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...with the Alberta Soccer Association
Issue 21
Happy Holidays from the ASA!
December, 2012
Important Dates Youth Indoor Provincials March 15-17 Senior Indoor Provincials March 22-24 ASA Annual General Meeting January 19 CMSA Coaches Convention February 2-3
Subscription/ Submissions To sign up for ASA’s monthly newsletter or to submit a story, email communications@albertasoccer.com
@AlbertaSoccer
ASA Holiday Hours: The ASA Office will be closed from noon on December 24 to January 1 inclusive. We will be open once again on January 2. From all of us at the ASA, we would like to wish you a very Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Pride of Alberta Ranee Premji Marco Carducci Calgary teenager Marco Carducci has been named Canada’s U17 male player of the year for the 2012 soccer season as voted on by national team coaches and other Canadian coaches. Carducci is a member of Canada's men's U-17 team, having taken part in three national projects in 2012. He saw action in eight international matches, including shutout victories over Costa Rica and Panama. He was Canada's Player of the Match in the 1:0 win over Panama at Estadio Rommel Fernandez on 25 November 2012. Goalkeeper Carducci is a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency program. In 2011-12, he helped the Whitecaps finish first in the Western Conference of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League.
Ranee Premji of Calgary recently won the Women's Soccer NCAA Division 1 National Championship with her school team, University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Winning an NCAA Division 1 Championship is a significant accomplishment in the world of sports and Ranee was the only Canadian on the Tar Heels team to be apart of this impressive feat. Ranee was an original member of the Calgary SWU Premiers 90 FC, a team that medaled at CSA Nationals twice, were six time Alberta Provincial champions, and were 11 time City of Calgary Champions. Ranee had a very special 2012 as she was invited to a 26 player Canada WNT 10 day pre camp in Larnaka, Cyprus on Feb. 28th 2012. On top of it all she helped the Calgary Callies Womens' AMSL team qualify for and win silver at this year's ASA's Jubilee Shield Provincial competition. The ASA would like to take this opportunity to congratulate both Marco and Ranee on their impressive achievements!
Giving Thanks: Referee-In-Chief In soccer competitions, as in many events in our lives, there are always people ‘behind the scenes’ who ensure that things run smoothly for those participating or attending. Most of the time, the work of those individuals goes largely unrecognized by the general population, and ASA provincials are no different in this respect. At all ASA competitions, the Refereein-chief (RIC) is a key figure, essential to a successful competition. The RIC is in charge of all officials at the competition, and has several duties to carry out before, during and after the event. Although RIC’s do receive an honorarium for providing this valuable service, as well as an assigning fee based on the number of games, the number of hours put in by these individuals for
each provincial competition more than justifies the money that they receive. Perhaps at the next provincial competition that you attend, you might spare a thought for the RIC, who has worked very hard to ensure that the officiating at the tournament runs smoothly. The ASA would like to thank the following people for their contributions as RIC at provincials in the 2012 outdoor season:
Laurier Jubinville, Hugh Netzer, Tony Wadsworth, Rod Rigden, Debbie Sargent, Ricardo Lodhar, Brian Wilkens, Matthew Kennedy, Robert Hayne, Paul Anwender, Mike Barwegen, Brad Frunchak, Jason Bolen, Malcolm Pritchard, Ken Kovacs, Murray Milavsky, Jens Woller.
FC Edmonton Unveils New Coach and holds Player Combine FC Edmonton proudly announced the hiring of former Vancouver Whitecaps assistant coach Colin Miller as the club’s latest head coach in November. Miller played professionally for 18 years before moving on to the full time coaching ranks. His coaching career is highlighted by positions with both the Men’s and Women’s Canadian National Teams, first team coach at Derby County Football Club in the English Premier League and most recently, assistant coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“We pride ourselves on developing Canadian talent, and giving Canadian players the chance to become professional. It’s time we help develop our Canadian coaches. We are happy to have Colin be a part of our team,” says FC Edmonton owner Tom Fath.
The Alberta Soccer Association welcomed a new member to their Staff in November. Lindsay-Anne Freire joins the staff as the new Communications and Business Development Coordinator for the ASA. She joins us after spending a year in Europe completing an International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport (FIFA Master). Lindsay-Anne is originally from Ontario but has previously lived and worked in Edmonton. She is an avid soccer fan and player.
Miller’s first task on the job was to oversee the Winter 2012 FC Edmonton Combine which featured a number of Albertan Players and Alberta Technical Staff such as Shaun Lowther, Ian Skitch, Troye Flannery and Dean Cordeiro.
ASA 2013 Annual General Meeting The 2013 ASA Annual General Meeting is scheduled to take place on Saturday January 19, 2013 starting at 9:00 am. The AGM will take place at the Calgary Coast Plaza & Convention Centre: Please be advised that as this is an Annual General Meeting and elections will be held for the following vacancies on the ASA Board of Directors: President (2 year term) 2nd Vice President (2 year term) Director-at-large x 3 (2 year term) Director-at-large x 2 (1 year term)
@ AlbertaSoccer
2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup In 2015, Edmonton will be one of 6 host cities to welcome the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Although a schedule has yet to be determined for the largest single sport event for women in the world, all games will be held at Commonwealth Stadium. On December 14, the Canadian Soccer Association released the official emblem for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup at BC Place in Vancouver. Each of the official host cities also unveiled
composite logos in collaboration with the CSA. Edmonton released their logo at a small ceremony that took place in Commonwealth Stadium that included representatives from the municipal and provincial governments, the Canadian Soccer Association, the Alberta Soccer Association, FC Edmonton Owner Tom Fath, and female players from the Vimy Ridge Academy.
Supporting Your Soccer Star John Clubb, ASA Provincial Coach (South) was in town to present a Supporting Your Soccer Star parent clinic in Fort McMurray, on what was a bitterly cold & snowy night. Despite the conditions nearly 30 parents supported the event and took part in an interactive seminar that John hopes will be received across the province. All the parents have children in soccer or other sports and were provided with information regarding the ASA player pathway, Long Term Player Development (LTPD) and more importantly how to support their budding sport stars. Ian Diaz from Fort McMurray expressed that the parents loved the discussions and especially the personal perspective within the delivery. John confirms that with three boys playing various sports at different levels it is easy to have empathy with the soccer moms and dads. “It is not always that straight forward being a sport parent”. The seminar also presented a supportive perspective to challenge potential barriers and understanding between players, their
parents and also coaches. The “Supporting Your Soccer Star” program will be available as a resource for all districts and community clubs, and will be supported by various information documents, such as a coach assessment tools. The idea is to educate parents on the standards and expectations they should observe through their child’s involvement in grassroots soccer. John supports that “if we don’t set standards how can we ever develop the game at all levels.” LTPD is a sports development model established through Sport Canada and the Canada Soccer Association that advocates for age appropriate coaching methodology, through greater training and education of coaches. The goal is for each player to develop a passion for soccer through access to the right coach at the right time. For further information on the Supporting Your Soccer Star program please contact John Clubb southcoach@albertasoccer.com
Still Looking for a Christmas Gift?
Looking for a unique gift idea? Want to make a difference in the lives of a child in your community? Consider supporting KidSport and giving the Gift of Sport this holiday season. Funds raised help provide a child with a season of soccer, basketball or whichever sport they choose and no donation is too small. Your donation will be directed to your local KidSport chapter, helping make a difference right in your own community. Donations of $25 or more are eligible for a tax-deductible receipt. To give the gift of sport this holiday season or for more information, please contact KidSport Alberta at 1-888-9145437, or visit www.kidsport.ab.ca to make your donation online.
12/12/12 The typical intrigue that surrounds dates that are once in a lifetime was made all the more intriguing due to the recent success of Canada’s most notable female soccer player. Fun Fact: Christine Sinclair chose the number 12 because her childhood athletic hero was Roberto Alomar who also wore this number. Many Canadian Soccer fans have taken notice of Christine for just over a decade now but it wasn’t until this past summer that the rest of Canada started to take notice. “Sinc”, as she’s referred to by her teammates and coach, John Herdman, made a bronze medal feel like a Gold in what was truly a soccer/ athletic performance for the ages.
Air Canada Athlete of the Year CSA Top Female Player Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s Athlete of the Year
2012 CSA Club Nationals Results
Christine Sinclair has done wonders for the game in Canada and Alberta Soccer would like to congratulate her on all of her successes. 12/12/12 could not have come at a more appropriate time. Perhaps, we should refer to it now as Christine Sinclair Day.
Classics: Calgary Spirit (Gold)
The month of December signified a month in which Christine Sinclair started collecting awards and accolades that she has deserved for so long including: CBC’s Canadian Athlete of the Year Sportsnet’s Athlete of the Year
U14 Boys: Internazionale (Silver) U18 Girls: Victoria (Silver) Men: EdmontonScottish (Silver)
Player of the Year Nominations We’d like to send our Congratulations to a number of Albertans who were nominated for the Canadian Soccer Association’s Player of the Year Awards at both the Youth and Senior Level: U-17 Male Marco Carducci (Winner) - Calgary Hanson Boakai - Edmonton
U-20 Female Danica Wu - Edmonton
U-20 Male Jon Dollery - Calgary
Women’s Erin McLeod - St. Albert
Men’s Kevin McKenna - Calgary Lars Hirschfeld - Edmonton
Thank you to our generous partners:
U14 Girls: SWU Premiers (Bronze) U16 Girls: NSD Saints (Bronze) U18 Boys: Chinook United (5th) U16 Boys: SWU 96 FC (6th) Women: Edmonton Angels (7th) Congratulations to all teams for their outstanding performances!