Goal Lines Magazine - Issue 15 - May 2017

OREGON YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE

ISSUE #15

GOAL LINES SPREAD THE LOVE! Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 30 years, you’ll know exactly who Jim Serrill is, although most of you will know him as Timber Jim! Well, we’ve got him ‘Inside Vinny’ for our segment this month, and it’s awesome!

We cover a ton of topics, from gardening to homelessness and everything in between.

Jim’s infectious outlook on life should be an inspiration to everyone.

Look inside for the full video, and win a ‘Spread The Love’ scarf!

THE OLYMPIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM The Olympic Development Program (ODP) is a national program run under the auspices of US Youth Soccer. Its mission is to identify players of the highest caliber on a continuing and consistent basis, which in turn aids the development of elite youth soccer players in representing their state, region, and country in soccer competitions.

The Portland Timbers and Thorns are contracted by Oregon Youth Soccer to administer their ODP program and make technical decisions. It is a significant stage of both the Portland Timbers and Thorns development pyramid, and the training groups are also referred to as; Academy Reserve teams or Pre-Academy teams respectfully.

These collaborative programs aim to identify and develop the top players in Oregon and SW Washington (both boys and girls) to prepare them as student/athletes for exposure to regional and national ODP programs, as well as collegiate and potentially professional soccer settings.

WHERE DOES IT FIT IN THE OREGON LANDSCAPE? ODP participation does not mean that the players cannot participate on their club team. On the contrary, Timbers-Thorns-ODP participation, whether at the pool, state, regional, or national level, is concurrent with club team participation.

A mutually agreed upon training calendar is implemented. Participation at this elite level provides many advantages for the clubs too, such as exposure. The advantages of player development outweigh any conflicts this might pose and indeed criteria will be produced to protect the club from poaching or recruiting within the soccer year.

Typically teams are pooled into larger groups for training purposes, and then after 6 months of training as a group, 23 are selected from each age group to represent Oregon at the ODP Region IV championships.

WHERE IT FITS

ODP The Olympic Development Program is sanctioned and granted to OYSA, and we contract out the Timbers to run it for us.

CORNER APRIL UPS AND DOWNS!

BY THE NUMBERS:

The Timbers had a wild month of April. Two wins, two draws, and two losses see them firmly in third

5-3-2 record

place in the Western Conference.

They also had a huge amount of traveling with Alaska Airlines, which didn’t help. In all, the boys traveled 14,668 miles in April, which was the furthest any MLS Club traveled.

Returning with no points from San Jose was probably the biggest disappointment, but solid performances against the Union, and Cascadia rival Whitecaps has left us in good standing going into this month, with only 3 games played.

15 goals for 5 goals against 21,476 miles travelled this season so far for away games (round trip) Top scorers - Adi (6 goals)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Check out our favorite Timbers videos this month that you may not have seen

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT OPPONENT

Here are the most recent match highlights from our favorite team


 Sunday May 14th

Providence Park

1pm PST

E & D LICENSES NOW AVAILABLE Oregon Youth Soccer is the sole provider of USSF coaching education in the state, and we are very proud to be offering both E and D licenses this Spring/Summer for coaches that meet the requirements.

Details can be found in the Digital Coaching Center by clicking ‘Register’.

WHAT IS THE DCC? The U.S. Soccer Coaching Department was established in the early 1970s by famed West German teacher and coach, Dettmar Cramer. Each level of the U.S. Soccer Coaching License Pathway is designed to meet the needs of coaches ranging from the coach who is inexperienced in soccer to the former professional player who desires to coach in amateur, professional or international competitions. U.S. Soccer’s Digital Coaching Center (DCC), a state-of-the art online educational platform, allows coaches to create a personal profile, register for courses, communicate with technical staff, take part in online courses, create session plans with an online graphics tool, access an archive of U.S. Soccer training sessions and much more.

CORNER OFF TO A GREAT START!

BY THE NUMBERS:

The season has kicked o in style for the Thorns this year. One loss against the topranked North Carolina Courage, one tie versus Cascadia rival Seattle Reign, and two

Record: 2-1-1

wins against Orlando, and Chicago see the Thorns firmly in second place in the league.

Goals For: 5

Goals Against: 3

Providence Park still remains a tough place for visitors to come and play, and it is no surprise that the Thorns remain undefeated at home. The Riveters are a tough crowd to play against, and with a packed house each week it makes Soccer City USA home of the most popular women’s sports team in the world!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Check out our favorite Thorns videos this month that you may not have seen

NEXT OPPONENT MATCH HIGHLIGHTS Here are the most recent match highlights from our favorite team

Saturday, May 13th

Swope Field

3pm PST

A LETTER TO MY FORMER SELF AS A NEW SPORTS PARENT

One day you’re going to get in the car with your kid’s water bottle that he left at home for the last time, that sour shoulder pads and cleat smell coming from the back seat, and the little chunks of dirt that have been knocked loose from muddy cleats all over the once new floor mats. You’re going to climb the stadium stairs one last time, listen to his name announced, watch him take the field and shoot a glance up your way and a little wave. You’re going to hear the last whistle, watch the last half time talk, the last hand shake, eat your last stadium hot dog, shade out that last bright sun beam blocking your view, and then you are going to get in the car and you won’t ever be back again.

Today may be the first time he sits in your lap as you lace up his cleats and then walks onto that field, and he may be terrible, he may be fantastic, he will likely have moments of both, but when it’s all over he’s still that piece of you that you love no matter what.

All I care about now at the end of this journey, is that he had fun, that he has memories that he cherishes rather than ones he hopes to forget. His playing time, lack of college offers that he never cared about or wanted anyway, coaches’ philosophies, club teams, stats – none of it mattered. Not one bit. Don’t waste time keeping up with the joneses of sports parents, just love every.single.second.

When he is small, sports will seem like such a milestone and you will be in a hurry to get him into as much as you can. If he shows promise you may start looking ahead, thinking you are depriving him if you don’t get him the training he deserves. Be ready, because the second it starts the comparison and expectations are instantly out of reach. Don’t miss the fun, don’t miss the laughs, don’t miss the chance to reassure when the tears come, hug him tight, hand him an ice pack when he gets hurt and then send him back out there. And when he wants a break, when he says he misses his friends, respect that request.

Don’t worry about what the coaches are doing, how the team is playing, who should be playing…

To read the full article, click the logo to the right:

GRASSROOTS COORDINATOR: ALY HOLLEWIJN All of our Grassroots Coordinators have extensive coaching background around the state of Oregon, and elsewhere so they bring unique experiences to their particular region.

Aly is our southern Oregon GRC and she recently had the opportunity to travel to Spain to take part in the TOVO training experience with Todd Beane, it’s creator. Aly describes what the sessions were all about and her overall experience here.

THE TOVO EXPERIENCE IN CATALONIA What is TOVO? I’m sure you have seen the name, heard the buzz, or taken a glimpse into this evolving concept. If you haven’t, that is ok, you will soon, in fact you are right now. For years I have watched Todd Beane create this concept and recently I watched in awe as he brought it to fruition. TOVO is much more than the Xs and Os. It is a true dive into all of the elements that we all strive to bring into our coaching philosophies.

For over a decade of coaching I have loved teaching the game and connecting with my athletes. I dove into coaching education as young as I could. Today, I help facilitate and engage coaches in coaching education and also run my own programs. While doing all of this I have always felt a missing piece in what I was providing as a coach as a whole. TOVO gave me the piece that I have been fervently seeking for the past few years. The course elevated my game awareness but also brought me back to ensuring I focused on the human element when engaging with all players.

We did not just watch demonstrations of rondos and small sided games. We watched them in action, discussed the impact of these games with leaders in the game, and saw the end result with the local youth and the Barcelona Youth. When we were not engaging on the field we were hosted in classroom sessions to discuss the application of the cognitive and human element.

Facts, anecdotes, hands on demonstrations, and profound lectures helped us connect the potential that we all hold as coaches.

The mastermind behind the course and concept, Todd Beane did not let anything escape him when making this program available. We were hosted in Sites, Spain, a small Catalonian beach town, fed three incredible Mediterranean meals a day, and were strongly encourage to use the beautiful walk to the breathtaking seaside stadium as a chance to connect and discuss what we were learning. In the evenings we dove deeper into the content while playing ping pong with Jon Van’t Schip, we did not have the weight of a test on our shoulders but the excitement of what questions and discussion points to bring the next day. In this course we had coaches who have coached successful national teams and coaches who have spent less than a year coaching. Everyone had something to offer and all of us gained greatly from the experience.

This was not a vacation on the beach but a refreshing approach to coaching education. We had long days that flew by and we were pushed to think beyond where any of us ever had before. Despite what we all thought, we all opened our minds even further to the game and came back with more passion running through our blood.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NEAR YOU? Looking to improve your coaching knowledge base? Thinking of moving onto the next level, or maybe just a refresher course before the season? What about other soccer-related events?

Check out the schedule of events near you. Coaching and referee courses are asterisked in red!

To register for a coaching course, simply click the course listing to be taken to the registration page

PORTLAND METRO AREA ★Providence Park 5/14 Timbers vs. Atlanta

SOUTHERN OREGON ★E-license 8/25-27 Location tbd

CENTRAL OREGON ★Willamalane Center, 5/19 Lane United FC vs. FC Cougars

★Portland, OR 5/19 E-License

★Willamalane Center, 5/26 Lane United FC vs. FC Rovers

★Providence Park 5/27 Thorns vs. Boston Breakers

★Willamalane Center, 6/2 Lane United FC vs. Sounders FC

★Providence Park, 6/2 Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes

★Willamalane Center, 6/13 Lane United FC vs. S. Oregon

★Portland, OR 6/2 D-License - Performance Wknd

★Willamalane Center, 6/22 Lane United FC vs. Timbers U23

★ Portland, 6/11 USSF ‘C’ License

★Willamalane Center, 6/29 Lane United FC vs. Victoria FC

★Portland, OR 6/9 D-License - Performance Wknd

★Corvallis, OR 7/28 D-License - Performance Wknd

★Oregon City, OR 6/16 D-License - Performance Wknd

★E-license 7/14 - 16 Eugene, OR

★ Portland, OR 6/23 D-License - Educational Wknd

★Portland, OR 9/1 D-License - Performance Wknd

Click team badge for their full game schedule

WINNING CULTURE - IT HURTS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT!

Is the primary focus on what the club can do for the young player, or what the young player can do for the club?

Unfortunately in the U.S., our cultural beliefs idealize winning as the sole marker of success. As Paul Mairs and Richard Shaw note, many clubs are driven by an “insatiable appetite for winning, instantaneous gratification, and a premature focus on what is best for the team instead of focusing on the development of each individual player.”

A quick perusal of the majority of local clubs’ websites — plastered with photos of their teams holding trophies, boasting of goals totals for elementary school kids — will confirm this observation.

Believing these clubs must be doing a good job, parents are happy to drive their children great distances and freely open their wallets to provide the best opportunities possible. What they fail to realize is this culture of winning can have a significant negative impact not only on their children’s enjoyment of the sport, but ultimately on their development as well. It is a vicious cycle pushing clubs to advertise their trophies rather than their retention and improvement of players’ abilities.

In their publication "Foundations of Sports and Exercise Psychology," Robert Weinberg and Daniel Gould explain the critical factors contributing to early withdraw from sports are a lack of enjoyment, excessive pressure and an overemphasis on winning. In fact, if you ask young soccer players for reasons why they enjoy playing soccer, “winning” isn’t even in the top 10 most common answers. As adults, we hijack their experience to satisfy our purposes.

All too frequently, games represent the “big stage” and are overhyped by parents…

Click the logo to the right to jump to the full story by Scott Pugh of the Deseret News….

WINNING CULTURE - MISUNDERSTANDING WINNING

With long term player development (LTPD) being more recognized than ever before, there is a misunderstanding with regards to ‘Winning’ and the ‘Win at all costs’ approach in youth soccer. We need to understand that LTPD is very much about winning, however it is the emphasis on winning that needs to be adjusted depending on the stage of development and the level of play. As players progress through each stage the importance placed on winning becomes greater, however the principles necessary to developing a winner must always be taught.

We must nurture and develop the winning mentality in our young players just as much as all the other necessary skills it takes to play soccer at a high level. The game is meant to be won, but its not won so easily. Our players must learn before they can truly call themselves winners. In other words winning happens with experience, knowledge and an understanding of the game.

A combination of technical skill, tactical knowledge, psychological strength and physical capability make up the modern day soccer player. The stronger these skills, the more likely they become winners. We can’t expect to win at the highest level if we don’t train to compete at the highest level. Let’s have a look at what it takes to be a winner.

Click the logo to the right to jump to the full story by Victor Satei of Sport IQ….

WIN THIS ‘SPREAD THE LOVE’ SCARF!

It’s as simple as 1-2-3!

Watch the episode of Inside Vinny with Timber Jim, and you could win the ‘Spread The Love’ scarf pictured above!

And if you don’t win, don’t panic! The scarves are on sale at the Timbers game vs.

Atlanta for only $20 each. All profits go toward fighting the homelessness epidemic in Portland and getting families the help they need.

Keep scrolling…watch the video, answer the questions, and enter to win!

MEANWHILE, IN EUGENE…

THE DECLINE OF PLAY

Published on Jun 13, 2014 In this talk, Dr. Peter Gray compellingly brings attention to the reality that over the past 60 years in the United States there has been a gradual but, overall dramatic decline in children's freedom to play with other children, without adult direction.

Over this same period, there has been a gradual but overall dramatic increase in anxiety, depression, feelings of helplessness, suicide, and narcissism in children and adolescents.

Based on his own and others' research, Dr. Gray documents why free play is essential for children's healthy social and emotional development and outlines steps through which we can bring free play back to children's lives.

The Federation Internationale de Powerchair Football Association (FIPFA), in partnership with the United States Power Soccer Association (USPSA) are pleased to announce the draw for the 2017 FIPFA World Cup. This took place on Thursday 23rd February, hosted in partnership with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in Chicago, IL. The 2017 FIPFA World Cup will have the following 10 teams competing to become World Champions: Host and current World Champions: USA- Argentina- Australia- Canada- Denmark- England- France- Ireland- Japan- Uruguay The World Cup will take place from 5 to 9 of July 2017 At the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.

What are you doing around the state? What does your team look like? Got a crazy picture for us? Want everyone to see what it’s like playing at your club? Well, now’s your chance! Click the submit button and send us your pics.

US Youth Soccer TOPSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) is a community-based training and team placement program for young athletes with disabilities, organized by youth soccer association volunteers.

The program is designed to bring the opportunity of learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl, who has a mental or physical disability. Our goal is to enable the thousands of young athletes with disabilities to become valued and successful members of the US Youth Soccer family.

How do you participate?

Check out the list below of areas where clubs already have a TOPSoccer program running or contact your club about starting one. We can help you, too, to set up and run a program within your club, and ALL FEES ARE WAIVED for the TOPSoccer program by the Oregon

EXISTING PROGRAMS Click on any name to email the director of that program.

Albany

Beaverton

Clackamas

Eugene

Gresham

Medford

Milton Freewater

St Helens

State Chair (OYSA)

Youth Soccer Association.

WHERE’S VINNY? WHAT’S VINNY BEEN UP TO THIS MONTH? Vinny has been all over the place this month. It’s been a busy month full of State Cup semi finals, Presidents Cup finals, and then the actual State Cup Finals.

He’s been to Timbers games, to clubs, and everywhere in between.

He also had a fantastic guest in there who you may have heard of! Timber Jim was the guest this month, and it was awesome. Click the video to the right to watch it, the enter to win one of the ‘Spread The Love’ scarves.

ROAD LOG So far this month Vinny has logged over 400 miles visiting different places around the state.

CLUBS/PLACES VISITED:

Scappoose, Liberty Stadium, THPRD

Hillsboro, Providence Park, and Washington Timbers.

FOLLOW VINNY ON TWITTER