Soccer America Magazine | March 2009

Transcription

MARCH 2009 / VOLUME 64, NUMBER 3 / 1639
STORM
ON
TOP TROOPERS.
OF THE WORLD.
U.S. fans
A breakout
braved season at
Manchester
heavy
rains to
United
turn out
hasand
made
watch
22-year-old
the USA Portuguese
star Cristiano
beat
Mexico, 2-0,
Ronaldo
in Columbus.
the early but heavy favorite for
international player of the year honors.
JOHN TODD/ISIPHOTOS.COM
FEATURES
UP FRONT
4 Off The Post
By Mike Woitalla
6 One-Two Punch
8 Timmy!
YOUTH BEAT
12 Camp Economy’s Wide
Reach
By Mike Woitalla
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
14 Back To The Northwest
By Ridge Mahoney
16 ‘It Could Only Be Sounders’
By Ridge Mahoney
19 Expansion Benchmark Rise
By Ridge Mahoney
U.S. SOCCER
20 New Year, Same Story
Former Sweden and Arsenal star
Freddy Ljundberg shows off the
Seattle Sounders FC colors. Landon
Donovan moves past a pair of
Mexican defenders during the USA’s
2-0 win that opened the Hexagonal.
Cover photo courtesy of Seattle
Sounders FC. Inset by John Todd/
isiphotos.com
www.socceramerica.com
By Paul Kennedy
45 Top Girls Clubs Produce
By Paul Kennedy
46 Men’s Elite Eight Classes
By Paul Kennedy
TOURNAMENTS
47 Calendar
By Ridge Mahoney
CAMP & ACADEMY GUIDE
25 The Checklist
Cover
COLLEGE
44 Rage’s Recruiting Success
BACKLINE
50 Matkovich’s Double-Duty
Coaching
By Mike Woitalla
WORLD CUP 2018/2022
34 David Downs Interview
By Ridge Mahoney
38 The Competition
By Paul Kennedy
SA COLLECTION
42 Cosmic Sphere
COLUMNS
10 SoccerTalk
EDITOR'S NOTE
Since its launch in 1971, Soccer America
and soccer camps have gone hand in
hand; so it’s only natural that our guide
to soccer camps and academies has
been an annual feature. Soccer America
executive editor Mike Woitalla was an
early soccer camper in the 1970s, first in
Dallas at the Tornado camps and later in Hawaii. He catches
up with soccer camp pioneers Hubert Vogelsinger and Joe
Machnik, who recall how the soccer camp business took off in
the late 1960s and then exploded with the youth soccer boom.
Soccer had no roots in the traditional scholastic system,
so players and their parents looked elsewhere for training.
It’s common today for coaches to make big money in youth
coaching, but camps were where the youth coaching industry
began. Camps have trained generations of American players
and helped fuel the growth of college soccer by providing
opportunities for young college coaches to subsidize their
meager salaries with camp incomes. Woitalla’s Youth Beat
(see page 14) provides insight on a key but often overlooked
part of modern American soccer.
By Paul Gardner
Paul Kennedy
Editor-in-Chief
March 2009 / Soccer America / 3
America’s Soccer Magazine
OFF THE POST
1971-SERVING AMERICAN SOCCER-2009
Founder & Chairman
Clay Berling
That ink is dry
Publisher
Kenneth Fadner
EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief & General Manager
Paul Kennedy / (510) 596-2624
Executive Editor
Mike Woitalla / (510) 596-2625
Senior Editor
Ridge Mahoney / (510) 596-2626
Manchester City fan Christopher
Atkinson tattooed “Kaka” on his
chest when it looked like the Brazilian star would join the Blues from
AC Milan. “I got carried away by the
emotion of him coming here,” said
Atkinson, who was “gutted” when
he learned Kaka was staying with the
Italian club.
Columnist
Paul Gardner
ART & PRODUCTION
Production & Design Manager
Jennifer T. Cox / (510) 596-2630
Art Director
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REUTERS/NEWSCOM
Assistant Editor
Bryan Alvarez
High heels the root of
riot?
Brazilian media reported that up
to 50 people were injured during
crowd trouble at Vitoria’s home game
against Bahia. Vitoria officials offered
their version: “A female fan, who was
wearing high heels, lost her balance
and fell on top of another fan and
this led to a domino effect. This led
to some panic and some fans were
slightly injured.”
This one’s ready
Fans on Durban’s North Beach replicate the city’s Moses Mabhida World Cup
stadium, one the South Africa 2010 stadiums still under construction.
But just so you know
118 minutes of
anticipation and then …
After a 3-0 loss to Glasgow Rangers,
Falkirk manager John Hughes didn’t
quite let keeper Dani Mallo off the
hook: “In the end, we lost a bad third
goal because of an individual error by
the goalkeeper, but I’m not going to
point the finger of blame at anyone
for that.”
Everton’s FA Cup game with Liverpool had gone scoreless for 118
minutes when Dan Gosling scored
the winner — just after ITV went to
a 30-second commercial. “Technically, it came at a particularly bad
time for us,” said ITV commentator
Steve Rider.
Polly wants to interrupt
game
Thanks for nothing, Plato
Referee Gary Bailey ejected Me-Tu, a
parrot, and its owner from the Hertfordshire Senior Centenary Trophy
quarterfinal after Me-Tu’s whistling
brought the players to a standstill
four times. Previously, Me-Tu had
come to Hertford Heath games and
merely entertained fans by repeating
what they said.
Transfer market in
these times
When St. Mirren demolished its
old Love Street stadium, it sold the
salvaged urinals to Scottish Premier
League rival Aberdeen. St. Mirren,
according to the Evening Times, made
a “wee profit” on the sale.
4 / Soccer America / March 2009
With his Derby team stuck in the lower half of the English second division,
Manager Nigel Clough decided that
the inspirational quotes of famous
athletes, politicians and philosophers
(such as Lance Armstrong, Winston
Churchill and Plato) that adorned
the walls of the club’s training facility weren’t much help. He had them
painted over and noted, “most of the
players can’t read anyway.”
More clubs than
Tiger Woods
When German goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, 35, signed with Norway’s
Mangerud Star, it marked his world
record 24th club. And Pfannenstiel
is the first person known to have
played pro ball on all continents.
“It’s not something that I planned,”
he told AFP.
Make that call first,
next time
Before a recent game, English club
Bishop Auckland held a moment
of silence for former player Tommy
Farrer, included a tribute for him in
the game program and arranged for
a newspaper obituary. When a club
official called his wife, Gladys, to offer
condolences, she told him Tommy
was out buying the newspaper. “I
think it’s hilarious,” said the 86-yearold Tommy.
Setting up a warm
welcome
As Arsenal was shelling out a $21 million transfer fee to acquire Russian
striker Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St
Petersburg and pay him $6.5 million
per year, his partner, Julia, the mother
of their two children, revealed how
much she looked forward to London:
“As far as London’s citizens are concerned, I didn’t like them at all. They
are very dirty, scruffy.” And for good
measure, she said English food was
disgusting. And, “I didn’t like English
beer, either.”
— Mike Woitalla
To subscribe call 1-800-997-6223
UPFRONT
ONE-TWO PUNCH
U.S. national team midfielder Michael
Bradley’s one-two punch — a goal at the
end of each half — knocked out Mexico, 2-0,
in the opening game of the Hexagonal.
BILL VIETH/ISIPHOTOS.NET
UPFRONT
TIMMY!
SPORTIMAGE/CAL SPORT MEDIA/NEWSCOM
American goalie Tim Howard has enjoyed
a remarkable run this winter with Everton,
coming out here to save a shot from Carlos
Tevez of Manchester United.
SOCCERTALK
Paul
Gardner
NEW YORK — Once upon a time there were center
forwards. Then strikers. Then target men. Then just plain
forwards. And then there were none. Just a few weeks back
Australia took the field in a World Cup qualifier against
Japan without any forwards at all. The game ended 0-0,
and Pim Verbeek, Australia’s Dutch coach, expressed
satisfaction.
During the 2006 World Cup, a number of teams used
a tactical formation that featured only one forward. Franz
Beckenbauer remarked pungently that such teams should be banned from
the competition — a joking remark that contained a serious warning.
Because the forwards, the guys whose main job is to score the goals,
are being squeezed out of the game. Can there be any doubt about that?
Incredibly, modern coaches and their modern formations have decided
that having one player — just one! — with a strictly limited role is a luxury.
Never mind that the role is the allimportant one of scoring goals.
It turns out that goalscoring isn’t
quite that important — not as important as defense, not as important as the defensive duties which
this guy must now take on.
The end result of this tactical
thinking must be that goalscorers — natural, born, instinctive
goalscorers — have for some
time been on the endangered
species list.
The very coaches whose tactics make the goalscorers superfluous realize that this isn’t quite right. We’ve suffered for years now from a torrent
of explanatory nonsense from these guys, trying to excuse the inexcusable, to explain the inexplicable, to let it be known that they aren’t really
anti-goalscorer. It’s just that goalscorers tend to be difficult in tactical
terms. They’re likely not to fit in because they have their own way of doing things.
The classic clash of minds on this topic came in 1998 when the Brazilian
striker Elber was playing — and scoring — with Bayern Munich. A new
coach arrived, the Italian Giovanni Trapattoni, who wanted more defensive
effort from Elber. Elber admitted he was confused and protested that he
was being asked to play as “a defensive striker.”
Beautifully put. That is a role that no natural striker would want to
play. An unnatural role for them. With his rightful role being diluted,
“Has anyone noticed
how few shots are
actually taken in a
modern game?”
PANORAMIC/INTERNATIONAL SPORTS IMAGES
A case of the missing
forwards
Real Madrid’s Raul
set the club’s all-time
scoring record, but
needed twice as
many games to score
as many as Alfredo
di Stefano did a half
century ago.
others must step in to score the goals. So now we have the cunning plan
that anyone can score goals, midfielders, defenders, doesn’t matter. Just
get the right tactics going, get those guys into scoring positions and Zap!,
there you have it, goal!
Descending from this heady realm of coaching fantasy to the field
itself — has anyone noticed how few shots are actually taken in a modern
game? And how few of those are actually on target? Not to mention how
many of them are downright awful?
I recall a conversation years ago, with a young, newly diploma-ed
English coach. I was ridiculing a terrible shot from a fullback, a shot that
went closer to the corner flag than to the goal. I was corrected. “What
you don’t understand,” said the coach, “is that the fullback had to run a
long way to get to that ball, so that it was bound to be difficult for him to
control the ball.” My reply — “I don’t see the point of tactics that methodically put into a scoring position a player who is unlikely to shoot straight,”
went unanswered.
But shooting straight was — if I recall correctly — the one technical
skill that all the old center forwards did have. I recall plenty of them. I
doubt that any of them, in overall technical skills and subtlety, match up
to today’s players. But they scored goals, regularly, mainly because that
was all they were called on to do.
No energy was wasted charging about way down in the defensive end
of the field, miles away from their natural habitat, the opposing penalty
area. That was where they spent most of their time, and when the ball
came to them, they were ready, with their instinctive scoring-skills sharp
and fresh, not blunted because they’d just made a 30-yard run to get into
scoring position. I acknowledge that today’s players are fitter, and it is
tempting to imagine that they can cope with all the extra running and
still be razor sharp for that split second when the scoring chance shows
itself. Tempting — but false.
Not least because modern defenses are so much better organized
than they used to be. The time available for the scorer to get off his shot
is surely less than it used to be. His reaction time needs to be quicker
than ever. It will not be quicker if his energy and attention are devoted
to other duties.
Hidden in that there is a justification for the coaches’ anti-goalscorer
attitude. If it has become too difficult for a player to single-handedly create
a sudden scoring chance these days, then the chances must come more
from tactical maneuvering that gets a player open in a scoring position
(and it doesn’t matter which player).
So it becomes a chicken and egg situation, where the coach can lament
the shortage of goalscorers while enforcing tactics that ensure the supply
will get even thinner.
The old-style striker was, of course, an individualist. His skill-range was
comparatively limited, but he was allowed the freedom to exercise it as he
wished. The modern striker — and there are such creatures — must also
be an individualist. He has a wider range of skills than his predecessor,
but is rarely allowed the freedom to play as he wishes.
The best of the modern crop, to my mind, has been the Brazilian, Romario. Skillful, guileful, resourceful, willful — of course he had problems
with coaches. He was certainly never admired for his defensive play. Carlos
Alberto Parreira cut him from the 1994 World Cup team, and it was only
“popular demand” that brought him back.
When I list the qualities demanded of the modern goalscorer, it quickly
becomes clear why there are not many of them. The usual physical skills,
speed, strength, etc. The required range of technical skills — instant control
of the ball, the ability to beat an opponent with one darting move, rapid,
accurate shooting with either foot, and superior heading — is already
daunting. Add to those bravery and patience — because he’s going to get
fouled and kicked a lot, and he’s unlikely to get much protection from the
referee. Plus another ever-present danger — the whims of his own coach,
and the constant pressure to do his share of defending.
Can there be such a paragon of soccer skills? He’d have to be a pretty
remarkable guy. And he is: the Spaniard Raul. He’s been with Real Madrid
for 17 years, he’s outlasted over half a dozen coaches, he’s an all-field
player but he’s always done things his way. Above all he’s always scored
goals — now he’s exceeded the Real total of the great Alfredo di Stefano. But
given the obstacles that the modern striker faces, will it surprise anyone
to know that it took Raul nearly twice as many games to score 307 goals
as Di Stefano needed? Q
YOUTH BEAT
Mike
Woitalla
Soccer camps are a big part of the nation’s multi-billion
dollar summer camp business and impact several
levels of the American game.
The camp economy’s wide reach
ABOUT THREE DECADES AGO, WHEN I WAS
in elementary school, my P.E. teacher pulled me
aside and asked, “You’re into soccer, right?”
I nodded. He then said he needed to learn
the rules. I found that promising, surmising that
maybe we’d start playing more soccer at P.E. I told
him I could help him out. At home, my father
and I searched through our soccer books and
magazines until we found a concise summary of
the rules that I could bring the teacher.
We still hardly ever played soccer at P.E., but
the following summer I discovered that this
neophyte to the game had launched his very own
summer soccer camp. He had even photocopied
the rules I’d given him and handed them out to
his campers.
I remember asking my dad how someone
who knew next to nothing about the sport could
launch a soccer camp. That may have been when
I learned the word entrepreneur. The P.E. coach
recognized a good business when he saw it.
Of course, I never attended his camp. But I
did go to three soccer camps, and I remember
enjoying every minute. My first one was in Texas,
run by the NASL’s Dallas Tornado. I couldn’t
believe that Ron Newman – the team’s head
coach! – was coaching us. I remember how much
we laughed at his jokes when he demonstrated.
And the players I idolized when I watched them
at Texas Stadium were on the field with us as
well. These were guys I would wait for outside
the locker room to get autographs and now I was
spending the entire day with them. I couldn’t
believe how lucky I was.
The next couple of camps I attended, still in
my pre-teens, were at Iolani, my new school in
Hawaii where I hoped to play varsity soccer. The
camp counselors were current varsity players. I
admired them almost as much as the pros in Dallas. And I remember always keeping an eye out to
see if the varsity coach, Bob Barry, was watching
when I played, and trying so hard to impress. A
More than 11 million children
attend about 12,000 summer
camps — sleepaway and day
camps — in the USA, according
to the American Camp Association. Among the most popular
are the soccer camps.
few years later, I was one of the counselors.
Those soccer camps were the only summer
camps I ever attended. Times have changed, of
course, and now it’s the norm for children to fill
most of their summer weeks at a wide variety
of camps.
Households in which both parents work have
reached the 75 percent mark in the USA, and
camps provide a child-care option while promising to teach children particular skills.
There are cooking camps and drama camps.
Art camps and language camps. Science camps
and chess camps. Rock ‘n’ roll camps and rockclimbing camps. And lots and lots of soccer
camps – for kids who can barely walk and for
teens who might become stars.
“There are science camps
and chess camps. Rock
‘n’ roll camps and rockclimbing camps. And lots
and lots of soccer camps.”
HORST WOITALLA
Chances are, if you’re a parent, you’re
camp-shopping right now. And pretty soon
you’ll be digging up the tax ID numbers for
the camps your child attended last summer
in case you can take the Child and Dependent
Care tax credit.
“My camps were never about childcare,”
says Hubert Vogelsinger, one of the pioneers
of American soccer camps. “We had some kids
who weren’t that enthusiastic about soccer,
but were just dumped off by their parents who
wanted to get rid of them for a few weeks. They
didn’t make it. I’d give them their money back
and send them home.”
Vogelsinger immigrated to the USA in 1961
from Austria, where he was a pro player. After he
became head coach at Yale, high schools in the
area kept asking him to come by and help teach
their players shooting skills. He finally suggested
that instead of him visiting the various schools,
all the players meet at one place. That led to his
first camp, a gathering of 60 players, and the
Vogelsinger Academy was born.
Vogelsinger’s camps spread around the
country, attracting 3,000 campers annually.
Five years ago, after more than four decades of
running his camps, Vogelsinger sold the enterprise to Nike.
“I never did it for the money, but because I
loved soccer and it helped kids get into it and
become better players,” Vogelsinger says. “But
I did make good money.”
When Vogelsinger and other camp pioneers
launched their programs, youth soccer was just
starting to spread across the USA. Coaches with
a soccer background were rare at the grassroots
level, so the camps provided a unique opportunity for youngsters to be around real soccer
people. Children who played traditional American sports were much more likely than soccer
players to get good coaching at school, the rec
center or with their teams.
“There were some basketball camps [in the
1960s] when I started my camps,” said Vogelsinger, “but I think the other sports got into it
more heavily because of what happened in soccer. The soccer was not the beginning of sports
camps – and there were lots of camps where kids
played various sports – but the idea of specializing was heavily influenced by the soccer.”
Joe Machnik worked at Vogelsinger’s camps
before launching No. 1 Soccer Camps in 1977
and today Machnik’s camps are in 20 locations
around the nation.
“More kids began to play, so the camps grew,
and then girls started, and soccer camps exploded,” says Machnik. “When I started in 1977,
if we had 150 kids, we had 10 girls. But now it’s
sometimes more than 50 percent girls.”
Colleges soon recognized the benefits of having their soccer coaches run camps. Jerry Yeagley
at Indiana and I.M. Ibrahim at Clemson were
pioneers on that front. Universities provided
facilities at little or no cost for the camps, and
the coaches could supplement their salaries
from the soccer camp cash cow.
When John Rennie arrived at Duke in 1979,
his assistant coach was earning $500 a season.
Launching a lucrative camp program enabled
Rennie’s assistant coaches to earn a living
wage.
“The camps were tremendously important
for retaining and getting assistant coaches,”
Rennie says. “Now the NCAA allows more salary
for assistant coaches, but even now the income
they get from camps is a major supplement.”
The camps also attract players hoping to
play college ball. “It’s very beneficial in recruiting,” says Rennie.
Louisiana product Jason Kreis, currently
head coach of MLS’s Real Salt Lake and MLS’s
third all-time leading scorer, starred at Duke
after attending Rennie’s camp.
“We never knew who Jason was,” Rennie
said. “He was going into his senior year in high
school, he came to camp that summer, and by
the end of camp he pretty much had a scholarship to Duke.”
Camps don’t just help finance college programs. The USL, with more than a hundred pro,
semipro and amateur teams around the nation,
also takes advantage of the camp income.
“A good majority of the teams utilize the
camps not only for their own personal business
but to provide the players an opportunity to
supplement their income, or to give players who
are not being paid an opportunity to earn some
money during the summer,” says USL spokesman Gerald Barnhart. “It’s also an opportunity
for players to get their feet wet in coaching while
they’re still playing.”
That Americans send more children to camps
than any other nation in the world hasn’t gone
unnoticed. British coaching firms send thousands of coaches to the USA each summer to
run camps. Preceding David Beckham’s arrival
to MLS by two years was the Beckham Academy
in Southern California. MLS itself has a camp
network spread over 44 states. And many youth
clubs have entered the camp business to provide
their coaches and trainers with extra income.
By hosting camps (and soccer classes) yearround, indoor facilities can significantly add to
their annual revenue – one firm promises up to
$200,000 to arenas that host their programs.
Just how huge the camp industry has gotten
is reflected in the trend to attract younger players – however debatable it might be whether
18-month-olds need soccer classes to “build
their self-esteem” or whether 4-year-olds are
ready to be trained on “dribbling, turning, stopping, passing and shooting.”
“Everybody’s got a camp now,” says Rennie.
“Everybody.” Q
Back to
the Northwest
BY RIDGE MAHONEY
PATRICK HAGERTY/ICON SMI
In picking Seattle to be its 15th team, MLS hopes
to repeat its fabulous luck with a 13th team in
Toronto. Both are major international cities with
diverse populations, a downtown stadium well
serviced by public transport, strong ownership groups steeped in professional sports and
robust season-ticket sales.
big stadium of synthetic turf likely to be marred by football lines once
the NFL season starts. Rainy weather at times. That’s about it.
Totting up the drawbacks to Seattle joining MLS takes a mighty effort.
Except for a yawning capacity at Qwest Field (70,000 for Seahawks games) and
that fake grass, the checklist of desirables seems complete.
A powerful ownership group with a strong local foundation. Resources,
means and the ambition to stamp the team’s identity in the community. A
market pining for professional soccer. A successful, experienced head coach
backed by a solid organization.
There’s no shortage of endorsers to this proclamation, and they extend beyond the principals in the Seattle endeavor to MLS commissioner Don Garber
and president Mark Abbott, who oversees the MLS Expansion Committee along
with league savior Phil Anschutz.
Just ask goalie Kasey Keller, a local product and U.S. international who is back
home after a 17-year career with seven teams in England, Spain and Germany,
a background that deepens his appreciation for the presence of Vulcan Sports
and Entertainment, headed by Microsoft co-founder – and billionaire — Paul
Allen and run by CEO Tod Leiweke, who is also CEO of the Seattle Seahawks
as well as the MLS fledgling. Vulcan backs the team, along with entertainment
mogul and lead investor Joe Roth, and minority investors Adrian Hanauer and
Drew Carey. A Vulcan subsidiary, First and Goal, manages Qwest Field with
Leiweke as its president.
The organizations, titles and duties overlap – there are about 15 to 20 disparate employees on the Sounders staff, and many more Vulcan, First and Goal
and Seahawks people sharing jobs – yet the critical mass is unmistakable.
A
U.S.
“You basically step
into an established
professional organization that has an
NBA team [Portland
Trailblazers] and NFL
team and a wealth of experience and depth in
the community,” says Keller. “They’re already
established, and I think that’s a huge, huge
benefit to this club.
“The professionalism of Vulcan with Tod
Leiweke and Paul Allen’s group has added an element to this franchise which doesn’t exist at the
other franchises. It’s not like your banging heads
with some baseball and NFL guys who don’t have
any interest in soccer whatsoever. We started the
preseason at Virginia Mason, the Seahawks training facility, and felt great about it. Everybody was
extremely happy to have us there.”
Local product Kasey
Keller is back home
after a 17-year career
in Europe.
DEPTH
CHART
FRED KFOURY/ICON SMI
DAVID GONZALES/ICON SMI
A month prior the
opener, Seattle had hit
20,000 season tickets
sold. Those are real,
and really impressive, numbers. Roth,
a movie and TV producer with dozens of major
productions on his resume who played soccer as
a youth, is used to launching big and somewhat
risky projects.
“The big challenge for me is singular, to prove
that there’s a city in the United States where soccer can be seen as a major sport and not just a
niche sport, and there’s no way to do that unless
you do it,” says Roth, a Los Angeles resident
who was swayed in part by conversations with
Anschutz Entertainment Group president Tim
Leiweke, Tod’s brother.
“When we kick out the first ball Seattle
will be the only city
where soccer is the
No. 2 sport. We’ll have
21,000 or 22,000 season tickets sold and
only the Seahawks
have sold more season tickets. There’s an audience there to be entertained and it’s our job, on
and off the field, to entertain them.”
Vulcan is the support group. Roth is the major
money man. Carey is the superstar fan and has
divvied up his shares amongst a members’ group
fashioned on the Barcelona model.
“Drew’s a loose cannon,” says Roth, himself a
Hollywood figure but nowhere near the magnitude of a rambunctious comedian, game-show
host, producer and soccer whacko. “He’s a devoted fan and he’s passionate. It was his idea to
adapt some of these Barcelona ideas. He’s put
Comedian and gameshow host Drew Carey
is part owner.
Sounders CEO Tod
Leiweke is also CEO of
the Seattle Seahawks.
PETER ROBINSON/EMPICS/NEWSCOM
‘It could only be Sounders’
THEY NEVER WON THE LEAGUE TITLE, THOUGHTHEY MADE THE PLAYOFFS IN SIX OF
their 10 seasons, so a lasting tradition and fond memories of the NASL Seattle Sounders
must have meant more than trophies.
“The original Sounders were a really important part of my childhood,” says general
manager Adrian Hanauer, whose family backed the USL-1 Sounders for much of the past
decade prior to the arrival of MLS. “I went to all those games at Memorial Stadium, and
went to the parties after the game and got the autographs, and went to the camps and got
to see the players. The buzz that existed in the city and going
to the games with my family, that really got me.”
The Seattle Sounders'
The buzz is back, fueled in part by excitement generated
Mel Machin (right) tries
more
than two decades ago. Much of Seattle’s population
to stop the Cosmos
shared the experience of following the NASL Sounders,
Giorgio Chinaglia in
which usually featured a core of British players sprinkled with
the historic Soccer
Americans and Europeans.
Bowl 1977, Pele's last
England’s 1966 World Cup final hero Geoff Hurst, current
competitive game.
MICHAEL PIMENTEL/ISIPHOTOS.COM
his faith into it and I
respect him for it.”
Supplying extensive soccer expertise
and deep community
ties is Hanauer, Seattle
native and general manager who first invested in
the Sounders – the USL-1 version — as more of
a patron of the arts than a shrewd businessman.
His family fortune backed the USL-1 version
of the Sounders and he spearheaded the effort
to sign Sigi Schmid as head coach. A previous
attempt to enter MLS, in 2005, fell short of MLS
standards due to financial limitations, but once
Roth pledged some of his millions to the cause
a year and a half ago, Seattle cleared that final
hurdle.
“This has been my passion for a long time,”
says Hanauer, 42, who is reminded occasion-
Sebastien Le Toux of
the Sounders’ USL
version was their first
MLS signing.
ANDY MEAD/YCJ
ally by his mother of
determined efforts to
dribble a ball at age 2
½. “I pushed my family pretty hard three
years ago to pay attention to MLS, when not very many people saw
that the trajectory was definitely headed in the
right direction and clearly from a franchise price
standpoint, it was a good time to get involved.
“For whatever reason, I just felt the momentum and I guess it had gotten to the point where
I believed the league was here to stay and was
going to be successful. It’s hard for me to put
my finger on the exact timelines. The adidas
contract, the TV contracts were starting to be
signed, there were more rumors about different
ownership groups, some of the franchises were
investing in facilities.
Assistant coach Brian
Schmetzer played for
the NASL Sounders
and coached the USL
Sounders.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp and English international midfielder Alan Hudson were
among those who wore the Sounders colors. Englishman Alan Hinton set an NASL record with
30 assists playing for Vancouver in 1978 and took over the Seattle coaching reins in 1980.
He still lives in the area.
Yet, then as now, the local community was well-represented: U.S. international strikers
Chance Fry and Mark Peterson and midfielder Brian Schmetzer head a list of Seattle products
to play pro near home.
“My first contract with the Seattle Sounders in 1980 was for $750 a month,” says Schmetzer,
who signed as a 17-year-old right out of Nathan Hale High School. “But I remember going to
games at Memorial when they started in 1974. They would pack it with 12,000 or 13,000,
so they put some temporary bleachers behind one of the goals, and they’d have 15,000 or
16,000.
“I joined the team in June of 1980 and that was the year they went 25-7, they had just
a fantastic team with Alan Hudson and a lot of really good players. It was great.”
In its decade (1974-1983) of operation, Seattle first played at Memorial Stadium, tucked
near the base of the famous Space Needle, before moving into the massive Kingdome, where
it averaged more than 20,000 in cumulative attendance from 1976 to 1981. It reached the
championship game twice and lost both times to the Cosmos, in 1977 and 1982.
“There was enough
money in the game
clearly that the league
was either going to be
incredibly successful
or go down swinging.
I just believed it was on its way.”
After a long pro career,
Chris Henderson
returned home to be
technical director.
GET SIGI. As the MLS regular season wound
down and Columbus drove inexorably toward
the Supporters’ Shield trophy with the league’s
best record, a very poorly kept secret arose
that Sigi Schmid had been approached by
Seattle management to take over its expansion
enterprise.
Logistics and timing drew tauter as Columbus advanced in the playoffs and MLS outlined
the expansion timeline. Three days after MLS
Cup 2008 would be held the expansion draft;
Says former U.S. international Chris Henderson, who grew up in nearby Everett and is
the MLS team’s technical director, “We didn’t miss a home game for the Sounders, whether
it was at Memorial or when they moved into the Kingdome. We couldn’t believe it when
the team folded.”
A year after playing in its second championship game, Sounders management pulled
the plug. Average attendances had plummeted sharply, from 18,229 in 1981 to 12,539 in
1982 to an all-time low of 8,181 in 1983, the team’s last season.
“I was in shock, I had just gotten married,” says Schmetzer, who moved to Tulsa to play
the final NASL season in 1984. “When the league went the following year, I had no idea
what I was going to do.”
Hinton coached a revived version of the Sounders starting in 1994, two years before the advent
of MLS. The Sounders won American Professional Soccer League titles in 1995 and 1996.
Schmetzer, who won USL titles as the Sounders head coach in 2005 and 2007 and has
been retained as an assistant to head coach Sigi Schmid, has trouble believing Hanauer
and majority owner Joe Roth had doubts about the MLS team’s nickname. There’s far too
much history to ignore.
“It could only be Sounders,” says Schmetzer. “Of course.”
— Ridge Mahoney
U.S.
THE OTHER LEIWEKE. About three decades
ago, two brothers were marketing indoor soccer,
which seemed on the upswing as the NASL and
the outdoor game slid in the other direction.
In 1981, Tod and Terry Leiweke were joined at
the Kansas City Comets by younger brother Tim,
and the sibling triumverate generated numerous
feature and business articles before they all went
their separate and incredibly successful ways
as sports executives. Tod is looking forward to
mano-a-mano duels with Tim, which last occurred six years ago when the NHL’s Minnesota
Wild of which he was president hit the ice to take
on the AEG-owned Los Angeles Kings.
“That will be fun,” says Tod Leiweke, who left
the Wild to take over the Seahawks. “It’s always
good to take on your brother.”
Having worked for a variety of pro teams and
other sports enterprises, he sees the timing for
pro soccer in America and specifically in soccer
as nearly perfect.
“I’m absolutely convinced soccer is on an
upward ascension here in the United States, and
the fun part is, no one knows where this is going
to end. I believe it will continue to rise and is
headed for some really great things.”
There are still many things that can go wrong,
but as the calendar winds down to a March
19 opener against MLS Cup 2008 finalist New
York to be showcased nationally on ESPN2, all
systems look right.
Ask former U.S. midfielder and speed merchant Chris Henderson, a local kid who played
for the U.S. U-20 and national teams, UCLA and
CHART
five MLS teams, good and bad. His eyes have
seen the glory of winning an MLS title (Kansas
City in 2000), and his psyche has been seared by
the despair of a former employer folding (Miami,
the following year).
Henderson is Seattle’s technical director and
is keeping tabs on upgrades and renovations at
Starfire, a training facility located 10 minutes
away from Qwest Field. He can’t say how much
is being spent on the buildings – one of the offices that is being dubbed “Sigi’s Wing” – but with
the resources of Microsoft and jersey sponsor
XBOX, of which Keller is a zealous devotee, so
far, Hanauer hasn’t said no to anything.
More than a dozen fields, including a plush
grass training surface and a full-sized, to-theinch replica of the Qwest carpet, are tucked next
to a locker room and a lounge filled with plasma
TVs, game stations, and other diversions.
“Adrian’s committed to make it a firstclass facility,” says Henderson. “Compared to
anywhere else in MLS, it’s fantastic. We want
them to have everything here so they don’t
really want to leave. We want to create a professional culture, where players come in every
day ready to work and compete for positions. If
you don’t follow through with that, the players
will know it in a second. They’ll realize what
they’re there for.” Q
Technical director Chris Henderson (L), GM
Adrian Hanauer and Coach Sigi Schmid (R)
welcome No. 1 draft pick Steve Zakuani.
BILL BARRETT/ISIPHOTOS.COM
months before, the Seattle group had sought
permission from the Crew to speak with Schmid
and been flatly refused. But even after winning
the title and with his contract about to expire,
Schmid still wasn’t free and clear.
Columbus had filed charges of tampering,
which MLS dismissed. Seattle eventually paid
a $25,000 penalty to buy out a non-compete
clause in Schmid’s contract that barred him from
coaching a rival MLS team in 2009, and the new
Sounders had a two-time MLS Cup-winning
coach with family connections – his brother Roland lives in the area – and other links to Seattle,
where he won his first college title with UCLA in
1985. One of his former Bruin assistants, Dean
Wurzberger, is the head coach at the University
of Washington.
“Dean said it best,” said Schmid. “We came
up here to play at SPU [Seattle Pacific University], I think it was in ’86, and I said, ‘This is an
area where I could live someday.’ When he heard
Seattle was talking to me and I came up for the
visit, he said, ‘I’m going to hold you to that.’
“There’s definitely a buzz in the city, a real
positive energy. It seems like everybody remembers the NASL Sounders and can’t wait to have an
MLS team to see. The people have maintained
a connection to the sport through all the games
that are on television and now they can go see
games live.
“You go places and people say, ‘Oh, yeah, the
Sounders,’ or ‘Yeah, I’ve already got my tickets.’
Now we have to do our part, to step on the field
and be competitive from the get-go, and get to
the playoffs as quickly as possible.”
DEPTH
Expansion benchmarks
are high
MLS’S REMARKABLE RUN of success with its expansion teams will
be put to a test when two new teams join.
In mid-March, two more teams are expected to come aboard. Vancouver and Miami head the list, Portland is a possibility, and St. Louis
and Ottawa are still in the hunt.
Whichever of those five are chosen will have high benchmarks to
attain, particularly with 2009 debutant Seattle projecting average attendances of 25,000 per game.
GOING WEST (2005). Mexican entrepreneur Jorge Vergara turned
up as a possible MLS owner when his club, Guadalajara, played the MLS
All-Stars at Home Depot Center in 2003; he wanted to start up his Chivas
USA franchise the following year, but agreed to come in a year later.
The other debutant, Real Salt Lake, came as a surprise, yet operator-investor Dave Checketts, formerly president of the NBA Jazz and
Knicks, led an aggressive campaign that designed, developed and built
a soccer-specific stadium in just four years. Opened last October, Rio
Tinto Stadium holds 20,000 and will host this year’s All-Star Game as
well as a U.S. Hexagonal qualifier in September.
Chivas USA struggled on and off the field during its first season and
has since played down its connection to the Mexican club. Chivas USA,
which has reached the playoffs the past three seasons, shares HDC with
the Galaxy and pays more than $1 million in rent per year to AEG, which
also sells its sponsorships and takes a cut of the proceeds.
HEADING NORTH (2007). On the field, Toronto FC has missed the
playoffs in its first two seasons yet has led the league in many business
parameters. More important, it provided MLS an entry into Canada
through Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the NHL
Maple Leafs.
BMO Field regularly sells out for MLS games, and the team is covered
extensively in local newspapers and on radio and TV stations. About
2,000 members of its “Red Army” traveled to Columbus last year and
so thoroughly out-chanted and out-cheered the three Crew fan clubs
that they banded together for subsequent games to form the Nordecke
(“North Deck”).
TFC officials cut off season-ticket sales at 16,000 last year to give
other fans a chance to attend matches, and attend they did: officially,
Toronto averaged 20,120 fans last year, second in the league only to
the Galaxy’s 26,009. Unofficially, TFC leads the league in fans actually
attending games.
TONY QUINN
FIRST WAVE (1998). Since it added Miami and Chicago as its first
two expansion teams, MLS has got it right more often than not.
It folded the Fusion (along with founding club Tampa Bay) after the
2001 season and losses of about $40 million in Miami, but the Fire won
a title in its first year and reached the 2000 and 2003 championship
games. Three years ago, it moved into its own facility — Toyota Park
— in suburban Bridgeview, Ill. The Fire hosted the 2006 All-Star Game
and has averaged 16,490 (2007) and 17,034 (2008) fans in its two full
seasons of operation in Bridgeview.
Peter Nowak
helped the
Chicago Fire win
MLS Cup 1998
in its inaugural
season.
BACK TO THE BAY AREA (2008). AEG moved the original Quakes,
league champions in 2001 and 2003, to Houston after the 2005 season,
but MLS retained the team nickname and colors. In 2007, it awarded
an expansion franchise to Lewis Wolff and John Fisher, co-owners of
the Oakland A’s. They melded some team operations with those of the
A’s, and spent about $3 million to renovate Buck Shaw Stadium on the
campus of Santa Clara University.
Buck Shaw, with a capacity of about 10,500, hosts most games. A
few major games are staged at the Oakland Coliseum, where the A’s
play. A stadium (projected capacity: 15,000) is proposed to be built near
San Jose International Airport.
— Ridge Mahoney
MLS EXPANSION
Team
Chicago
Miami
Chivas USA
Real Salt Lake
Toronto FC
San Jose
Seattle (2009)
Philadelphia (2010)
Years
11
4
4
4
2
1
-
Playoff App.
10
3
3
1
0
0
-
Avg. Att.
15,707
9,428
16,645
16,654
20,125
13,713
-
W-L-T
156-118-61
56-56-10
41-49-34
31-60-33
15-30-15
8-13-9
0-0-0
0-0-0
Expansion Fee
$5 million
$20 million
$10 million
$10 million
$20 million
$20 million
$30 million
$30 million
(Note: AEG purchased an expansion option for Chicago when it agreed to operate
Colorado for the inaugural 1996 MLS season.)
USA MEXICO GAME
BY RIDGE MAHONEY
New year,
same story
If there’s a lightning rod for exuberance, it’s Frankie Hejduk.
Pumped beyond belief after the USA toppled Mexico, 2-0, at Columbus Crew Stadium as the
rivals kicked off their Concacaf schedules, Hejduk took a swat to the face from a Mexican assistant
coach, who’d supposedly taken exception to what the excitable, nearly delirious American was
jabbering as he left the field.
As has been the case for the past decade, during which the bitterest U.S. rival has lost nine and
tied two of 11 games played on American soil, Mexico got it all wrong.
Again.
It failed to score, succumbed to a pair of strikes by midfielder Michael Bradley and finished the
game without its captain.
“I think everyone on our team was really excited to play tonight,” said Bradley, whose stellar
performance answered that segment of critics convinced only nepotism by head coach and father
Bob Bradley explained his consistent presence in U.S. lineups. “Anytime you can play against Mexico
it’s great, it’s also a really important World Cup qualifier. To be a part of a team effort like that and
come away with three points is a great feeling.”
Hejduk, whose strong defensive play and occasional forays forward from his right back slot
frustrated Mexico throughout the match, explained of the postgame incident with assistant coach
Francisco Ramirez: “I was actually saying, ‘F*** yeah!’ I think they thought I was saying, ‘F*** you.’
It was a misunderstanding and I can see why they would be a little bit upset if they thought I was
saying the other one, which I wasn’t.
“At the end of the day, no one was hurt. There was a little love tap and that was it. I still have my
face. No damage done. It was fun. That’s just how emotional this game is and that’s how passionate
they are about their sport. It was none of their players—I want to make that clear to everyone.”
PARTY CRASHER. One of the Mexican players did blow his cool just when Mexico seemed
poised to tie the match.
Bradley had banged home the rebound of a saved Oguchi Onyewu header shortly before halftime
for a 1-0 lead, but Mexican pressure was increasing midway through the second half when a deflected
ball dropped into the U.S. penalty area and keeper Tim Howard jumped to claim it. Defender Rafael
Marquez, arriving late, decided to plant the studs of his right foot cruelly into Howard’s thigh.
The frigid conditions of eight years past didn’t materialize this
time at Crew Stadium, yet the Americans still beat Mexico, 2-0.
Opening the Hexagonal with a valuable three points provided a
few glimpses as to how the team may develop as it prepares
for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
Clint Dempsey
escapes an Israel
Martinez-Leandro
Augusto sandwich.
i
USA MEXICO GAME
movement and positioning, clear, quick decisions
of when to join in double-teams, drop into passing lanes or play the short ball, and most of the
finer points required to control the middle.
SET-UP MAN. Landon Donovan, playing
behind Brian Ching as a second forward, set up
both goals for Bradley. He headed a DaMarcus
Beasley inswinging corner kick back into the
goalmouth for Onyewu to head on frame and
Bradley to dispatch. In stoppage time, Donovan
controlled a ball from Jozy Altidore as the late
substitute went down under a crunching challenge in midfield and relayed it to Bradley, who
drilled a low -- and very save-able -- shot from
25 yards under goalie Oswaldo Sanchez.
Former Mexican international midfielder
Alberto Garcia Aspe believes the mindset of
current players when they face the Americans
on U.S. soil contrasts sharply with the players
of his generation in the 1990s, and the Americans are certainly aware of their opponents’
nervousness.
“They know how to beat Mexico, they know
the weak points,” he said with the aid of a translator. “Of course, they also have the mental state
and don’t let the style of Mexico affect them.”
The Mexicans have been sorely missing a
player like Aspe in midfield in many of their recent
games against the Americans. In the Hexagonal
opener, Pardo, while an excellent player in his
own right, couldn’t hold the ball under pressure
from Bradley and his midfield partner, Sacha
Kljestan, who balanced each other with intelligent
Just a few seconds earlier, a partially cleared
Pavel Pardo free kick had bounced out to the
left side, where Fausto Pinto hit a low, driven
ball that actually struck Giovanni dos Santos
as he lay on the ground near the goalpost; the
play looked offside but it continued, and when
Howard charged out to collect a ball lobbed back
into the box, Marquez crashed into him high and
late and, well, stupidly.
Referee Carlos Batres sent off Marquez and
whatever hopes Mexico had of rescuing a result
left the field with him.
Coaches and players change – this defeat
dropped the record of Swedish coach SvenGoran Eriksson while in charge of Mexico to
4-5-1 -- and still the Tri’s futility against the USA
continues. In the last 11 games played against
the Americans in the U.S., Mexico has been outscored, 19-3. Shorn of several important players
by injuries and suspensions, it had no margin for
error, and err it did.
nearby anytime they contested a ball in the air.
By contrast, U.S. pressure on the midfielders
and defenders often yielded hopeful high balls
lumped into the wind that Onyewu and Bocanegra usually took care of. Mexican striker Carlos
TRAINING PARTNERS. Bradley and Kljestan
Ochoa, laboring up top more or less on his own,
played together at the 2008 Olympic Games and
rarely threatened, and an attack devoid of Nery
have been paired several times on the national
Castillo (who went off early with an injury) and
team and during training camps. Still, they’ve
Carlos Vela (suspended) seldom sparkled.
taken it upon themselves to tinker and fine-tune
The 2-0 scoreline has become a familiar
their interplay whenrefrain, often chanted
ever possible.
by Sam’s Army (“dos a
“When Michael and
cero!”), starting with
USA-MEXICO REPORT CARD
I have teamed up in
the Guerra Fria (“Cold
GRADE PLAYER (CLUB) GP/G
the middle of the field,
War”) at Crew Stadium
Starters
I think we’ve done well
in 2001, when sub7 Tim Howard (Everton/ENG) 36/0
and we have good refreezing conditions
6 Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew) 82/6
lationship and undergreeted the Mexicans.
7 Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege/BEL) 39/5
standing,” said Kljestan.
Four years later, in the
6 Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes/FRA) 63/10
“Practice is when you
same venue and late5 Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock/GER) 22/0
have to perfect everysummer weather, the
6 Clint Dempsey (Fulham/ENG) 46/13
thing, but we’ve had
Americans won, again
6 Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA) 14/3
a lot of training sesby 2-0, to clinch their
8 Michael Bradley (Bor. Moen./GER) 26/5
sions. During the [Euspot in the 2006 World
7 DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers/SCO) 82/17
ropean] offseason, he
Cup with three games
7 Landon Donovan (Bayern Munich/GER) 106/37
visits his family in LA
to spare.
6 Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo) 35/10
and comes to train with
“In the locker room
Substitutes
Chivas [USA], and that
6 Jozy Altidore (Xerez/SPA) 7/2
gives us even more time
NR Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo) 18/1
to connect and figure
(1=low; 5=average; 10=high)
out little combinations.
We’re both good students of the game and
we’ve always had a good understanding. We
think similarly.”
The goals were fitting reward for Bradley’s
polished performance and a solid team effort.
While a few of the Americans showed the effects
of rust and nerves, for the most part they dug
in determinedly to blunt Mexico’s attacks and
wait patiently to launch their own. Aside from
an early gaffe by Carlos Bocanegra that provided
dos Santos with a close-range chance and a few
minor breakdowns, the Americans maintained
an intense yet poised demeanor.
COLLECTIVE EFFORT. “Our midfield play
tonight, their work as a group, was really important and that sets the tone in the game,” said Bob
Bradley. “Tonight is a night where we’ll go around
and talk with each guy about how they played.
I don’t think it was necessarily a night where we
got our best performances from each guy. But I
think collectively there was an understanding of
the game that had something to do with Mexico
and something to do with the conditions.”
Mindful of gusting, swirling winds, the Americans preferred to keep the ball on the ground
when in possession and keep a spare player
DaMarcus Beasley’s
corner kick led to
the USA’s first goal.
ANDY MEAD/YCJ
Michael Bradley
(left) struck twice to
ensure another “dos
a cero.” Below: Rafa
Marquez’s red card
was the turning
point.
before the game, we looked at every guy and
knew we were ready to play,” said Michael Bradley. “I don’t think it’s one guy, it’s not just Landon
[Donovan], it’s 11 guys committed to do every little
thing on the field to make sure we were going to
get the result.”
There weren’t any weak spots in the U.S. performance. Left back Heath Pearce hit a few wayward
crosses but held up well under sporadic Mexican
thrusts, which were usually disjointed, solo efforts rather than the slick, pacy combination play
emblematic of its “A” game yet seldom seen during
Eriksson’s reign. A taut U.S. defensive net intercepted loose passes and vacuumed up loose balls.
If upon gaining possession no opening immediately emerged, the Americans launched leisurely
sequences of short, crisp passes and moved the
ball into Mexico’s half of the field where Donovan,
Beasley and Ching knifed through the opposition.
For the next Hexagonal phase the U.S. plays the
first of four double-dates, facing El Salvador in San
Salvador March 28 and hosting Trinidad & Tobago
in Nashville April 1. Howard is suspended, which
opens the door for Brad Guzan. Bob Bradley will
have a week of preparation rather than the few days
leading up to the game in Columbus. Pablo Mastroeni should be healthy – he was suspended for the
Mexico game – and Bradley is likely to use another
mix of European-based and domestic players.
MISSING PIECES. Former U.S. coach Steve
Sampson, who masterminded the most impressive away result against Mexico when the 10-man
Americans extracted a 0-0 tie at Azteca Stadium in
1997, believes that Mexico’s failures stem, in part,
from a combination of factors: sharp improvement
by the U.S. and the retirement of veterans like Garcia Aspe, Luis Garcia, Carlos Hermosillo and Zague
who could produce under any conditions, as well
as rabid expectations from fans and the press.
Even when it took a 1-0 lead against the USA
in the 2007 Gold Cup final, Mexico faltered and
lost, 2-1, at Soldier Field in Chicago. A few months
previous, it had lost a friendly – by two goals to
none – in front of a huge pro-Mexican crowd in
Glendale, Ariz.
“They don’t have a midfield player like Garcia
Aspe who fills that role for them,” says Sampson.
“They have many fine players, but in my opinion,
they lack that kind of midfielder and they lack a
true goalscorer.”
(In the latter case, not only Hermosillo but Jared
Borgetti comes to mind.)
“Against the U.S., they put pressure on themselves and it forces them to play tight, conservatively. If they make a mistake and the ball winds up
in the back of the net, they question themselves for
the rest of the match.”
Sound familiar? Q
SPECIAL ADVERTISING FEATURE
SOCCER AMERICA’S ANNUAL SOCCER CAMP & ACADEMY ISSUE
’09 GUIDE
For the 38th year, Soccer America presents its annual Camp
& Academy Guide. Here are some pointers to consider as
you prepare to choose a soccer camp or academy.
m
PLAN AHEAD. With the proliferation
of year-round activities at the club and ODP levels,
finding time for an academy program or summer
soccer camp often isn’t easy.
If you are interested in an academy, make sure
you have the time to fulfill the commitment. If
you’re looking at a camp, pick the time of summer
that works best for you and your family.
Check with your high school and club coach
that the camp or academy doesn’t conflict with
key events.
With the on-going academy programs youth
and pro clubs are launching, check to see if they
have weekly or short-term sessions if you are unable to commit to long-term programs.
m
GET RECOMMENDATIONS. Start
by asking teammates. Where have they gone and
what did they like or not like? In particular, ask
friends who play the same position as you do. Have
they attended any specialty camps?
Ask your coaches what you should work on
and what camps or academies their colleagues
will be working at. Whom do they trust? Who will
do a good job of working on your game for a week
or two?
m
ASK QUESTIONS. Get brochures
from the half a dozen camps and academies you’re
interested in or check out their Web sites. Follow up
with questions you or your parents may have.
i
COURTESY ASA/FCBARCELONA
THE CHECKLIST
If a favorite coach is listed as an instructor, find
out if he or she will indeed be attending the week
or weeks you plan on attending.
If there’s a university you are dying to play for,
consider attending that school’s camp to get to
know the coaches and players, some of whom may
be working as counselors.
You can get a good idea of what the campus is
like — if the camp is operated on-campus — and
what the coach is like to be around 12-16 hours a
day. But tearing it up at a college camp will rarely be
the ticket to that college. Coaches at most top-level
programs already have a good idea of the players
they will be recruiting long before summer camp
starts. What a camp or academy program does do
is give coaches a good idea what kind of young
person you are — how you take instruction on the
field and how you act off it.
Find out what’s the balance between soccer and
non-soccer activities. Do you want soccer, soccer
and more soccer? Or do you want some recreation
thrown in? If the camp or academy brochure says
there’s no need to bring your swimming trunks,
you’ll know the emphasis.
(continued on page 33)
Soccer Camp & Academy 2009
PLAY THE BECKHAM WAY
THE ACADEMY
The David Beckham Academy in Carson, Calif., aims to inspire players ages 4-15 to “pursue
their passion for the game.” Players of all abilities get the chance to train like pros. At the Academy’s training camps, each player can learn the
methods that Beckham used to develop into a
world-class athlete. David Beckham and his former coach at Manchester United, Eric Harrison,
carefully designed the curriculum so that players
come away with a greater understanding of hard
work, healthy living, team concepts, and having
fun on the field.
FIRST-CLASS TRAINING FACILITY
The David Beckham Academy’s beautiful facilities are part of the 125-acre Home Depot Center
sports complex, serves as U.S. Soccer’s National
Training Center and is home to the Los Angeles
Galaxy and Chivas USA.
The site lets campers feel like the pros who
use the same facilities. The
main soccer stadium, located
next to the Academy’s playing fields, houses the camp’s
locker rooms, which players
use every day. Each morning,
campers arrive to find their
freshly washed uniforms waiting for them – just
like the professionals.
tailed assessments, and
more time on the field.
Resident campers stay
less than one mile away
from the Home Depot Center at the DoubleTree Hotel.
Here, the fun and learning
continue, with viewing sessions captioned by David
Beckham, competitions in
“I was impressed on so many fronts ...
the heated pool, and fun
soccer-related quizzes.
mostly by how you made the experience
All campers will receive
both educational and really fun.”
a full DBA adidas uniform
— Sara Guggenheim, mother of Willis (8)
(sweatshirt, jersey, shorts,
and Benjamin (10).
socks and cleats). And as
part of both camp options, the nationally recsame training curriculum as the Los Angeles and
ognized training partner, Athletes’ Performance,
London Academies. The Satellite Academy has
will assess and test players’ speed, agility and
already run successful camps as far away as Vanstrength. The staff will create individual plans
couver, Canada and Tuscan, Ariz. Clubs can choose
for players that aim to maintain and further their
from four packages to accommodate number of
progression.
players, practice times, and topics covered.
For the youngest playThe School Outreach Program is a new grassers, ages 4-7, the David Beckroots initiative for the LA Academy. Academy
ham Academy runs a Saturstaff and coaches provide students of all abilities
day morning program called
in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades in Southern California
the 7/23 Club, named after
with one hour of soccer training and one hour of
Beckham’s jersey numbers
education, based on either nutrition or anatomy.
for country and club. This program gives young
The program aims to use soccer as a base for eduboys and girls a fun introduction to the game of
cation, to make learning fun and support teachers
soccer, using basic technical exercises and smallin their coaching efforts. It is based on a highly
sided games.
successful program in London, which reaches over
Budding soccer players learn in a friendly at10,000 children each year.
mosphere with highly qualified coaches. Sessions
run Saturday mornings from 9:00 to 10:15 a.m.,
PROFESSIONAL COACHES
and all players receive an official Academy adiA talented and qualified group of professiondas jersey.
als run expertly designed practices and activities.
Mo Boreham, the Director of Coaching, hails from
OTHER ACADEMY PROGRAMS
Beckham’s hometown of London, England. He
Coaches at the David Beckham Academy make
played professionally in England and coached at
every possible effort to spread their passionate
a variety of English Youth Academies before movknowledge of the game.
ing to the USA. And Stephen Myles, the Assistant
The Satellite Academy offers clubs and playDirector of Coaching, spent 10 years coaching in
ers the opportunity to bring the expertise of the
the Sheffield United FC program.
David Beckham Academy to their own training faTo learn more about the David Beckham Acadcilities. Academy coaches offer their unique and
emy, visit www.thedavidbeckhamacademy.com,
professional knowledge of the game, using the
email [email protected] or
call (310) 515-9858. ®
‘Excellence in
pursuit of
development.’
CAMP OPTIONS
Three- and 5-day camps run throughout all school
vacations and are led by a team of highly qualified
coaches hand-selected by David Beckham.
The 3-day session is a weekend, non-residential camp for players ages 7-11. Players are introduced to the Academy’s philosophy, learn about
nutrition, receive assessments from expert coaches, and compete in exciting “World Cup” tournaments. Parents are encouraged to attend the
camp introduction and are welcome to observe
all on-field sessions.
The 5-day camp, for players ages 12-15, offers
residential and non-residential options. This camp
follows the same structure as the 3-day camp but
with two extra days players get a more in-depth
insight into the academy’s philosophy, more de-
“IT WAS THE BEST
DAY OF MY LIFE”
Our exciting Spring & Summer Programs provide World Class training in a fun and positive
environment. All abilities, aged 7-15, are welcome to enjoy activities that consist of
technical group training, problem solving, skills circuits, mini tournaments, big smiles
and much more - all supervised by David’s hand-picked professional coaches.
EVERY CHILD THAT ATTENDS CAMP WILL RECEIVE:
t'VMMBEJEBTVOJGPSNKFSTFZTIPSUTTPDLT sweatshirt and cleats
t"DDFTTUP5IF%BWJE#FDLIBN"DBEFNZ locker rooms
t)FBMUIZMVODIFT
t$FSUJmDBUFPG$PNQMFUJPO
t"OEBEBZUIFZXJMMOFWFSGPSHFU
REGISTER NOW AT:
WWW.THEDAVIDBECKHAMACADEMY.COM
© Beckham Brand Ltd 2008. The David Beckham Academy logo and words are
trademarks of Beckham Brand Ltd. All rights reserved.
310.515.9858 WWW.THEDAVIDBECKHAMACADEMY.COM
DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF
BARCELONA FUTBOL
IMMERSE YOURSELF in the vibrant and
rich futbol culture of Barcelona. Academic Study
Associates and FC Barcelona team up to offer a
magical summer camp experience. The program
balances world-class training, soccer-related
workshops, cultural visits, and weekend excursions into the city and its surroundings.
For more than 25 years, ASA has offered exciting and challenging pre-college and study abroad
programs for high school students. Over the last
100 years, FC Barcelona has grown into one of
the greatest clubs in the world, currently boasting stars such as Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, and
Samuel Eto’o. Together, these two institutions offer a summer program that soccer players and fanatics dream about.
Whether you are looking to earn a college
scholarship, make your state program, earn a
place on an elite club team, or simply ensure your
spot on your varsity team, the ASA FC Barcelona
elite soccer program will help you achieve your
goals and more. Discover for yourself why FC Barcelona has an unrivaled reputation for training
and producing technically brilliant and creative
world-class players. Training beside the legendary Camp Nou,
you will have access to the club’s
state-of-the-art facilities.
Official coaches from the FC
Barcelona Soccer School give
specialized training and individual attention to maximize
the progression of each player
during the two-week program.
Training with, and against, players from all over
America and around the world provides the
unique opportunity to absorb a variety of colorful soccer styles. You will sharpen technical
precision, improve game intelligence, increase
speed and agility, and develop mental toughness. Training consists of two sessions per day,
five days per week.
In addition to giving cutting edge on-field
training, the Soccer School also hosts daily workshops designed to improve players’ understanding of all aspects of the game. Topics include the
history of FC Barcelona, soccer theory, physical
training, performance training, sports medicine,
and sports psychology.
This program also serves as a great way to improve your knowledge of Spanish and Catalonian
culture. Players will have time to relax and immerse themselves in the vibrant history, art and
architecture of the city of Barcelona and its surroundings. Enjoy visits to La Pedrera, Sagrada Familia cathedral, Picasso and Miro Museums and
some of the many dazzling beaches along the
Mediterranean coast.
For complete information about the ASA Barcelona program go to www.asafcbarcelona.com,
call ASA programs at (212) 796-8340 or email
them at [email protected]. ®
LIFT YOUR GAME
AT ELITE 300
THE ELITE 300 SOCCER ACADEMY is not
a camp for rookies. The Academy provides advanced training for boys, from grades nine to college freshmen, who want to push themselves to
their “maximum potential.”
Located on the grounds of Pennsylvania’s
prestigious Swarthmore College, the Academy
offers camps for individuals, teams and goalkeepers. Under the tutelage of experienced college coaches, campers get the chance to train in
a highly competitive environment that will take
their soccer skills to the next level.
Players undergo demanding field sessions that
use progressive instruction focused on improving game play. Coaching emphasizes skills during
game conditions and tactical decision-making.
Teams train and live together. Throughout the
week, they work with a designated college coach
to improve individual technique as well as team
tactics. As the Academy has limited space, teams
should apply early. One coach from each team
may attend the camp for free.
Current college goalkeeping coaches and pro
keepers lead the Elite 300
Academy Goalkeeper Training program. Coaches run
goalie-specific and team-oriented sessions to train serious and smart shot-stoppers.
Goalkeepers work alone, and
in groups, to improve their
technique, fitness and tactical awareness.
Elite 300 provides players
with the valuable chance to
get a leg up on the college
recruitment process. A college coaches’ panel offers advice on the process and the overall college
experience. It’s also no coincidence that so many
college coaches work at the academy. The camp
offers them the chance to observe potential recruits on and off the field throughout the week.
Coaches give those players entering their junior
or senior year of high school honest and helpful
evaluations of their talents and potential.
The Academy’s directors, Matt Smith and Brian “Rudy” Fuller, know what it takes to succeed at
the college level and beyond. Smith, who recently
retired as the most successful head coach in Johns
Hopkins University school history (240-44-19), now
runs the Crystal Palace USA Professional Develop-
ment Academy. Fuller is currently the head coach
of the University of Pennsylvania. In nine seasons,
Fuller has transformed the program into one of
the country’s elite. Penn won the Ivy League Title
in 2008, their second title under Fuller.
A featured coach, Keith Tabatznik, guided
Georgetown University to 220 wins during his
22 years as head coach. He now assists Smith as
a Director of Coaching at Crystal Palace USA and
serves as President of ktsoccerworld.com, an educational website for players and coaches.
For more information, visit the Academy’s Web
site at www.Elite300.com, send an email to Camp
Administrator Regina Boyce at [email protected],
or call (410) 419-8904. ®
ADVANCED INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM CAMP
2009 Session Dates
Session 1 - July 4-8
Sessions for boys entering 9th grade through college freshman
“One of America’s
premier national
training camps.
Elite 300 is for teams
or individuals looking
to be challenged in
a highly competitive
soccer environment
while being seen by
top college coaches.”
Official Sponsors
Directed by
Matt Smith,
Crystal Palace USA Academy
Former Head Coach at Johns
Hopkins University
and
Rudy Fuller,
University of Pennsylvania
— Featuring —
Keith Tabatznik,
Crystal Palace USA Academy
Former Head Coach at
Georgetown University
REGISTRATION NOW TAKING PLACE!
CALL: 410-419-8904
or visit us on the web: www.elite300.com
TRAIN YOUR TOTAL GAME AT IMG
THE IMG SOCCER ACADEMY, home of the
U.S. U-17 national team, opens its doors during
the summer for serious players ages 10-19 to enjoy the unbeatable weather, facilities and coaching. Based in Bradenton, Fla., the Soccer Academy
offers the most “comprehensive full-time soccer
training program in the world.” Since opening
in 1994, it has placed 24 players on U.S. national
teams and produced more than 30 players at professional clubs in the MLS and Europe.
THE SOCCER ACADEMY. At IMG, studentathletes train to succeed in any competitive arena.
In addition to year-round soccer training, players balance physical and mental conditioning to
build the body and mind. The program’s Physical
Conditioning and Performance Training component works to improve speed, agility, quickness,
strength, power and endurance. Mental Conditioning enhances self-awareness, confidence, motivation and focus. Players also receive Nutrition
Consulting, College Placement advice, and training in the Communication skills so critical to interview skills and career success.
IMG brings their philosophy of “total-player development” to their camps. Regardless of your ability level, at IMG you will improve every facet of your
game: technical, tactical, physical, and mental.
CAMP OPTIONS. As part of their unique offerings, IMG lets you pick the program that best
fits your needs. You can join for a week camp, or
stay for a multiple-week series to “maximize your
training experience.”
Three distinct two-week Series give in-depth
training in every aspect of the game. Series I focuses on developing and mastering individual
techniques, “providing for a greater awareness
and insight into the entire game.” Series II teaches positional play to “promote better decisionmaking relative to each player’s role and responsibilities.” And Series III provides intense training
sessions on advanced group and team tactics.
Serious players can also join one of the 3-week
training camps at the beginning and end of the
summer. The Open Pre-Series prepares players for
the 6-week core of the program, and the Open
Post-Series prepares players for their upcoming
high school or club seasons.
IMG offers a specialized Goalkeeping Camp,
which offers cutting edge training sessions from
some of the nation’s premier coaches. Also, Team
Training camps let your entire team – club, collegiate or professional – train together. Teams have
the chance to customize their camping experience, use world-class facilities and play against
game-raising competition.
The program has been led by Tom Durkin for
the last 10 years, a former US U-17 National Team
staff member and former MLS coach. One of the
nation’s most respected soccer minds, Durkin tops
an all-star lineup of coaches at IMG, who emphasize a dynamic and inspiring training environment
unlike any other in the country.
For more info about the IMG Soccer Academy’s
residency, weekly and summer camp programs, visit imgacademies.com, call (941) 752-2467 or email
them at [email protected]. ®
NO. 1 SOCCER CAMPS SET THE GRADE
JOE MACHNIK’S NO. 1 SOCCER CAMPS
is the most trusted name in soccer camps for
good reason. Dr. Machnik, the former U.S. National Team Assistant Coach, continues to upgrade the No. 1 program so it evolves with, and
pushes, the dynamic modern game.
Run together, No 1. Goalkeeper Camps and
No. 1 Striker Camps focus on the “carefully woven interaction between goalkeepers and field
players.” Such a challenging and competitive atmosphere doesn’t exist anywhere else, and will
raise any serious players’ game.
As testimony to the program’s top-level
training, a stunning number of pro players have
passed through the camp’s ranks. Camper and
staff alumni include San Jose’s Joe Cannon, Aston Villa’s Brad Friedel, and U.S. international
Hercules Gomez.
Because the reputation of No. 1’s camps has
spread outside America, foreign players and
teams frequent the camps. Campers attend
from all parts of the globe, 17 different countries in 2008.
With more than 20 locations throughout
America, No. 1 camps provide fitting camping
options for every player. This year, the program
is pleased to announce the opening of three new
camps around the nation: Charleston Southern
University in South Carolina, Linfield College in
Oregon, and St. Leo University in Florida.
The camps offer five distinct programs for
boys and girls ages 8-17. The “Mini” Camp, for
ages 8-12, allows young players to save on tuition fees while participating in the first four
days of the unique No. 1 camp curriculum. The
Premier Program groups advanced players to
create a competitive atmosphere that pushes
each player to improve. High school players can
choose from the 6-day Academy Program and
the 12-day College Prep Program, the ultimate
training experience for players preparing for the
physical and mental demands of the college season. Lastly, the No. 1 Team Camp lets an entire
team, or group of players, train together for the
upcoming season.
Each of these camps encourages “individual
expression and creativity through the establishment and maintenance of an environment where
players can experiment with newly taught skills
to extend the limits of their game.”
As a valuable part of the program, players
receive comprehensive evaluations by coaches
covering four crucial areas of the complete soccer player: physical, psychological, technical and
tactical. Such feedback lets coaches give players
tips and suggestions on how to continue to improve after camp ends. The evaluations also help
high school players during the college recruitment process.
To find out more about each of the five programs, camp locations, coaches and day-to-day
specifics of each camp, visit www.no1soccer
camps.com or call (843) 886-8006. ®
2009 SCU GIRLS’ SOCCER CAMP
Residential Dates
SANTA CLARA SOCCER,
SUN AND FUN
June 22-25, 2009 High School Prospect Camp
June 28-July 2, 2009 Super Skills (9-13 yr olds)
July 6-10, 2009 Super Skills (9-13 yr olds)
July 11-14, 2009 High School Prospect Camp
July 15-19, 2009 Super Skills (9-13 yr olds)
Day Camp Dates
June 15-19, 2009 (6-12 yr olds)
For info please call or email:
Briana O’Dowd
408-554-5384 or [email protected]
2009 BOYS’ SOCCER ACADEMY
Residential Dates
July 20-24, 2009 (9-13 yr olds)
July 27-31, 2009 Frosh/Soph College ID
Aug 10-13, 2009 Junior/Senior College ID
Day Camp Dates
June 22-26, 2009
July 6-10, 2009
July 13-17, 2009
SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
is a California soccer institution.
Both the men’s and women’s teams
have graduated numerous pro
players, many of whom work at
the school’s summer camp. Also,
don’t be surprised to see stars from
the Earthquakes and the newly created Gold Pride of the WPS hanging around the training grounds
of their home stadium. You might
want to bring your autograph
book along with your cleats.
GIRLS CAMP
The Girls Camp caters to players
seeking exposure to top-level NCAA
Division I soccer. Campers live in
dorms, eat at the campus cafeteria,
use the athletic facilities, and play in
front of college coaches. Currently,
seven players from the SCU Women’s Team were SCU campers.
The camp creates a positive
atmosphere that challenges players while encouraging fun and
friendship. The star-studded coaching staff provides some of the
best advice in the women’s game.
It includes NCAA Championship
winning coach Jerry Smith, and
Coaching Director Brandi Chastain,
the U.S. world champion who just
joined the FC Gold Pride. Coaches
give personalized instruction in every phase of soccer, emphasizing
technique under pressure.
Camping options exist for players of every level. The High School
Prospect Overnight Camp is a
4-day camp for high school players
looking to improve while showcasing their skills for college coaches.
The Super Skills Overnight Camp is
a 5-day camp for advanced soccer
players. Each camp offers a Goal-
keeping School that trains every
aspect of the position – the technical, tactical and physical. Also, SCU
provides fun Day Camps for players ages 6-12.
BOYS CAMP
The Boys Camp challenges
players to improve while learning
new techniques and tactics. SCU’s
demanding program accelerates
player development through specialized instruction and competitive games.
SCU head coach Cameron Rast
runs the program along with Eric
Yamamoto, who works with a variety of U.S. national teams. Many
current and former SCU and MLS
players will help instruct.
Residential camps fill up fast,
so players should enroll early. The
4-day Junior/Senior Academy,
ideal for players with Division I
aspirations, features educational
sessions about the game and the
admissions process. The 5-day
Freshman/Sophomore Academy,
for the younger high school player,
features both competitive field sessions and educational sessions. The
5-day Advanced Residential Camp
emphasizes advanced skills and
tactics. For each of these camps,
SCU offers a top-notch Goalkeeping School led by experienced college and professional coaches.
SCU also offers specialized day
camps (the Advanced Day Camp,
the Goalkeepers Day Camp, and
the Strikers Day Camp) that teach
skills in a fun environment.
To get further information on
all the camps visit www.scusoccer
camps.com or call (408) 554-2713
or (408) 554-4003. Q
For info please call or email:
Rusty Johnson
408-554-4003 or [email protected]
www.santaclarabroncos.com
www.scusoccercamps.com
SOCCER AMERICA’S ANNUAL SOCCER CAMP & ACADEMY GUIDE / THE CHECKLIST
(continued from page 25)
m
your fellow campers. You can really expand your
horizons by talking with kids from other parts of
the country or world.
GET READY. For most serious players,
soccer is a year-round activity these days. Make
sure you’re following your club or school coach’s
summer fitness program, so you will be in shape
for summer camp. Pick your camp weeks wisely.
Heading off to camp a day after winding up a
marathon tournament isn’t a great idea.
COURTESY DAVID BECKHAM ACADEMY
m
m
PACK LIGHTLY. Bring lots of shorts,
shirts and socks and sweats or warmups to wear if
it gets cool in the evening. Make sure you’ve broken
in any new shoes. The best checklist for campers
is at the American Camping Association Web site:
http://www.acacamps.org.
Leave favorite personal items at home. You
won’t have much time to use them, and you’ll regret
it if they are lost or stolen.
This is for parents: If you trust your child with a
cell phone, it’s more convenient than a pay phone.
It can come in handy if your child gets homesick. If
the phone has an address book, it’s a great way to
store the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of
all the new friends you child will make.
m
BE A SPONGE. You may arrive at a
camp or academy thinking you know everything,
but you’ll quickly realize how much you can improve. Listen to everyone. Never be shy about getting advice from coaches and counselors. They’re
there to help you. Many students develop lifelong
relationships with their staff coaches. Get to know
GET REST. At a residential camp or
academy, the temptation is to stay up late talking
with new friends, but you’ll need plenty of rest.
You’ll be going from early in the morning until the
evening, so you’ll be exhausted.
m
GET FEEDBACK. Camps and academies should provide a written evaluation with lots
of reinforcement on areas of your game to work on.
The eval form should cover all aspects of the game
(skills, tactical awareness, physical work).
The end of camp is a hectic time. But seek out
your staff coaches after getting your evaluation for
their immediate input. If you get around to asking
for feedback in a few weeks, the coach may no longer remember you from dozens of other players.
m
SMILE. The most important advice is
to think positive. Have fun. That’s what soccer is
supposed to be all about. Q
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DAVID DOWNS
Former television
executive David Downs
is spearheading the
U.S. efforts to land
either the 2018 or 2022
ANDY MEAD/YCJ
World Cup.
WORLD CUP
2018 / 2022
chief bidder
INTERVIEW BY RIDGE MAHONEY
SOCCER AMERICA: When did U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati first approach you about
heading the bid committee?
DAVID DOWNS: He first broached the idea to me sometime around Thanksgiving. Even then, it
was somewhat premature because FIFA hadn’t yet announced what the timeline and process was
going to be. As you know, that happened Dec. 20 or thereabouts in Tokyo, and it was shortly after
that he came to me officially and asked me to come aboard. So it all happened pretty quickly.
SA: You’d been involved with television for more than 30 years. Was it time for a change?
DD: I’m loving it. Sunil didn’t have to do too much of a sell job. I was definitely ready for a change
in my career. I won’t say a change in pace because I don’t think the pace will be any different than the
pace I’m used to working at, but it’s a change in what I’m doing and I’m pretty thankful for that.
SA: What skills do you bring to the table for producing this massive bid document that has
to be submitted to FIFA in just 15 months?
DD: I’m used to running teams of executives who are working on deadline-oriented projects.
Television is the be-all and end-all for that. If you’re not ready to go on the air at 7:14 on Wednesday
or whenever it is, it’s too late. I think I can bring those organizational and project-oriented skills
to the table.
Dutch-born David
Downs has spent
many years
rooting for the
Oranje. In 1998,
an excellent
Dutch team with
Jaap Stam fell to
Rivaldo’s Brazil in
the semifinals.
J.BRETT WHITESELL/ISIPHOTOS.COM
SA: How well connected are you in the
soccer world?
DD: I know pretty much all the players
at U.S. Soccer, Concacaf and FIFA, so there’s
certainly a lot of familiarity there that should
be helpful in the process. Have I led a bid to
bring a World Cup to the United States before?
No, but there’s only one other person in the
U.S. who has.
I’m referring to Scott LeTellier [chief counsel on the 1994 World Cup bid effort]. Alan
[Rothenberg] came aboard once the bid had
been awarded, but Scott and I have been good
friends since those days and even preceding
that. I first met Scott when he was involved
in the 1984 Olympics out in Los Angeles. We
certainly have a community of soccer executives who are going to be lending their soccer
expertise to the cause, and Scott is
i
someone I hold in high regard.
DAVID DOWNS
SA: Dire predictions of apathy preceded
the event, but the 1994 World Cup proved to
be a smashing success, both in the stadiums
and on television.
DD: I give Alan a lot of the credit for that. It
was his personality, his willpower,that in some
ways just forced the event over the top. Obviously, there was good marketing that went on and
timing and all that, but it still was not guaranteed
it was going to be the success that it was.
SA: You attended the 1990 World Cup
in Italy to prepare for the 1994 tournament.
Was that your first real awareness of the
competition?
DD: No, my first real vivid memories of the
World Cup as a sporting event track back to
1978 when I was living in New York City and I
attended some of those closed-circuit telecasts
of the World Cup in Argentina.
That’s when it first dawned on me the incredible level of nationalist passion it
could generate. People were coming
out of the woodwork to root for the
countries of their heritage. Of course,
back then, the U.S. didn’t participate,
so you couldn’t wave the U.S. flag,
but almost everybody in the U.S. can
claim a right to cheer for Argentina
or Spain or another country, you
name it.
J.BRETT WHITESELL/ISIPHOTOS.COM
SA: Where did you watch the
games?
DD: It’s foggy in my mind but
I think it was the Felt Forum or
someplace like that. Honestly I
can’t remember where it was but I
can remember going into a theater,
an auditorium. Being half-Dutch, I
still can’t believe they played [West]
Germany in Germany in one final
[1974], and then Argentina
in Argentina four years later
in another final.
Marcelo Balboa (left)
battled Romario on July
4, 1994. The USA fell to
Brazil, 1-0, drawing tears
from David Downs during
its lap of honor.
I remember meeting Alan.
He came into our ABC offices
to talk about the potential
of the event and we’d never
met anybody so dead certain
it was going to be a big success. We were cautiously optimistic and we knew we wanted to be
involved in it, and a World Cup could be successful on television, especially if it was held in the
United States and the U.S. was a participant.
I remember him pounding his fist on the
table and said we were going to get a 10 rating
for the final and we were looking at him, saying,
‘You must be kidding.’ I can’t remember the exact rating of that final but it was certainly closer
to his estimation than to ours.
(Editor’s note: the broadcast of the 1994
World Cup final on ABC drew a final national
rating of 9.5).
SA: And the Dutch national team still hasn’t recovered.
D D : No, they really
haven’t, though the team that
lost in France in ’98 in that
semifinal against Brazil, that
was a pretty good team. As lifelong Red Sox fans,
we used to joke about the similarities between
the Dutch and the Red Sox, but the Red Sox since
have actually won a world championship.
SA: How did it work out that the USA
played Brazil in the 1994 World Cup round of
16 on July 4th on ABC? Luck?
DD: I was at the U.S.-Brazil game at Stanford,
and my vivid memory of that was being in U.S.
Soccer’s box and after the game was over, we
were pretty disappointed but still pretty proud
of how the team had played.
The Brazilians took a very quick tour of the
field and kind of waved to a few fans, but then
the U.S. team stayed on the field and really did
the lap of honor. I remember having tears in my
eyes watching that on July 4. And give me some
credit for that. I had talked ABC into earmarking that game.
ABC didn’t do many of the games — the
majority were done on ESPN and ESPN2 — but
we rolled the dice that the U.S. would get to that
game and Brazil would probably be there no
matter what. So it worked out.
(Editor’s note: The U.S.-Brazil game drew the
second highest rating of the competition, 9.3)
SA: NBC televised the 1986 World Cup, and
the Turner networks aired matches in 1990.
How did you get ABC on board for the 1994
competition?
DD: When I started at ABC, they were televising the NASL, so there was always a willingness
to be involved in soccer and there were some
soccer fans behind the scenes. And ABC always
had a history, whether it was the Olympics or
Wide World of Sports, of recognizing the pinnacle events in any sport, even log-rolling.
It’s hard to say. I don’t think there was anyone at ABC who didn’t think it was an absolute
first-class sports event. The issue became at
what level will it be marketed to the population and would it have a snowballing kind of
momentum, or would it sort of fizzle out as the
games went on?
SA: You left ABC for Univision in 1999.
How did that change your perception of
the game, and the role of television, in this
country?
DD: Working at Univision opened my eyes
to just what an enormous, powerful U.S. Hispanic population there is. The size of it alone,
45 million approximately, is larger than most
countries on earth, Canada and Argentina to
name two. The growth of that population is
tremendous.
I want to say in ’94 the U.S. Hispanic population was somewhere between 20 million and
25 million. In 2018 it will be somewhere around
55 million and 2022 somewhere around 60 million. When we host the next World Cup it will be
double or triple what it was when we last hosted.
Given that U.S. Hispanics consume soccer, at
least on television, at a rate of about seven or
eight to one [compared] to non-Hispanics, that
becomes a very significant change in soccer
consumption in the United States.
We are certainly a more soccer-savvy, soccerfriendly culture than we were in 1994, and the
pro league helps that as well.
SA: A minus in what way?
DD: In 1994 we at ABC raised the bar a
little bit by generating a little bit more than $10
million in television rights fee on the Englishlanguage side. On the Spanish side, the ’94 rights
were sold by a consortium of Latin American
broadcasters and went to Univision for next to
nothing. It’s gone from just north of $10 million
to [$425] million in the space of just 15 years.
That’s pretty impressive.
SA: Did going to Univision sharpen your
Spanish?
DD: I had none, so yes I sharpened it. I’m
embarrassed to admit I never became comfortable speaking it at all. Fluent? Not even close.
Though I got very, very good at understanding
it spoken, and I can read it fairly well, because
so much of the information I had to process
was in Spanish.
It was an incredible treat for me to go to
Univision after I had some great years at ABC.
I had to learn about a whole new culture and a
whole new audience and that was incredibly
energizing, to be able to do that in my early 40s.
It was a tremendous lift emotionally.
I would say the same thing is true here.
There’s something tremendously energizing
about taking on this project, particularly one
that requires some on-the-job learning. Not everybody gets a chance to do that in their careers
and I’m thrilled.
SA: Now that the U.S. is bidding to host a
second World Cup, how has the landscape
changed since 1994?
DD: The single biggest thing that’s changed
from ’94 is that FIFA’s gone from having one or
two countries interested in hosting a World Cup
to this time there are 11 in contention for two,
and I think ’94 could be singled out as kind of
the transformer. The profitability of the ’94 World
It’s our job to show
FIFA not only that we
are capable but we
would be the best
place to do it for a
number of reasons,
but it’s hard to grade
us not as an A-plus
right off the bat.
Cup may have led the way in that category.
From a marketing standpoint, it makes a
lot of sense, because their marketing cycles
are tied to two World Cups, 2002 and 2006
were combined for television and marketing
purposes, and then 2010 and 2014 were sold
simultaneously. The downside of that has always
been was that they didn’t have the second site
identified when they went out to market the two
tournaments. I think it makes a lot more sense
to know the two sites you’re selling in terms of
that marketing.
SA: Given the success of the 1994 tournament, which set an aggregate attendance
mark that has yet to be surpassed, and all the
advantages the U.S. has in stadiums, communications, infrastructure, transportation,
lodging, etc., how can FIFA say no?
DD: A lot can change in a lot of things, from
the world economy, to fortunes of individual political climates, you name it. As we sit here right
now, those conditions seem pretty favorable on
a number of levels for our candidacy.
The one thing we don’t want to do as a bid
committee is be arrogant, or complacent, or
somehow entail that we’re entitled to do this.
It’s our job to show FIFA not only that we are
capable but we would be the best place to do it
for a number of reasons, but it’s hard to grade us
not as an A-plus right off the bat.
There are some heavy infrastructure cost issues for a number of the countries applying to
host World Cups in the future. We don’t need to
rely on government support to build out roads
or hotels and so on. We’re miles ahead of the
curve on that. Q
ANDY MEAD/YCJ
SA: So will this drive rights fees, and potential revenues, to much higher levels than
in the past?
DD: Oh, yeah, absolutely. The last time
around the U.S. contributed more in rights fees
[combined $425 million from ABC/ESPN and
Univision for FIFA events from 2007 to 2014]
than any other single nation. Clearly, there’s been
an upgrade in the economic value of the World
Cup in the U.S. market and when you add that
to the notion that the World Cup might actually
be held here it really increases the value. That
has gone from being a minus in 1994 to a huge
positive in 2018 or 2022.
DAVID DOWNS BIO
Birthplace: Leiden, Netherlands
Education: Amherst ’77 (History).
Downs moved with his family to the
United States as a youth and played
soccer at Amherst before joining
ABC in 1978. His first position was a
researcher for ABC Sports’ coverage
of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake
Placid, N.Y. Once reaching the executive ranks, he lobbied successfully
for the network to televise the 1994
and 1998 World Cups. He eventually
held the positions of Senior Vice
President, Network Operations and
Development, and Senior Programming Executive for ABC Sports before leaving in October 1999 to work
for Univision. Downs started as Vice
President of Sports and was named
President of Sports in April 2001.
While at Univision he expanded
the network’s soccer coverage from
the World Cup and Mexican league to
include the Copa America, Concacaf
Gold Cup and Champions League,
SuperLiga and MLS, and also helped
launch TeleFutura (in 2002), which
carries much of the Univision network’s soccer programming.
WORLD CUP 2018/2022
How does a U.S. bid for
the 2018/2022 World Cups
stack up? Out of the gate,
England is favored to claim
the 2018 tournament, while
Australia might present the
strongest competition for
the USA in a bid to host the
2022 finals.
PHILIPPE CROCHET/DPPI/ICON SMI
BY PAUL KENNEDY
The competition
ENGLAND. Only England can match
the United States on the stadium front.
Indeed, much of the strength of the English
Premier League lies in the move of its big
clubs to take an American approach to selling the game — big stadiums, luxury boxes,
and other amenities that create revenuegenerating opportunities.
The previous Wembley Stadium hosted
the 1966 World Cup final. The new Wembley
Stadium (capacity: 90,000) would be the likely
venue for the next England World Cup final.
Britain is already assured of hosting
the London Olympics in 2012, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and
the Cricket World Cup in 2019 and hopes
to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015. After
failing rather miserably in its bid to host the
2006 World Cup — it finished third behind
Germany and South Africa — England is the
heavy favorite to host the 2018 World Cup.
England is leaving nothing to chance. The
FA has spent recent years repairing English
soccer’s image abroad.
Olympic track champion Sebastian Coe,
who spearheaded London’s successful campaign to host the 2012 Olympic Games, has
left his post as chairman of FIFA’s ethics committee to join the England bid team.
RUSSIA. A year ago, a Russia World
Cup was viable. Now, the prospects look
dim — like Russia’s sinking economy. MICEX,
the Moscow stock market, has declined
70 percent from its high in June 2008. The
oligarchs have lost billions, and the masses
are restless.
Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, which holds
78,360 fans, hosted the 2008 UEFA Champions League final, but Russia has no other
stadium big enough to meet FIFA’s minimum
requirements — 12 stadiums with a capacity
of 40,000.
PORTUGAL/SPAIN. After the English
and U.S. candidacies, the Iberian bid is the
strongest on the stadium front.
Spain, which hosted the 1982 World Cup,
boasts Barcelona’s Camp Nou (capacity:
98,772) and Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu
(80,354), two of the most famous stadiums in
the world. Seven new and three renovated
stadiums are the legacies of the 2004 European Championship Portugal hosted.
Working against Portugal and Spain is
FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s unfavorable
view of joint bids.
BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS. “In the
words of Barack Obama, yes we can,” said
Belgian Alain Courtois, who is heading the
Benelux bid. Belgium and the Netherlands
co-hosted Euro 2000, and he believes they
can get the $1 billion-plus funding to build
or renovate the stadiums necessary to meet
FIFA’s requirements for 2018/2022.
Courtois feels that the close ties between
Belgium and the Netherlands — they have no
borders — and the success they had in 2000
will overcome FIFA’s concerns about co-hosts
following the stormy relationship between
Japan and South Korea as 2002 co-hosts.
MEXICO. Mexico would be the first
country to host the World Cup a third time
if it secured the 2018 or 2022 finals. It hosted
in 1970 — arguably the best World Cup ever
— and again in 1986 — beating out the USA
and Canada after Colombia pulled out.
The USA or Mexico will need to win the
support of Concacaf and its three members
on FIFA’s executive committee — American
Chuck Blazer, Trinidadian Jack Warner and
Guatemalan Rafael Salguero — before it
takes on its European and Asian competitors.
Can Mexico beat out the USA a second
time? It’s possible but not likely. Mexico City’s
Azteca Stadium and Guadalajara’s Jalisco
Stadium are two of the most famous stadiums
in the world, but Mexico’s stadium choices
1-12 – let alone 1-25 — won’t stack up against
those of the USA.
“We have a great relationship with the
Mexican federation for all but about 90
i
minutes a year and we look forward to
One of the longshot
bidders to host a World
Cup in 2018 or 2022 is
Qatar, home to the Tour
de Qatar cycling event.
AUSTRALIA. Assuming the 2018 World
Cup goes to Europe, Australia begins as the
USA’s most likely competitor to win the right
to host the 2022 World Cup.
Soccer is on the upswing in Australia with the
A-League, its pro league. Australia has a strong
sports culture, and it has a history of successfully
organizing international competitions.
Australia has strong government support.
“Winning the right to host the 2018 FIFA World
Cup is a Herculean task but overcoming tough
odds is what Australian football does best,” says
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose government
has pledged $28 million in support of the World
Cup bid.
Australia also has the support of a heavy
hitter: Slovakian-born shopping mall tycoon
Frank Lowy, who took over as chairman of the
Football Federation Australia and is considered
responsible for the recent transformation of
Australian soccer.
JAVIER GARCIA/ISIPHOTOS.COM
this competition,” says U.S. Soccer President
Sunil Gulati. “But we think the advantages that
the U.S. can offer FIFA as far as the development
of the game will become very clear over the next
20 months.”
NEIL TINGLE/ACTIONPLUS/ICON SMI
i
Austrialia Fans
Lowy is moving up on the FIFA ladder. He was
named last fall to FIFA’s committee that oversees
the organization of the 2010 World Cup, giving
him access to many of the executive committee’s
key figures and an understanding of the inner
workings of the event itself.
JAPAN. The 2002 co-host is a conditional
bidder for 2018/2022. Japan says it will bid but
only if Tokyo wins the race to stage the 2016
Summer Olympics. (Tokyo is given a slight edge
over Madrid with Chicago and Rio de Janeiro
also in the race, which will be decided at an IOC
meeting on Oct. 2.)
England’s Wembley Stadium
Currently, Japan doesn’t have a stadium with
a minimum capacity of 80,000 for the opening
game and final — the new requirements for 2018
and 2022. The International Stadium Yokohama,
site of the 2002 World Cup final, has a capacity
of 70,000.
A 100,000-seat stadium in Yoyogi Park will be
built if Tokyo is awarded the 2016 Olympics.
SOUTH KOREA. If Japan is in the mix,
can a South Korean bid be far behind? Japan
and South Korea waged a ferocious duel to win
the right to host the 2002 World Cup — and FIFA
ended up compromising by giving the World
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Cup to both countries. There’s no chance of that
happening again.
The 2002 World Cup was an enormous
success in South Korea, leaving it with a solid
soccer infrastructure and boosting enthusiasm
for the game.
Chung Mong Joon, who orchestrated South
Korea’s 2002 bid and served as president of its
organizing committee, has stepped down as
president of the Korea Football Association, but
he remains a powerful figure in soccer circles as
a FIFA vice president.
“There is a strong chance that either the 2018
or 2022 World Cup will come to Asia but even if
Qatar’s slim chances will evaporate.
If Bin Hammam survives, his political might
will only get Qatar so far. Temperatures reach
100-120 degrees in Qatar during the summer,
prompting those foreigners with money to flee
for cooler climates.
Qatar’s main stadium is the Qatar Khalifa
International Stadium, site of the 2006 Asian
Games.
Korea’s Chung Mong Joon
there was only a 10 percent chance,” says Cho
Chung Yun, Chung’s successor as KFA president,
“we would have to get ready. We want to make
the people excited. It was not a sudden decision.
We have been looking into this for some time. We
all know the effect that 2002 had on the people.
If we do host the World Cup once again, the effect will be huge.”
QATAR. The first hurdle a Qatari bid must
overcome is political. Mohammed Bin Hammam wields considerable power in FIFA circles,
but he is fighting a battle for his political life. If he
loses his seat on the FIFA executive committee,
INDONESIA. No one gives Indonesia a
chance, but don’t tell that to Indonesia soccer
federation general secretary Nugraha Besoes.
“We’re not daydreaming,” Nugraha said.
“This is a dream that could come true if we work
hard enough. Indonesia has lots of football fans
— perhaps the most in the world. We deserve to
be a World Cup host.”
Bung Karno Stadium (capacity: 88,000),
which hosted the 2007 Asian Cup final, is a start,
but Indonesia has only three other stadiums that
hold 40,000 or more fans.
And on the field? As the Dutch East Indies,
it was the first Asian country to participate in
the World Cup, losing its only game to Hungary,
6-0, in 1938. Since then, Indonesia has not come
close to returning to the finals. ®
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COLLEGE
Recruiting success is all the Rage
ing that historic event for
women’s sports. The Frenchborn Blin says he knew the
girls were a special group
when they were U-11s. Five
players joined the program
in high school.
“Team bonding helped
with player integration,”
said Blin. “It is also easy to
integrate players when they
are as good (or better) as
the current players on the
team.”
The Rage program encompasses 2,000 players,
400 of them in the competitive program. The club’s
staff works on managing the expectations
of players and their
parents — the dream
of a college scholarship and the reality,
the Rage Class of
2009 notwithstanding, that few players
get scholarships and
those scholarships
are most often not full
scholarships.
Among the keys, Blin says, are
players and parents taking ownership of the college process and
college coaches getting honest
recommendations from him and
the Rage technical staff.
— Paul Kennedy
Rage’s Olivia Klei
starred for the USA
at the 2008 Under-17
Women’s World Cup.
RENEE MCKAY/PHOTOSPORT/ISIOHOTOS.NET
PHOTO COURTESY OF RUSS PERRY, SNAP-PROS
IT IS A THURSDAY EVENING
in early February, and the
Pleasanton Marriott in the
San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Pleasanton is a study in
contrasts. The parking lot is
full, but the hotel restaurant
is empty and only a handful
of folks are sitting at the lobby
bar. It’s only when you stroll
down the corridor to the banquet room that
you see activity.
Pleasanton Rage had
There are dozens
21 players sign letters
of young girls, the
of intent.
oldest in college
sweatshirts, and
Olivia Klei, a starter on the U.S.
their families milling around outteam that finished second at the
side the banquet room. Inside, the
2008 Under-17 Women’s World
podium table stretches from one
Cup in New Zealand. Rage also has
wall to the other with 21 places set
players headed to 2008 sweet
with gift bags, paper and pen.
16 women’s programs: UCLA
It’s signing night for Pleasanton
(Sophie Metz and Ahsha
Rage, a girls soccer program. SignSmith), Notre Dame (Mading night has become an annual
die Fox) and Boston Colritual at many competitive girls
lege (Maddie Payne).
programs, an opportunity to honor
At signing night, former
— and showcase — those players
Rage players Judy Coffman, Katie
who have signed letters of intent
Mahoney and Kendra Perry relate
to play college soccer. For the last
their college experiences — the ups
five years, Rage has hosted a signand downs of their careers — and
ing night. Outgoing Rage president
Erika Carlson, the club’s consultJohn Cligny calls it the club’s most
ing psychologist, points out that
exciting event of the year.
among the crucial
Rage has graduated 133 playqualities the
ers who have gone on to
play college soccer since
2001. Rage’s 2009 class
consists of 21 players —
20 headed to Division I
programs and one to NAIA school
Southern Oregon — representing three teams. The core comes
from the ’91 team, which technical director Philippe Blin calls his Rage players have is vulnerability.
“dream team” and which finished “You are willing to take direct feedthird at the 2007 U-16 back,” she says.
Most players began in the club’s
U.S. Youth Soccer
National Cham- recreational program. They were
pionships. The 8 when the USA won the 1999
Rage star is San- Women’s World Cup and are the
ta Clara-bound first generation to grow up follow-
Top girls clubs produce loads of talent
Cup in Chile, heads the Freedom’s
11-player senior class.
RENEE MCKAY/PHOTOSPORT/ISIOHOTOS.COM
8. COLORADO RUSH. The Rush
reportedly has nine players headed
to Division I programs next fall.
(The players from the Rush’s 2008
U-18 U.S. Youth Soccer national
championship team are already
in college.)
McLean’s Julia Roberts (L)
is headed to Virginia.
1. DALLAS TEXANS. Of the 16
seniors on the Texans Red Dallas,
winners of the 2008 U.S. Youth
Soccer U-17 national championship, 15 have already committed
to Division I programs. The star
is 2008 Parade All-American Kim
Castleberry, who is headed to Texas
A&M. The Texans, a multi-layered
club with teams all across Texas,
reportedly have 39 seniors headed
to Division I programs.
2. ECLIPSE SELECT. The Illinois
club’s 31 seniors headed to Division
I programs include three members
of the 2008 U.S. Under-17 World
Cup team: goalies Taylor Vancil
(Louisville) and Alexa Gaul (Texas)
and defender Rachel Quon (Stanford). Also part of the 2009 U-20
national pool is midfielder Bri Rodriguez (West Virginia). Leah Hudson, who represented Brazil at the
Sting players: Ellen Scarfone, Haley
Newsom, Chelsea Heimann, Danielle Guilliod and Carly McDowell.
2008 Under-20 Women’s World Cup
in Chile, will join Gaul at Texas.
3. SO CAL BLUES. The Blues’
6. PDA. The New Jersey club’s
U-18s honored 13 seniors who
Pride team reports college commitsigned letters of intent. The Blues’
ments from 18 players. Three are
top prospect is midfielder Lauren
headed to nearby Rutgers: Caitlin
Matheson, who is part of what
Conway, Maura McLaughlin and
Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith calls
Lindsey McNabb.
arguably the best class he
has signed since his 1996
The college
7. MCLEAN PREMIER
class that went to the fischolarships
SOCCER. Julia Roberts,
nal four four consecutive
players on the
who started on the U.S.
years.
Albertson Fury
backline at the 2008 Unwere awarded
der-17 Women’s World
4. SLAMMERS FC. The
are valued at
Southern California club
$1.5 million.
reports that 31 seniors
from five teams have made
college commitments — 26
to Division I programs. Zakiya Bywaters, who previously played for
Neusport-Tabagators in Nevada
and was outstanding at the recent
U-18/U-20 national camp, will
play for UCLA.
5. STING SC. Perennial Sun Belt
power North Texas has announced
the signing of no less than five
10. SAN JUAN SC. The Sacramento club’s top senior is versatile
Hannah Davidson, who signed with
Indiana. San Juan’s top prospects
are all freshmen or sophomores
on the Spirits, the 2008 U-14 USYS
champions.
11. ALBERTSON SC. The Fury
’90 team manager Michael Bruh
reports that players have attained
$1.5 million in college scholarships. The star of the class is Vicki
DiMartino, winner of the Silver
Shoe as the second leading scorer at
the Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
DiMartino will join sister Gina at
Boston College.
— Paul Kennedy
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALBERTSON FURY
SENDING PLAYERS ON TO COLLEGE
is an essential part of top girls programs. Here’s a look how the top 11
clubs among Soccer America’s 2009
Best Girls Clubs fared:
9. FORCE FC. The Force’s rise to
national prominence came thanks
to its ‘89 team that won back-to-back
national titles in 2007 (U-18) and 2008
(U-19). Its younger teams have yet to
make a national impact.
COLLEGE
Zips head men’s elite eight
Alex Morgan (left) and Sydney
Leroux cleaned up at the
Under-20 Women’s World Cup
in Chile.
Scott
Caldwell (right) is reunited
with Kofi Sarkodie at Akron.
RECRUITING IN MEN’S COLLEGE
soccer is a fluid process. Players
can change their plans on whether
to enter college or go pro. Foreign
players are often signed at the last
minute. With that in mind, here’s
how the top men’s recruiting classes
ranked in mid-February:
1. AKRON. The Zips lost Hermann Trophy winner Steve Zakuani,
who turned pro after his sophomore
year and is with MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC, but they more than made up
for that loss with the signing of five
former residents at the U.S. U-17 national team program in Bradenton,
Fla. — goalie David Meves, defenders Zarek Valentin and Chad Barson
and midfielders Ben Speas and Scott
Caldwell — and Yoram Mwila, who
was the captain of the U-17 Zambian
national team.
They join former Bradenton
residents Anthony Ampaipitakwong and Kofi Sarkodie, who will
be a junior and sophomore in 2009,
respectively.
Akron’s incoming class also
included Matt Mason and Eric
Stevenson, who are part of a stellar
class of Ohio seniors.
(The U-17 connection will continue next year with the arrival of
U-17 captain Perry Kitchen.)
2. UCLA. The Bruins’ class is
headed by midfielder Amobi Okugo, who is in contention for a berth
on the U.S. under-20 national team
for Concacaf qualifying. Coach
Jorge Salcedo loaded up on attacking players: Dakota Collins, Chandler Hoffman, Ryan Hollingshead,
Evan Raynr and Michael Roman.
Defender Cesar Morales earned De-
velopment Academy all-conference
honors with Sockers FC Chicago.
3. STANFORD. Coming off a
4-11-3 season during which it
scored only 14 goals, the Cardinal
got help with the signing of Californians Dersu Abolfathi, one of
the top senior forwards, and Adam
Jahn, who recently traveled with
the U.S. U-18s to the Australian
Youth Olympic Festival, where he
scored five goals against China.
Also headed to the Farm is Hunter
Gorskie, considered one of the top
defenders in the country.
4. CALIFORNIA. The Bears give
the Pac-10 three of the nation’s top
four classes. Ireland looked to add
forward John Fitzpatrick after he
put on an outstanding performance
as a guest player for South Coast
JOHN DORTON.ISIPHOTOS.COM
Bayern at last summer’s Milk Cup.
Joining Fitzpatrick in Berkeley
will be fellow Californians Steve
Birnbaum, Riley Kovatch, Anthony
Salciccia, Chris Ortega, Nick Shackelford and Kyle Marsh. Santa Clara
transfer Jeff Cosgriff will join the
Bears as a senior.
5. MARYLAND. The national
champion Terrapins dipped into
the ranks of the New York Red
Bulls academy program to sign
Matt Kassel last year, and they have
signed forward London Woodberry
from FC Dallas and midfielder
Paul Torres of D.C. United. Also
committed to Maryland is forward
Jordan Cyrus, who scored 122 goals
for Norfolk, Va., Academy. Real
Colorado defender Taylor Kemp
should give the Terrapins help
on its backline, which lost Omar
Gonzalez and A.J. Delagarza to
MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy.
6. VIRGINIA. Will Bates (Richmond Strikers), who played with
the U.S. U-18s at the Australian
Youth Olympic Festival, and Ahkeel
Rodney (B.W. Gottschee) give the
Cavs two powerful strikers. Shane
Cooke, Marcus Douglas and Sean
Murnane are all products of D.C.
United’s academy.
7. NORTH CAROLINA. Uruguayan-born Enzo Martinez — yes, he
was named after Enzo Francescoli
— broke the South Carolina prep
career record for goals with 143 after
only three seasons. UNC has also
signed goalie Scott Goodwin from
the CASL Chelsea FC program.
8. DUKE. South Jersey High
School Player of the Year Ryan Finlay, a former U.S. U-17, and Pennsylvania High School Player of the
Year Andrew Wenger give the Blue
Devils’ attack a big boost.
— Paul Kennedy
TOURNAMENT CALENDAR
A MONTHLY LISTING OF SOCCER TOURNAMENTS IN THE
U.S. Contact information provided with tournament listings is for
tournament registration only. You are not required to make travel
arrangements through this contact. Soccer America makes every
effort to assure the accuracy of each listing. However, we are not
responsible for any errors which may appear. Check with tournaments directly to find out if any information has changed since their
information was received. We encourage you to thoroughly research
any tournament in which you are interested.
MARCH ............................
March 13-15. Las Vegas NV. Las Vegas
College Showcase. Contact: Saeed
Bonabian; day: (702) 322-1200 ext 249;
email: [email protected]; URL:
www.lvcollegeshowcase.com. Male: U-15
to U-18. Female: U-13 to U-19
March 21-May 16. West Windsor/
Holmdel NJ. New Jersey Cup. Contact:
Bob Kuzbyt; day: (609) 529-7514; fax: (609)
945-3769; email: newjerseycup@comcast.
net; URL: www.eteamz.com/newjerseycup/;
Level: 4. Male: U-11 to U-17. Female:
U-11 to U-17. Entry deadline: Mar. 1.
Entry fee: $165
March 28. Lawton OK. Lawton Soccer
Club Spring Fling Festival. Contact:
Tony Mendoza; day: (580) 536-5129;
www.lawtonsoccer.com; Level: 6. Male:
U-8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19. Female: U-8, 10,
12, 14, 16, 19. Coed: U-8, 10, 12. Entry
deadline: Mar. 1
APRIL ..............................
April 4. Geneva OH. GaREAT Spring
Shootout (UNS). Contact: Jamie Smith;
day: (440) 415-3868; email: jsmith@
gareat.org; URL: www.gareat.org; Level: 2,
4, 6. Male: U-9 to U-12. Coed: U-9. Entry
deadline: Mar 1. Entry fee: $275
day: (440) 415-3868; email: jsmith@gareat.
org; URL: www.gareat.org; Level: 2, 4, 6.
Female: U-9 to U-12. Entry deadline: Mar.
1. Entry fee: $275
April 10-12. Madison AL. 2009 Valley
FC Friendship Cup. Contact: Martin
Schneekloth; day: (256) 348-2567; email:
[email protected]; URL: www.
valleyfutbolclub.com; Level: 4, 5, 6. Male:
U-9 to U-14. Female: U-9 to U-14. Entry
deadline: Mar. 13. Entry fee: $300
April 11-12. Lowell MI. Midwest
Spring Invite Rankings Weekend.
Contact: Abrahm Shearer; day: (616) 682-
4700; evening: (616) 881-3871; fax: (616)
682-4700; email: [email protected];
URL: www.soccergrandrapids.com; Level:
1, 2, 3, 4. Male: U-11 to U-14. Female:
Entry fee: $475
April 17-19. Collinsville IL. Collinsville
Spring Classic. Contact: Mitch Bohnak;
day or evening: (618) 346-2559; fax: (618)
346-2601; email: mbohnak@slsgsoccer.
com; URL: metrounitedsoccer.com; Level:
1, 2, 3, 4. Male: U-8 to U-19. Female: U-8
to U14. Entry deadline: Mar. 15. Entry fee:
$475-$575
April 17-19. Quakertown PA. Quakertown
Invitational Soccer Tournament.
Contact: Tim Shelly; day: (267) 9347249; evening: (215) 541-4070; email:
tournaments@quakertownsoccerclub.
net; URL: quakertownsoccerclub.net;
Level: 2, 3, 4. Male: U-9 to U-11. Female:
Entry fee: $400
Male: U-13, 14. Entry deadline: Mar. 14.
Entry fee: $400
April 18-19. Epping NH. TD Banknorth
Club Friendlies-Girls. Contact: Karl
Edmonds; day: (603) 926-8444 x207; email:
[email protected]; URL:
www.seacoastunited.org/Tournaments/
SoccerTournaments/225446.html; Level: 2,
3, 4. Female: U-15 to U-18. Entry deadline:
Mar. 27. Entry fee: $675
Male: U-15, 16. Entry deadline: Mar. 14.
Entry fee: $400
April 24-26. Hudson OH. 2009 Spring
Kickoff. Contact: Brian Hall; day or evening:
(330) 650-2554; fax: (330) 656-1776; email:
ncsoccerhudson.com/outtournaments.cfm;
Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Male: U-8 to U-19.
Female: U-8 to U-19. Coed: U-8 to U-19.
Entry deadline: Apr. 10
April 24-26. Quakertown PA. Quakertown
Invitational Soccer Tournament.
Contact: Tim Shelly; day: (267) 9347249; evening: (215) 541-4070; email:
[email protected];
URL: quakertownsoccerclub.net; Level: 2,
3, 4. Male: U-12 to U-14. Female: U-12
to U-14. Entry deadline: Mar. 24. Entry
fee: $450
April 24-26. Tukwila WA. Starfire
Spring Classic. Contact: Teddy Mitalas;
431-6811; email: teddy@starfiresports.com;
URL: www.starfiresports.com; Level: 1, 2, 3,
4. Male: U-9 to U-14. Female: U-9 to U-14.
Entry deadline: Apr. 1. Entry fee: $475
4. Female: U-13, 14. Entry deadline: Mar.
14. Entry fee: $400
April 25-26. Baltimore County MD. Old
Line State Classic (UNS). Contact:
Steve Cammarata; day: (410) 686-2212;
email: [email protected]; URL: www.
cmsasoccer.com; Level: 3, 4, 5. Male: U-9
to U-14, 16, 18. Female: U-9 to U-14, 16, 18.
Female: U-15, 16. Entry deadline: Mar. 14.
Entry fee: $400
MAY ................................
May 2. Geneva OH. GaREAT Spring
4, 6. Male: U-15, 16. Entry deadline: Apr.
2. Entry fee: $400
May 2-3. Bowling Green OH.
Cedar Point Bowling Green Soccer
Challenge. Contact: Arnold Zirkes; day
or evening: (419) 806-6450; fax: None;
BGSoccerChallenge.com; Level: 2, 3, 4.
Male: U-9 to U-18. Female: U-9 to U-18.
May 2-3. Newark OH. Buckeye Cup.
Contact: Ken Siegfried; day: (740) 3667033; evening: (740) 975-0121; email:
1-800-934-3876 SOCCER.COM
BuckeyeCup.com; Level: 4. Male: U-9 to
U-14. Female: U-9 to U-14. Entry deadline:
Apr. 1. Entry fee: $350
May 2-3. East Petersburg PA. Red Rose
Classic. Contact: Jamie Kuntz; day: (717)
URL: www.redroseclassic.com; Level: 4.
May 2-3. Roanoke VA. Roanoke Star
Spring Classic. Contact: Danny Beamer;
day: (540) 345-7820; email: dbeamer@
ntelos.net; URL: www.soccerincollege.
com/TTIntro.aspx?tid=RSSC&tab=1;
Level: 4. Male: U-9 to U-19. Female: U-9
to U-19. Entry deadline: Apr. 3. Entry
fee: $450
4, 6. Male: U-9 to U-12. Coed: U-9. Entry
deadline: Apr. 1. Entry fee: $275
May 3-4. Lancaster PA. Red Rose
URL: www.redroseclassic.com; Level: 4.
May 8-10. Kissimmee FL. 3rd Annual
Bazooka Soccer International
Showcase. Contact: Tournament
Director; day: (850) 356-2996; email:
bazookasoccer.com; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Male:
deadline: Apr. 11. Entry fee: $375-$575
May 8-10. Newburgh IN. St. Mary’s
Classic. Contact: Jim List; day: (812) 4903088; email: [email protected]; URL:
www.swisasoccer.com; Level: 4. Male: U-9 to
May 8-10. Northville MI. Jaguar
Invitational. Contact: Annalisa Van
Houten; day: (248) 380-5628; email:
jaguarinvitational.com; Level: 1, 3, 4. Male:
deadline: Mar. 13
Female: U-15, 16. Entry deadline: Apr. 9.
Entry fee: $400
±May 9-10. Columbus OH. Anderson’s
Army Soccer Challenge (UNS). Contact:
Jeff Foster; day: (614) 619-0858; email:
LEGEND
V= Adult tournament
+ = Tournaments that would like to attract
visiting referees. USSF POLICY: Referees
Traveling Out Of The State Association.
Referees are registered by the U.S. Soccer
Federation through the state association
and are considered independent contractors. As a matter of courtesy, referees
must inform the SRA/SYRA when traveling out of the state association to work
games provided that they have met their
obligation to the state association. The
National Referee Committee specifically
encourages national referee candidates to
have at least one of their required annual
assessments conducted outside of the
referee’s geographical area
Ages: See accompanying chart for birth
date cut-offs for each age level in tournaments affiliated with the USYSA
Level: Terminology for competitive level
varies widely in different parts of the country
with the same term often meaning different levels in different places. In an effort
to standardize terminology for all listings,
competitive levels in these listings are
coded in accordance with USYSA definitions as follows:
1 = State Select Team — the official
“Select Team” of a State Youth Assn.
whose players are chosen on a statewide
basis from Club teams
2 = Tournament Team — a travel or
competitive team put together for the sole
purpose of playing in a tournament or other
sanctioned competition including guest
players from one or more Club teams
3 = League Select Team — the official
“Select Team” of a league whose players
are chosen on a league-wide basis from
Club teams
4 = Club Team — travel or competitive
team composed of players who are listed
on the team’s roster for League play and
does not include guest players
5 = Recreational All Star Team — team
composed of players selected from more
than one team which participates in a
Recreational, House, or Intramural program
for a Club, League, or Association
6 = Recreational Team — team which
participates in a Recreational, House, or
Intramural program for a Club, League,
or Association
Listings highlighted in boxes: Denotes tournaments with an advertisement
in this issue
USYSA
REGISTRATION AGES
Season 07/08 08/09 09/10
Under-19 1990 1991
1992
Under-18 1991 1992
1993
Under-17 1992 1993
1994
Under-16 1993 1994
1995
Under-14 1995 1996
1997
Under-12 1997 1998
1999
Under-10 1999 2000
2001
Under-8
2001 2002
2003
Under-6
2003 2004
2005
soccertourney.com; Level: 2, 6. Male: Adult.
Female: Adult. Coed: Adult. Entry deadline:
May 1. Entry fee: $250
May 16-17. McDonough GA. Atlanta
Peach Classic. Contact: Ricky Wolf;
day: (404) 906-6678; email: peachclassic@
hcsa.org; URL: www.atlantapeachclassic.
com/. Male: U-9 to U-19. Female: U-9 to
U-19. Entry deadline: Apr. 20. Entry fee:
$350-$400
May 16-17. Wilmington NC.
Seaside Soccer Classic. Contact:
CFSA; day: (910) 392-0306; email:
www.capefearsoccer.com; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4.
May 22-25. Buffalo Grove IL. Grove
United Memorial Day Shootout.
Contact: Henry Goldenstein; day or
evening: (847) 508-6200; email: hgold10@
yahoo.com; URL: www.groveunitedsoccer.
com; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4. Male: U-8 to U-19.
Female: U-8 to U-19. Entry deadline: May
1. Entry fee: $550
May 22-25. Tukwila WA. Starfire
Memorial Day Cup. Contact: Teddy
Mitalas; day or evening: (206) 267-6422;
fax: (206) 431-6811; email: teddy@
starfiresports.com; URL: www.starfiresports.
com; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Male: U-10 to U-17,
19. Female: U-10 to U-17, 19. Entry deadline:
±May 23-24. La Jolla CA. Nomads
Futsal Festival. Contact: Mary Kaliff/
Derek Armstrong; day or evening: (858)
587-0511; fax: (858) 587-0483; email:
nomadssoccer.org; Level: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6.
Male: U-8 to U-19, Adult. Female: U-8
to U-19, Adult. Entry deadline: Apr. 1.
Entry fee: $400
May 23-24. Fort Dix NJ. Memorial
Day Explosion. Contact: Bohdan Porytko;
day: (973) 998-9731; evening: (732) 9405599; email: [email protected]; URL:
www.socceragency.net/maps/2009/0905/
explosion.htm; Level: 2, 3, 4. Male: U-8 to
May 23-24. Massapequa NY. Lincoln
Page Memorial Day Tournament.
Contact: Richard Guinness Jr.; day: (516)
680-3351; evening: (516) 795-5601;
fax: (516) 795-5601; email: stoutguinz@
optonline.net; URL: www.massapequasc.
com/content.aspx?idx=70; Level: 1, 2, 3,
May 23-24. Gettysburg PA. Gettysburg
Blue Gray Cup. Contact: Michelle Smyers;
334-2443; email: [email protected]; URL: www.
gysc.org; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. Male: U-9 to
CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE
Soccer America makes every attempt to assure the accuracy of each listing. However, we
are not responsible for any errors which may
appear. Tournament directors are responsible
for checking their listing and notifying Soccer
America of any inaccurate information or
changes. Tournament listings are printed
on a space available basis. To register
your tournament, go to www.soccer.com/
channels/tournaments.sa
The age groups are determined by
the players age before the first day of
August of the immediately preceding
seasonal year, i.e. U-19 would be
August 1, 1989 to July 31, 1990
THE SOURCE FOR NATIONAL SOCCER COMPETITION
TOURNAMENT CALENDAR
CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
May 23-24. Richmond VA. 2009
Colonial Cup. Contact: Tish Schrock;
day: (804) 644-5425; evening: (804)
938-1890; fax: (804) 591-2680; email:
www.richmondkickers.com; Level: 4, 5, 6.
Coed: U-8 to U-19. Entry deadline: Apr.
15. Entry fee: $550
May 23-25. Chula Vista CA. Chula Vista
Rangers Memorial Day Cup. Contact:
Polo Aviles; day: (858) 243-8440; email:
chulavistarangers.com; Level: 2, 4, 5, 6.
Entry deadline: May 1. Entry fee: $525
May 23-25. Germantown MD. adidas
Potomac Memorial. Contact: Doug
Schuessler; day: (301) 919-8202; fax: (301)
294-6144; email: potomactournament@
comcast.net; URL: www.potomacsoccer.
org; Level: 4. Male: U-9 to U-19. Female:
Entry fee: $575
±May 23-25. Blaine MN. NSC CUP.
Contact: Jenny Een; day: (763) 717-3235;
fax: (763) 785-5699; email: jeen@nscsports.
org; URL: www.nscsports.org/soccer; Level:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Male: U-9 TO U-19, Adult.
Female: U-9 TO U-19, Adult. Entry deadline:
May 23-25. Dayton OH. adidas
Warrior Soccer Classic. Contact: Carol
Maas; day: (937) 233-7958; fax: (937)
URL: www.warriorsoccerclassic.com; Level:
1,2, 3, 4. Male: U-8 to U-19, Adult. Female:
U-8 to U-19, Adult. Entry deadline: Mar. 20.
Entry fee: $595
May 23-25. Springfield VA. The
Virginian Soccer Tournament.
Contact: Gary Falconer; day: (703) 4835700; evening: (703) 483-0670; email:
soccertournament.com; Level: 4. Male: U-9
to U-19. Female: U-9 to U-19. Entry deadline:
Apr. 7. Entry fee: $660-$775
May 30-31. Beavercreek OH. Creek
Classic. Contact: John Ankeney; day
or evening: (937) 427-9452; fax: (937)
427-9465; email: jankeney@sbcglobal.
net; URL: www.creekclassic.com; Level: 4.
±May 30-August 9. Oneonta NY.
National Soccer Hall of Fame Summer
Tournaments. Contact: National Soccer
Hall of Fame; day: (607) 432-3351; email:
[email protected]; URL: http://
national.soccerhall.org/Tournament_Index.
htm; Level: 1, 4, 6. Male: U-10 to U-19, Adult.
Female: U-10 to U-19, Adult. Entry deadline:
See our ad in this issue
JUNE ...............................
±June 5-7. Virginia Beach VA. North
American Sand Soccer Championships
(UNS). Contact: Karen Knott; day: (757)
368-4600; evening: (757) 816-3668; fax:
(757) 368-5295; email: sandsoccervb@aol.
com; URL: www.sandsoccer.com; Level: 2, 4,
5, 6. Male: U-9 to U-19, Adult. Female: U-9 to
U-19, Adult. Coed: U-15 to U-19, Adult. Entry
deadline: Apr. 15. Entry fee: $425
June 6-7. Lancaster PA. LANCO Summer
URL: www.lancounited.com; Level: 4. Male:
deadline: May 20. Entry fee: $325
June 12-14. Blaine MN. Wal-Mart All
American Cup. Contact: Jenny Een; day:
(763) 717-3235; fax: (763) 785-5695; email:
[email protected]; URL: www.nscsports.
org; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. Male: U-9 TO U-19.
Female: U-9 TO U-19. Entry deadline: May
22. Entry fee: $485
June 19-21. Webster NY. WSA
Lakefront Classic 18th Annual. Contact:
Richard Rogers; day or evening: (585) 2654776; fax: (585) 671-7730; email: rrogers@
rochester.rr.com; URL: www.webstersoccer.
com; Level: 4. Male: U-8 to U-17. Female:
U-8 to U-17. Entry deadline: May 5. Entry
fee: $335
June 20-22. Hudson OH. 2009 Djisheff
Memorial. Contact: Brian Hall; day
or evening: (330) 650-2554; fax: (330)
656-1776; email: brian@ncsoccerhudson.
com; URL: www.ncsoccerhudson.com/
outtournaments.cfm; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Coed: U-8 to U-19. Entry deadline: June 10
June 26-28. Tukwila WA. Sounders FC
Adidas Cup 2009. Contact: Teddy Mitalas;
431-6811; email: teddy@starfiresports.
com; URL: www.starfiresports.com; Level:
1, 2, 3, 4. Male: U-10 to U-17, 19. Female:
U-10 to U-17, 19. Entry deadline: June 1.
Entry fee: $515
June 27. Dover OH. The Battle of
Three, 3v3 Tournament (UNS). Contact:
Billy Blake; day: (330) 243-6820; email:
blakesoccer.com/battle_of_three; Level: 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Male: U-8 to U-18. Female: U-8
to U-18. Coed: U-8 to U-18. Entry deadline:
±June 27-28. Ocean City MD.
Beach 5 Sand Soccer (UNS). Contact:
Angela Lewis; day: (919) 607-0864; email:
www.beach5sandsoccerseries.com; Level:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Male: U-8 to U-19, Adult.
Female: U-8 to U-19, Adult. Coed: U-8
to U-19, Adult. Entry deadline: May 20.
Entry fee: $350
June 27-28. Essex Junction VT.
18th Annual Essex United Soccer
Tournament & Shoot Out. Contact:
Cheryl Bowers; day or evening: (802) 8722615; email: [email protected]; URL:
www.essexunitedsoccer.org; Level: 4. Male:
U-10, 12, 14, 17. Female: U-10, 12, 14, 17.
Entry deadline: June 5. Entry fee: $225
JULY ................................
July 4-5. North Olmsted OH. 32nd
NOSO Cup. Contact: Tom Hatfield; day:
(440) 785-6610; evening: (440) 779-8117;
fax: (440) 779-0871; email: nosocup@aol.
com; URL: www.nososoccer.org; Level: 2, 4,
Entry deadline: May 15
±July 10-12. Clifton Park NY. Clifton
Park International Soccer Classic.
Contact: Andy Martin; day: (518) 858-7257;
[email protected]; Level: 2, 3, 4.
Male: U-12, 14, 16, 17, 19, Adult. Female:
U-12, 14, 16, 17, 19, Adult. Coed: U-8, 10.
±July 10-12. Put-in-Bay OH. Put-inBay Cup (UNS). Contact: Jeff Foster; day:
(614) 619-0858; email: info@soccertourney.
com; URL: www.soccertourney.com; Level:
2, 6. Male: Adult. Female: Adult. Coed: Adult.
Entry deadline: July 1. Entry fee: $330
July 14-19. Orlando FL. Disney
Cup International Youth Soccer
Tournament. Contact: Channing Swears;
day: (407) 938-3412; email: wdw.sports.
[email protected]; URL: http://
disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/. Male:
deadline: June 1. Entry fee: $425-$725
July 16-19. Honolulu HI. Aloha
International Cup. Contact: Scott
Keopuhiwa; day: (808) 927-7927;
alohainternationalcup.com; Level: 2, 4, 5.
Coed: U-8 to U-10. Entry deadline: June
1. Entry fee: $525
July 17-19. Blaine MN. Schwan’s USA
CUP Weekend. Contact: Colleen Bourdon;
day: (800) 535-4730; evening: (763) 7855656; fax: (763) 785-3660; email: market@
usacup.org; URL: www.usacup.org; Level:
1, 2, 3. Male: U-9 to U-19. Female: U-9 to
U-19. Entry deadline: May 1
July 18-19. Neenah WI. Upper
Midwest Soccer Classic. Contact:
David Henneman; day: (920) 722-2246;
www.uppermidwestsoccer.com/index.html;
Level: 1, 2, 3, 4. Male: U-11 to U-19. Female:
U-11 to U-19. Coed: U-11 to U-19. Entry
deadline: May 31. Entry fee: $400
July 21-25. Blaine MN. Schwan’s USA
CUP. Contact: Colleen Bourdon; day: (800)
535-4730; evening: (763) 785-5656; fax:
(763) 785-5699; email: market@usacup.
org; URL: www.usacup.org; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4,
Entry deadline: May 1
July 25 to 27. San Diego CA. San
Diego Surf Cup XXIX. Contact: R. Mike
Connerley; day or evening: (760) 944-7176;
fax: (760) 944-4256; email: scoffice@
surfcup.com; URL: www.surfcup.com; Level:
to U-15. Entry fee: $1,050
±July 25-26. Wallingford CT. Kick For
A Cause. Contact: Sally; day or evening:
(203) 265-3836; email: sally.tremaine@
quinnipiac.edu; URL: www.kfac.org; Level: 6.
Female: Adult. Entry deadline: July 1
July 25-26. Clarence NY. Clarence
Classic (UNS). Contact: Michael Wander;
day or evening: (716) 741-8893; email:
eteamz.com/clarencesoccer/news/index.
cfm?cat=243376; Level: 2, 4, 6. Male: U-10
to U-17,U-19. Female: U-10 to U-17,U-19.
Entry deadline: June 1. Entry fee: $225
±July 25-26. Lebanon OH. 3v3
worldwide (UNS). Contact: 3v3worldwide;
day or evening: (615) 975-5087; email:
www.3v3worldwide.com; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6. Male: U-8 to U-19, Adult. Female: U-8 to
U-19, Adult. Coed: U-8 to U-19, Adult. Entry
deadline: June 1. Entry fee: $155
1-800-934-3876 SOCCER.COM
July 31-Aug. 2. Spokane Valley WA.
River City Cup. Contact: Jeff Orwick;
day: (509) 990-6269; email: rivercitycup@
comcast.net; URL: www.rivercitysc.org.
Entry deadline: July
AUGUST ...........................
August 1-3. San Diego CA. San
Diego Surf Cup XXIX. Contact: R. Mike
Connerley; day or evening: (760) 944-7176;
fax: (760) 944-4256; email: scoffice@
surfcup.com; URL: www.surfcup.com; Level:
to U-19. Entry deadline: May 29
August 6-9. Muscatine IA. College
Search Kickoff. Contact: College
Search Kickoff; day or evening: (515) 2230987; fax: (515) 225-4878; email: info@
collegesearchkickoff.com; URL: www.
collegesearchkickoff.com; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4.
August 7-9. Tukwila WA. Starfire
Xtreme Cup. Contact: Starfire Xtreme Cup;
5, 6. Male: U-10 to U-17, 19. Female:
U-10 to U-17, 19. Entry deadline: July 15.
Entry fee: $400
August 29-30. Bowling Green OH.
Bowling Green Soccer Challange.
Contact: Arnold Zirkes; day or evening:
(419) 806-6450; fax: None; email: azirkes@
juno.com; URL: www.BGSoccerChallenge.
com; Level: 2, 3, 4. Male: U-9 to U-16.
Female: U-9 to U-16. Entry deadline: Aug.
2. Entry fee: $325
SEPTEMBER .....................
September 4-6. Bloomfield MI. Force
Football Club Invitational. Contact:
Annalisa Van Houten; day: (248) 380-5628;
www.forcefcinvitational.com; Level: 1, 3.
Entry deadline: July 17
September 5-6. Dublin OH. Dublin
Charity Cup. Contact: John Muir; day:
(614) 793-8320; evening: (614) 761-3391;
fax: (614) 793-9626; email: DublinSoccer@
sbcglobal.net; URL: DublinSoccerLeague.
com; Level: 2, 4, 6. Male: U-9 to U-15. Female:
U-9 to U-15. Entry deadline: July 15
September 5-7. Tukwila WA. Starfire
Labor Day Cup. Contact: Starfire Labor
Day Cup; day or evening: (206) 267-6422;
fax: (206) 431-6811; email: teddy@
starfiresports.com; URL: www.starfiresports.
com; Level: 1, 2, 3. Male: U-10 to U-17, 19.
Female: U-10 to U-17, 19. Entry deadline:
Aug. 1. Entry fee: $495
OCTOBER .........................
October 9-11. Hudson OH. 2009
Columbus Day Challenge. Contact:
ja; day: (330) 650-2554; fax: (330) 6561776; email: brian@ncsoccerhudson.
com; URL: www.ncsoccerhudson.com/
outtournaments.cfm; Level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Coed: U-8. Entry deadline: Sept 27
October 10 -11. Collinsville IL. Metro
United Boys Fall Classic. Contact: Mitch
Bohnak; day or evening: (618) 346-2559;
fax: (618) 346-2601; email: mbohnak@
slsgsoccer.com; URL: metrounitedsoccer.
Entry deadline: Sept. 1. Entry fee: $650
October 31-Nov. 1. Collinsville IL.
Metro United Girls FC & College
Showcase. Contact: Mitch Bohnak; day
or evening: (618) 346-2559; fax: (618)
346-2601; email: mbohnak@slsgsoccer.
com; URL: metrounitedsoccer.com; Level: 1,
2, 3, 4. Female: U-8 to U19. Entry deadline:
Sept. 1. Entry fee: $650
NOVEMBER ......................
November 27-29. San Diego CA.
Nomads Thanksgiving Tournament.
Contact: Tournament Director; day: (858)
456-1568; fax: (858) 630-3781; email:
nomadssoccer.org; Male: U-8 to U-19.
Female: U-8 to U-19. Entry fee: $570-$875
November 27-29. San Diego CA. San
Diego Surf College Cup 2009. Contact:
R. Mike Connerley; day or evening: (760)
944-7176; fax: (760) 944-4256; email:
scoffi[email protected]; URL: www.surfcup.
Female: U-16 to U-19. Entry deadline: Sept.
20. Entry fee: $1,100
November 27-29. Tukwila Wa. Starfire
Fieldturf Cup Showcase Girls. Contact:
Starfire Fieldturf Cup Showcase Girls; day
or evening: (206) 267-6422; fax: (206)
1, 2, 3, 4. Female: U-15 to U-17, 19. Entry
deadline: Nov. 1. Entry fee: $800
November-December. Raleigh NC.
CASL National Soccer Series. Contact:
Stewart Pierce; day: (919) 341-4551 or
(919) 834-3951 ext 128; email: stewartp@
CASLemail.com; URL: www.caslnc.com
List your
tournament FREE
in a searchable
database online at:
www.soccer.com/
channels/
tournaments.sa
TRY IT – IT’S EASY!
Tournaments submitted online at www.
soccer.com/channels/tournaments.sa
will appear free in a searchable database at
the discretion of Eurosport's soccer.com. Free
printed listings in Soccer America Magazine
are on a space-available basis (6-12 mo. per
issue) at the discretion of Soccer America.
Only the first three (3) domestic tournaments
received for any given issue with the same
contact individual, company, organization
or address will be published free. To appear
in Soccer America Magazine, online listings
must be submitted at soccer.com at least two
(2) months in advance of any given issue.
Soccer America makes every attempt to assure
the accuracy of each listing, however we are
not responsible for any errors which may
appear. Tournament directors are responsible
for checking their listing and notifying Soccer
America of any changes necessary.
To be included in the JUNE issue of Soccer America Magazine,
tournaments must be listed on
www.soccer.com/channels/tournaments.sa by APRIL 1.
THE SOURCE FOR NATIONAL SOCCER COMPETITION
BACKLINE
IN THE GAME
Matko’s double-duty coaching helps with both jobs
In 2007, Coach Mo Johnston hired him to
be his second assistant at Toronto FC. In 2008,
Matkovich became Coach Preki’s first assistant
at Chivas USA. He left the Chivas position to
take over the U-18 national team, then U.S. Soccer agreed he could handle being Coach Denis
Hamlett’s second assistant with the Fire as well.
(Mike Jeffries is Hamlett’s first assistant.)
Matkovich believes the double-duty coaching helps him with both jobs.
“I think it’s a good thing,” says Matkovich,
who was born and raised in the Chicago area,
“because one of the aims with the national team
program is to bridge the gap to the pro game. We
want to expose these guys to what the next level
is like, give them an idea of what’s
coming at the next stage. So having a coach who’s involved with
Longtime youth coach Mike
the pros can only help.”
Matkovich believes the
He’ll also have a hand in
U.S. Soccer Development
the Fire’s youth program as an
Academy will make a major
advisor for the Chicago Fire
impact in raising the level
Academy, which competes in the
of the American game.
U.S. Soccer Player Development
Academy.
Matkovich says the Academy,
launched in 2007, is a big step in the evolution
of American youth soccer.
“We have to remember that the game is relatively young in the USA,” says the 46-year-old.
“The level has gotten better. Technical play has
improved. We had good athletes 15-20 years ago,
but now we’re getting a lot more of them because
there are so many more kids playing.
“We’ve always had players who are very
coachable and teams that are well organized
and tactically pretty good. One concern, as we’re
looking for the next Landon Donovan or DaMarcus Bealsey, is whether things are too structured,
too organized at the younger ages. But I think
that over the next few years the Academy will
prove to have made a big impact.”
And in some ways it already has. Four players, including three starters, on Matkovich’s
U-18 U.S. squad that won Australian Youth
Olympic Festival (outscoring three foes 20-1) in
January were national team program newcomers identified through Academy play.
“We’re in the middle of a very exciting time
in the evolution of the game in this country,”
Matkovich says.
— Mike Woitalla
to be smart about picking the right moments to
talk, when to make suggestions or constructive
criticism. If you’re an honest coach, you’ll connect
with your players, regardless of the level.”
Soccer America rated the Chicago Magic the
nation’s No. 1 boys club three times while Matkovich headed the club, and he guided it to U.S.
Youth Soccer championships in 1999 (U-16) and
2003 (U-17). He also served as head coach of the
Chicago Fire Reserves in the Premier Development League (2002-06). Chris Rolfe and Dasan
Robinson were among the players who moved
up to the pro team after playing under Matkovich
on the Fire Reserves, who went 71-8-7.
That experience, he believes, was crucial in
opening doors for him
in MLS.
HOWARD C. SMITH/ISIPHOTOS.NET
“GUYS WHO WANT TO PLEASE YOU
compared to guys who want to make a living”
is how Mike Matkovich describes the general
difference between youth and pro players.
Matkovich has spent most of his long coaching career at the youth level. He co-founded the
Chicago Magic in 1987 and as its Director of
Soccer turned it into one the nation’s premier
clubs. Now he’s coaching both pros and teens,
as assistant coach of the Chicago Fire and U.S.
U-18 boys national team coach.
“Not that older guys are that much different,”
says Matkovich, who coached indoor pro soccer
in 1990-94 after his playing career ended because
of a knee injury. “All good players, whether they’re
young guys hoping to reach the next level or seasoned pros, want honest feedback. You just have
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Soccer America Magazine | March 2009

Transcription

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