Youth Soccer: Is Field 6 Cursed?

Field #6 is cursed at the Mead CUSA Cup Invitational in Beavercreek, OH. 

What is wrong with field #6 at the Ankeney soccer complex in Beavercreek. Was it built on an ancient indian burial ground? Something ugly always seems to happen on this field when I stand on the sidelines.

Flash Back

On April 20, 2010, my son played in what I think was the dirtiest game of soccer that I have ever seen. It was a U17 match that became more and more violent as the game progressed because the ref did not call any fouls. 

In the second half, one of our players took out a kid with a hard slide tackle. It was not malicious, but it most definitely a foul. No foul was called. A few minutes later, number 6 from the other team retaliated by taking out one of our players with a malicious foul. Our player did not even have the ball when he was leveled. No foul was called.

Both sets of parents voiced their opinions about the poor officiating. I have to say that the parents had a right to be upset. 

A few minutes later, number 6 flipped our best offensive player over his hip right near the corner flag that stands to the left of the goal by the row of trees. Our player fell and broke his wrist. The ref finally issued a yellow card. The parent of the kid who was injured was not satisfied with a yellow card. He thought that the foul deserved a red card and immediate ejection. The ref and the dad exchanged words. Then the dad decided to eject the ref. He chased after the ref for a beat down. The ref eluded  the dad by zig zagging through a row of trees and to his car. The sideline refs called the game a forfeit and we lost.

Last week

My daughter plays U13, so she plays on full size fields now, and her team was assigned to play on field 6. Before the game, my wife asked me if this was the same field that ugly game was played on years ago. I looked up a saw the row of trees that the ref used to escape the irate dad and concluded that it was.

There was a game in progress on the field. We watched two teams in our division play a very evenly matched game. Late in the game, a player from the team dressed in red, made a perfectly timed break to get behind the defense for a one on one breakaway goal. The sideline judge wrongly raised his flag to call offsides. The head ref called it off. I assume that he had decided that the player ran behind the defense after the long pass was already made which was the right call. An extremely large dad who looked like he never played a game of soccer in his life, screamed at the ref with a powerfully loud voice. He continued on and on, until the entire crowd went quiet when a girl fell awkwardly and broke her arm. It was an ugly compound fracture. Guess where this injury took place. You guess it, near the same corner flag where my son's teammate broke his wrist years before.

After they took the little girl away in a cart, the crowd gave the obligatory round of applause and the game resumed. As soon as the game started back up, the irate dad started in on the ref again. The ref ignored him for a while then issued the team a red card and threw the dad out. He picked up his chair and slowly made his way out as he threatened the ref over and over again.

At the conclusion of that game, our girls took the field knowing that they only needed a tie to win the pool and advance. The game was evenly contested with very few shots made on goal. Late in the first half, one of our bigger players, who falls down when the wind blows, got knocked down in the box. Our team was awarded a penalty kick. It was a terrible call. Our best player buried the ball in the back of the net for a 1-0 gift goal. 

The parents of the other team were boiling after the goal and they took out their frustrations on the ref with a relentless barrage of ugly remarks. The second half, neither team could get anything going so we held on to win the game 1-0. The PK goal turned out to be meaningless because a 0-0 tie would have knocked out the other team anyway, yet one of the dads kept giving the ref an earful after the game. He screamed, "Way to go ref, you determined the result instead of the girls. You are an incompetent #@%#@&"

I am not a confrontational person, but I could not contain myself. I tried to calm the dad and make the dad feel better by telling him that the goal did not matter because our team would have advanced with a 0-0 tie. 

Let's just say he did not appreciate my information and started barking at me. I ignored him, but one of our more confrontational dads who was sitting on a soccer chair in the shade behind me started chirping back at the dad. The irate dad could not see the other dad and thought I was bantering with him. He started coming toward me. I continued to ignore him, but the dad behind me kept chirping. The dad got within 20 yards of me and said, I am going to teach you a lesson tomorrow.

I said, "OK" I was not concerned because this moron still did not realize he is not coming back tomorrow. His daughter's team was eliminated. I did not remind him.

The Main Point

Don't play on field #6 at the Mead Cup without a policeman, your lawyer and a doctor close by. 

Youth Soccer: Horrible Egotistical Ref

It is so unfortunate when the outcome of a game is determined by questionable refs. It happened 3 times this weekend for my daughter's team. The refereeing in each game got progressively worse.

I am not one to complain about the refs, but I could not contain myself yesterday. I know that they are not professionals. I know that it is not easy to ref a game. I know that they take unnecessary abuse. Still, I needed to say something about the terrible refereeing at a tournament in Dayton, Ohio.

Game One:

Game one featured a disabled young man at center ref. I was happy to see this guy putting himself out there when some in his situation would shelter themselves away. I thought to myself, that no one was going to ridicule this young man. I was wrong. The head coach from the other team was riding him all game long. On one play, the right halfback from the opposing team kicked a long pass to a wide open right winger. The ball was kicked too hard and went out of bounds. The line judge and the ref called for our team to throw it in. The head coach of the other team screamed at the ref. He was explaining that it was their ball. I was shocked, as I was trying to figure out how he could think that at all. None of our players were near the passer nor near the winger to cause a deflection.  The ref made the mistake of approaching the opposing coach. They had a conversation and somehow the coach convinced the ref that it was their ball. The ref changed his call deep in our zone. This particular play did not impact the game, but other wishy washy no calls may have.

Game Two:

The line judge on the coaching side had a spring loaded arm. His flag kept going up non-stop. He called our team off sides 6 times in the first half. Three of the plays were legitimate offside, but three were not even close. An offensive player can move beyond the last defender after the ball is kicked. Our forwards know this and aggressively time their runs to get behind the defender when the ball is kicked. The line judge clearly did not know the rules because he called our girls off as soon as they gained position even though the ball was already in the air. The most painful offsides call came late in a 0-0 game. Our right halfback made a great run with the ball and connected on a hard shot. The goalie made a good save, but deflected it to our striker who buried it into then back of the net. The line judge called the striker offsides. She was not offsides at any point as she tailed the play and she was not involved in the play until the deflection. A player is only offsides if they are a material part of the play. We should have won 1-0.

Game Three:

I had to step in a coach because the head coach was as sick as can be the entire night before the game. As the girls were warming up the game, the ref approached me and introduced himself with a slight Irish accent. I was thrilled to hear the accent thinking that we finally have a ref who knows the game. He was fairly short man had a red beard and a reddish-greyish hair pulled back in a small ponytail. I thought to myself that he looked a bit like a leprechaun. This is going to be good luck.

The game started and within the first two minutes, the ref called a foul on our team, then another and another. In a closely contended game of two very equal teams who have played each other many, many time, we had 5 fouls and the opposing team had none. I yelled out to the ref that the fouls were 5-0 to give him a gentle reminder that he needed to call the game evenly. There were no fouls for 10 minutes. Then foul number 6 came right outside the box. When the whistle was blown, I thanked God, that he finally called one against the girl who was manhandling our player. I was wrong, he called the foul against our player. Our team formed a wall about 10 yards away, but the ref moved them back another 5 yards. He did not walk off the distance. He quickly blew the whistle and the ringer guest player from the other team buried the ball into the corner. It was 1-0. The ref was deciding the game.

Two minutes later, foul number 7 happened in the center of the field about 40 yards away. Again it was a questionable foul. We moved the defense up which forced the offense to move with us. The ringer guest player served up a high looping ball over the players and toward CC. CC had to made a quick decision. Run up and catch the ball in traffic before it bounced or wait on the line in front of a full size goal. She decided to run up a fraction too late. The ball bounced right in front of her and over her head. The score was 2-0. CC should have saved it, but again the ref was deciding the game.

Our girls did not give up. Our smallest player made a nice run into the box. She was met by the guest player, who throw her down like a rag doll. No foul. Our top scorer made a run 1v1 with the goalie, but before she could get a shot off she was tackled from behind. No yellow card, no foul, no penalty kick. "Play on" the ref said.

I was standing far from the girls on the bench talking with the other assistant coach when I made the comment that I think that the refs ponytail is a bit too tight. I only said that comment loud enough for my assistant to hear. I did not realize the line judge was listening in. He turned to me and said, "I think that your hat is too tight you f-ing prick." And he said it loud enough for the girls to hear it. The other assistant want crazy and yelled to the center ref to throw this bum out. He almost got a yellow card as I was trying to calm him down.

The final tally on fouls was 10-0. The final score was 3-0. The opposing team scored all three goals on penalty kick plays. This ref decided the game.

Two other things this egotistical ref did.

1) His whistle broke. So he stopped play and walked over to the side judge to get a replacement. Our assistant coach asked if he was going to add game time. The ref did not reply in words, but his actions said it all. He walked back into position at a snails pace. When he got to his position he waited a few seconds for dramatic effect then blew his new whistle.

2) At the end of the game, he gave a yellow card out to one of our players on a very questionable foul. He took about 2 minutes to book the player. He told the player that she was stupid for causing her team 2 minutes of time. He did not add any time onto the game.

The Main Point

I can deal with bad calls. I can deal with bad refs. I cannot deal with the inflated ego of a bias ref. It is a shame when the ref decides the outcome of a game played by teams that have worked so hard to prepare for a game.

We had 2 ties and a loss and did not advance. We would have advanced to the semi-finals even with the loss in the last game if the offsides goal counted in the second game.

Youth Soccer: How to Make an ODP team (Part 2)

If you do not think that your kid made a team after tryouts, do you prepare them for it? I did.

My daughter, CC, started the tryout process for the Ohio ODP team (Olympic Development Program) in November.

The process started with fall training / tryouts for the District 1 team. Ohio has three Districts. The initial District tryouts / training took place over two weekends in November (outdoors) and one weekend in December or January (indoors). 

The District 1, November tryouts were held from 9 to 11:45 am, in a town about 30 minutes from our house. 

My daughter, CC, and I showed up about 30 minutes early to sign in and get warmed up. I waited in a long line registration line while CC put her cleats and shin pads on. When I got to the front of the line, the admin volunteer told me that the player needs to sign in herself. She told me that they want self-sufficient, independent players. I retreated to my daughter's location and explained the situation. I was happy that overbearing parents would not be tolerated. It was a signal to me that talent would be the driver of the roster selections and perhaps politics would not be a factor.

CC eventually signed up and received a number to pin to her shirt. I helped her affixed the #161 to the back of her tee-shirt before she ran over to the goalie training / tryout field. 

She approached 24 goalies by my count. I was quickly assessed the competition and quickly noticed that every single one was bigger than CC. CC looked tiny but she has always been the smallest player her teams so it was not a surprise. Still, I began to get a bit concerned because some of the girls were considerably bigger. I turned to another dad and asked if all of these girls were 12 years old. He comforted me when he mentioned that there were 5 groups of girls vying to make 5 teams (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002). I quickly did the math and assumed that about 5 or 6 were in CC's 2000 age grop. CC told me later that, there were 11 goalies in the 2000 class hoping to make the district team and might be more because some teams had club matches that day.

There were 5 goalie trainers to manage the tryout. Each one carried a clipboard to collect notes on a player information chart. The trainers ran drills after drill and did so with intensity and purpose. They evaluated and taught at the same time. The girls worked hard for well over an hour. CC had experience with all of the drills, so she had no problems. I noticed that a few of the girls struggled with the fast pace of the drills. From a technical standpoint, I thought that CC did very well.

The field players went through similar paces on separate fields near by. From time to time, I roamed around to see CC's teammates.  Eventually, the goalies were told to join the field players for their age groups to tend goal for some shooting drills and small sided games. The goalies stood behind the goal and rotated in while the trainers with the clipboards kept watch.

The training schedule was repeated Saturday and Sunday for two weeks in November. During the last 5 minutes of the last November tryout, CC suffered a very severe ankle sprain. It happened so late, that she did not notify the trainers. I wrote about that story in an earlier post. As luck would have it, the next tryout was weeks away. CC wore a boot and was cleared to play again the week of the next tryout in December.

In December, the training / tryout moved indoors to a facility in Columbus, Ohio about 2 hours north from our home town. Both the Saturday and Sunday sessions were a bit shorter than the November sessions, but they were organized and conducted in a similar manner. CC and I drove up and back each day. I enjoyed the time in the car with my girl. CC's ankle was sore, but she hid it well from the trainer / evaluators.

After the final session in December, the coaching staff announced that the roster for the district teams would be selected on January 18th.

On the way home, I ask CC if she thought she did ok. She responded with a confident yes. I thought that she did well, but I was convinced that the coaching staff would overlook a goalie who was so small. I began to prepare CC for the inevitable. She has made every team that she has ever tried out for, so I wanted to prepare her.

The festival team was posted on the Ohio South Soccer website on Friday night at 9pm. On Saturday morning, I opened the website and looked for CC's name. As I expected it was not there. I looked for the names of other players that I knew. To my surprised, I did not recognize a single name. 

Then I realized I was looking at the wrong age group. I clicked on the 2000 team roster and started to see the names that I expected. Then I saw a name I did not expect to see. CC was listed. She had made it past the first phase. She will compete against the other two districts in what Ohio ODP calls the Festival Weekend. 

The Main Point

Do not prepare your kids for the worst before a tryout because that would introduce self-doubt. You can, however, prepare them for the disappointment after the tryout is complete, but expect the best to keep their confidence up. I did all of this except, I did not expect the best. CC surprised me yet again.

I swear I didn't make my daughter play injured.

I do not miss many games at all. I am lucky to have a job that I can manage my own schedule fairly easily.

I do not miss my kid's games because I do not want to miss the action. I want to be there when my daughter sinks a three at the buzzer or when my son makes a birdie on 18 to win a tournament. I want to see their faces when it happens. I want them to see my proud reactions too. I also want to be there just in case something happens. If they get injured, I want to be there to help comfort them. We all know that injuries are a part of youth sports. It is just a question of when, where and how bad.

I missed a game on Sunday.

I dropped CC off at soccer tryouts for the Ohio South Olympic Development Program. I normally stay to watch, but I had to leave to get to the Cincinnati Bengals / NY Giants game. 

I'm a huge Giants fan, so my wife bought me the NFL tickets for my birthday. What she did not know when she made the purchase in September was that my daughter would be competing in the finals of the 6th grade CYO Girl's Basketball Cincinnati Division I Championship. When I realized the conflict, I did not want go to the football game. I would much rather watch my daughter play. I contemplated not going to the NFL game, but the tickets were very expensive. I could have sold the tickets on StubHub, but it was going to be my wife's and son's first NFL game. They were very excited to go. I was torn, but had to go to the Giants game.

During soccer tryouts, CC got hurt in a freak accident. She was on the sidelines next to the goal awaiting her chance to get into the game. The coaching staff was rotating three goalies in each goal. CC was stretching and talking to the other goalie while the other girls on the field were showcasing their skills for the evaluators. CC was not really paying attention to the game. 

A striker in the game took aim at the goal and fired a really hard shot. The ball missed the goal and hit the very top of CC's foot. She was relaxed and not expecting the impact, so her  ankle snapped back. It hurt a lot, but CC did not want anyone to know. ODP Goalies need to be tough. 

She hopped up to walk it off and get the ball that ended up 20 yards behind her. She was trying desperately not limp. Just as she retrieved the ball, the tryout ended. Luckily, she did have to get back in the goal with a bum ankle. 

After the training session was complete, she found her club teammates and her ride home.  She arrived home to an empty house. She iced her ankle which was now really swollen. She then found an ankle brace, tied it on tight and awaited her ride to basketball. She was not going to miss the Championship basketball game. 

A basketball teammate picked her up and took her to the game. She participated in warm ups trying not to limp. She did not want the coaches to bench her. She ended up playing the entire first quarter and the first half of the second quarter before she got a break. During her down time at he end of the second quarter and half time, the ankle swelled more. She tried to play in the third quarter, but could not play at her normal frenzied pace. She sat out the rest of the game unable to take another step. 

CC's team went on to win the Cincinnati City Championship and ended the season undefeated with a 26-0 record.

We arrived after the game. As soon as she saw us, she started to cry. We knew she was hurt because we got a text telling us that she sprained her ankle. We were not expecting it to be too bad. We took her sock and shoe off. It did not look very good at all. 

This morning, she could not walk. We took her for an X-ray. The X-ray was negative. The doctor was concerned about the ligaments on the top of her foot, so he gave her a boot to wear for a week. We will go for a follow-up next week.

The Main Point

Some parents push their kids to play even when they are hurting. Some kids push themselves.

Youth Soccer: How to Make an ODP Team

I'm back after a short vacation from blogging. Work has been very busy so I needed to take a hiatus.

Last year, my daughter, CC, was planning on participating in ODP (Olympic Development Program). I described the ODP program and process in a detailed post at that time. When sign ups came around last year, however, CC decided to pass. She who was burned out from all the sports she was playing and wanted a break.

One of her goalie friends did not skip the program, made the district team and got to go a regional overnight camp. My daughter was very happy for her friend and secretly wished that she had gone on the journey with her. When sign ups came around this year she did not hesitate to signup.

The process started with fall training / tryouts. The tryouts / training take place over two weekends in November (outdoors) and two weekends in December (indoors). The first weekend is complete. Prior to the first session, CC was a bit nervous. I reminded her that the trainer she loves would be there and that her friend would be there to. She was not nervous about trying out, she just wanted a friend to be there.

When she showed up there were 24 goalies vying to make 5 teams (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002). My daughter is a 2000. By the way, ODP in Ohio goes by calendar year, not school year to determine the rosters. Unfortunately, there were 11 girls in the 2000 class vying for the district team and CC was by far the smallest.

CC has come to expect being the smallest player, so she did not hesitate at all. Luckily, she was very comfortable and familiar with the drills because her club trainer was also the ODP trainer too.

The sessions consisted of 1 hour of training / instruction and 45 minutes of scrimmages with the other 2000 team players who are competing to be field players.

CC is number 161 to the far right

The Main Point

CC is small (11 percentile of weight and 40% percentile), but she is in the upper percentile for confidence and guts per pound. I am very proud of her. CC is not expecting to make the team this year, she is participating in the tryouts / training to get experience and get some additional training.

Youth Soccer: Refs, Rules, Smart Players and Fools

One of my readers asked this question about the US vs Canada Women's Olympic soccer game.

"Just wondering if you would write a post on the debatable calls made by the ref in the Canada v US semi final? Being a ref myself I obviously don't want to hear her [the ref] bashed, but being a Canadian it was obviously very hard to watch. If you purposely avoided this iffy topic sorry, but I would appreciate your thoughts."

My daughter played her season opening tournament this past weekend. The first game was an 8-0 blowout. My daughter, the team's goalie, touched the ball once the entire game. The second game was a 4-0 win. Again, my daughter was not challenged. The third game was a different story. Every ball in this game was contested and both goalies were tested. The girls from both teams were working hard because the winner would advance to the championship bracket and the loser would go home.

Direct Kick Deflected Over the Cross Bar

My daughter made save after save including a save off a direct kick right outside the box. The questionable penalty was called at the top of the box on a 50/50 ball. Luckily, my daughter was able to knock the ball over the cross bar.

Late in the second half with our team winning 1-0, the opposing center midfielder ripped a low hard shot from outside the box. One of our defenders put her hands up to defend herself and knocked the ball down. The defenders hand was extended, but the ref did not make the handball call.

I whispered to the head coach, "If our defender were Canadian, the ref would have blown the whistle." The coach gave me a knowing smile.

I watched every US women's soccer game with great interest and national pride until the ref called the Canadian goalie for holding the ball too long. It is a penalty that is rarely called. At the time, I thought it was a ridiculous call, especially at that point in the game because the call determined the outcome. (The resulting indirect penalty kick led to the somewhat questionable hand ball call in the box. That handball penalty led to the game tying PK goal by Abby Wambach.) The Canadian women would have won that game and advanced to the gold medal game against  Japan, if the ref had kept her whistle silent.

I hate when a ref's call determines the outcome of a game, but many non-calls determine outcomes too. The bottomline is that refs need to enforce the rules to protect the players and the integrity of the game.

The ref in the US vs Canada semi-final London 2012 Olympic games made a call at the end of the game that was technically correct, but rarely enforced. The rule in question governs how long a goalie can hold the ball. According to the official rules, goalies can hold the ball up to 6 seconds before they need distribute it. Many goalies, including Hope Solo, hold the ball for way longer than 6 seconds. The Canadian goalie held the ball over 16 seconds several times before in the game and according to reports had been warned by the sideline ref and the head ref. She foolishly risked a penalty to shave off a few precious seconds.

What the goalie did not know was that Abby Wambach was in the refs ear. Everytime the goalie made a save late in the game, she would go close to the ref and count out - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - etc. seconds to highlight how long the goalie held the ball. Amy Wambach was smart. She knew the ref could not blantanlty ignore the infraction because it's a rule for a reason.

The Main Point

Good soccer players play with their head. Abby Wambach uses her head to score goals better than anyone I have ever seen play the game. What I didn't know about Abby Wambach is that she uses her brains too. The Canadian goalie did not use hers and cost her team a chance for a gold medal.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed watching the US Women get World Cup revenge over the team from Japan, the calls against Canada, although technically correct, tarnished the gold medals of the US women for me.

Suggested Rule Change

If the 6 second rule is going to be enforced it should be enforced all the time not arbitrarily. In basketball a player has 10 seconds to get the ball across the half court line. This rule is in place so a player cannot delay the game in the back court. When a player has the ball in the back court,  the ref moves his / her hand back and forth to count seconds. Once the ref gets to 10 seconds the ball is turned over to the other team. Soccer should adopt this same approach. The ref should use a visual clue and call it at 6 seconds every time the goalie holds the ball too long. And I think that the other team should get the ball on a throw in instead of a indirect kick from outside the 18. That would keep the game moving and fair.

Finally, a good lesson for young players - Know the rules and use them to your advantage.

Side Note: Many youth soccer teams are instructed to kick the ball as far out of bounds as possible when the team is winning the game and time is running out. There are no ball boys / girls so lots of time is consumed when this happens.

Youth Soccer: How to Maintain Goalie Gloves

One of the worst smells in youth sports comes from soccer goalie gloves. Those small pair of gloves pack a powerful punch of aroma. They do not stink to the legendary smelly status of hockey equipment, but they can certainly make a car, locker, gym bag, garage, mudroom or bedroom smell petty bad.

Here are tips that I read about goalie gloves to improve performance of the gloves, help reduce the stink and prolong the life of the gloves.

1) Before each game and practice moisten the palm of the glove with water. The added moisture will make the glove more tactile and reduce the chances of cracking. It is also a good idea to moisten the palms again at the end of halftime.

2) After each game or practice allow the gloves to dry out completely in a well ventilated area to prevent dry rot. Opening the gloves helps dry out the gloves. One tip I read suggested putting the gloves over a discarded cardboard toilet paper towel roll. This will let the air flow into the glove to help dry the inside too and the cardboard will absorb some of the moisture. Do not put the gloves in a clothes drier, over a heating vent or in direct sunlight because quick drying can cause cracking.

3) Washing the gloves occasionally is recommended. Removing the dirt from the palm and fingers will increase the tactile performance of the glove and help prolong the life of the glove. Several of the goalie glove manufacturers sell mild, low foaming goalie glove wash. I have read that shampoo works just as well. Either way make sure you get the suds completely out. It is also recommended that you clean the velco strap by picking out the dirt and lint. After you clean the gloves, make sure that you allow them to dry out like in point 2.

4) Some goalies keep the little bag that the gloves came in. After the game or practice they put the gloves in the bag to keep the gloves away from dirty cleats, to keep the smelly gloves away from clothes and to keep the stench out of the car on the way home. When they get home, they take the gloves out and allow the gloves to dry out properly.

The Main Point

Following these procedures will prolong the life of the gloves, allow the gloves to work at peak performance and reduce the smell.

Will my daughter do any of this?

Maybe after the first game or practice.

Youth Soccer: Selecting Goalie Gloves

My daughter and I took our annual trip to the soccer specialty store to buy goalie gloves. This trip is  necessary every year because pre-teen girls grow out of gloves quickly, goalie gloves do not really last that long and old goalie gloves smell something awful.

My daughter is the full-time starting goalie for an outstanding U12 team. The team plays in a regional league and top tournaments. It's some serious soccer, so I wanted to get her some serious gloves. Before we went to the store, I learned the following about gloves.

Gloves are the single most important piece of equipment that a goalkeeper needs. Some rec level younger kids play without them, but serious goalies would never play do that.

So how do you select goalie gloves:

There are many factors to consider:

1) Level of play - How serious a goalie is your kid? If your kid is a full-time goalie playing against top talent, then invest in gloves that will protect him or her and give them the edge to make difficult saves. Spend between $50 to $150. If your kid is younger (U10 and under) or plays at a rec level or is a part-time goalie on a club team, find a decent pair of gloves for $20 to $30. I bought gloves at the lower end of the high quality spectrum for my U12 player.

2) Number of games - How many games will your kid be playing in the next year. The more expensive gloves will last longer than the cheaper gloves. So if your kid is playing 2-3 games per week year round, it might make more sense to purchase higher quality gloves. My daughter plays 60 games per year. I figured this warranted higher quality gloves.

3) Number of practices - If the team your kid plays on practices all the time and plays a lot of games, you might want to purchase high quality game gloves and lower quality practice gloves. My daughter will use her slightly worn and small gloves from last year for practice.

4) The size - Comfort is the most important factor. Find a glove that protects but does not restrict. Properly fitting gloves is key. Goalie gloves come in sizes 4 to 12. You can use trial and error to determine the correct size at a store, If you are buying on-line, you can measure the circumference of your palm just below the fingers, exclude your thumb. Add one 1" to the measurement and round up to the next whole number. That will give you your glove size. It is not a perfect system because some manufacturers gloves run small and others a little bigger. Regardless, goalkeeper gloves should be worn slightly big. The fingers should extend about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch over the tips of your fingers. My daughter bought size 7 gloves.


5) The Conditions - Gloves are made of various combinations of latex / foam / rubber. Some are made for all weather, some for wet weather and others for hard surface / turf. The softer gloves provide more grip and control but do not last as long. Less soft, more durable materials are for goalies who play on hard ground or turf. Note: the wet surface gloves are hot and slippery when used in dry weather. I also learned about under-glove gloves for keepers allergic to latex. My daughter selected an all weather glove. If she advances to HS or College, perhaps we would buy more than one pair of gloves so she can use the optimal glove for the conditions.


6) The Features - My daughter had her hand stepped on last year. She was not hurt, so she was convinced that the reinforced finger spines were the reason. She wanted gloves with finger spines again this year. Ventilation, range of motion, wrist closures, wrist protection options, color etc. are all personal preference features. My daughter did not like the color of the gloves she selected, but she chose comfort over color. 


7) The Comfort - The most important determining factor is comfort. That is why, I would rather purchase goalkeeper gloves in a specialty soccer store with a large selection. There are some great eretailer selling gloves if you like to shop on line - just make sure you pick a retailer with a customer-friendly return policy.


The Main Point


My daughter selected the Reusch Keon Plus Finger Support Goalkeeping glove. The cost was $54 + tax.

Youth Sports: It's Not About You Dad

This past memorial day weekend, my daughter's U11 soccer team advanced to the finals of the Warrior Classic, an elite regional soccer tournament held in Dayton.

The pre-game line-up before the finals

The team has played well all season, but has made fatal flaws in games that have resulted in more losses than wins. The team finally put it all together in this tournament, including a big win over the best team in Ohio during pool play. Unfortunately, our team lost in the finals to the same team 1-0. Regardless, my daughter's team earned a lot of respect and walked away with some hardware.

CC with 2nd place hardware

That is not the story. This is a Crazy Youth Sports Parents Series Story

One of CC's teammate did not participate in this wonderful experience. She did not participate because her dad made the decision to quit the team prior to the tournament.

Here is how it went down:

Memorial Day Weekend is a big soccer tournament weekend. Our U11 Elite team was playing in Dayton. The U12 Elite team was playing in Columbus.

A dad on our team has a daughter on both teams, so to keep the family together for the holiday weekend and reduce the number of hotel rooms needed, he asked the U12 coach if his younger daughter could play up.

The U12 coach called our coach to ask permission to take the player. Our coach approved the move.

Our coach then called up another defender from the B team, a defender who he has wanted to call up for awhile now. He saw this as a great opportunity to see how this B team defender would play at the highest level prior to tryouts coming up.

The U12 coach then decided that he did not want to add the younger player to his tournament roster.

The dad then called our coach to inform him that his daughter would be coming to the U11 tournament. The coach informed the dad that he has already registered for the tournament with the B player on the roster. He said that she could come to the tournament, but expect reduced playing time.

The dad was not happy with this situation, became irate and decided to quit.

The Main Point

Unfortunately, this is not a unique situation. Many parents over-react when they feel that their kid is being wronged.

Who loses in situations like this?

The girl, who is a great kid. She didn't play soccer all weekend long and missed a chance to win a trophy.

The girl's teammates who missed playing with their friend.

The dad, who is a great guy and probably feels sick about the situation. I have never gone to this extreme, but I have approached coaches and regretted it. I don't do that anymore.

Tip - Let the season play out and then make a rational decision for your kid.

Youth Sports: Family Separated on Holiday Weekend

When I was a kid, a holiday weekend meant a trip to the Jersey shore with the entire family. Soccer was a fall sport, basketball was a winter sport and baseball leagues would take a break for the long weekend.

Fast forward 35-40 years and soccer is a year round sport, basketball is a year round sport and baseball plays 70 games from March 15 to July 31 instead of 18 games. And of course none of the sports gives a rats ass about your family vacation plans.

This weekend I am in Dayton, Ohio with my daughter, CC, who is playing in an elite soccer tournament. My wife is with our son, Nic, in Cleveland, Ohio, 3 hours away. Nic is playing in a top regional baseball tournament.

Is this situation good or bad for the family? What do you think?

The Main Point

Personally, I do not mind going to a tournament on a holiday weekend. I actually enjoy them. I would much rather enjoy the long weekend with my entire family together, but these weekends do give my wife and I a chance to connect with our kids individually on a much deeper level.

Last night, my daughter and I went out to dinner at Franco's Italiano Restorante, a must stop when you are in Dayton. We both got two big bowls of pasta and talked about the two big wins the team had earlier in the day. The second win of the day against the best team in the state was especially fun to reminisce about. CC had a terrific two games in goal. She made four spectacular saves. She even had an assist on a long punt over the defense.

Give the Assist to the Goalie

Gave Saving Dive

Thanks to iphones, my wife and I traded updates and pictures. My son went 3 for 3 and threw a guy out at the plate from second base. I enjoyed the chats with my son as he recounted the highlights after the game too.

It is not ideal, but it will be a memorable weekend for my family even though we are not all together. Thanks to technology we can stay connected.

Youth Sports: Two Sport Athlete Overcommitted (Part 4)

In the previous three posts, I have questioned whether it is fair for a young athlete to commit to two different teams in the same season? Is it fair to the respective coaches, fair to both sets of teammates, fair to all of the parents who spend a lot of money to put their kid on a top team with high expectations?

I talked to two people who have experienced the two sport situation. After my conversations, I started asking a new question.

Is it fair that a talented young athlete has to commit to one sport over another before he / she knows his / her full potential / passion in any given sport?

The other day, I was at an orthopedic doctor getting a mysterious bump on my shin looked at. (It turned out to be nothing.) Prior to seeing the doctor, a young assistant came into the room to take down some information. While she was asking me questions like when the lump appeared and what medications do I take and am I allergic to anything etc. She also asked me if I had kids, which led to a conversation about youth sports. She was dressed in sweats and looked very athletic, so I asked her if she was an athlete. She said that she had played basketball for a small division 3 college in Ohio. I asked her if she played any other sports growing up. She mentioned that she played club soccer and AAU basketball. Wow, just like my daughter, CC.

So I asked her the burning question - how did you play both? She said,

"You daughter is going to get lots of pressure to specialize from coaches, single sport teammates and parents of teammates. My advice is don't do specialize for as long as you can. My soccer training helped me become a better basketball player and my basketball training helped me become a better soccer player. And, I did not know which sport that I wanted to pursue in college until 9th grade. Play both as long as you can."

I also called a friend of mine to dig a bit deeper into the subject. My friend has two very athletic daughters. The oldest is playing volleyball in college. The youngest just signed a letter of intent to play soccer in college. Both played high level club basketball and volleyball through 8th grade.

Here is what he said after I told him about the pressure we were getting lately:

Wow this sounds so familiar as we had to do this for both of our girls.    

Kate and Shea played both club volleyball and club soccer up to 8^th grade (soccer and Volleyball are the same season in High school and club).  Both also played CYO volleyball and basketball.

My recommendation is to keep CC into as many sports as she want to be in and as you can manage.  I think this gives them a feel for what they want to do and they do not get burned out to early on one sport.   As they get closer to high school, girls start to level out

Youth Sports: Two Sport Athletes Overcommitted (Part 3)

Is it fair to commit to two different teams in the same season? Fair to the respective coaches, fair to both sets of teammates, fair to other parents who spend a lot of money to be on a team with high expectations?

In this series of posts, I am thinking out loud regarding the topic of specialization in one sport. I am trying to determine 1) if an youth athlete can do two sports and be respectful to coaches and teammates, 2) the best age to specialize and 3) the best way to manage a two sport schedule until the athlete reaches that recommended age for specialization.

In the previous post, the coach of my daughter's AAU team questioned our commitment to the team in a respectful email after we informed her that we would miss an out-of-town tournament next week to play soccer.

Here is my response to the coach.

Dear Coach, 

CC is overcommitted and I would like to apologize to you, the assistant coaches, the other players and their parents. We are truly sorry for the distraction this is causing. 

CC loves basketball - She is committed to getting better at basketball - believe me - she shoots for hours and hours in our backyard. She truly wants to be able to help the team with her outside shots. 

She also loves soccer. She plays on a top team in the highest select league. She is THE goalie for the team. In a surprising move before this season started, the soccer coach cut the other goalie for the team. He wanted to keep an extra forward. As a result, CC is vitally important to the success of her soccer team.

Last year with all the rain - most of the weekend soccer games were canceled and replayed during the week. As a result, we did not miss a single basketball game - all 49 or so games. We got lucky and a little over confident that we could really do it again. This year - no rain and lots of conflicts. And lots and lots of heartache for CC. If the soccer team had another goalie - she could balance her commitment more toward basketball - but she can't. 

My wife and I are conflicted - CC loves sports and wants to compete every day. We don't want her to specialize at this young age. CC does not want to specialize yet either, not until she knows how tall / big / fast she is going to be and what sport will provide the best opportunity for her to standout in high school and potentially college. We hate that a 11 year old girl

Youth Sports: Two Sport Athlete Overcommitted (Part 2)

In my previous post I asked the following question -

Is it fair to commit to two different teams in the same season? Fair to the respective coaches, fair to both sets of teammates, fair to other parents who spend a lot of money to be on a team with high expectations?


My daughter plays elite level soccer and AAU basketball. In the last post, I wrote about overcommitment and how we got into this situation. I also indicated that the basketball coach is not happy.

Here is the very well written and respectful email from the coach to the team. She wrote this email to the team because my daughter is not the only overcommitted girl on the team.

My comments are in color.


Hello Everyone, 
 
I am a little bit confused right now about what everyone has committed to with our team. When your daughter and your family joined this team you committed to a basketball first team. Yes, we work with you to make sure your daughter has every chance as a young lady to play different sports, but I think, by me being so nice about this, it is coming back to haunt our team.

CC showing her value as the goalkeeper.

We were informed that this was a basketball first program when my daughter tried out for the team and again when she accepted a position. The previous year we were able to do both with few conflicts, but this year there have been a lot of conflicts. My daughter is now the lone goalie on the soccer team, so her commitment to soccer is paramount this year. To make matter worse, my daughter is not the only two sport athlete on the basketball team. Three of her teammates also play elite level soccer.
  
 
We are suppose to be the TOP AAU team, but I cant hold a practice, game or tournament with all 10 girls attending. It really has to do with practice and wanting to challenge this special group of girls, talented girls. I would love to see these girls stay together for years to come, but we need to know that we can rely on each other and that each teammate wants to be apart of this special team. 




We are suppose to the a top AAU team, in fact, the basketball team finished 1st in Ohio and 9th in the country last year. We lost key three players from that team but the team added three new girls. The team has a lot of talent and expectations were high coming into the season. However, for the first time these girls are struggling against other top AAU teams.




My daugther, CC,  has not missed any of the mandatory team practices due to conflicts with soccer. She practices soccer Monday (team), Wednesday (team) and Friday (goalie training). Her basketball team practices are on Sunday (team), Monday (optional skills and drills) and Tuesday (team).  She does miss a basketball skills and drills practice every week. I am OK with this, because my daughter practices all the time in the driveway with her brother.


Regarding games, CC has missed 1 day of a two day tournament and will miss an entire

Youth Sports: Two Sport Athlete Overcommitted (Part 1)

Is it fair to commit to two different teams in the same season? Fair to the respective coaches, fair to both sets of teammates, fair to other parents who spend a lot of money to be on a team with high expectations?

My two sport athletic daughter is over-committed and her basketball coach is not happy about it. I don't know what to do about it. Over the next several posts, I am going to think through the problem. I am not a fan of specialization at age 11, but we obviously need to address the situation to be fair to her teams.

Last year, CC found out that a soccer teammate named Mel played both AAU basketball and elite soccer at the same time. CC loves basketball and wanted to do the same. I found it hard to believe that you could do both, but I promised to investigate it. I asked the Mel's dad about it. He told me that they have been handling it with relatively few conflicts. He also mentioned that Mel's basketball team was holding a tryout over the next two weekends.

I looked at the basketball tryout schedule for first weekend and realized that we wouldn't be able to make it due to an out-of-town soccer tournament. That should have been my first clue. I looked at the second weekend and as bad luck would have it, my daughter had a soccer game 60 miles away from the basketball tryout. At first, I did not think we could do both, but I figured out that if the soccer game started and ended on time, we could possibly make it to the basketball tryout 5 to 10 minutes late.

It was a rainy day and I was hoping that soccer was going to get canceled, but it didn't. Fortunately, it was raining so hard, that the refs decided to start the game early and cut half-time short. This gave us an opportunity. Unfortunately, the rain snarled traffic and slowed us and we arrived at the tryout 50 minutes late. That should have been my second clue.

CC took the floor with complete confidence and I took my place on the bleachers. I then did a quick count of the number of girls on the court vying for 10 spots. There were 44 girls. After missing the entire first tryout and 50 minutes of the second, I figured CC's chances were slim to none. I thought to myself, that it would probably be for the best.

After the tryout, I told CC how proud I was of her for confidently jumping right in there. I told her that she can definitely play at that level, but that the chances of being noticed during the last 40 minutes were not good.

The following night, I got a call from the coach. CC made the team the team for the winter. We were also informed that another tryout would be held in February for the AAU National Tournament team.

We accepted the invitation to play on the winter team. CC's soccer team competed in Futsal in the winter, but the winter season for soccer is pretty laid back. CC only missed 3 of 20 Futsal games due to conflicts.

In February, CC made the National Tournament team and we accepted. To my surprise, Mel decided to decline her offer. Her dad thought it was too much. WHAT??#@%@ He convinced us that it could be done. That should have been my third clue.

Well, thanks to a lot of rain last spring, most of the weekend soccer games were rescheduled for the weekdays. And thanks to luck, the 5 basketball tournaments were on different weekends than the 3 soccer tournaments. CC did not miss any soccer games (19) or any spring basketball games (49).

The Main Point

An 11 year old athlete should not have to specialize in one sport, but it is so difficult to do in this over the top youth sports world with year round teams.

This year is a different story all together. It has not rained much this spring and there are lots of conflicts and the basketball coach is not exactly happy. More in the next post - including a letter from the coach.