Month: September 2011

soccer

Single-Digit Soccer: OK, let’s back up a bit …

Posted on by Beau Dure

It looked so good in my head.

In my U8 team’s first scrimmage, they showed some aptitude for spreading the ball around, avoiding the “mob chasing a ball” mentality of U6s and U7s. I really thought we could build on it and make it a habit with a modified scrimmage that would encourage passing and using the width of the field.

So I put cones down to divide the field into thirds — lengthwise, like lane markers in a pool. We would play a 4-on-4 scrimmage in which, on each team, two players could be in the middle third and one could be in each outside lane.

The protests were immediate:

What are we trying to do? (Play soccer. Really.)

What can I do here on the wing? (Receive passes, then pass back.)

I don’t WANNA be on the wing! (We’re rotating – you’ll get your turn in the middle shortly.)

I don’t wanna wear a yellow penny! (OK, that’s an issue.)

I’d rather be doing math homework! (Oh, because you’re so good at following directions?)

(No, I didn’t actually say that.)

After about two minutes, I gave up on it and decided to use the lane markers for a simple passing drill. Form three lines, one in the middle and one along each line of cones. Each player has to touch the ball before scoring.

So while I struggled to get players into lines, the first group — the wise guys of this team — all ran to the middle of the field and literally touched the ball. Then one guy dribbled down and shot.

I finally got a group that would at least give it a try. A couple of players passed the ball back and forth, and it wound up on the feet of one player who stopped, slightly puzzled. “OK! Good job so far! Now pass it back to the middle.”

So he picked up the ball and started to cock his arm back like Tom Brady.

“No, no … with your feet.”

I gave them a water break, all the while lamenting that I hadn’t been committing this practice to video so I could email it to Claudio Reyna with a whole lot of profanity. (That would’ve been unfair — I can’t expect a youth soccer curriculum to account for kids who don’t know the word “pass” in a soccer context.)

I had already decided to yank the “angle of support” drill off the agenda for the evening. In the time it would’ve taken me to explain that one, two kids would’ve kicked half the team’s balls across the field, two more would’ve started a biology experiment with a couple of crickets they wound on the field, and the others wouldn’t be able to hear me.

First game is Saturday. Then I’ll have two days to figure out how to hold their attention and perhaps even teach a little soccer at the next practice.

2
medal projections, olympic sports

2012 medal projection update: Archery

Posted on by Beau Dure

SECOND/FINAL UPDATE: July 11

Here’s the original post. Since then, archery has had its World Championships in July 2011, several World Cup events and the world indoor championships in Las Vegas. Check the rankings for another look at the favorites; results and rankings are at archery.org, which isn’t set up for deeper linking.

Women’s individual: Is South Korea’s era of dominance over? They had no semifinalists at Worlds, where Chile’s Denisse Astrid van Lamoen beat Georgia’s Kristine Esebua in the final. Now, the rankings are much more diverse: Deepika Kumari (India), Bo Bae Ki (South Korea), Yuting Fang (China), Dasomi Jung (South Korea), Alejandra Valencia (Mexico), Ming Cheng (China), Berengure Schun (France) and the USA’s Miranda Leek — all ahead of van Lamoen. Jennifer Nichols is 14th; Khatuna Lorig 21st. Was KOR-KOR-IND; now India, South Korea, China

Women’s team: Another strange result at Worlds, with host Italy winning ahead of India, South Korea and China. The top four in the rankings: South Korea, India, Ukraine, China. Not changing the projection: South Korea, India, China

Men’s individual: The USA’s Brady Ellison prevented a South Korean sweep with a third-place finish at Worlds and is ranked No. 1 ahead of South Korea’s Dong Hyun Im and world champion Woojin Kim. Ukraine has a couple of contenders in the top 10. The other Americans are Jake Kiminski (#26) and Jacob Wukie (#49); #7 Joe Fanchin didn’t make the team. Was USA-KOR-ITA; now USA, South Korea, Ukraine

Men’s team: World Championship finish – South Korea, France, Italy. Initial projection was South Korea, Italy, Ukraine. And yet the USA is ranked first ahead of France and South Korea. Then it’s India and host Great Britain. This one’s tricky. Was KOR, ITA, UKR; now South Korea, France, USA

0
mma

Sort-of review: McCarthy/Hunt, “Let’s Get It On”

Posted on by Beau Dure

I should say at the outset that I’ve known Loretta Hunt, who wrote Let’s Get It On with “Big” John McCarthy, for a few years now. I don’t think you can know her without being impressed by her ability to maintain her professionalism and passion for the sport in what can only be described as a uniquely hostile work environment. She and I have had terrific conversations, funny and productive, about MMA, its history and the publishing world.

So I’m a little biased on this book, but I have another reason for giving this disclaimer. I’ve known for a while that Loretta was working on this book, and I probably wasn’t as enthusiastic as I should’ve been. He’s one of the sport’s enduring figures, yes, but would people really put a book by a referee at the top of their reading lists?

I mention those misgivings because, of course, I was dead wrong. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to know how the UFC made the transition from outlaw organization to billion-dollar phenomenon.

In retrospect, I clearly should’ve known better. McCarthy has had a unique view of the sport’s growth, being the third man in the cage in hundreds of important bouts from UFC 2 to the present. Yet his role is even larger than that. He didn’t just set the standard for how to be a referee — he developed the rules and sold them to skeptical commissioners and promoters. He saw the promise of the UFC as a legitimate sport and stuck with it.

And in the book, he’s remarkably candid. He speaks freely about other people’s mistakes, but he also takes responsibility for falling out with current UFC management.

The first part of the book is about his police career. Here, again, he has a unique perspective, being in the middle of three generations of law enforcement. Not everyone would agree with his take on a few issues facing the LAPD over the years, but it’s rare to have such a well-expressed view from someone in the line of duty.

His police career continued to overlap with his MMA career, and they’re woven together well. The book is an easy and engaging read. But at its core, it’s far more than an autobiography. It’s essential history.

0
soccer

Single-Digit Soccer: Sharks, minnows and reasonable goals

Posted on by Beau Dure

I’ve been writing about soccer on a steady basis for 12 years and irregularly before that. I’m deeply immersed in the issues of the sport in the USA from the national team through the pro leagues down to the youth level.

Now I’ve got another perspective on the game. I have been an assistant coach for two years at the U6 and U7 level. This fall, I’ll be an assistant on a U6 team and the head coach on a U8 team.

Single-Digit Soccer will be a regular SportsMyriad feature in which I talk about some of the issues I have encountered and will encounter. I’ll talk about striking a balance between those who consider soccer at the U5-U9 level a critical development period and those who consider it a glorified play date. It’s the balance of teaching one-touch skills to kids who can’t tie their shoes.

The issues and debates over youth soccer in the teen years are fairly well-documented. Club vs. school.* Club vs. ODP. Perhaps letting kids take a break from overly complicated drills to shoot the ball at those odd objects with netting at either end of the field.

Continue reading →

15
olympic sports, soccer

Tinkering with the 2012 WPS calendar

Posted on by Beau Dure

Big, big issue here. The World Cup took a lot of players away from WPS for a long time this year, and magicJack owner Dan Borislow was none too pleased.

Next year could be even worse. The Olympic final is Aug. 9. Assuming WPS doesn’t want to hold its playoffs without national team players, we have three general options:

  1. Wrap up the season in late June, before national team camps.
  2. Force national team players to return quickly and hold playoffs on the same schedule as this season: Aug. 15, Aug. 18, Aug. 25.
  3. Run the season into September.

Let’s run through a few questions first. I’ll give short answers that might be debatable.

How early do national team players need to leave? This season, the U.S. players left earlier than others, playing their final WPS games May 28. Players from Canada and Sweden played for Western New York on June 3. Players from England, Brazil and New Zealand stuck around until June 12. Japan’s Aya Sameshima made a cameo appearance for Boston that weekend, and given her team’s World Cup victory, it’s difficult to argue that the extra time in the States ruined her preparations.

So the U.S. players spent a full four weeks with the national team before the World Cup. That’s on top of the training they did at other times during the season. But that’s comparable to the U.S. men in 2010, who left their MLS teams after their May 15 games, played the first of their warmup friendlies on May 25, and kicked off in the World Cup on June 12.

European players actually spent a little longer with their clubs. The Champions League final was May 22. The gap between that game and the World Cup still far exceeded the FIFA regulation (PDF): 14 days.

Realistically, assume three or four weeks before the start of the Olympics. The first soccer games are July 25, so playing games through June 30-July 1 should be reasonable.

After the Aug. 9 final, players can physically make it back for midweek games Aug. 15, but they might not be fully recharged and reconnected with their teams until Aug. 25 or so.

SHORT ANSWER: Gone from July 2 to Aug. 15, with players easing back into WPS teams after that.

Can WPS play in September or later? In 2009 and 2011, the league wrapped up by the end of August. That’s an advantage for players who have coaching jobs during the school year. But the 2010 season, which ran through September, didn’t see an exodus of players leaving WPS teams for their coaching jobs.

The media landscape in the fall is jammed with football (the American kind). But Major League Soccer still has good crowds through the gridiron months. Getting space in a print newspaper is one thing, but as we’re often told (especially by DuNord), soccer is the sport of the Internet.

SHORT ANSWER: Yes.

How many games will national team players miss? I heard Philly coach Paul Riley say national team players might be around for only eight of 20 games next season, but I’m hoping I misheard him. There’s simply no reason for that. None whatsoever.

WPS did take a couple of weeks off this season, though a rescheduled game got in the way of a clean break. The Olympics are nearly a week shorter than the World Cup, and national teams shouldn’t need a prolonged “getting to know you” period. If WPS takes two weeks off out of the six weekends that players will be gone, there’s no reason for players to miss more than four games.

SHORT ANSWER: Four, at most.

How many games should WPS teams play? This one is tricky. In 2009, teams played 20. In 2010, they played 24. This year, 18.

That’s comparable to European leagues, though top teams in those leagues also have Champions League games on the schedule. Germany and France play 22. England started with 14 this year.

From a developmental point of view, players need more games. But the national team players will get more games throughout the year. For the rest of the WPS talent pool, there’s no reason teams can’t play friendlies during the Olympic break or elsewhere during the season. Maybe even take a longer Olympic break to play teams from the WPSL, W-League and NCAA.

SHORT ANSWER: 16 might be enough during a year with a World Cup or Olympic competition. No reason not to build back to 20 or more in 2013.

So let’s flesh out the schedule options:

OPTION 1: END SEASON BEFORE OLYMPICS

Working backwards, that means playoff games (assuming the same playoff format) June 20, June 23 and June 30. Regular season ends June 16.

Now let’s say we’ll play a short season of 16 games, condensed into 14 weeks. First games: March 17. Maybe play the first two weeks in southern venues.

OPTION 2: END SEASON RIGHT AFTER OLYMPICS

Playoffs Aug. 15, Aug. 18, Aug. 25. With a two-week Olympic break, the season would look pretty much like this season did, running from April 7 to Aug. 11. With two fewer games in our proposed schedule, we’d have fewer two-game weeks.

Without a two-week break, the league would have 19 weeks, certainly enough for 18 games.

OPTION 3: END SEASON IN SEPTEMBER

Four games in April, four in May, five in June (five weekends), two in July — that’s 15 before the Olympic break. Perhaps the Olympic break could be three weeks, still allowing plenty of time for 14 games at a leisurely game-a-week pace with no midweek games needed.

Restart with regular season games Aug. 18 and 25 to wrap a 16-game season and reintegrate Olympic players with their club teams. Playoffs follow, all wrapping up by Sept. 8.

Thoughts?

9