COVER
Can you guess who this young "Stud" is??The Pulse! No. #16
COVER STORY & LATEST HEADLINES:Dragon's interview with the youngest most Charismatic DOC in the state...JASON QUINTERO - Part 1!DRAGON: How long have you been coaching? JQ: Since I was 16, so about 9 years. I would say my venture into coaching was a little bit of natural ability and mostly a lot of fate. I just got hired to be the kid that washes windows and picks up garbage at the new indoor soccer facility (the now defunct Soccer House) in Tri-Cities, where I grew up. My second day of work, the lady that was running the indoor clinics for ages 3-10 was sick. My boss had me fill in and run these clinics that day with 15 minutes notice. My dad coached me for a number of years, and I was always captain of my club and high school teams, so I had a little bit of leading ability, but had never even thought about coaching until I was pushed into it that day. It all came pretty natural for me. I love kids and I love soccer, so I hit it off pretty well. At the end of that indoor session, the lady had moved out of town for another job and I was hired to be Youth Programs Coordinator for the facility, putting me in charge of everything associated with kids playing soccer at the facility, including leagues and clinics. Looking back, I can't believe I was 16 and playing high school soccer, club soccer, getting up at 6am and going to school, and working every night until 10 or 11pm. Maybe I'm more of a wuss now or something, but that just seems insane to me now. DRAGON: By your picture you appear pretty young, are you the youngest DOC in Wa state that you are aware of? Do you know of any younger ones anywhere? JQ: As far as I know, I believe I'm the youngest in the state. But once again, I'm not sure. I'm 25 now, and was 24 when I was hired. I like to think of my age as both a gift and a curse for my job. On one hand, I can still relate to the culture of the youth, but I'm also college educated with a degree in interdisciplinary studies and 1 quarter away from a secondary education/social studies degree. So I can talk with my teenage girls about the songs on their iphone, and how Kanye West is better than 50 Cent, and then turn around and have professional conversations with fellow coaches and parents. On the flip side, when I first started, it was interesting talking soccer with coaches in the club who have been doing this for as long as I've been alive. Thankfully, we have a great group of coaches who have been really accepting of me and my feedback. DRAGON: You worked as the asst coach for the woman's team of Eastern Wa University, how was that experience for you? How did you come to get that job? JQ: It was an awesome experience, that was once again, a total product of fate. I played at Columbia Basin College in Tri Cities, where I met my current girlfriend and "fell in love". She was a year older than me, and she transferred to play at EWU her junior year, while I stayed and finished my soph. year at CBC, we tried to the whole long distance thing. It wasn't working great, so I quit my job at the Soccer House, transferred up to EWU spring quarter of my soph year, with the plan being I'll use my redshirt year during her senior year, then she'd go to grad school to wherever I wanted to play after my year off.
But this was my first experience away from home, first experience with the a real college lifestyle in general, and it got to me. I had no identity anymore, not being an athlete six days a week and not working around soccer at all, I got caught up in the college lifestyle. There's just now a lot of research being done about former professional athletes and their troubles transitioning into "real" society after their careers are over. I think they could do similar research to college athletes who go through similar experiences. I know for myself, I didn't want anything to do with soccer anymore. I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and had all this free money (aka grants and loans) to blow on whatever I wanted. I tried intramural soccer, but got a red card for scoring a bicycle kick. I tried EWU club soccer, but just couldn't really get into it. I decided I was done playing soccer. My dad, at that time, was bugging me to tryout for the Spokane Shadow team, because some of my former teammates were playing in the PDL with the Yakima Reds and Sounders Select teams. So finally I did, just to get him off my back, and then I accidentally made a couple of cuts. After a couple months of training, I got to play in a preseason friendly against Gonzaga. A starting defender got hurt, so I got pushed into playing central defense (I've never played in the back in my life, but being 6'2 200lbs they thought I should) for 80 minutes that game. I didn't play that bad considering they were having us play an offside trap, and I was slow as molasses and had no idea what the heck I was doing.
I thought I had a decent chance to get one of the last roster spots, but instead I got an email the next week, after being at practice the night before, informing me that I was being released. I wasn't upset at all at being cut. After all, I never expected to make it past the first cut, let alone train with the team for almost 2 months. But I was absolutely irate that I was cut by email. I decided the day I got that email, that I was going to be the most successful soccer coach I could, and that whenever I had to let a player go, I'd at least give them the dignity of a phone call or a face to face talking to.
At the time, I was working in the athletic department at EWU cleaning football uniforms and setting up soccer game equipment, so I had a little relationship with George and Tamara Hageage, the coaches for the women's team. My girlfriend had just finished her playing career there so she knew them pretty well obviously, and and their coach that ran their JV squad was a former player that was moving. The week after getting the email from the Shadow, I cornered George and asked him if he needed help with the JV team, told him my coaching and playing history, and he pretty much hired me on the spot. It was a great leap of faith on his part. I was technically a volunteer, but was able to transfer my work study monies to my new job as assistant coach for the EWU team. The lesson for young people looking to coach would be to work hard, keep an open mind, bang on doors, and try as hard as you can to get your foot in the door wherever you can. Keep the focus on the players overall soccer experience and the rest will take care of itself if you keep plugging along. DRAGON: How did you gain the respect of the players being that young? Did you learn anything that translates to your current job? JQ: That first year, I was a glorified ball boy. I took stats, shagged balls, and all that peon stuff. But the best part was when we were odd players and I got to play with the girls. I was 21 that spring, and the oldest players were just turning 21 and becoming seniors the following fall. I didn't have much coach-player contact with them, instead preferring to try to influence the younger players as much as I could. Playing with the girls, they could see that I could play and somewhat knew what I was talking about, so that helped out a lot. Whenever a coach focuses on doing whatever he can for their players, the players take notice and will respect that. I just tried to focus on providing whatever I could to make the team better and help the players realize their potential.
As far as stuff that translates over, there was tons. First off, I had never coached girls over the age of 10. Here I was with 18-21 year old women. My first "what the heck" moment was my first year when a girl came to practice, seemed fine one minute, and just starting crying hysterically all of a sudden the next minute. I guess she had some boyfriend drama or something. This stuff never happens in boys soccer. It definitely gave me a wake up call in terms of the dramatic differences coaching girls and boys soccer. Tactically, George is the best I had ever seen in terms of teaching the chess game of formations vs. formations, and exposing strengths and weaknesses therein. It was like going to a coaching clinic every day, except not having to pay for it. Finally, in my second and third years at EWU, I was running more and more activities, and even a few full training sessions occasionally. Another lesson learned; fit in where you get in, don't rock the boat, and keep the focus on the game and the players, and learn everything you can. DRAGON: Besides being the DOC, do you have a full time job outside of soccer? JQ: I do not. Before I was hired, I was finishing my second degree, bouncing at a bar in downtown Spokane (which was VERY interesting experience), and coaching a girls premier team for River City, and was still active with the EWU Women's team. After I was hired, I dedicated my entire life to the DOC position, as well as coaching my GU15 and GU17 teams. DRAGON: What made you get involved with your club in the first place? Why not Spokane Shadow, the PDL club in your area? JQ: George Hageage was the part-time coaching director for River City Soccer Club. My first year being an assistant for him, he had a RCSC coach leave midseason and asked me to fill in. That was my first gig with club soccer. It just happened to be River City. The next year, I filled in for another boys team that needed a coach. The year after that, a girls team's coach had to move away in May, two weeks before LPTs. George had me fill in there as well, and I still coach that team. We just qualified in June to P3, taking the core of players from district, to P4, to P3 in the past few years, including a Challenge Cup win.
During George's tenure as DOC of RCSC, the club went from around 7-8 teams to over 30 teams now, and around 450 players. George couldn't devote the time to both RCSC and his EWU program anymore, so he stepped down last winter and they opened up their first ever full time DOC position for the club, and hired me. So once again, just a product of fate and luck that led me to this particular club over any other. DRAGON: What are your feelings on the PDL? JQ: Oh man, I figured you'd go there! As a DOC and a fan of soccer in general, I feel it important to have players playing against similar competition. So I understand the intentions. But I've always lived by the "if it ain't broke, don’t fix it" rule. Were there that many problems with the previous (and current) WSPL setup? I really don't know.
I think a telling sign of the age we live in is the fact that when I was playing for Three Rivers SC in Tri Cities (actually before there was a 3RSC), I had no idea we were playing P1. I knew we had a good team and we won state one year, took second the next, and lost in the semifinals after that. Now everybody is so obsessed with P1, P2, PDL, which tournaments they've placed in, etc. It's really disgusting, because the trickle down effect from the parents eventually impacts the players' overall soccer experience.
I guess the bottom line about the PDL is that whether or not your child's team isn't included shouldn't have a bearing on the amount of fun they're having playing soccer. It's the parents who view their kid playing soccer as an investment in a college scholarship that keep perpetuating the pressure on players, coaches, and clubs regarding which league their kid plays in. And there's a lot of them out there. A great example of this is when you mentioned a new elite youth league and were flooded by a bunch of emails from parents talking about how great their kids are and how they need to play in this supposed new elite league. I didn't know to laugh or cry about that. On one hand, it's funny, on the other side, it’s really, really sad.
We currently have all the requirements to be eligible for PDL; full time DOC, academy setup, etc. Our teams do decent in league play. But it's really difficult to get many of our teams to participate in State Cup due to the travel and money involved, as well as the fact that many of our players do winter sports. I'm not a fan of telling a 13 year old girl she can't play basketball anymore. As far as we know, you're only a teenager once, so they should be able to live it up.
If we get invited to the PDL, great. If not, I'm not going to lose sleep about it. DRAGON: Do you coach teams as well as being DOC? JQ: I have a GU15 District team and a GU17 P3 team. DRAGON: Well you said one of your teams won the Challenge Cup in 2007, how was that experience for you as a coach? JQ: It was a great ride of up and downs. We started off as down as you can get too! We had 1 week of practice before scrimmaging our GU15 RCSC Thunder team, a younger P2 team. We had scrimmaged before and beat them comfortably a few times, but this time, my girls just didn't have their heads in it, and they lost 3-0. In the first Cup game, we traveled to Snohomish and lost 2-0. Then we tied away at Westsound 0-0. We squeaked out a home win against FC Milan 1-0. We made it through the group stages with a grand total of 1 goal scored. Then, something clicked in the quarterfinal and we went on to play our best football in the final 3 games. The final feather in the hat was that we beat a good FC Aanvallen team that beat us in a shootout at LPT's in the P3/P4 final game. They went P3, rolled through, and now are P2, while we struggled in the middle of P4. We were fortunate to have beat Aanvallen 3-2 in the final, and our girl that missed the PK in the 6th round of shooters at LPT's for us to lose, ended up scoring with 2 minutes left in the Challenge Cup Final to give us the win. It was like living a Disney movie.
Another part of the trek was our travels. We had a grand total of 1 home game of 6 overall games. We traveled to the west side of the state 5 times in 6 weeks. For the girls and parents not to get burned out was a great testament to their character and determination. DRAGON: How long have you been aware of WPS? How did you become aware of it? JQ: I've been lurking for almost 2 years now. I believe I stumbled across it while googling something, but I can't remember what. DRAGON: Why do you think so few people from Ea. Wa. post here? JQ: I'm not sure if that's a result of the population difference, or just lack of awareness/interest, or what. I'd definitely like to see more east siders become active on the site, though. DRAGON: You admitted to me you have a "Love/Hate" relationship with WPS...can you explain that for us? JQ: (laughs) well... Let me preface everything I'm about to say by saying it's a great site, with a lot of great people. Overall, I'd estimate 95% of the material, 95% of the posters, they're all positive and engaging in constructive conversation that is really healthy for our game. But there's always bad apples that have a tendency for spoiling things.
After being named DOC this spring, I decided to frequent the site again and see what people across the state think about our club and Eastern Washington soccer in general. I hadn't been to the site in a number of months, so I had a lot of back reading to do. I came across a post where someone said something to the effect to "We were playing against a team and they kept trying to hurt our players", and the follow up post from another person said, "Yeah probably a River City team, they're dirty." I was appalled. First, why a person would come on the internet under the protection of anonymity and attack minors blows my mind. And to attack another club, it's not like attacking a kid, but it's still ridiculous. As far as I know, all clubs in WSYSA are non-profit setups. Does this poster really think we have special meetings where I teach coaches how to teach kids to hurt opponents?
Some parents have misconceptions that clubs are these big, giant, corporations with secret handbooks and codes where we require players to play dirty or their coaches get fired. Every team has a different personality within every club, some have physical players, some have technical players. It's insane to think of one club a "dirty" and the next as angels. Players and teams vary so much.
There also seems to be a general despisal for DOC's as well. I've seen a couple people post things about "those greedy DOC's", like I'm some kind of millionaire. It's an interesting job, where I get, on average, about 1 night a week to maintain a healthy living relationship with my girlfriend, spend 6 days a week coaching, evaluating, communicating, scheduling, etc. I'm out of the house from 4-9pm on most weeknights and from 8am to 4pm on weekends. My girlfriend works a 9-5. Our bonding time is usually her sitting next to me when I'm coaching or evaluating other teams, or when she practices with my girls teams. I make enough to pay my bills and don't have any health insurance, aside from on-field coaching insurance. Aside from a couple SoCal DOC's who I met at a DOC conference in San Jose this spring, who really are rolling in money, this is the lifestyle of other DOC's. (One of my favorite presenters at the DOC Conference talked about stress management in the lifestyle of DOC's, and said something like, you're constantly away from real life, you're out of town constantly, and in the end, my relationship with my girlfriend suffered and we went our separate ways, but luckily I still had my wife around!) The bottom line is that it's not a glamorous or financially extravagant lifestyle, but I'd rather do something I love then make a little more money stuck in a corporate ladder.
People that use the site as a sounding off forum to attack people (coaches, DOC's, players, parents) and non profit entities (clubs) really turn me off to the site and I've stayed away for many months at a time because of it, but like I said, there's a lot of positivity that outweighs those bad apples. DRAGON: What are your thoughts on the over-all treatment and perception of Eastern Washington teams in our state? JQ: It's kind of disconcerting. Growing up playing in Tri-Cities, and now coaching in Spokane, we were on the road every other weekend. It's hard for players and parents, both in time and financial commitments. You hear from west-siders how horrible it is to travel over here; too windy, too snowy, too hot, horrible reffing, horrible fields, I've heard it all. This coming from people who come over, what, 4-6 times a year total ? That's half a season's worth of travel for us. Having been around the country, I've seen every one of those aforementioned factors in every state I've played/coached in. When EWU played USC in LA last year, we we're on the most beautiful pitch money could buy, the weather was a ridiculously balmy 75 degrees in September, and the linesman didn't know that even is onside to save his life. This was supposedly a top notch SoCal reffing crew. There's poor reffing, and good refs having bad days everywhere! There's poor weather and fields everywhere! And we don't ride our horses into town to play our games over here! (Plus we just got indoor plumbing last year).
I think the new WSYSA regime is taking some great steps though. I'm excited that they're finally holding an event on the east side of the state (Soccer Summit, Nov 10-11) to hear what we have to say. Some immediate changes I'd like to see regard the locations of State Cup games. Like I said before we traveled 5 times in 6 weeks. The "neutral" site for the semi and final were in Silverdale, the farthest possible location for us to go. I don't understand why this cant be fixed. Games in Ellensburg sound like a great idea to me when East/West teams have to play each other.
As far as the general state of soccer in Eastern Washington, I think it's very healthy. I live right next to a grade school, and one day this summer I hear all these kids screaming. I look outside and there's about 15 kids, aged 5-12ish, running around playing a pickup soccer game. I hadn't seen anything like it since I lived in Tri-Cities, and Hispanics would play anywhere and everywhere in informal games. Here were a bunch of white kids, and couple African American kids, playing a pickup game of soccer, with no adults around, when they could have been home playing video games. It almost made me cry I was so happy. DRAGON: So you think diversity is important for our game? JQ: 100% absolutely, yes. I saw you had some stuff from Gabe Rood on the site awhile back. I was actualy talking with him a few weeks ago and he told me there were over 30,000 youth foreigners in California alone that were not participating in organized, USSF sanctioned soccer. We really need to do a better job finding those players, regardless of economic or racial/language status, and give them a place to play.
On my club team I grew up playing on, we had 2 Hispanics that didn't speak English, a Korean/Mexican kid, a Brazilian kid, an African American kid, 1.5 Hispanics that spoke English, and our GK's parents were from England (I was the .5 Hispanic, in case you are wondering), poor kids that were scholarshipped (myself included), and really well off kids. We had 2 kids that were in and out of Juvenile jail for anger management problems. It was really a rag tag/mixed bag bunch.
There's something to be said about what diversity does for team chemistry as well. We had maybe 3 "pure" soccer players, that were born to play this sport and this sport only. Of course, these were people from other ethnicities than white. Other than that, we had a bunch of above average athletes that were effective because they worked hard, but were not pure, technically gifted players by any means. We shouldn't have been as successful as we were, but I think the chemistry and harmony of different ethnicities' styles of play coming together helped us out a lot. To this day, I still notice that 3 Rivers teams are usually the most diverse in the state. They do a really good job at young ages making soccer available and affordable for everybody. DRAGON: What future do you see for your club? JQ: I've always said, if you get good people doing good things for the right reasons, good things will happen. If our coaches continue to put player development over results, I'll be happy. We are not going to measure our success on wins and losses. It's this philosophy that has attracted so many players, parents, and coaches to our club in recent years, and it's that philosophy that will help us down the road as well. DRAGON: What do you feel your teams (the one's you personally coach) chances are this year? Will they play in State cup, or Challenge again? JQ: My GU17 team will play State Cup, and I'd like to see if my GU15 team is ready for Challenge Cup. We'll see how they develop this winter and go from there. As far as expectations, our goal for the GU17 team is to promote to P2 and have a decent showing in State. My GU15 team's goal is to continue to progress throughout the spring and have a stronger showing (and a little more luck) at LPTs next year and qualify P3, which I know they're capable of. DRAGON: Well, that's the end of Part 1, cannot wait til next week for Part 2 :mrgreen: HEADLINES!PATRIOTS 94 ROCK IN ARIZONA!
While the rest of us were enjoying the muddy fields and bad weather up in Needletown, the Patriots 94 Blue took their show on the road to Arizona to face off with some of the best of the West! On their plate was the Arizona state champs, Arsenal from Albuquerque, and MSC United from Az. The tournament was hosted by the Serno White team (Arizona state champs). Facing off with them first the Patgals played some of their finest soccer. Losing the war, but winning a moral battle with their style of play and overall Heart & Fire out on the pitch. Geared up for their 2nd game they brought it to the New Mexico team and showed them what Wa soccer is all about while getting the "W". In their final game they again showed they could score on the out of state teams and held off a tough MSC United team for the draw! Here are their results:
0-3 Loss Sereno White (Az. State Champs and winner of the tournament)
1-0 Win Albuquerque Arsenal
1-1 Tie MSC United Az.Great job Patriots, we here back in Washington are all very proud of you and look forward to your safe return home!!! Go Pats!!! :mrgreen:
COACH WHO CARES SHOWS US WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN LIFE
Dragon received this PM and wanted to share it all with you in the Pulse:
Dear Dragon,
Last Saturday Harbor FC ‘94 Canas was treated to a special moment before our game. It has been a sad time for this team as one of our teammate’s relatives was diagnosed with lung cancer……never smoked a day in her life and she is only in her 40’s!
The teammate is Mac, who is a wonderful forward and an exemplary team captain!
Coach Oscar Canas knew that several members of this player’s family would be attending our home game and wanted to do something special.
The girls arrived an hour early as usual, warming up, preparing for the task at hand. Right before game time Coach Canas retrieved from an ordinary looking bag, specially ordered t-shirts. The girls were thrilled with new gear complete with Harbor F.C. emblem on the front, player number on the back, and something special on the sleeve of each shirt. Coach Canas had placed on new gear the name of our player’s Aunt, including a white ribbon symbolizing this deadly disease.
I have to say it was the most emotional start to a game that I have ever witnessed, and how special for a Coach to care to go to great lengths to recognize the struggles that a teammate is going through. I watched as all the family members went up and hugged the Coach. Unfortunately, the Aunt was too ill to attend the game, but there were many “cell phone” pictures taken and immediately sent to Aunt Terri.
Please send your best wishes to Terri Hunziker…..we’re wishing the family all the best!
Thank you Coach Oscar – for setting an example for what is TRUELY IMPORTANT!
What a wonderful thing to do coach, You are awesome!!!...and D is sure, all of WPS will be saying a prayer for you Terri...
LEAGUE LOONEYNESS!"League News!"First we will look at the "highlighted" games that happened this past weekend:
PASTLets see how Dragon did with his GOTW picks in week #7!
U11Synergy vs
Crush Dragon say - Synergy 1-0Final-Crush 2-1 :oops:
U12Dist 6 baby!
Mead Sabers F. vs
LC United Dragon say - Sabers 8-0Final-Sabers 6-0 :mrgreen: yeah! D got one right LOL
U13Or. Silver time
FCSC Nemesis vs
LOSC Dynamite Dragon say - Nemesis 2-0Final-tie 1-1 (damn) :oops:
U14P1 time
MRFC Thunder vs
SSFC White 94 Dragon say - Thunder 1-0Final-SSFC White 3-1 :oops: Should stick behind my 94's
Dragon 1-3 this past week...I suck so bad...arrrgggghhhh! :lol:
For all other game scores go to our new
STANDINGS AREA. For recaps though, you know what to do....please look to our Recap thread for week #7:
http://washingtonpremiersoccer.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6663and as always, If there is not enough blah blah blah there for you, then you only have
yourselfs to blame :lol:
FUTUREU11Boys PDL A
Sno-Ho vs
Crossfire M. - well a CP wanted the "Friday night lights" kind of attn to this big game, and thats what they are gonna get! Crossfire is gonna be seeking some payback for last weeks loss to the RR-boys. Meanwhile Sno-ho wants to be more then just a "third string" team...Can the boys from Sno-Ho join the ranks of the elite?
Dragon says - Crossfire 3-2U12D6 Umbro
Spokane Elite vs
Mead Sabers - This is gonna be a battle over in the land EW. Two undefeated teams going head to head for the final game of the season!! Spokane is 9-0-2 and Sabers are 10-0-0. Will one of these teams knock off the other from the ranks of the undefeated? It will be a knock down drag out for sure!
Dragon says - Sabers 2-1U13Girls PDL A
Crossfire Amy vs
HPFC Eagles - The Eagles are looking to jump up from the middle of the pack while the Batgirls are looking for their first win! As an Amy parent said last year; "We can tie anybody" lol. But this week they want more then that. Last week a key player for the Eagles was injured, will she be back for this game?
Dragon say - Batgirls 1-0!U14Girls PDL A
FC Vancouver vs
Timbers Red - Right now the Timbers have the better record but that usually don't matter when these two teams met. Rivalry baby, and a great one at that. Both teams will leave it out on the field in this one. Timbers looking to climb up to the top, and Vancouver looks to over take them. Only 2 pts seperate the two teams right now.
Dragon say - Timbers 2-1That's it for now. Will do 4 more
"highlighted gotw" next issue :mrgreen:
WPS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK!!!
**Any age group that has more then 5 nominations will also get some "shout outs" from Dragon!BOYS U11#16 RYAN - WPFC BLACK! - This young stud played Defense out of his mind this past weekend. Knowing that he was going against the mighty Crossfire in a battle for 1st only fueled his fire. He did an awesome job of not diving in too soon, clearing the ball, and utilizing his team mates when he needed. Great job young stud, Dragon is proud of you! :mrgreen:
GIRLS U12#16 MOLLY - SYNERGY! - This young superstar played in goal in the first half, and was covered chest to foot in mud. She didn't stop every goal against Fusion, but played with such Heart & Fire the other team took notice. Out on field in the 2nd half, you could spot her by the whites covered in mud. Great job young superstar, Dragon is very proud of your grit! :mrgreen:
U13#1 MADDY - EVERGREEN WHITE! - This young superstar played with pure Heart & Fire all weekend to keep her team from getting a "L". She had a beautiful cross on Sat to even up the Game with Dos White, then on Sunday facing her first ever "off side trap" it took her a while to figure it out, but by the second half she not only scored, but got her first Hat Trick Ever!! Great job little star, may you have many more in the future! Dragon is proud of you! :mrgreen:
shout outs:#11 Ali - EFC White
#22 Shelby - NWN Red
#18 Nick - WPFC Black (Boys)
U14NONE! - Sorry 93's, no one saw your games this weekend :oops:
Thats it for this week, keep those nominations coming in next week!! :mrgreen:
CRAZY PARENT WATCH:"Shout out to da newbies"A few new posters this week that Dragon noticed! As always lets give a shout out to all the new ones that have taken the time to post at least one post since joining recently:
This week Dragon would like to point out!
teamdoc
Only 1 Dragon noticed that posted since last week, please let me know if I missed someone! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
"A view from the Mini-Van"
The talk about player pass has died down a little. But here are some serious questions for parents to think about. If your child is in the PDL, they have the “luxury” of being challenged if they are one of the top players on the “B” or “C” team and can move around within their club even after the looming Oct. 31st deadline.
Here are 2 other scenarios to look at:
1- Your child is on a “B” team of a non-pdl club. They wanted to be there, even though they had the opportunity to play with the “A” team, because at the time, they were “snowed” into believing or really believed it would be better for development. Now here they are middle of Oct, and realizing that is not the case. The “A” team would love to have them, and they really want to play, but that would mean “leaving” their team. How do you guide your child and how should the ”B” team coach support the player? If this was or is a club that wants to belong to the PDL, shouldn’t that child be encouraged to play with the “A” team??
2- Your child is on a non pdl team, their season is not what they had hoped for, and half the girls on the team aren’t even committed to practices or games anymore. Your child is wanting to and you would like for them to have a better opportunity. They are a committed and serious player, at tryouts you really weren’t sure what your options were. You know they are not really having fun losing game after game and the others on the team, don’t really care. An opportunity arises for the kid to be challenged. He/She wants to go for it, but is concerned about his/her teammates. Child talks to the coach, how should that coach support this child? Knowing that player and most likely the team will not even be together next year.
These are just issues that have come up while talking to other parents and I am curious about what the views are. This is much different than bailing at the last minute, and without warning. These are situations that were done while having conversations with the coaches and the kids looking to their coaches for support.
"WPS Paparazzi"Our Paparazzi continues to do a bang up job! Give her a raise!! :mrgreen:
Dragon has only 1 word to describe the new turf at Riverroad!.....
FANFREAKINGTASTIC!!!"...Out on the Pitch"Please submit pictures for the newsletter to the Pulse email
Our very own, U12 Player Of The Week! Shows off her love of mud! :mrgreen: 
The Patriots 94 keep their "touch" going strong with a little kick around at the Airport! :mrgreen:
**Please continue to send pix's to the Pulse newsroom! Anything soccer related is welcome!** :mrgreen: "Help! Is there a Doctor in the house?"
*Send all medical questions for "the doctor" to the Pulse email address*Dr.
Everytime I look at my coach he says I have a twinkle in my eye. My mother says that when you "like someone" that there is a medical reason for the "Twinkle". Is this true? Can you explain it to me?This sounds like a question for Esquire magazine or maybe Cosmo. :lol: The Doc knows that happiness oozes from the soul and the eyes are the reflection of that happiness. Or maybe you just have something caught in your eye
Stay healthy,
The Doc
GIRLS U13 NORTH-CALIFORNIA REPORTS!!!
Hi Washington, no games this weekend, but the girls enjoyed a friday night out to watch the Santa Clara Broncos womens team beat Pepperdine 2-1. We have some scrimmage games lined up for the upcoming weekend against our good friends the Livermore Flames.
Thanks Chili Reporter. Love hearing about all the action or even the lack there of :mrgreen: *Are you letting other Nor-Cal CP's know about our site?
OTHER NEWS AND GOSSIP AND TIDBITS:"SIDELINE SNIPPETS"Hmmm. not a lot happening this weekend
I do know that several teams were out practicing thier dribbling skills on Thursday during the windstorm, kinda hard to try and shoot with the wind coming right at ya. One player stated after practice. "This was the best practice ever" because the wind made for some interestng practice techniques
Heard in the indoor areana during the wind storm, as long as the lights stay on, I coud play here all night. Can we have a soccer slumber party? please :mrgreen:
"COACHS CORNER!"This weeks topic for the coach is
"The Wall?"
Alright everyone I had another great question this week.
Information on setting up a wall to defend a direct kick.
How many players are normally in the wall?
Is it determined by where the kick is taken from.
Who sets the Wall? Is it the keeper?
I assume the keeper plays a huge role in this as the wall is covering part of the goal for them.
These questions are mostly from a defensive point of view, what do you do offensively when taking a kick
First of all let me start this by making it clear every coach has their own style and ideas when it comes to set pieces, both offensive and defensive. So these ideas are my own.
How many players are normally in the wall? This really depends on how close the free kick is to your goal. Usually outside of 30 yards you may have a 2-3 man wall. Once you get between 25-30 yards usually a 4 man wall, and inside of that a 5 man wall.
Who sets the Wall? Is it the keeper? Some people may ask a defender to set the all, however I am not a fan of this at all and I have my goal keeper set the wall, for two reasons. The first reason is the goal keeper is the one saving the ball. They are the ones that see the whole field and know how many people and where they want the wall to be (obviously this is easier as they get older and more experienced). Second If you have a defender setting it what do you do when they are subbed out on the bench? The goal keeper usually stays in the entire game and is the one constant on your team whichever team you are on.
what do you do offensively when taking a kick? Wow there are tons of options someone has when offensively taking kicks. For me it depends on where the kick is on the field. If its past 35-40 yards out I want a player who can lift a ball without driving it to give the players time to reach it in front of the goal before the goal keeper gets it. This way it’s a true 50/50. If its within 25-30 yards depending on how strong a foot my player has I will have them shoot with everyone crashing the back post where the shot is going. This way with a decent shot the goal keeper will have a hard time holding on to the ball and hopefully it will either score on the shot, or by a rebound. 20-25 yards out. I like to do something somewhat unique. The point of the wall is to block the near post while allowing the goal keeper to cover the back post and still see the ball. I prefer to have a few players crash the goal, but also set up my own 4-5 man wall next to the defensive wall. The point of this wall is to block the goal keepers few of the ball completely. This makes it very tough for them to react to the ball, and makes it easier to score off of the kick.
Thank you for the great question and hopefully this helps answer your questions. Have a great day.
"VIEW FROM BEHIND THE WHISTLE"Myths of the Game and other Nonsense
The Advantage Rule
I would appreciate a discussion of the advantage rule. There are sometimes complaints in WPS discussions as to whether this rule is being applied correctly.
I have an illustration from a girls U14 WSYSA Premier 3 soccer game last weekend that may serve a starting point for a discussion.
There was close range shot on goal in a crowd from a forward that went in and immediately out of the arms of the goalie. Three players (the forward, goalie and another defensive player) tumbled to ground close to the penalty spot. The other forward kicked the ball into the goal. Then the whistle blew. There was about 1 to 2 seconds between the two shots on goal.
The referee placed the ball near the penalty spot and both teams appeared confused. The offensive team began to back down the field and the defensive player after a pause began to approach the ball to kick it. Before the kick was attempted the referee again blew the whistle and explained that he was awarding a penalty kick. The penalty kick was attempted and the goalie saved it.
The coach of the team on offence asked why call had been had been made and the referee said the goalie had grabbed the forward’s (who first shot) ankles and impeded her from getting back to her feet. When asked why goal did not count even though it preceded the whistle. The referee said that he had made his decision before he blew the whistle.
I have a gut feeling the advantage in this case was taken away by the awarding of the penalty kick. I’d be pleased to hear your comments on this or on the rule in general.
In your scenario, the referee is correct. Play was stopped when the referee decided to stop play, not when the whistle blows (which only announces his decision). This referee was not situationally aware and did not recognize the goal scoring opportunity; therefore he did not play Advantage. A very unfortunate result, but it happens.
If the sequence of events is such that the referee can "sell" a different decision, it might be wise for the referee to decide he really blew the whistle to recognize that a goal was scored. But the referee in this scenario was correct in Law.
What about advantage, ref?
From USSF Advice to referees:
Applying advantage permits the referee to allow play to continue when the team against which the foul has been committed will actually benefit from the referee not stopping play.
In a typical match, there are rarely more than 3 or 4 true advantage play situations. Retaining possession of the ball after a foul is not sufficient reason to play advantage. The referee must judge that there is greater advantage to the fouled team by continuing play than stopping for a free kick.
The referee can allow a few seconds to see if the advantage he foresaw develops. If it doesn’t, he can stop play for the original offense.
Advantage is often confused or mistaken with trivial and doubtful fouls or violations.
Trivial: Player dribbling the ball near the halfway line is kicked in the shin, but he retains possession and doesn’t want to stop playing. This player considered that foul trivial. When making a decision on whether a foul is trivial, the referee evaluates the foul from the perspective of the fouled player – does the fouled player consider it trivial? If the player doesn’t consider it trivial, then retained ball possession by the player or another teammate is NOT enough to continue play.
Doubtful: Player dribbling the ball near the halfway line appears to get slightly tripped but retains possession. Essentially the referee didn’t see the foul contact. The player might have grimaced, tripped slightly, or something else that indicates a foul may have occurred. But not having seen foul contact and judging that it has not affected play, the referee considers the incident doubtful and takes no action.
Advantage: Player is tripped just past the halfway line, the ball rolls to a teammate who has an unchallenged run towards goal. The referee signals advantage (both arms sweep forward and calls out “Advantage” or “Play on” or both). The teammate runs toward the Penalty Area and takes a shot on goal. Advantage has been properly played.
As a rule of thumb, there is almost never advantage in the defensive third, rarely in the middle third, and only sometimes in the attacking third. In the modern game, set plays at free kicks have become important goal scoring opportunities. Players often prefer the free kick.
"Dear Eggy"Dear Eggy,
This question is a little off of the normal line of questions. My DD hopes to earn a soccer scholarship to pay for her studies. My husband and I are more realistic and are wondering if you know of the best way to save for her education.
Financialy yours,
Mamamoney Dear Mamamoney,
You are right, this one is a little out of left field. The Eggster did a little research and has found some answers for you. 1). The state of Washington has a program called the GET program. This program allows you to buy college tuition at todays prices. If you go to
www.access.wa.gov you can find a link that will be helpful. 2). If you have a financial advisor ask them about a 529 college savings plan and or a Coverdale plan. these are after tax saving plans for college educations.
Be advised, I am not a fanancial guy, I just looked on the internet.
Hope this helps.
Eggy
"My 2 cents worth...The Posters Voice!" What kind of coach does your child have?
Does he believe in teaching players to "compete" by challenging them to win their positions on the field, like top university programs or the pros. You either get the job done or you don't play.
or,
Does he make some concessions?
Which is actually the best model for player development? How about for YOUR player development?
If you select kids for elite teams, and if player development is key, there can be no development if kids don't play. You may in fact be playing a system that plays to some player's strengths and not the strengths of other, equally talented players in their own right. Those player's needs are not being met if they don't get regular shifts.
Confidence and team-building are important things to learn too. Youth players develop faster if they aren't constantly looking over their shoulder at the prospect of being replaced because they made some mistakes.
Instead, we need to promote creativity and experimentation, and that will only thrive in where kids who are working hard, and training regularly, get minimum playing time guarantees, even if they aren't starters.
How many subs do you really need? Let the kids play more.
How about guest/player pass players playing at the expense of regular players?
Which approach best serves the interests of developing high level players?
I thought the "goal" of youth soccer is to have a team full of skillful, good decision making starters no matter who is on the field.
I read where playing the strongest players 80% of the match, most players 60%, and the weakest players 40%. Is this fair to the players who work hard at practice/home to still sit while players who don't try their best still get almost half a game?
Coaches greatly exaggerate their abilities when it comes to allotting playing time. Their favorites are not as good as they think, and their weaker players are not as bad.
Just play them.
In my experience, paid professional coaches are more likely to punish children with reduced playing time if the parent complaints, than are parent coaches.
A team is made up of players. If you believe that you win and lose as a team, everyone must play. If not, what are you telling these kids. If they aren't good enough to play, cut them and give them a chance to play more at their own level.
Some players crave praise for a good performance nothing wrong with that. It helps give them incentive to be as good or better in the next match.
In the other extreme you can destroy a player with critism. Got to be careful as a coach know what to say to each player to get the most out of him.
Well parents, hopefully some things to think about this weekend.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO MMMMMMMMMMMMMM?"Black Knights U14 Prediction Challenge!"Alright everyone its time for this weeks results, and i PROMISE it will be better than last weeks.
PDL A Picks
1st: Brat, April, Flash (7/11)
2nd: BK :twisted:, Victory, Yote, Dragon (6/11)
3rd: Extremesoccer, DS, Nineteethree, Daditutde (5/11)
PDL B Picks
1st: DS, Daditude (6/7)
2nd: BK :twisted: , Victory, {93soccerdad} (5/7)
3rd: Extremesoccer, Brat, Nineteethree, April, Yote, Flash, Dragon (4/7)
PDL C Picks
1st: Daditude (3/6)
2nd: Brat, Victory, Nineteethree, April, Flash, Dragon (2/6)
3rd: BK :twisted: , Extremesoccer, DS, {93soccerdad}, Yote (1/6)
Perfect Scores Predicted
1st: Brat (4)
2nd: BK :twisted: , DS, April, {93soccerdad}, yote, Flash, Dragon (2)
3rd: Extremesoccer, Victory, Nineteethree, Daditude (1)
Overall correct Picks
1st: Daditude (14/24)
2nd: Brat, Victory, April, flash (13/24)
3rd: BK :twisted: , DS, Dragon (12/24)
And the Winners are:::::::::
1st: DADITUDE & BRAT (11 points)
2nd: April & Flash (10 points)
3rd: Victory (9 points) and thanx for making me look alright by picking you. You did well for me victory
And a special award for hurting my eyes goes to YOTE for that horrible text color. I guess that was payback for picking him last week and things not working out to well.
Good luck to everyone next week, I should have the brackets out by late tuesday night, or wed. morning. Thank you all for playing.
"Dragon Coachs Interviews!"See cover story!
If you are a coach, DOC, trainer, or have anything to do with soccer, contact the editor for your chance to do an interview Guest Editor's, EDITORIAL:
This year will be my 44th, while my soccer accolades are few, the game has left me with some good memories. I will share a few that come to mind
When I was U10 I remember our games were played on Sundays. It seemed to take an eternity for the morning to pass leading up to game time. The game would come and go, after the game one of the team dads would load the entire team in the back of his truck and parade us to “Big scoop” or the Ranch drive in for ice cream. It is funny that I remember the Ice cream with the team as much or more than I remember the games.
1976-I remember going to the Kingdome with my team to watch the New York Cosmos play the Sounders. I remember seeing Pele play. I can’t remember who won…probably the Cosmos
When I was U13 I remember the coach telling the team that we would be going to Canada to play against a Canadian team and in a few weeks they would come down to stay and play with us. I remember that I had never heard of Powell River and I remember how unsure I felt of the idea of staying overnight at someone’s home that I had just met. There was some comfort as the team we were playing had two brothers and one of my team mates would be staying with me at this place. I remember the drive to their home getting out of the car and taking our bags to the boy’s rooms where we would stay. It was a rainy day and we were left to find entertainment indoors. I am not sure how much time had passed however I remember all four boys sitting in each corner of the room bored when someone suggested we play a game. The idea of the game was to make the other fellows laugh without making any noise. The game had gone on for some time and it appeared that all of the classic funny moves were failing. It was late in the game when one of the Canadian chaps in a desperate grasp for the title, pulled down his shorts and began to shake his “goods” at the rest of the players. This move had all the makings of a game winner as we fought back the laughter, how unfortunate for him that his mother should open the door just as her boy was about to win the game. At that point we were rolling on the ground as his mother obviously shocked, drug him out of the room with a handfull of ear and hair as he struggled to pull up his shorts….He was the winner. They went on to beat us in both soccer games but it was fun.
When I was U28- I played 1 season of soccer on a team with My mother (U50), My Father (U52) and my brother (U18) at the time it didn’t seem that great, but now I know how great it was.
At U38 Retired- I remember watching from the sideline as my DD95er then at U8 made a long run down the sideline, moved to the middle, shot and scored. I remember how beautiful the whole thing seemed as I was brimming with pride and fighting back the tears.
Recently U43- I will not forget the expression on my son’s face as he scored his first header goal in a game…
And finally the unbridled enthusiasm and genuine excitement that DD99er has for the game is certain to leave me with more stories to tell.
I can’t seem to recall many of the scores of the games but I remember all of the players…
Thanks for reading
Thank you guest Editor! That was enjoyable and fun to read! :mrgreen:
Thats it for this weeks Issue of the Pulse, hope you enjoy it...and as always never forget to...
Play with Heart & Fire, Heart & Fire Always!
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