Category: Youth What They’re Saying

“The tests will start today and continue throughout the competition, because it’s important to make sure that no player is over 17. The results will be transparent; we have no reason to hide them.”

— FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke on the random use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) wrist scans to check players’ ages at the Under-17 World Cup. Before the tournament, host Nigeria dropped 15 players following its own MRI testing. Gambia’s Baby Scorpions had 11 players from their 2009 African championship team not continue with team after MRI tests were conducted. (fifa.com)

“This is a wonderful historic event for Africa. Now Africans can believe in themselves that they can do it. We’ve shown them the way. Africa will surely have a lot of hope and confidence that they can do it like we did here.”

— Ghana coach Sellas Tetteh after the Black Satellites won the Under-20 World Cup on penalty kicks over Brazil, saying that their success will inspire other African teams to do well at the World Cup next year in South Africa. (AP)

“Tree-sitting? I said never, but I’m getting desperate. They’re using the need for soccer fields as a rallying cry to go ahead and destroy this beautiful park, and we have to do something.”

— Piedmont, Calif., resident Sandra Pohutsky, who opposes plans to turn Blair Park, a 5-acre strip of open space, into soccer fields for local players who have inadequate space for games and practice. (San Francisco Chronicle)

“It feels like a World Cup final.”

— Adam Tamburello, whose cross set up teammate Jack Miller for the winning goal in Commack (N.Y.) High School’s 2-1 win on Thursday that broke nationally top-ranked Brentwood’s  28-game winning streak and 78-game league unbeaten streak. (Newsday)

“It’s going to be a disaster. Am I going to do everything I can to make this program go? You betcha. But I read the handwriting on the wall, and it’s not going to be pretty.”

— Alan Wharton, a referee assignor for New York’s Public Schools Athletic League, on the projected 50 high school programs (25 boys and 25 girls) that might disband because of lack of players. This follows the move to shift the girls season from the spring to the fall, as part of an agreement made by the New York Department of Education and the New York Civil Liberties Union after a lawsuit was threatened. (Girls want to be able to play for club teams in the spring when they can be seen by colleges.) (New York Daily News)

“There has been some backlash for sure, but we try to be up front about it. We try to communicate that these are our goals, and hopefully club presidents, club boards, club coaches, club technical directors understand that it’s also an opportunity for a player to maybe one day play for what should be their hometown team, D.C. United, and this is an avenue for them. There is still some resistance, and club coaches don’t necessarily get that or care.”

— D.C. United General Manager Dave Kasper on conflicts that have risen between local clubs and his MLS club since it launched an advanced youth program. (Washington Post)

“I am proud of the growth of soccer in Encinitas over the past decade and now feel that the time is right to pass the baton on to the next generation of coaches. Youth soccer is now big business in San Diego County and it is my sincere wish that the person who takes over will be able to build on what we have created here and make the club the best in the area.”

— Former NASL and MISL star Juli Veee, who is retiring after 15 years as director of coaching at the Encinitas Express. The Hungarian-born Veee, one of the first U.S. internationals to play in Europe, is also an accomplished artist whose works have appeared at many shows in California, Arizona and New Mexico. (Daily San Diego Soccer News)

“We had to change routine and now just say ‘hello’ to each other, run past each other, but we don’t shake hands.”

— Terje Lund, deputy chief of the Norway Cup, which banned the shaking of fans because of concerns about the H1N1 flu outbreak. An African player came down with H1N1 flu, and four other participants were also suspected of carrying the virus. The youth tournament features 30,000 players. (Reuters)

“Right now, you can’t really explain it, to be honest with you. It won’t sink in for a while.”

— Dom Wren, coach of Discoveries SC Green, the first team from South Carolina to win a title at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, finishing with 19 goals in four games. For Wren and seven of his players, it was their second national title of the year. Northwestern High School was ranked No. 1 in the spring high school national rankings. (Rock Hill Herald News)

“It was pouring down rain, like sideways rain, too.”

— Triangle United Gold’s McAmos Paye on the weather he woke up to Friday at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Lancaster, Mass. Triangle survived the bad weather and beat Javanon, 1-0, to move into Sunday’s final against CZ Elite in the under-17 boys division. (Raleigh News & Observer)

“What we were able to pull off with everybody helping out shows [Chelsea] that we’re for real. And we’re very impressed with what they’ve done for us.”

— Kevin Healey, president of the Baltimore Bays, who helped bring the World Football Challenge to Baltimore, where a sellout crowd of 71,000 will watch Chelsea play AC Milan on Friday. Chelsea signed a four-year deal with the Bays valued at more than $100,000 to the Bays in 2009. (Baltimore Sun)

“We act like sisters, argue like sisters and people think we look like sisters.”

— Amy Grow, Oklahoma’s all-time leading goalscorer in high school soccer (198 goals for Deer Creek High School), on herself and cousin and goalkeeper Cris, who are playing for surprise Region III under-18 champion Edmond SC Black, who is competing at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships. (The Oklahoman)

“The Northwestern guys don’t brag about their national championship. Instead they tell the rest of us we need to go get one.”

— Taylor Grimm, who hails from Knoxville, Tenn., on his seven Discoveries SC teammates from South Carolina’s Northwestern High School, the spring national prep champion. DSC looks to become the first South Carolina team to return with a U.S. Youth Soccer national championship. (Rock Hill Herald)

“I’m very proud, he’s got a lot of talent.”

— Julio Cesar Baldivieso, coach of Bolivian club Aurora, on his son, Mauricio, who became the youngest player to ever play a South American first division game when he came on in a 1-0 loss at La Paz. Mauricio turns 13 on Wednesday.

“We’ve been lucky to kids that have a commitment to always bring a high level, both in training and games. The nature of a competitive athlete is to want to win every time they step on the field. I think what we’ve tried to suggest to the kids is that winning is an important part of development. However, we’ve made it clear to them that we’re not going to go into a win at all costs mentality.”

— Derby County Wolves coach Lars Richters, the 2008-09 U-15/16 Development Academy Coach of the Year.

“One of the best moves we have made as an organization was bringing Oscar Pareja back to FC Dallas to lead the Juniors program.”

— FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock on the former FCD midfielder, who returned to Dallas from the U.S. U-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla. Pareja was named the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-17/18 Coach of the Year, having led the U-17/18 team to a 15-5-8 regular-season record and a second-place finish in the Central Conference and also led the U-15/16 team to a 18-3-7 record and an appearance at Finals Week.

“Simply put, soccer is drawing kids away from sports such as tennis, basketball, softball, baseball or others where West Virginia youth have had more success. When I watched the U12 Chaos girls play I could not help but think that there were probably three or four girls who could be nationally ranked tennis players, or all-state basketball players, softball players or gymnasts.”

— Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter J.T. Simms on the state of youth soccer in West Virginia. The Chaos was only the fourth team ever from West Virginia to reach the Region I semifinals, making the final four at this year’s regionals played in Barboursville. (Daily Mail)

“It’s a true indication of how strong this area is, soccer-wise. Because there’s plenty of competition just to get here.”

— Charlie Slagle, CEO of the Capital Area Soccer League, on the three titles teams from the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina won at the 2009 U.S. Youth Soccer Region III Championships in Frisco, Texas. (Raleigh News & Observer)

“It is our first loss in a year. But this makes us a better team for the future.”

— Former Dallas Sidekicks player and coach Tatu, looking on the bright side after his Sting team lost on penalty kicks to CASL Spartan Elite in the U-14 girls semifinals at the U.S. Youth Region III Championships (Dallas Morning News)

“As the custom is with Nigerian football, if this show of shame were brought upon the nation by a national team failing to perform in a World Cup competition, the coach and every member of the team would have been sacked by now. So, why not do the same to administrators, managers and our so-called leaders who are bringing shame to the country everyday?”

— Former Nigerian women’s national and current Newberry College men’s coach Sam Okpodu, calling for Nigeria to replace those organizing the 2009 Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria before FIFA pulls the plug on the tournament. (Nigerian Guardian)

“The vision of the city in building this complex was to host the top events in the country.”

— Alan Blinzler, president of the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association, on Overland Park landing the 2010 US Youth Soccer National Championships at the $36 million soccer complex that’s scheduled to open later this summer. (Kansas City Star)

“I’d come back here again, I don’t want to be anywhere else. I still want to make this facility work and if the economy hadn’t gone the way it did, we’d still be working right now.”

— American goalie Brad Friedel, whose Ohio-based Premier Soccer Academies, the first full-scholarship youth soccer academy in the United States, were forced to scale back operations because of the downturn in the economy. (Morning Journal)

“Any environment where our residency players can improve and continue to develop their skills and their knowledge about the game [is positive].”

— U.S. U-17 national team coach Wilmer Cabrera on midfield star Sebastian Lletget‘s signing with West Ham United. Lletget, whose parents are Argentine but who holds an Italian passport that qualifies him to sign with an English club, only recently joined the Bradenton residency program but started for the USA at the Under-17 Concacaf Championship. He will shuttle back and forth between London and Bradenton before next fall’s Under-17 World Cup, slated to be held in Nigeria.  (goal.com)

“The silence was deafening. I felt the sun on my face, brushed a tick off my lower leg, and listened to the highway traffic on I-94. I felt sick to my stomach. I’m actually excited you are doing a story. I won’t try to justify anything. I hope if my girls learned anything, it’s that everyone is human, everyone makes a mistake. I hope they do not judge me by one act.”

— Mark Abboud, coach of the U-12 Minnesota Thunder Academy. He ordered his players to miss their penalty kicks on purpose so their opponents, the favored U-13 Minnesota Thunder Academy, could win, which happened. Abboud, who has said before the game he would do what he did if the game was decided on penalties, added that if he was reprimanded, “Maybe that’s a sign I should try something else after 15 years.” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“I know that lots of teams have called and I am flattered. It means a lot when people check in with you when you are hurt. I have ambition to be a top player… I know I have to work hard to get there and find the right environment.”

— U.S. under-17 national team standout Charles Renken, who suffered his second serious knee injury in two years and missed U-17 qualifying. His agent said he’s attracted interest from a dozen European First Division clubs. (ESPN Soccernet)