How To Deal With Soccer Parents

Dealing with soccer parents is one of the most important, and sometimes less enjoyable duties of a youth soccer coach. As a youth soccer coach myself for many years, I have come across numerous situations with parents. I have learnt the hard way by experience the best way to deal with soccer parents.

Firstly, from the very beginning you need a set of rules and expectations for the players and parents. I present these to the parents at a very early stage in writing and ask them to sign that they except these conditions. I have a handout prepared and read the content while the parents are gathered. This lets the parents know where you stand and what is acceptable and what is not. This prevents many future situations occurring as you can simply refer to this at a later date.

Some of the rules I insist on are:

Only positive comments from the sidelines towards all players

No coaching the players as this is my job.

No being critical towards the referee.

These are just a few of my own personal rules.

I also give the parents a way of dealing with any problems. I ask them not to approach me before, during or immediately after a game as emotions could be high at these times. I ask them to firstly speak with the manager to see if the problem can be solved. If the problem cannot be solved in this way, I ask them to send me an email. If they need a personal meeting, I arrange an appointment at a convenient time for both. This delay in the process usually allows time for the situation to be diffused.

During a meeting I make sure to listen carefully and not to be confrontational. I remain calm. I then diplomatically explain to the parent my side of the story and suggest a solution. This method almost always works. It is only very rarely that the problem is not solved after this.

I always make sure not to be directly critical of the player. I say things like young players always make mistakes and that this could be a good learning process or act as a life lesson.

One problem that I had with a few individual parents was that they were coaching the player from the sideline. I called a parent meeting and told the whole group why it was important that they did not coach. I mentioned points like the player will be confused by having 2 sets of instructions and that the players would not be able to make their own decisions if they were being coached by the parents from the sideline. This quick 5 minute parent meeting worked as I explained the reasons why.

Italian Serie A - Lazio outplayed Palermo defeating them 1-0

The Biancocelesti and two times champion of Italian Serie A, Lazio, found their winning path by beating Palermo on the road at the Stadio Olimpico last Saturday with a score of 1-0. With this win Lazio finished their losing streak as the Young Eagles didn't managed to win since November 9th and only captured two points in five games. But with this accomplishment as visitors, their coach Delio Rossi expressed that his team is improving with the time and is getting good team's chemistry and decision making. However, Lazio needs to keep working hard to get better for the next matches after the winter break.

Since the beginning of the game, both teams had few options to open the score due to the fact that the two of them were very meticulous and cautions in defence. The teams came to this match with only one point difference in the standings, having Palermo 23 points and Lazio 24, therefore both clubs were looking for a positive result.

At minute 23, a hazardous shot from the striker Goran Pandev scared the defence of Lazio. After scoreless options in the first half, the second half gave a more interesting look to the match when Tommaso Rocci replaced the Argentinean Mauro Zarate at minute 58 and just 8 minutes later, at minute 66, Rocci took advantage of a low pass from Meghni and open the score for Lazio. Palermo tried to come back a minute after Lazio's goal when Mark Bresciano leap on a loose ball but failed to score. However, the chances of Palermo to equalize the game became weak when the defender Federico Balzaretti got a second yellow card and was kicked out of the game with only 18 minutes left. Just five minutes later, things got worse for Palermo when Fabrizio Miccoli got injured. With all these lows on Palermo, the victory of Lazio became obvious at the end.

With this conquest, the Biacocelesti climbed to the 7th place of the standings getting a total of 27 points and ending their bad run. Genoa and Napoli are ahead of Lazio by two and three points respectively. For its part, the Rosaneros dropped to 11th place of the table with 23 points and tied with Roma in points. Palermo's President Maurizio Zamparini was really disappointed with this result and is expecting more from his team after the break. On the other hand, Lazio's coach Delio Rossi expressed his satisfaction with his team victory.

"We did very well and managed to come out on top in the end," Coach Rossi stated, "Palermo created some problems for us, but we never panicked. It's a deserved win and I feel the game turned when (Ousmane) Dabo came in, he was crucial and things went much better with him on the pitch," stated Lazio's Coach.

The next matches of Lazio will be against Reggina on January 11th, 2009, followed by their confrontation with the second place of the standings Juventus on January 18th. For its part, Palermo will face Atalanta and Sampdoria on the same dates.

Gambling Online - A Step By Step Guide

The age of the internet has brought many conveniences to our daily lives. We can shop online, have access to any kind of information in seconds, and now we can even engage in online gambling! This is one of the fastest growing aspects of the internet, making casinos world wide to curse the very essence of online internet gambling. The mere convenience to get yourself involved in gambling from your recliner, in your pajamas, at 3:00 in the morning is just far too convenient for many to want to make a trip to the closest casino (which is often hours away.

Online gambling is not difficult to learn and yet many are not too keen on where to jump start. Let's take a look at the basic steps to getting your first bet placed.

First, decide which type of gambling you wish to do online. Just about any type is available. You can place bets on sports related games - such as the ever widely liked horse races, as well as more mainstream sports such as football, baseball, and basketball.

You can also play more traditional casino games such as cards and roulette. Blackjack games are available with dealers to play against, and you also have access to your favorite poker games such as Texas Hold 'Em or 5 Card Draw. Of course, bets can be made with real money, just like in the casinos.

Second, select your desired online gaming site. There are numerous gambling sites to choose from, so you just have to pick one. Many will enable you to play with "fake money", so make sure you read the fine print to ensure they allow actual gambling online.

Finally, just sign up for an account, purchase your first funds (your "buy in"), and start things up! Remember to be a responsible gambler and avoid getting carried away easily.

The Popularity Of Soccer Can Build Confidence And Promote Health

Soccer which has also been known as football is a team sport that is played on a field between 2 teams. The modern game was codified in England following the formation of The Football Association, whose 1863 Laws of the Game created the foundations for the way the sport is played today. Soccer is known today as one of the most popular sports in the world.

* Basic Game Play Explained

The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal using your feet, knees, or head. Passing the ball to your team players is one way to drive the ball down the field to make a goal. The goalkeepers are the only players in the game that are allowed to use their hands or arms to control the ball or block the opposing team from making a goal. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.

Not only is soccer a very popular sport but it can also help promote good health and help build confidence. There are many benefits to playing sports, while some look at it as competition between 2 teams, others realize the benefits of promoting good health and confidence.

* Healthy Benefits To Playing Soccer

When playing on a team it requires that you have a proper nutritional diet. Having well balanced meals that are very important to keep our bodies at performing at optimum levels. Along with having nutritional meals you need to have proper exercise to keep your body in shape. Soccer players attend drills or practice which is planned by the soccer coach. During these practices the coach will have the players perform certain exercises while help the players to improve on their skills.

By having a proper nutritional diet along with well planned exercises and getting a proper nights sleep will ensure a better and healthier lifestyle.

* Confidence Building While Playing Soccer

There is nothing that can build confidence better than knowing that you have accomplished a goal that you set out to accomplish. I remember when I was a young teenager and played soccer for our local church. At the beginning I was not very good at controlling the ball much less even being able to make a goal. Our coach took the extra time to help teach me how to be more confident in the skills that I had. After working with me for several weeks it was time for out team to start playing other teams.

The entire team gave it everything we had and even-though we did not win any championship, what I won was 2 medals for being most valued player at 2 of our games. What that did was help build confidence in me as a young teenager and helped me through adult life also. Ever since then I have always had the determination to meet my goals no matter what I do in life.

By building confidence and promoting better health in your young teenager is one of the best things you can do as a parent.

Coaching Youth Soccer

Okay, so you volunteered to coach your child's soccer team. Are you ready? Have you thought about how will you teach the fundamental skills, run effective practices, and keep your youngsters attention?

As participation in youth soccer continues to grow, so does the need for youth soccer coaches. Whether you're a parent new to coaching or an experienced youth soccer coach, the task can be both exciting and frightening.

One of the things that helped me was boning up on the current terminology and coaching techniques. Without question, everything I've read-and it's been a lot--strongly suggests you must keep the kids moving and constantly touching the ball!

A particular book, Coaching Youth Soccer, has become my handbook for planning practices and workouts. I found the book easy to follow. The book was written by American Sports Education Program and Sam Snow--director of coaching for US Youth Soccer.

Coaching Youth Soccer was perfect for me because it focuses on the needs of volunteer and novice coaches. More specifically, it targets the needs for instructing young soccer players ages 8 to 14. In the book, I found helpful tips on how to run my team, communicate with players, provide basic first aid, plan and conduct practices, and keep it all fun. I incorporated the gamelike activities outlined in the book to teach my players offensive and defensive skills.

Hopefully, you'll find this book or others like it, helpful in preparing for your little monsters--I mean tikes!!!

2010 World Cup Qualifying: CONCACAF

December 19, 2008 - Three or four teams from the CONCACAF Region will make it to South Africa to partake in the 2010 World Cup. Let's find out exactly how they will earn their spot.

There are 35 countries in CONCACAF, but only three or four of those teams will advance. Four rounds determine which teams make the cut, with the first two rounds being a single-elimination format.

The first round consists of eleven games between the teams ranked #35 to #14 by the official FIFA Rankings. The winners advance to the second round to play another single-elimination game agains the remaining 13 teams.

The twelve winners of the second-round matches advance to the third round. Here, the twelve teams are divided into three groups of four, where each team plays the other team one at home and once away. The top two teams in each table advances to th e fourth and final round.

The final round consists of the six remaining teams in a single table. Once again, each team will play a home and away match against every other team in the group. The top three teams get an automatic birth to the World Cup. The team that places fourth has a home-away playoff with the fifth-place team from the South American Region for a spot in the World Cup.

This year, the top three teams according to the May 2007 FIFA Rankings were Mexico, United States and Costa Rica. All three of those teams advanced. USA and Costa Rica advanced rather easily, while Mexico struggled in the third round and ended up advancing due to goal differential.

Honduras (ranked #4) and Trinidad & Tobago (#6) also advanced to the final round. #20-ranked El Salvador was the surprising final team.

The dates for the final round have been announced, with the first games of the round being played on February 11th. Asian sportsbooks will no doubt have USA and Costa Rica as heavy favorites throughout. Mexico will also be favored the majority of the time, but their spotty play may worry some online football bettors.

Costa Rica has looked the sharpest of the remaining countries, winning all six games in the third round and finishing with a goal differential of +17. The United States finished with five wins and one defeat, while Mexico struggled with three wins, two losses and a draw.

The matches set for February 11th have Costa Rica opening at home against Honduras, USA hosting Mexico, and Trinidad & Tobago travelling to El Salvador.

FC Barcelona players: Alexander Hleb

Alexander Hleb is, of course, well-known amongst UK football followers because of his time at Arsenal, during which time Sky pundit Andy Gray described him as one of the Premier league's 'most skilful players'.

Born in Minsk in Belarus in 1981, Hleb, whose brother is also an international footballer, initially made his name in the Bundesliga with FC Stuttgart, whom he joined from his first club, FC Bate Borisov, at the age of nineteen, with whom he had just won the Belarus national league. Arsenal were signing a player who had already made 172 first team appearances for Stuttgart, scoring 19 goals in total. By the time Hleb joined Arsenal in 2005 he had already been voted Belarusian player of the year three times - he has added two more awards since then - and he became respected at Arsenal because of his versatility, energy and ability to fit into the team's smooth passing style of play. In his first season in North London, Hleb started 40 league games and scored 3 goals - figures that he repeated the following season.

It was during season 2007/08 that rumours started to link Hleb with a move to Barcelona; stories that gathered momentum after a particularly impressive performance against AC Milan in the Champions' League. The 'will he, won't he' saga kept the press occupied until July when the player signed for Barca in a deal reported to be worth about £11.8 million. During his time at Arsenal, Hleb made a total of 130 appearances, scoring 11 goals.

Alexander Hleb hardly made the most promising start to his career with his new club - picking up a series of injuries during pre-season which disrupted his progress considerably. Towards the end of the year, however, he was beginning to become a regular in the squad and to show signs of being able to integrate with the nimble, quick passing midfielders already at the club.

Internationally, Hleb made his debut appearance as a substitute in a defeat against Wales in 2001. His full debut followed, along with his first international goal, against Hungary the following April and he has been a regular in the team since then - captaining the side since August, 2007.

It is easy to see why Barcelona signed Alexander Hleb; he fits into their mould of being skilful, adaptable and pacy - with the ability to chip in with the occasional goal and, overall, an acute positional sense and an awareness of the runs of forward players. He should make a valuable addition to the squad - and his wife certainly should make an impact on the local media; in August, 2008 Alexander married Anastasia, a Topless singer. To be precise, Anastasia Kosenkova was a member of the Belarusian girl band, Topless.