“He’s young and he has to learn that soccer is a lifestyle. Everything is important on and off the field. I hope he’s learned a lesson and will be more conscious of the coach and the team’s policy.”
— Wilmer Cabrera, coach of the U.S. under-17 national team, on star Carlos Martinez, who was removed from the U.S. residency program for breaking team rules. (ESPNsoccernet)
“The children adore reading it [match reports] and it genuinely thrills them. The local press is an enormous part of the community and we hope these reports encourage these children to read — and maybe read a bit more.”
— A coach in the Hunts (England) Mini-Soccer League, where coaches of under-7 and under-8 teams have been banned from sending game reports to the local newspaper for fear of making games too competitive. The decision, described by one coach as “politically correct madness” is an extension of the English FA’s ban on results being kept at younger ages. (Hunts Post)
“It’s just that when you feel like it’s your baby that you’re trying to protect, and that’s kind of how I feel about my fields, I tend to take it a little personally. It’s a pretty big emotion.”
— Mark Vessell, the groundskeeper for the St. Louis Youth Soccer Association complex, which has suffered an estimated $1 million in damage when heavy rain caused by Hurricane Ike sent Mississippi River water pouring on to Vessell’s fields for the third time in three months. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
“Some parents said their child didn’t get enough playing time. There were complaints from coaches about some mouthy players, some girls who I’m going to have to talk to.”
— Diana Presta, commissioner of the Mission Viejo (Calif.) League, one of the nation’s largest AYSO leagues with more than 3,000 players, on the extent to which parents went to contact her during last Saturday’s opening day. Between 8:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., while she refereed the game, Presta received 24 e-mails, eight voice messages and a couple of text messages from parents. (Orange County Register)
“We’re not asking for anything for free, [but] the kids we serve aren’t exactly upper-middle-class kids.”
— Irene Chavez, treasurer of the the Anaheim (Calif.) Soccer Club, after the local school district said that it would cost the club $60,000 to use fields for a whole season under a new fee schedule. Before this year, leagues paid $20 permit fees to use the fields. Both parties hoped to reach a compromise. (Orange County Register)
”It’s become harder to find volunteer coaches. And because we have limited fields we have to start practice really early in the morning, and it’s just difficult to find volunteers to work at that time.”
— Key Biscayne (Fla.) Village Manager Genaro ”Chip” Iglesias, recommending the Key Biscayne council accept a one-year contract for Italian club AC Milan to run its youth soccer program. Key Biscayne’s soccer program has struggled to find volunteer coaches. Player fees for the Key Biscayne Milan Academy will mean an increase by more than $100 a month. (Miami Herald)
“There are no miracles in football. You have to start to organize youth competitions before you can succeed at a higher level. There is hard work to be done. Where football is developed at youth level, you have a good national team.”
— FIFA President Sepp Blatter, saying China must develop youth soccer before it can achieve international success. China has been eliminated from the 2010 World Cup and failed to reach the medal stage of the men’s and women’s soccer competitions at the Olympics.
“It’s rare for a whole team of Sierra Leoneans to go abroad and come back. It goes to show what Sierra Leone can do when it puts its mind to it. We have managed to stick a feather in the cap for the country.”
— Kweku Lisk, legal adviser to Sierra Leone youth club, FC Johansen, the first African team to compete in the 27-year history of the Mittnorden Cup. Swedish Honorary Consul Arne Johansen vouched for the club, made up of underprivileged children, many of them orphaned during the country’s savage 1991-2002 civil war. His support prompted Sweden to lift its ban on on issuing visas to Sierra Leonean athletes. FC Johansen finished second in its age group. (Reuters)
“Back in the day, we used to go to tournaments like that and turn them into mini family vacations, maybe go to Sea World, go to the beach, stay in a hotel. So we all just voted no, because it wasn’t going to be anything like that.”
— Nikole McGinn of Castaic, Calif., on the impact high gas prices and a weak economy have had on her family’s summer soccer tournament expeditions (Los Angeles Times).
“As a 12-year-old, he is as good as anybody else around the world.”
— Marcio Leite, coach of the Dallas Texans Red, on 12-year-old Emerson Hyndman, grandson of FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman, whose soccer talents have attracted the attention of English Premier League clubs. (Click here for video of Emerson Hyndman’s juggling drills.)
