I am so excited about the upcoming World Cup! It is a shame that my beloved Scotland are not there, but I will be avidly supporting the US, my second home, especially against England!
Here is a related article about the US roster I thought you would all like, extolling the virtues of ODP, being that 27 of the 30 named to the initial squad played ODP.
US Youth Soccer ODP a Common Thread Among Players Named to U.S. World Cup Roster
US Men's National Team Coach, Bob Bradley announces preliminary roster for World Cup!
Today is the day! David Cameron is announced as new UK Prime Minister, but more importantly, each nation playing in the World Cup had to announce their 30 man roster today and there were some surprises... Heskey in (England), Ronaldhino out (Brazil)! World Cup fever is upon us...
30 players selected and half that number come from Region IV... wow! Read more about it here and predict who you think the US will play in the second round, quarter's, semi's and final!
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/?cc=5901&ver=us
It is one of the most exciting and nerve wracking days in women’s college soccer. It is NCAA Tournament time. Supposedly the top ;) 64 teams are selected to participate in the single elimination tournament to play down to the elusive and exclusive, Final Four!
There have been upsets galore this year and things are definitely a little up in the air… UNC beaten the most times since 2000 and Stanford going unbeaten all fall! Our D1 Oregon teams did reasonably well. Portland State did brilliantly and won their conference but unfortunately fell in their Conference Tournament semi-final. Oregon started incredibly strongly but unfortunately lost momentum in the Pac-10, I believe the toughest Conference in D1 Women’s College Soccer. Oregon State had a great season and are still in with a shout… we are keeping our fingers crossed… Look out for the Tournament Draw and it is really more fun to do a pool than March Madness…
Keep supporting all our college programs and getting out to see great soccer. Did you know that Concordia have been nationally ranked again?! Watch this space for more info on our other programs and their Tournaments...
Zone 1
Thursday, October 22, 2009
US Soccer describes Zone 1 as the 6-12 year olds playing soccer. Zone 2 is 13-18 years old and Zone 3 beyond that. There seems to have been a paradigm shift by the US Soccer Technical Committee to try and figure out how to influence the younger players here in our country.
If the Zone 1 avid player here in the states plays 3-8 hours a week (which includes practice games and free play in the backyard, park or playground), then in Europe they play 8-14 hours a week, where the elite player in the professional academy youth system is playing a supposedly spending 12-20 hours a week with a ball, then of course we are not going to develop as quickly.
Understanding the cultural differences, I am pleased to be on the committee that is discussing how to move the pro and international game forward to eventually win the World Cup. What are your thoughts or ideas for enhancing Zone 1? Does it need to change here in Oregon and if so, what are the fundamental things that you believe would be helpful?
I am looking forward to your comments.