Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club Newsletter

08/19/05

Ask the Sports Medicine Expert- Sponsored by CJW Sports Medicine

Please take a minute to answer the following questions for our friends at CJW Sports Medicine:

1) What specific time of the year, month/week, that would be the most likely thatyou would attend a seminar for soccer?

2)Please Identify yourselve as a coach and/or parent.

3) For your organization, what location would to the best, northside/southside,
a school or conference center, Would it be more convenient to do a seminar on both sides of town?

4) What topics would you like presented?

Please email responses to Hunter Durvin at:

PRO UPDATE

Kickers Hold On To Third Place After Pair Of Road Draws
Race For Post-Season Play Continues

Richmond, VA - (Tuesday, August 16, 2005) - Only eight points separate the top five teams as the Richmond Kickers (10-7-7, 37 points) were able to hold onto third place in the USL First Division standings after a pair of road ties in the Pacific Northwest last weekend.Richmond defender Peter Luzakfound the net in the 89th minute of Saturday's match in Seattle to help the visitors secure a point. While on Sunday night, midfielder Tim Brown hit a 30-yard cannon into the upper corner of the net in the second half of the match versus Vancouver. His goal earned the Kickers their second tie in two nights,helping the Kickers gain two points ona difficult road weekend. The Kickers next travel to Charleston, S.C.this Saturday for a match-up againstthe Battery.Check out www.USLsoccer.comfor updated USL First Division Standings and the 2005 playoff picture. For more info go to: http://richmondkickers.com/home/105942.html

Neagu Named To PDL All-League Team
Kickers Future Trio Named To PDL All-Eastern Conference Team

RICHMOND, VA – (Tuesday, August 9, 2005) – The Richmond Kickers Future are pleased to announce forward Cristian Neagu was recently named to the Premier Development League (PDL) All-League Team, announced today after he garnered All-Eastern Conference team honors yesterday.

In his fourth season with the Future, Neagu led the team in scoring with 15 goals and 12 assists for 42 points during regular season play and 18 goals and 15 assists for 51 points overall (US Open Cup and playoffs included).

TRAVEL SOCCER

Fall 2005 Season Begining

All travel teams should begin training by the week of August 21rst. If you do not know your teams training schedule please contact your coach or team manager.

League Schedules for VSLi (formerly RMYSL which involves our U12 to U18 classic teams) and ADSL (U9 to U11 teams) should be out shortly. Both of these leagues begin League play Sept. 10th.

For VCCL schedule go to www.vcclsoccer.com for game dates.

A Few Travel Player Positions Available!
RKYSC has select openings for the 2005/2006 travel season. Contact for more information.

Openings exist:

North: U12 Boys,

Central: U15 Boys

South: U14/15 Girls

RECREATIONAL SOCCER

Richmond Kickers/Pocoshock Valley

Coaches Meeting this Saturday Aug. 20th 6:00- 8:00 pm at the Strafford Hills Ukrops- The meeting will take place upstairs in the meeting room. For directions go to:

http://cityguide.aol.com/richmond/maps/map.adp?country=US&address=7045%2BForest%2BHill%2BAve.&city=Richmond&state=VA&zipcode=23225&lgAddress=Get%2BMap

PARENTS- Coaches will be receiving their team lists at the above coaches meeting. Coaches will then start contacting their players. All players should be contacted by Aug. 27th. If not please contact the appropriate division director listed below:

COED / NAME / PHONE / EMAIL
Under 4 / Tish Schrock / 938-1890 /
Under 5 / Connie Shupe / 399-2800 /
Under 6 / Connie Shupe / 399-2800 /
Under 8 / David Harrison / 909-2576 /
Under 10 / David Harrison / 909-2576 /
Under 12 / Janice Le / 276-3009 /
Under 14 / Lenore Parker / 421-0448 /
Under 16 / Janice Le / 276-3009 /
Under 19 / Nat Morva / 639-2208 /
GIRLS / NAME / PHONE / EMAIL
Under 8 / Connie Shupe / 399-2800 /
Under 10 / Murray Ellison / 301-7982 /
Under 12/14 / Edie Harris / 675-0576 /
Under 16/19 / Nat Morva / 639-2208 /

For information on the upcoming Fall 2005 season contact us at the office at 644-5425 ext. 310, 311, or 313 Season begins Sept. 10th.

Selected spots still available

Register on line at: http://www.bluesombrero.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.bluesombrero.com/richmondkickers

To download a paper application go to:

http://www.richmondkickers.com/docs/youth/recreational/PocoshockRegistrationFormFall2005.pdf

Then send to:

RKYSC

2320 West Main St. Richmond Va. 23220

New uniforms this year!!! RKYSC/Pocoshock/MYSL has obtained an outstanding agreement with SCORE to provide 2 jerseys, 1 pair of shorts, and2 pair of socks for a minimal price. This uniform "kit" is for each player to keep and re use as long as he/she is with our club (and it still fits!!).

Amazingly, SCORE will provide each coach with a coaching kit with equipment which will benefit all of our teams! This equipment must be returned to the club after each season for future use. For a picture of the new uniform go to: http://richmondkickers.com/youth/recreational/101599.html

Midlothian Youth Soccer League

For Information on the upcoming Fall 2005 season go to www.mysl.com

Ashland Youth Soccer League

Information on the upcoming Fall 2005 season go to www.aysl.org

Player’s

JUGGLING TIPS

http://www.finesoccer.com/finesoccer_kids_13.htm

Coaches Corner

LET'S STOP TOLERATING ALL ABUSIVE COACHES
By Mike Giuliano
April 10, 2005
He yelled profanities at our kids. He called them names. He became a serious challenge to the development of their self-esteem. He was spiteful toward them. He was downright mean to them.
And we paid him many thousands of dollars to do all of this to our sons and daughters.
I know, scores of columnists and talk-show hosts have lamented the sorry state of youth coaching in our society. They scare us with stories of abuse, both physical and mental, all in the name of winning. And yet, every week, I hear and see scores and scores of atrocities that don't make it on the talk-show circuit.
As a Division I collegiate soccer coach, much of my time is spent patrolling the sidelines in search of the next Mia Hamm. Add to that many more hours I spend cheering on my three kids as they play their various sports of choice. I see lots of youth coaching, from the AYSO volunteer parent-coach to the club coach making nearly six figures to run a nationally ranked program. And at all of those levels, I still cannot believe what I see and hear: 10-year-old boys being screamed at by red-faced volunteer coaches, and 18-year-old girls being called the vilest of things, simply because they are not playing up to the standards of their coach.
Last summer I attended a high-powered club tournament in the East. I had the unfortunate opportunity to witness a coach in the middle of a halftime meltdown. With sweat streaming down his face, he proceeded to direct a profanity-laced assault at almost every player on the team. To win this tournament meant scholarships for all of them to major colleges, he screamed, adding that their uninspired play was sure to sicken the recruiters, just as it sickened him. On and on he went, and yet the parents of the players sat nearby through it all, straining to hear with one ear while exchanging chatter about the latest community gossip with the other.
One of those parents was in my office a few weeks later, explaining to me why his daughter was truly Mia II. The subject of his daughter's club coach came up.
"Yeah, the guy is certifiably insane," he began. "But, hey, he makes them into winners. Before he came, they hadn't won the league title in over five years!"
The father didn't scream at his child (at least not that I knew of). The father didn't belittle her ability or her weight or her lack of heart in front of her friends. The father didn't find the most sarcastic ways possible to tell her how she was ruining it all for her teammates. But he paid another man handsomely to do it instead.
It is not getting better, and, in my view, in many circles it is getting worse.
At the high school level, there is so much concern over the price of college that any coach who may increase our children's chances of securing an athletic scholarship is treated with reverence, regardless of his or her demeanor. It is often worse at the college level, for the financial stakes are even higher for the institution. And, sadly, it is often just as bad at the youth level.
The outcome of all of this has been well-documented in scores of studies of childhood development. These kids are more likely to develop serious self-esteem problems. These kids are more likely to marry abusive spouses. These kids are more likely to abuse their own spouses, for they have learned that verbal abuse unleashed for a "good cause" is justified.
We wouldn't let classroom teachers talk to our kids this way. We may not even let parents publicly treat their own kids this way. And yet, our pragmatically driven approach to youth sports causes us to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye when such behavior is accompanied with on-field success.
The youth/collegiate sports community must come to embrace three truths:
1) While fear and intimidation can motivate us, the negative by-products of such behavior far outweigh the advantages.
2) What our kids learn in the arena of sport, they will practice in society.
3) It doesn't have to be this way. At every level of sport, there are great examples of coaches who motivate and teach their athletes with compassion instead of anger. They teach us that winning and learning and fun and respect and dignity can all play in the same orchestra, often with stunning results.
But if we can't change youth sports culture overnight, we can at least change the future of our own children. Never, ever let your child play for a coach who has forgotten that at the end of the day, it is still just a game. Never, ever let your child be taught that verbal harassment has a useful purpose in society. If we just rescue one child at a time, perhaps one day the abusive coach will end up with no kids left to abuse.
------
Mike Giuliano is the women's soccer coach at San Diego State.

______

Parent Corner

Eat, drink and be merry
By Paul Saffer
You are what you eat and drink: That is the message of sports nutrition expert Mark Hulse.
Dirent link
English Football Association (FA) exercise scientist Hulse argues there is a direct link between what and when players eat and drink in the build-up to a match, and the risk of injury and fatigue. Indeed, he has devised an hour-by-hour programme governing when a player should - or should not - refuel.
Hulse believes players must keep liquid levels topped up
Nutrition vital
Speaking at the recent Grass Roots Football Show in London, Hulse, who works closely with England's youth teams, said: "Half of all injuries occur in the last 15 minutes of a match, and 30 per cent of goals. And if you get nutrition right, the better you are in the last 15 minutes. The same pattern occurs from under-9 level to the [FIFA] World Cup. Eating and drinking with the right timings will make a difference."
Swift rehydration
To demonstrate this, Hulse and his colleagues weigh players on every day they are at an England camp. Within three days of a recent U17 trip, most players put on 2kg in three days. "They come to us in a dehydrated state," Hulse said. "The extra weight is not all body fat. You need to build up carbohydrate stores in your legs. It suggests they are not at a decent state with their clubs. It takes a couple of days drinking to hydrate properly." Ensuring players resist peer pressure to drink soda and eat junk food is also part of Hulse's "education process".
Meal plan
Key to the building-up of players while at tournaments and training camps is a strict meal plan and tailored menus. This means players do not have to eat food they do not like, even if that means they take fruit through specially-prepared smoothies. Meanwhile, breakfast is essential.
Brain fuel
"A lot of players like a lie-in and want to get up just before training," Hulse said. "That is not the best preparation. No way can they peform without breakfast." Indeed, surveys in industry and schools show how much different breakfast makes to concentration levels. "Glucose is the brain's only fuel," Hulse pointed out.
Table manners
The other daily essentials are to eat every three hours and make sure all players stay at the table until everyone has finished eating. Hulse said: "It means they eat more, and helps with socialising for team spirit."
If you don't get into habits during training, you won't be able to do it during games
Mark Hulse
Drinking practice
As for during training and matches, liquid intake is essential, and something that needs to be practiced just like set-pieces. Hulse and his colleagues give each player a personalised bottle, with players encouraged to prepare their own drink - a mixture of fruit juice, water and a pinch of salt - and urged to imbibe at least a third of a litre every 20 minutes to get used to having liquid in their stomachs during matches. "If you don't get into habits during training, you won't be able to do it during games," Hulse said.
Pre-match routine
On matchdays, the pre-game meal is eaten three hours before kick-off, though players can snack up to 60 minutes prior to the start. In the 40-minute warm-up a player must drink a full litre, with fluid replacement going on during the game. An hour after the final whistle, it is vital for a player to take on protein, often through widely-available milkshakes.
Supplements unnecessary
Legal supplements such as caffeine, meanwhile, are only used if a player is seriously deficient. "A balanced diet supplies 98 per cent of what your body needs," Hulse said.