New Soccer Coach’s Sample Letter to Parents
January 2, 2012 | 
Author You are a young or inexperienced youth soccer coach, and you have a bunch of excited and excitable parents who are yelling at their kids or who are simoply eager to help. What do you say to them to get them on your side? How can we enlist them to be part of a great organization? If we don’t manage their expectations and focus their energy we are missing a great opportunity or worse, running th risk of drama. Drama is not good for the team!
Don’t worry! All will be well! Here is a technique I have used with great success: a Coach’s Letter To Parents” which establishes firmly the expectations of parents, players and coaches for the season. You can easily adapt this to suit your own needs. It has worked like a charm for me. It’s gratifying to see the parents using the right language of support and encouragement for their girls and it lets me focus on the job of coaching.
Here’s the letter:
Memo for: Parents of ___________Girls soccer team for _________ Subject: My coaching goals, perspectives and intent
1. I will coach the U10Gs as a volunteer. I have a lifelong love of soccer, played on a really good club team for a couple years in college and am competent in building skills and managing practices/games. I’ve coached many of the girls on the team already through 2 outdoor and 1 futsal (indoor) season, with excellent results as measured by our Big 5 (see below).
2. My focus for the girls are the Big 5, and it’s how we as a team will keep our focus and evaluate ourselves during and after every game:
1. Play hard
2. Have fun
3. Support your team
4. Love the game
5. Respect the other team and the referees
We are winners when we do that. I will keep asking them to express what these mean to them in their own words.
3. It’s very important for you to be the parents of your girls, and let me be their coach. They thrive on knowing they have your unconditional love, admiration and enthusiasm, and letting me challenge them on the technical aspects of the game. The Big 5 would be an excellent set of discussion points with your girls to reinforce what’s really important for them at this age.
4. My goals are to provide a supportive environment for the girls to grow strong character through healthy competition and to develop their individual and team skills in soccer. I want them to contribute to and value the strength of their team. We know that strong, positive, social groups are an important source of moral strength for our girls in the teen years.
5. My focus on the girls as players is to give them equal time to play, and to help each girl grow her skills each practice, game and week. We measure success by our effort, our attitude and how far we have come.
6. My relationship with parents has been very good and I appreciate your help in reinforcing the lessons above through positive language and good sportsmanship.
7. I strongly encourage you to be active with your daughter in between practices. Soccer is great fun and kicking the ball around is a great way to burn some calories and enjoy playing together. If you’d like to help at practice, we can make that work too.
Sincerely,
_______.
Example of Haiku Poems
If you’re looking for a good example of haiku poems and you want a more modern example, look no further! Sure, it’s easy to find haiku examples of Basho, Issa, and Buson – the old Japanese masters. But what about what haiku poets are doing today? Here, for your reading pleasure are a few examples of modern haiku.
Haiku Example Poem #1
Hot June day –
an otter
slips into the sea
In this haiku by the author’s book “Seashore Haiku,” we have something that is a good example of a haiku poem and is modern in style. It’s modern because it does not follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule invented by the Japanese. But it does retain the haiku sensibility. That is, it’s a short poem about nature. It’s descriptive and speaks in a present tense style. Broken down into it’s component parts, this haiku consists of a fragment “Hot June day” and a phrase “an otter slips into the sea.”
Haiku Example Poem #2
Fall afternoon –
the sound of a woodpecker
tapping
In this haiku poem example we have a snapshot of an event taking place sometime in Autumn. From the author’s second book “Bird Haiku,” this snapshot of nature takes the reader into a scene. In this instance, it’s not what’s observed but what is heard. Haiku are at their best when they take the reader into the picture. Here, we get the sense of being in the woods. We’re not told where but we know that woodpeckers spend most of their time in the forest.
Haiku Example Poem #3
Dry gray branches
surround the robin…
winter thaw
In this haiku poem, also from “Bird Haiku,” we have a different arrangement. Here the phrase comes before the fragment. The majority of haiku poems start with the fragment first. But we can also compose them phrase first. It’s all about artistic sensibility – whatever sounds and reads the best to the person creating the haiku.
So here we have three examples of haiku poems that are modern in style.
Basic Soccer Rules
Basic soccer rules are pretty simple to follow, the team that scores the most goals wins!
Each team will consist of 11 starting players of which there is one goalkeeper and 10 outfield players. The game will be played on a soccer pitch and the field dimension will normally be just over 100 yards long although it could be shorter if it is a youth soccer game.
Soccer teams are normally split into formations consisting of defence, goalkeeper and forwards. Each team will also nominate a captain although this role is not as significant as other sports such as cricket and rugby. The captain will start the game by tossing a coin with the referee and the winning captain has the option of selecting which way their team will shoot. This can be an advantage if there is a strong wind which could change direction by the time the teams reach the second half.
Soccer games consist of two halves lasting 45 minutes each although injury time is often added by the referee to cover any stoppages. If the game is a cup tie, a world cup final for example then extra time will be played consisting of an extra two 15 minute periods. If the teams are still level at this stage the game will develop into a penalty shoot with each team nominating 5 penalty kick takers who will try and beat the goalkeeper from the penalty spot (12 yards) until one team wins.
During the game the referee has the power to caution players and issue yellow and red cards. Yellow cards are issued for minor or a serious of fouls by the same player which results in a booking, however if two yellow cards are issued then this equals a red card and the offending player is sent off the field.
A straight red card can be also be issued for serious foul play or denying an opponent a goalscoring opportunity. Each team has to have a minimum of 7 players on the field so if one team have more than 5 players sent off then the game would be abandoned, this is very rare but has happened a few times in violent games!
One of the most important basic rules of soccer is the offside rule which basically prevents attacking players from gaining an unfair advantage as when a pass is made there has to be 2 opposition players closer to the goal than the attacking player. If the attacking player is level with a defender then he is still onside so play continues. The referee has two assistants (previously known as linesman) on either side of the field to help judge the offside rule.
Venezuela Sports
Like most South American countries, Venezuela has always taken an active interest in all sporting activities. Sports are not only played as a leisure activity, but also serve as a full-time profession for many.
Baseball is a tremendously popular sport in Venezuela and the country has produced world-renowned players of the stature of Luis Aparicio, who has even found a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in New York. Football is also found to be gaining popularity in the country, with many youngsters taking an active interest in the sport and the national team receiving several laurels.
Canyoning is an adventure sport that has been taken up by many an enthusiast. Merida in Venezuela is the perfect place to try out this adventure sport. The sport promises unlimited thrills and a great adrenaline rush to all its participants. It is very enjoyable to abseil from a high waterfall or jump into narrow currents using super fast natural slides. The sport is highly recommended for individuals who would like to enjoy the natural beauty of the Andes.
Another sport that is a favorite of both tourists and natives is horseback riding on the high Paramo grasslands. Western Venezuela with its great landscapes, waterfalls and mountains is a wonderful place to go riding as the scenic beauty of the place keeps the rider enthralled all along the trail. Nature lovers are advised to carry their cameras along to capture the picturesque landscape in print.
Paragliding in the Andean area of Western Venezuela is an incredible experience. Individuals can get an actual bird’s eye view of the entire mountain range from the glider. Unlike bungee jumping, which lasts for a short duration, paragliding offers an exhilarating and thrilling experience that can last for up to an hour or so.
With the sporting world becoming more and more competitive with each passing day, the government of Venezuela is giving a helping hand to several other sporting activities in the form of finance, infrastructure, and training.
Watch Live Soccer Games With A Single Click!
Nowadays, due to the improvements of technology and the development of the Internet everyone can watch live football from a comfortable seat at home, and all this without paying expensive cable or satellite fees.
Now you can watch premiership games, champions league soccer, cup matches live, al broadcasted on the Internet, sometimes free and sometimes after paying a small fee. You can enjoy many quality football matches easier then ever. And don’t think that you have to buy some extra hardware or anything because all you need is an Internet connection, but it has to be a broadband connection if you want the live football stream to have a high quality.
How can you do this? Almost every soccer match that is taking place somewhere in the world is broadcasted through a live football stream that you can access from anywhere and furthermore most of the matches come with an English commentary.
If your Internet connection’s speed is high enough then the live transmission of the game will be uniinterupted, but this and the quality depends on how busy the server is.
There are many websites that are broadcasting live soccer streams and most of these provide high-quality streams and
they have more links to choose from because only one would make the line too busy.
You also need a player that supports live streaming if you wish to watch live football games. The most common players are RealPlayer, MediaPlayer and WinAmp.
The websites that provide soccer streams have a list with all the games taking place at the moment and all you need to do is click on the game and the player will open and you can watch it. As simple as that!
So whenever there’s a major football event you know that it’s certainly broadcasted somewhere on the Internet and you can watch everything and you only pay a few dollars!
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Soccer Field
Soccer, or football, is one of the most popular sports in the world. It is also a multi billion dollar business. Soccer for fun is still huge, though – mark out a soccer field, and you are all set.
Before soccer became such a huge industry, before money began to dictate too much about it, soccer was not considered an acceptable career option, and it was only pursued by people who were not only talented, but who would have been willing to, and on many occasions did, live on a soccer field.
Now, we find children on the soccer field because they want to be the next David Bekham, with his extravagant lifestyle and his endorsement deals. They do not very often think of the people who almost gave their lives up on the soccer fields and off it, in different ways. There are children on the soccer field who have never heard of Diego Mara Dona and the brilliance that was marred by his battle with drug addiction. They might have heard about Pele, but they do not care about the sheer poetry that was his movement. They see the money, and they see the scandals and the controversies.
There have been many battles fought on the soccer field, of epic proportions. When it comes to precision, the European teams have what it takes. To see the German team on the field is to see an act of calculated efficiency that can give you chills.
However, the Latin American teams have nobody to beat them when it comes to passion. Brazil is almost synonymous with soccer now. Argentina is synonymous with football, and also, unfortunately, which choking on the big stage, as they showed during their last World Cup outing. Individual brilliance plays a large part in the success they have found on the soccer field. Now, they pin their hopes on young Lionel Messi, whose ball control and dribbling skills have been compared to those of the great Mara Dona himself.
However, individual brilliance which is difficult to find in international soccer comes to light in club football. This is one of the biggest businesses in the world now. Players are transferred on multimillion dollar contracts, and everything seems to mercenary at times that one cannot help but wonder what happened to loyalty – and playing for passion. There are young players now, like Christiano Ronaldo, to name just one, who have the potential to turn a match around with their efforts. All we can do is wait and see what they do with these amazing abilities.
Soccer Fitness Programs
Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world. It is a game that requires great strength and endurance. The game, which goes on for 90 minutes, requires incredible amounts of stamina because of the constant running and jogging involved.
Due to these strenuous activities, soccer players need to constantly maintain a proper fitness regime. Professional soccer players should not be bulky in order to be active and agile on the field. Therefore strength, endurance and aerobic exercises play an important role in soccer training. There are different fitness programs that are specifically designed for soccer players. These programs concentrate on increasing speed, agility, and stamina of the players. They also help in increasing the overall strength and skill of the players.
Soccer demands high levels of physical activity. A professional fitness program can tap the full potential of a player. These programs ensure high standards of performance even with limited practice. Repetitive exercise is very important for endurance training. These programs also have tests after each training session. They periodically test endurance, strength and agility of the participants. The results are then compiled and if necessary, plans are changed to suit new requirements. Stretching exercises increase flexibility that is otherwise an undervalued aspect. All these activities together compile the perfect soccer fitness program.
There are various programs available for soccer players in many of the fitness centers. However, soccer fitness programs are highly specialized and require professional athletes to coach participants. Former soccer players who have played at national and international levels usually conduct such coaching sessions.
Soccer fitness programs are extremely beneficial for players who want to perform at the highest level. Joining these fitness programs gives the players an advantage by increasing their stamina, agility, speed and skills. All these aspects are necessary for those who desire to be the future soccer stars of the world.
Famous Mexican Soccer Players
Mexican soccer was always known for producing quality players and it’s actually quite surprising that their best national team record is reaching the quarter-finals of a World Cup (on two occasions, 1970 and 1986, both of these World Cups being organized by Mexico). However, the Mexican national side has always been a constant presence in final tournaments and it’s regarded as a tough nut to crack, despite their lack of silverware.
Let’s take a short look at some of the players that made Mexico the strong soccer power that it is today.
Famous Mexican Soccer Players – Antonio Carbajal
Nicknamed “El Cinco Copas”, or “Five Cups”, Antonio Carbajal was the first player to ever participate in 5 World Cups with his national team and has only been equaled in 1998, by German legend Lothar Matthaus. Carbajal played for Mexico in all the 5 World Cups that took place between 1950 and 1966.
Famous Mexican Soccer Players – Hugo Sanchez
Hugo Sanchez was one of the first Mexico soccer players to play in Europe at the highest level. He was an iconic player for Real Madrid between 1985 and 1992; 7 years in which he scored no less than 253 goals in 283 matches, a goal/match ratio that can hardly be rivaled.
He also played for the Mexico national team on 60 occasions, scoring 29 goals and being an important player in the 1986 World Cup held by Mexico, in which his team managed to equal the quarter-final performance obtained initially in 1970. Hugo Sanchez is currently the manager and coach of the Mexican national squad.
Famous Mexican Soccer Players – Jared Borgetti
Borgetti was of Italian and Mexican descent and as a striker, he combined the flair and power of Italian soccer with the passion and inventively of Mexican soccer. Although he is still an active soccer player at age 34, he spent most of his time playing in the Mexican league, with 7 years for Santos Laguna, a period of time in which he managed to score close to 200 goals in 300 matches.
But Borgetti’s goalscoring run doesn’t stop here, as he has also managed to come on top of the Mexican national side’s all time score sheet, with 43 goals in 87 matches. Currently, Borgetti is playing for Cruz Azul and although he decided to retire from the Mexican national side for the upcoming World Cup, he stated that he would love to play for his country one last time, during the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
Famous Mexican Soccer Players – Claudio Suarez
Unlike many other Mexican soccer players that get to celebrate New Years with a completely new club on their payroll, Claudio Suarez has only gone through 4 teams throughout his entire career: UNAM Pumas (1989-1996), Chivas de Guadalajara (1996-1999), UANL Tigres (1999-2005) and Chivas USA (2006). He made a strong impression for all of these clubs and many consider him one of the best Mexican defenders to have played for his country.
Although an extraordinary defender is currently contesting this title away from Claudio Suarez, namely Rafael Marquez of Barcelona, there’s one title that will hardly be touched by anyone for a long time: Claudio Suarez currently holds the record for international caps with the Mexican national team, with an amazing 178 appearances.
Famous Mexican Soccer Players – Rafael Marquez
Rafael Marquez is probably the best-known Mexican soccer player of today, being one of the most important members of Spanish side FC Barcelona. Marquez’ ability to play as a central or right defender as well as a defensive midfielder earned him the aura of a “handyman”, being able to play wherever his coach would need him the most.
However, Marquez has recently steadied down as a central defender, playing on this position for the Mexican national side as well as for FC Barcelona in the last years. Age 28, Rafael Marquez is the captain of the Mexican national squad and is already being considered one of the best players in the country’s history, next to legendary names such as Hugo Sanchez or Claudio Suarez.
Soccer Socks Via the Internet
Soccer socks with brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma and many more can now easily order now via internet. It could be delivered right through your door step. But not only socks you could buy, also all kinds of soccer equipment, soccer apparels and soccer paraphernalia instead.
Just type your favorite brand and your wish to order and you’ll see the equivalent price. And simply add it to your cart and pay through credit card then it will deliver to you door to door. You can also buy the same apparel were your idol’s wearing or the same uniform of your favorite teams or soccer players.
Here some price comparison of buying branded soccer socks;
Nike – is one of world’s favorite brands when it comes not in soccer games but also all kind of sports. Its remarkable symbol symbolizes victory. It is very comfort to wear that’s why player’s very confident to perform in their game. Price range $3.99 to $14.99
Adidas – another well known brand is Adidas with mark of “three stripes.” They also sponsored the soccer star players and the company was very proud of course whenever the team or person they sponsored won in the game. Price range $3.99 to $14.99
As you can see their price range has no difference. Because only the person who are wearing like socks or using their soccer gear can describe who is the best. The price ranging because the company make sure their price are reasonable.
Wearing socks is very important to finish the entire games. It support your feet to run fast, to kick in full strength in other your performance depend on the socks you are wearing.
A Look At Italy Soccer
Founded in 1898, the Italian Football League, also known as Italy soccer, is the highest football league in the country. Serie A, which began in 1929, is the top division of Italy Soccer and is primarily sponsored by Italian mobile phone company TIM. Prior to the inception of Serie A, Italy soccer was structured into regional groups. The championship title is commonly referred to as Scudetto, which means ‘small shield’ because the champions’ uniforms will feature a small coat of arms during the following season. After more than 100 years of play, Italy soccer is at the height of it’s popularity in both the eyes of the fans and in the media. As we know it today, Serie A is the most elite of all divisions in the Italian Football League. Other divisions include Serie B, Serie C1, Serie C2, Serie D and Eccellenza.
With an Italy soccer league consisting of 18, 18 or 20 teams, Serie A requires that each club play all other teams on two occasions, once at their home stadium and once at the home of their opponents. The first half of a traditional Italy soccer season consists of each team competing once against all of the other clubs. The second half of the season will consist of the same competitions in the same order, with the only difference being the location of the games.
When it comes to scoring, an Italy soccer team receives three points for a win, one point for a tie and no points for a loss. When it comes to tallying the points to see which club will be crowned as champion, teams are ranked according to their total points accumulated during the season. If two teams are found to have equal points at the conclusion of a season, those two teams will meet up in a one match playoff. The top four teams in the Serie A of Italy soccer will qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
Like the area itself, Italy soccer is rich in history and in tradition. With so many years of successful play, the competitors have set a number of records. As of September 2006, three players hold the record for most appearances. These include Paolo Maldini, Gianluca Pagliuca and Dino Zoff. The current records held for the oldest player appearance include Marco Ballotta and Dino Zoff. During the 2005-06 season, A.S. Roma set the record for most consecutive wins with a total of 11 straight victories.
For additional information on Serie A and/or Italy soccer, fans may visit their official website at http://www.lega-calcio.it. Current standings, news, updates, photos, historical profiles and league news is available online and is offered primarily in the Italian language. A professional design with colorful appeal make this a very popular website among Italy soccer fans. Soccer, itself, remains a popular sport throughout the world and is celebrated in many different countries. With legions of fans worldwide, it appears that soccer players will be kicking high for many years to come.