009.
We still need, and have room for, players. Our roster size is 18 and we still have room for five more players. We are looking for bigger, older U-14 players. Experience is not required. If you see a player we should have, but is not on the roster, e-mail me.
I have an exciting announcement. This spring, the players will be exposed to a professional trainer. I have retained Devin R., an experienced coach and soccer player who will be imposing a serious training regime on the players.
Devin is a college student who has played competition soccer at a very high level. He will be drilling the players on individual moves and tactics. At the start of the season, when there are no games, we will be having two practices per week, creating a structure to build upon during the game. Devon is also the coach of a Rockledge competition team, so we may not be able to have him at our games, but he will be with us when we need him most.
While the goal of our team remains to have fun; practice will not be the loosey-goosey experience we had in the fall; Devon will be expecting our player to be as motivated and intense as the other competition players he coaches. Players will need to come to practice fully equipped and ready to play. (Our kids need to dress for soccer (this means shin-guards) and bring their own water and ball.) Devon, has been fully educated in the Dutch Method of soccer instruction and has worked with the youth program of Amsterdam’s Ajax. Our plan is to start off strong with intense practices and ease off as the season move on. We intend to teach the kids some of the standard movements so that as they learn the faints and dribbles they can incorporate individual skills into group play. However, just because we are focusing on individual skills does not mean we have abandoned the idea of creative, attacking soccer. Serious soccer can still be fun!
This season communication between the parents and players and team management will also be different. I have organized an electronic bulletin board which will contain all the information on practices and games. Comments can be posted. (If you notice, there are no last names on the board; for security, I use first names and identifying initials.) On this site, there are three polls on the right side, just below the “welcome to Cocoa Beach” picture. I am collecting parent input on the date and time of practice. This is the place to enter your desires on practices. We are still two weeks away from the start of practice. I am thinking about Tuesday and Friday practices until games start and then moving to one practice on Tuesday night. Enter your input.
One last thought. The plan our soccer club developed last fall was not able to be accomplished and the core of experienced U-14 players has dropped from 10 to 4 (a very good quartet, but four non-the-less). We are taking a group of young players into their first season of 11 v. 11, full field soccer; please lower your expectations. If we win a single game, our season will be a success.
