Blues Views

THANK YOU!

Congratulations, congratulations, we have heard many times again since my 04-05 Under 14 Blues' triumphant return from Orlando with a US Youth Soccer National Championship under our belt. While the praise we have received has been sincerely appreciated the word congratulations has given me cause to reflect over the past few weeks. How did our team get it done? What was it really all about?

On a personal note the sense of accomplishment is euphoric. I had been to the National Championship once before as a coach and come away disappointed as we were turned away in PK's. As a player I also suffered defeat in the N.C.A.A. finals in sudden death overtime. So I can now say that I have experienced the "Wide World of Sports" thrill of victory and agony of defeat. I had to ask myself why the pain of losing had so much sting while winning seems to be more of a relief. Right away I have one answer, soon after we won even as I lay in bed that night getting ready for our flight home I had to begin thinking about the future of our team and how we would win our next game; not much time to celebrate. Of course I and the players will remember this experience for the rest of our lives. After all, we were there, we went through the ups and downs of the entire season that led up to that championship moment. That said, I am convinced that over the years of preparation the experience of losing at key moments helps prepare us for the moment where we eventually break through. This of course is long term thinking and in this "what have you done for me lately" environment we live in, long term thinking is often overlooked. The point is in most cases it requires patience to achieve the championship moment. For me it took many years, for some players on this team it took six.

How was it done? No secret, it was pure hard work by many and congratulatory credit needs to be given to a whole host of people over this long period of time, people who often get overlooked when we focus on the thrill of victory. Thanks should go out to all people past and present who contributed to this championship team over the years. To teammates and competitive rivals over the years, thank you for pushing us to achieve excellence, yes even our opponents are a huge part of our success for without them there is no us. We could not have reached this point without the support of all who influenced our team in some small way over the years. Thank you to the people at CYSA-South and CSL for creating, supervising, and organizing the competitions where our players compete and grow. Thanks to Rancho Capistrano who provide us with our practice facility and home fields, to Steve Warriner and his staff and Paul Cousineau our Blues field coordinator who work so hard to provide us with fields in such outstanding condition (check out the wonderful sign Steve put up at the Ranch (left) that was waiting for us when we came home). Thank you Blues Board of Directors and administration for all you do behind the scene to provide our teams with the resources that allow us (coaches and players) to go out and play; planning for the future, player/coach registration, taking minutes at meetings, fund raising, keeping the books, coordinating club events, putting together tournaments, dealing with uniform issues, organizing team managers and volunteers, none of this would have been possible without your work. Thanks go out to all the parental members of the Blues Soccer Club for your generosity and support at pizza parties etc. helping make our dream become a reality. Thank you coaching staff for all of your support for our team and your coaching contributions where our players are concerned, oh don 't forget all the scrimmages. Lastly thanks go out to our team parents who all worked so hard and sacrificed to make our stay in Florida comfortable so that we could concentrate on our soccer. We had parents driving us around and keeping us on schedule (Mike, Ken, Joe, Sharon), doing our laundry, shopping for us and in some cases cooking dinner...thanks Carl for your firehouse cookouts. That is how it was done, it was a huge team effort!

Apologies in advance to those I have neglected to mention who were also part of our effort. The primary reason I attempted to recognize people who have made contributions over the years was to make it clear, especially to our players that it takes a team to succeed. At first glance it would seem the team is made up of just the players but those who were part of it know better. This brings me to the second question which is related to the first, what was this championship all about, what is the value of winning a championship? Of course there is no answer to this question except in personal terms as each person takes different meaning from the accomplishment.

While it is a great feeling to focus on the feat of winning, I hope our players will spend more time focusing on the process by which we came to the championship. After all winning and losing could have turned on a dime, this time we came out on top but would our experience have been any less meaningful had things not turned out our way? From the horse race perspective had we lost our value as a team would have surely been ignored. By that same standard since we finished on top, everyone should get on their knees and bow down to us.

Both extremes are unhealthy, unfortunately this is often how the value of winning is defined. As a club, my ideal is that we attempt to set a higher standard and continue to focus our energies toward the pursuit of excellence on and off the field, not always measured through results. I can only hope our players have the insight to focus on how wonderful they are and were, how we sacrificed for each other, and how we got things done. Each of us in our own way made contributions to the team, some may not have seemed significant at the time. We went through an entire season of highs and lows; I was there when our team did the work, I was there when we faced disappointment, I was there when there were serious injuries, I was there when there was conflict amongst the team and parents, I was there when we faced personal tragedy, I was there when we doubted ourselves, I was there when we came together, I was there when we found a way to overcome adversity, I was there when miracles were performed. To those on the outside it may appear that a trophy quantifies our accomplishment. Those who were there know better than that. The process and knowledge of what we went through together, how we worked, how we struggled, how we battled back, how we pulled for one another, how we forged friendships, will be the reward no one will ever take away. The value of the championship is in the personal knowledge of what it took to get there, and how it got done. If we establish goals and we work harder than anyone else, it is possible to achieve our goals. Please no emails, we have to win our next game!

REGARDING TRYOUTS & PLAYER COMMITMENT

Upon the conclusion of tryouts Blues Coaches will call prospects to ask them to join their team. During the conversation it is Blues Policy to inform both Parents and Players that if they are to accept a position on the team the Team Coach may be required to call other players to inform them they do not have a spot on the team in question, in other words, cuts need to be made, so please before you accept your spot on the Team please take this into consideration. Cutting players is a difficult thing for a Coach, no Coach we are aware of from any club enjoys this part of her/his responsibility. A recent experience has seen players make this "commitment" and in subsequent weeks be influenced by other teams to come to their team instead. The call comes in, "Coach, I am sorry but I have changed my mind"! People, get a grip, this type of behavior does not fall in the gray area, it is wrong and dishonest!

Shift perspective for a moment, besides the fact that players have been cut to make room for someone who does this, imagine after all club tryouts have been held we give you a call a couple of weeks later to inform you we have found a more talented player and we need to reclaim our roster spot...? Or imagine this happened to you in the business world...?

If you make a commitment stick to it! You would expect no less from the club or anyone else for that matter. Let's not teach selfishness or that whatever makes you happy is more important than conducting your affairs with integrity and honesty. Once again the Blues do not accept players who have made commitments to other clubs whether verbal or in writing, the proper time to change teams is between seasons. I only wish others had the same standards.

PERSPECTIVE

Every so often an event occurs that puts all this soccer business into perspective. For those of you who have not heard, and by no means do we intend to embarrass anyone, U16 Blues member Kristina Larson's Mom, Colleen, passed away after a year and a half long battle with Leukemia. The Larson family needs our support, lets keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

PATEADORES

On a less important topic you may have heard I accepted a position with the Mission Viejo Pateadores to become their Youth Program Coordinator. To make it clear I have no intention of leaving my post as Program Director of the Southern California Blues. In my discussions with the Pats I inquired as to whether their were any guarantees that came with the position? Of course there were not and this along with the fact the Blues continue to be a passion for me allowed me to tell the Pats I had no interest in giving up my position with the Blues.

Of course this responsibility will logically increase my work load and cause more scheduling conflicts. I have received assurances from the coaching staff they would assume more of a work load here with the Blues. The two clubs will not combine although there may be areas in the future where we find it conducive to collaborate our efforts in certain projects.

I hope this answers any questions or concerns. If not, feel free to email.

YOUTH SOCCER PROGNOSTICATION!

Hey soccer community, the level of prognostication concerning individuals, teams, clubs, results and so on and so forth has exploded with the Internet revolution. While each person is entitled to their opinion, remember to qualify your opinion taking into account your level of practical knowledge of the process of development regarding youth soccer players, teams, and clubs. We all become experts after a certain period of participation in the process; NOT!!!

To cite one season's example, and we only reference Blues teams, in the 1999-2000 season the U14 Blues team had a difficult league season with regards to achieving results. The bottom line was that the team finished in sixth place and for selfish reasons detractors came out in numbers to call for this team's relegation to a lower level.

Confidence in our team never faded and the next season that same team at U15, with few changes we might add, achieved remarkable results nearly capturing a league championship and winning their respective league cup, not to mention championship results in tournament play, and a semifinal appearance in the state championship. They were certainly among the most competitive teams in CYSA-South regardless of their prior results on the field.

Once again the pundits are at it with regards to the 2000-2001 U11 Blues. First of all, while some may consider this a bold claim, this team is also among the most competitive teams in CYSA-South regardless of their results on the field. We do not claim to be able to achieve results against any team, after all this is U11 youth soccer where anything is possible. Eventually this team too finished the season as state cup semifinalists. That in itself proves little about the quality of the team except to say that on any given day, you know the rest. Prognosticators can't have it both ways.

We will continue to work in our methodical way with our players and teams and let the chips fall where they may. We will continue to evaluate our team not purely based on their results, but by the quality of the players on the team and their competence at mastering the fundamental skills and knowledge of the game.

Remember, especially at the younger age groups, winning is often times conversely related to development!

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

Congratulations Erin! This past November Blues News had the pleasure to pack the bags and get up to San Jose for the 1999 NCAA Women's College Cup (Final Four). Our highlight was University of North Carolina freshman goalkeeper Jenni Branam (pictured on the right with LD following the championship game) exalting in her team's championship moment. As friends we shared in Jenni's excitement. She serves as a shining example of what is right with youth soccer, she is a true success story. We also share in the disappointment for friends who were not so fortunate on the field, but congratulate them nonetheless for being winners anyway. If you don't understand this concept keep coming back and maybe you will catch on! It was a sense of sheer pride and joy to have so many Blues players competing for the National College Championships.

Out of the 32 teams left in the second round of the NCAA playoffs, 11 of the remaining teams had former Blues on their roster. Aside from UNC, there was Santa Clara, Nebraska, BYU, UCLA, USC, University of San Diego, Dartmouth, Stanford, Cal Poly SLO, and Wake Forest where Sophomore Erin Regan (left) won 1999 First-Team All-ACC Honors.

WEST COAST WEBSHOT!

Several years ago a web site went up called GOT SOCCER. In the web site there is a section called the "West Coast Webshot". It is a bulletin board where people post anything they like about youth soccer in Southern California. The developers of the site use the site to create revenue selling products on their GOT SOCCER site as well as advertising of various soccer related services. The site thrives on controversy that attracts traffic to the site and therefore retailers and advertisers have a market to work with. It is an unofficial site but much of CSL and CYSA-South use it as a source of information. Please read the Blues editorial response BELOW to some of the criticism leveled at the Blues Club on this web site.