Saturday game and East Lansing tour

Saturday Game

10/1 5:00 game please arrive by 4:15 Kenneth Hope Field 3 in Lansing  (see MSDSL website for map)  wear BLACK bring white.  TNT Red 00

Mapquest has you take 96 to Exit 104 (Cedar st. Holt), then Right on on S. Pennsylvania, then 2nd right on E. Miller Road (half mile), then left on Aurelius. Hope Soccer complex on your left.

Much of the East Lansing/Okemos region will be watching the Spartans (American football) take on Ohio State in Columbus. Game time 330 on ABC.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&cp=39&gs_id=49&xhr=t&q=330+linden+street+east+lansing+michigan&qe=MzMwIGxpbmRlbiBzdHJlZXQgZWFzdCBsYW5zaW5nIG1pY2hpZ2Fu&qesig=GyLVLXLOmlTexcbc1vptoQ&pkc=AFgZ2tl3wIQnZCUtEI53GV0RjpzLhZIRGJ-gLcNb-mkoPFwwBrtax-XqAMc_vKfY_cM1Gfu5EsgVmozfLXQMOrcGuAnE8TMCpQ&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1920&bih=944&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x8822e82cb5bf3099:0xa871a58e436a0e8,330+Linden+St,+East+Lansing,+MI+48823&gl=us&ei=MsOFTpWTNIWJsgLvt-CsDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCUQ8gEwAA

If you are looking for an additional stop during your time in East Lansing please consider clicking on the  above DNA sequence looking link which takes you to google maps and 330 Linden Street Lansing. If you click on the "street" view circle around left til you spot the greenish house bounded by an alley on side and a drive way on the other. It has  mature trees in front. The small student rental home is located by going down Grand River, turning on MAC, going past the church. The street ends and you have to turn right. 330 Linden is on your left. Saturdays evenings will be quite congested with keggers so drive cautiously.

You can locate MAC by finding East Lansing favorites Elaztaco (great hangover food) and the Peanut Barrel ( faux graduate student hangout where misplaced Ann Arbor types can discuss the legalization of hemp, nuclear war, Pynchon, the revolution, and where there parents will take them skiing over break) along Grand River.


At any rate, 330 Linden was painted red, then, but the front porch was there. Sometime in the spring, 1980s, I got a kiss on that porch from a very, very pretty -- although somewhat forward -- auburn haired girl with freckles. My 1978 light blue Chevy Impala would have been parked in the driveway. The kiss was risky because my girlfriend at the time was in the living room that abuts the porch. It took several rental homes and many years to convince that girl to marry me (after such a start who knew it would be so tough?). But without the initial risk -- and without that porch and without that kiss -- the Force U12 girls would be short one defender for Saturday's game. Go Green, Go Force

Weekly update from Alice!

All,

Weekly update.

Thursday practice 6-7:30.  Please have the girls there by 5:50 for warm up. Remind them to start their warm up when they get there.

Saturday Game

10/1 5:00 game please arrive by 4:15 Kenneth Hope Field 3 in Lansing  (see MSDSL website for map)  wear BLACK bring white.  TNT Red 00

Date                      Time                      Team                                                     Location                                                               Jersey Color

Sun 10/9              9:00am                 vs TNT                                                   West Hills Field 3                                              WHITE

Sat 10/15             3:00pm                 @ Canton Black                                 Independence Park, Canton Field 6         BLACK

Sun 10/16            5:30pm                 vs Jags White                                     West Hills Field 3                                              WHITE

Sat 10/22             Playoffs – games could be scheduled throughout the day

Sun 10/23            Playoffs – games could be scheduled throughout the day, if we win Saturday

Here are the current standings (posted by Ken):

Under 13 Y Girls (u12 11v11)		Pts	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD
1.	Michigan Jaguars 00 Green	16	6	5	1	0	14	6	8
2.	Canton Celtic 00 Black	10	6	3	1	2	13	8	5
3.	LCSC 00 Meteors	7	4	2	1	1	13	6	7
4.	Michigan Jaguars 00 White	4	6	1	1	4	5	15	-10
5.	Force FC 00 Purple	3	4	1	0	3	7	12	-5
6.	TNT Dynamite 00 Red	0	2	0	0	2	0	5	-5

The Silverdome

The Pontiac Silverdome did not look in that bad of shape yesterday for the girls' indoor practice. When the lights turned on at dusk  there was no audible crackling of frayed wiring. Perhaps it can be booked in advance for the spring. Last year's "record-setting" rainfall is probably the new norm and one should adjust to it.

People adjust to new norms rather quickly. Only in Detroit could the once largest NFL stadium  be taken over by a single soccer club  because of a rain day on a Monday afternoon -- and no one really thought twice about it. Down the south ramp we all went to the field as if the U12 girls owned the place. We were like Billy Sims and his posse -- although I don't think #20 had a posse. No security, no nothing.

The stadium was built in the mid-1970s by Pontiac native and football star Don Davidson for some 55 million. It sold in 2010 for 500,000.

It thus should be the icon for the collapse of Detroit that began in the mid-sixties. But because the giant stadium sits in the "suburbs" it has not taken on this iconic status in the increasingly popular, even global, game of look at the "ruins"  in Detroit (click on link http://www.detroityes.com/industry/11piq3.htm -- even Detroit "ruins" are, hyper-perversely, in ruins as many are criticizing the strange fetish of looking over and over again at such desolation).

Those  that charged that the Fords and Lions were abandoning the city in the 70s with the building of the Pontiac Silverdome  must take some satisfaction that "Detroit" -- here a metaphor for architectural ruin -- has caught up with the Silverdome.The name already sounds, in the context of contemporary corporate stadiums, goofy, sci-fi seventies, something made up, like Mad Max's Thunderdome.

I am reminded of my old high school haunts: East Detroit. East Detroit is an east side inner ring suburb bordering Detroit's famous 8 mile. A tiny group of residents worked for years to change the name to Eastpointe so that the area could be associated with the snazzier Grosse Pointes, rather than the crumbling east side of Detroit, a saga itself chronicled so ably in Paul Clemens' South of Eight Mile: a Memoir. Based on this book, Clemens, a Wayne Stater, won a Guggenheim. By the time the political name change took place and East Detroit  became Eastpointe the suburb was further away, culturally and economically, from Grosse Pointe than ever.

Now all that seems moot as Grosse Pointe itself is pretty far away from "Grosse Pointe."

The point(e)? Detroit happens and has happened to the Silverdome. The American flag left hanging from the rafters begs anti-American, Euro-type parody: Is that some strange sense of patriotism or does nobody have the money and skill to get it down?

At the parent end of the field yesterday evening, in what was once the "south" endzone, the U10 or U11 boys teams spent most of the practice working on taking headers from corner kicks in front of the net. Whenever a ball, fired by a coach, hit the ground, the boys did push-ups or sit-ups. A "successful" round often concluded with a young man rubbing his head or crying softly. Brave little dudes. If I had the 70s boombox that used to sit on my dresser and made it with me all the way to graduate school I would have played "Another one bites the dust." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy_97CcJ28E

Changes to tonite's practice -- please read

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy_97CcJ28E


Please see Coaching Director Garner's email below: The girls get to play at the Silverdome! Historically speaking the timing could not be better. The Lions are 3-0 for the first time since 1980. For those of you not born or not in metro-Detroit then: Gary Danielson was the QB, Monte Clark (Kirk in the Hills parishioner) was the coach, and DB Jimmy "Spider" Allen caused controversy by making "Another One Bites the Dust" the Lions' theme song (click on link above). Folks got troubled because the song was actually about gang killings -- not American football victories -- and some thought Detroit might get a bad reputation just as it was heading into a "Renaissance."


Hello All,

As you can tell by the amount of rain received, West Hills is under water and unplayable. We have secured the Pontiac Silverdome for tonight only,  but there will be changes to your schedule.  Please get this information out to your teams a.s.a.p.

----Please note the first 15 minutes of each session will consist of a warmup off to the side, each team will be on the actual field for 1 hour-----

4:45-6pm-

U9 Boys (Steve Cook)

U10 Boys Black (Chris Edwards)

U13 Girls Purple (Kevin Garner)

U12 Girls White (Bill Friend)

5:45-7pm-

U11 Girls Purple (James Tyres)

U12 Girls Purple (Steve Cook)

U12 Boys (Colin Jex and Bill Friend)

U17 Girls White (Cliff Brandmier)

6:45-8pm-

U14 Boys Black (Kevin Garner)

U14 Girls (Chris Edwards)

U18 Girls (Cliff Brandmier)

Other Pertinent Information

-Indoor shoes are needed or other flat soled shoes for the Silverdome turf.

-Enter the complex using the Opdyke road entrance, veer to the left and around the new mini-dome. As you get behind the mini-dome you will drive down a ramp towards the SOUTH entrance.  Enter the building through the revolving doors at the bottom.

Thanks for your patience and we look forward to seeing you all tonight!

Kind Regards,

Everyone stays in line when Alice organizes an outing

You can see Jill in this Pampix (below)

Height Doesn't Hold Meghan Toohey Back

	Meghan Toohey

Sept. 1, 2011

from M.GOBLUE.Com 


By Brad Rudner
You could call Meghan Toohey a diamond in the rough.
Any descriptor or nickname will do. For all accounts, she's heard plenty of them, each one different than the last. But the fact that she's been given nicknames means she's doing something right.
It means that she's been noticed, even if she's the smallest person out on the soccer field.
Two falls ago, Toohey, a Philadelphia native who's now a sophomore midfielder on the University of Michigan women's soccer team, was a relative unknown in the recruiting world. Her club team, FC Delco, was littered with players that had national and regional team experience, but if you were to go back and find her on the player profile card, there would be nothing listed next to Toohey's name.
No awards. No accolades. No national teams. Just her name.
What makes her unique is her height, or lack thereof. She stands 5-foot-1, often dwarfed on the pitch by players double her size, especially in the midfield.
Don't feel bad if you don't see her at first. There were plenty of coaches along the way that made the mistake of writing her off before even seeing her play.
Big mistake.
"At first, I think a lot of people judged me, most of them negatively," Toohey said. "I heard them say my height was a disadvantage, that I was too small to play. I made sure I proved them wrong."
One person that did not share the sentiments of the majority was Michigan head coach Greg Ryan. Ryan remembers the first time he saw Toohey play. Despite not having some of the credentials that her teammates had, she showed enough promise to pique Ryan's interest.
"She played in three different positions and was great in all of them," Ryan said. "Her energy and work rate were beyond what I ever expected to see. Her ability to win balls, quickly transition to attack, and cover ground were just amazing."
Following the game, Ryan called her club coach, Leighton Walters, and the two conversed about Toohey, who wore No. 2 at the time.
"I'm looking at your team, and I think No. 2 is your best player, but she has no credentials," Ryan remembered saying.
Walters started laughing. "Man, she's my best player. By far."
From that first club game, Ryan knew he needed Toohey in a Michigan uniform. She visited Ann Arbor later that fall and committed on the visit. Ryan jokes that their recruiting class ranking was hurt because she didn't have those "credentials," but after a promising freshman campaign in which Toohey recorded eight points and earned All-Big Ten Freshman team honors, there's no doubting her ability to play Big Ten soccer.
"I've never seen another female player, even at the national level, who wins balls in the midfield like Meghan does," Ryan said. "I had other coaches coming up to me asking me, 'Greg, where did you find her?' They were at the same games. They saw what I saw."
As a midfielder, Toohey's job is to possess and control the ball, open up the passing lanes for the forwards, and shut down any counterattack from the opposing team. What she lacks in height, she makes up for with quickness, balance and grit.
You know, grit. Strength. Toughness. Physicality. All you have to do is watch one game to know that this is one midfielder you don't want to mess with.
"Before the game, I notice most of the other girls are a lot bigger than me, but I'm not afraid," she said. "I don't try to be overly physical. If you want it, you have to go after it. That's the way I play."
She's almost always the shortest player on the field, but that doesn't mean her presence isn't felt. She is all over the field in some phase of the game. There's never a ball she gives up on, and there's never a ball that seems out of reach.
Sometimes that means getting your jersey a little dirty.
"My dad taught me about mental toughness," Toohey said. "There's no reason to be afraid of anyone. He instilled that kind of 'never give up' attitude in me. I was never coached on how to deal with my height. It doesn't really matter. As you get older, you learn on the fly, and you'll know what your strengths and weaknesses are."
Michigan's midfield is full of dynamic and different players. There's Courtney Mercier, who stands 5-foot-9 and uses her size to control balls out of the air. There's dazzling freshman Christina Murillo, who stifles opposing defenses with her near-perfect footwork and ability to lead an attack. And then there's Toohey, who is so smack dab in the middle of every play you'd think there were two of her out there.
Toohey's teammates have taken notice. They feel it every day in practice.
"She's so fast," Mercier said. "The way she plays is unbelievable for her size. She's one of the most aggressive players on our team. She's a grinder. We'll see a lot of those in the Big Ten, and most of them are double her size, but she doesn't back down. That's what we need in our center midfield."
After scoring the team's second goal in Michigan's 6-0 victory over Duquesne on Aug. 26, Toohey was held in check in the team's next game, against DePaul. Mercier gave the noticeably frustrated sophomore some advice that she took to heart.
"I told her, 'Toohey, get used to it. You're the best player out there, and they're going to mark you for the entire game,'" Mercier recalled. "She's going to be on every opposing team's scouting report. It's only a matter of time before she's one of the best attacking center midfielders in the entire country. She's that good."
Fellow sophomore Tori McCombs met Toohey on a visit to campus two years ago. After playing one year alongside Toohey, McCombs is just glad she isn't opposing her.
"She's like a bowling ball," McCombs said, referring to Toohey's team-given nickname. "She's someone you'd hate playing against because she just works so hard to win. She's relentless."
Ryan echoed McCombs' sentiments, although used a different moniker to describe Toohey.
"When the whistle blows, she's like a tornado out there, giving it everything she's got," Ryan said. "She's one of those players I'd hate to take off the field."
"I know I'm small, but I use it to my advantage," Toohey added. "You have to be quick. Having balance definitely helps, too. I don't know why. I never studied it, but my height helps me to shield the ball against other players."
A bowling ball. A tornado. A diamond in the rough. Call her whatever you want. Just make sure you don't make the mistake of overlooking No. 7.
She'll make you pay if you do.

The Force girls enjoy meeting UofM soccer star

"#7 was great!"

Good soccer movies?

Pan Am premieres tonite and who can't be fascinated by the lives of "stewardesses" or flight attendants in the early 1960s!

Looking for something to watch, however, I am trying to figure out why there aren't any good soccer movies. Certainly I am delighted that Gracie and Bend it Like Beckham are around. They are both (relatively) clean, focus on a girls' sports, and are reasonably entertaining. Perfect entertainment for when your 4th thru 6th grade daughter is home sick with flu. But such criteria doesn't really constitute a great sports movie like Bull Durham, Slap Shot, Bad News Bears, Hoosiers, Remember the Titans, Rocky, Caddyshack, or -- the creme de la creme -- Raging Bull. Even Miracle with Kurt Russell as US 1980 hockey coach Herb Brooks is better than any soccer movie I can think of...


I recall a Stallone vehicle from the 80s -- Victory, I think -- about an American POW in WWII who ends up playing goalie on an English soccer team squaring off against the German team holding them prisoner. This was back when only Stallone and Jane Fonda insisted that everyone over 40 be fitter than they were when they were 20. Think, too, The Longest Yard, where the prisoners get a shot at the guards. Michael Caine co-starred as the English officer and coach of the team. The film was positively goofy, if for no other reason that Caine's "cockney" accent made him ineligible to play a WWII officer ( a colonel, for pete's sake); David Niven must have been dead by then. The premise was that Stallone, an American, could play goalie because he was good with his hands -- as if catching a baseball or football prepared you to snag hard soccer strikes. Quite an American fantasy.

U of M soccer today!

 

 Force girls wear black game jerseys!

UofM soccer game

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/mich-w-soccer-mtt.htmlhttp://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/mich-w-soccer-mtt.html



Here is the link to the UoM women's soccer team roster

Sept. 23 Game

Force U12 parents are easier to please than one would think.

A beautiful September day, complete with crisp temperatures and bright sunshine, put everyone in a good mood. People were downright giddy, too, when the ball crossed into the Novi Jags White team's side of the field several times in the first few minutes. And by the time Sawyer artfully snagged a goal some ten minutes into the game I would say Force fans could be called simply charming on the sidelines.

The first half went well from then on. The only thing the girls seem to struggle with was handing over jerseys during substitutions (no 440 relay team here!). Annabelle provided much excitement from an unusual (for her) forward position on the field, making several dashes down the left side. A well positioned Grace deftly vollied away the Jags most dangerous ball into the box. At one point Jill stole the ball from 3 Jags players in a row before jabbing the ball upfield. And Emmi continued her consistently tough play on the backline, hustling back and making smart plays to keep the ball out of harm's way.

But, given the way things have been going, everyone sensed the need for a "cushion"goal. And after Emmi got bowled over, Sophie mauled, and Lauren bumped, the ref called a foul on a Jags player for pushing near the top of the box. Watching Annabelle take a free kick is always exciting -- and this time the ball ended up in the back of the net to give the Force a 2-0 lead.

Good enough perhaps, except the Force gave up another penalty kick inside the box (2 in 2 games v. a Jags team! for "trips"! but who is counting? I am sure the Force U12 will be awarded a pk sometime before the team is done playing together). Kate made a spectacular dive to her right and almost grabbed a hard strike. Alas -- 2-1.

The Force played tough the rest of the way though.Sawyer got control of many balls at midfield, while Sophie and Annabelle pinned the Jags in their own end by pushing up. To their credit, the Jags never quit and got some opportunities on corner kicks late in the game.


Christina hustled hard, though, and forced the Jags defenders to turn the ball over just across midfield. She had the presence of mind in the scrum -- with Jags players kicking from the ground -- to get the ball to a streaking Sawyer. Sawyer pushed hard up the right side and seemed to take the ball to a difficult angle, too deep. But goalscorers know what they are doing. From the tough angle she drove the ball over the keeper's hands to put the game away.

3-1 Force.

ITC field

Saturday Game:

9/24-Game time 12:00pm please arrive by 11:15  ITC Sports Park, Novi Field A.    Jags White 00  wear BLACK.

 

This is the Novi field. 275 south to exit 167 (8mile). Right on 8 mile for about 6 miles.

Lauren, this one is way too long to read

 Over the past few days I have been mulling over the relationship between business and sports, particularly  travel soccer. This was spurred, oddly, by the mere accident of me being present when officials were paid (cash) at a recent game. 14 bucks an hour. This is not a lot, from some perspectives, but if you consider that a first year private first class in the US military earns about 9.43 an hour it isn't bad for trotting around outside especially if a "bad day" is constituted merely by  some verbal sparring with parents.

So: on the one hand, travel soccer is  a game. As such it is governed by certain ancient ideals: fairness, sportsmanship, integrity, teamwork, loyalty and so on. The girls supposedly play for the love of the game and learn these important values from the game. On the other hand, travel soccer is a quite robust and rather strange industry or business. It employs many (albeit no one gets particularly rich) and as a "business" it is governed by many of the rules of business: for example, the customer is always right, if you don't please the consumer the market will cease to exist and so on.

The tension comes because these two visions (game v. business) of sport are seemingly contradictory. Travel soccer can't simultaneously be a game and a business. If we treat soccer as a business then consumers, i.e., parents, will have too much say. Who would pay a ref or coach when they consider the service poor? The game would break down completely if those that run travel soccer were treated, for example, the way we treat our lawn service companies. If we treat soccer purely as a game, though, we end up feeling pretty silly. There is nothing magical about the ideals of sports. No coach or referee adheres to those values with any greater intensity than any player or parent. Without some customer demand, in other words, pressuring people to do their jobs, the quality of all programs would collapse rather quickly.

The contradiction should be reconciled, it seems. Choose, we are tempted to say: travel soccer is either a game or a business.

These issues are addressed most publicly these days by the NCAA and its current director, my old boss at U. of Connecticut, then Provost, Mark Emmert. Emmert was once the highest paid public university president in the country so he knows something about the tension between collective ideals ("the public university") and hard core business. The question posed routinely to him: Are college athletes amateurs and thus governed by the ideals of sport? or are they workers who generate considerable income for their employers for whom they make mucho dollars? As such, they would deserve money, not condemnation for taking 600 bucks for a suit.

The problem, it is important to point out in the context of soccer, is peculiarly American. Most countries don't understand our contrived hybrid -- the "student-athlete" -- that seeks to mask the irresolvable tension. There are sports and there are schools. Most places don't try as hard as we do to reconcile the "amateur ideal" with the "professional." Indeed, at the recent Force Golf Outing several of my friends with no connection to soccer were stunned to learn that many of their co-golfers were paid coaches. That said, once I explained the business part of this -- "well, you want a better product than rec soccer [dad coached little league baseball to them ] can provide but that isn't available in the schools anymore because people like you won't pay higher taxes [the last a political shot that one can only make to childhood friends]" -- the structure made more sense to them.

David Brooks, one the NY Times "conservative" columnists (he is a wacky leftist by Oakland County standards -- my apologies), brings much clarity to the issue. His argument today was that the tension between the two visions of sports is good. The contradiction between "game" and "business" does not need to be solved, but embraced. He riffs specifically off a new book by Mark Branch that argues college athletes should be paid:

"Branch concludes that it is time to give up on the amateur code entirely. Pay the players and get over it. At this late date, he may be right, but there are two concerns.
The first is practical. How exactly would you pay them? Would the stars get millions while the rest get hardly nothing? Would you pay the wrestling team, or any of the female athletes? Only 7 percent of Division I athletic programs make money, according to the N.C.A.A.; where would the salary dollars come from?
The other is moral and cultural. A competitive society requires a set of social institutions that restrain naked self-interest and shortsighted greed. The amateur ideal, though faded and worn, still imposes some restraints. It forces athletes, seduced by Michael Jordan fantasies, to at least think of themselves partially as students. It forces coaches, an obsessively competitive group, to pay homage to academic pursuits. College basketball is more thrilling than pro basketball because the game is still animated by amateur passions, not coldly calculating professional interests.
The commercial spirit is strong these days. But people seem to do best when they have to wrestle between commercial interests and value systems that counteract them. The lingering vestiges of the amateur ideal are worth preserving."

This weekend

Saturday Game:

9/24-Game time 12:00pm please arrive by 11:15  ITC Sports Park, Novi Field A.    Jags White 00  wear BLACK.

Sunday is the Michigan Women’s Soccer game and dinner at Pizza House after.  Game time is 2:00. Plan  to meet at 1:15 by the ticket window where Alice  will have everyone’s tickets.  Remember the first 500 get a maize and blue lei!!!

U-M Soccer Complex 2250 S. State St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Force Golf Outing/U12 sponsored hole

The Force U12 Girls "represent" at the 3rd Annual Force Golf Outing (thanks Alice and Tom -- I think it was you -- for the sponsored hole -- seen here with the Team Captain of the losing team) held at Oakland Hills. BloomfieldSportshop provided very nice "Force" Soccer chairs as an outing "goodie." Coach Cookie did mention he looks forward to seeing me sitting in said chair at the next game.

Saturday Game:

9/24-Game time 12:00pm please arrive by 11:15  ITC Sports Park, Novi Field A.    Jags White 00  wear BLACK.

Weekly update from Alice!

Aaron Byrd tonight at 5:00

Thursday practice 6-7:00 with Team Meeting at 7:00 on the field.

Saturday Game:

9/24-Game time 12:00pm please arrive by 11:15  ITC Sports Park, Novi Field A.    Jags White 00  wear BLACK.

Sunday is the Michigan Women’s Soccer game and dinner at Pizza House after.  Game time is 2:00,  lets plan to meet at 1:15 by the ticket window where I will have everyone’s tickets.  Remember the first 500 get a maize and blue lei!!!

U-M Soccer Complex 2250 S. State St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Saturday, Sept. 17

"The purpose of the Michigan State Developmental Soccer League is to provide the best environment for the development of youth soccer players below the age of 12 through a league environment that encourages fun, creativity and competitiveness."

The league should perhaps add sports(wo)manship to its mission statement. For a league that has made a great show of calling for parents to act "appropriately" on the sidelines, its coaching and officiating is definitely showing some cracks. 

I have played in the Detroit PSL basketball league, AAU Michigan basketball, and Big Ten football (and the St. Clair Shores House hockey league in the 1970s - which might have been the roughest of the lot). And I have seen my share of bad sports behavior. But it is hard to recall a moment when another team laughed and jeered at an injured player on the field. That is a sign that there might be a structural problem in the league.


The behavior of the Novi Jags 00 Green team when Force players were injured today was particularly disgusting and should be addressed by some responsible adult. This kind of behavior is not the fault of 11 year old girls, of course, who are simply playing as they are coached or, maybe, as they are parented. Either way, on the field it is the responsibility of coaches to monitor and manage this. And officials.


But when nothing is said by a coach, and officials can't control their emotions, in addition to being uninterested or unwilling to get up and down the field (or simply show up), parents, as consumers if nothing else, are perfectly entitled to respond -- either on the field or off.


On the athletic, as opposed to the business, side of things:The Force U12 girls were simply over matched physically, again, today against Novi in a 4-1 loss. Like last week, the ball rarely crossed midfield for the Force in the first half. Novi is simply bigger, more physical, and faster to the ball, particularly when the ball is in the air. But, fortunately, when the girls made it across midfield they came up with a great offensive effort. Zoe, always able to anticipate movement on the field, kept the ball in at midfield on the left side and got the ball to midfield partner, Grace. Grace, who had beautiful close touches all game, gave her best effort at the right moment and got the ball to Sawyer on the right hand side. Sawyer immediately popped the ball back into Christina who deftly used the outside of her right foot to place the ball into the back of the right corner.


The rest of the game, though,was a defensive slog. Kate's brilliant goalkeeping kept the team in the game last week but she did not have a chance on any goal tonight. Still, there were some highlights: the team came out with energy and courage in the second half and Zoe moved back from Mid in the second half and helped organize the backline. Emmi, Annabelle, Jill, and Sophie played tough under terrific pressure (and elbows).

Hope Solo gets serenaded by admirer

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/hope-solo-cj-sapong-sporting-kansas-city_n_965476.html
Link to Hope Solo serenade. Clean and cute, but long (3 minutes) and not terribly musical.

Mia Hamm quote

"If a team wants to intimidate you physically and you let them, they've won."- Mia Hamm

UofM soccer game

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/mich-w-soccer-mtt.htmlhttp://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/mich-w-soccer-mtt.html



Here is the link to the UoM women's soccer team roster

Force Golf Outing needs hole sponsors

Weekly update from Alice

Aaron Byrd tonight 5-6.

Saturday Game

6:00pm arrive by 5:15,   West Hills Field 3, wear WHITE  vs Jags Green.

Math, Chrysler, American Industry, and Soccer officiating

Math has never been a strength for me. But if my calculations are correct a new, represented line work at Chrysler -- under the new two-tier wage system -- makes $14.65 an hour. Three officials for a U12 11v11 soccer game make $43.00. 43 divided (I can't even find the division symbol on my keyboard!) by 3 = $14.50 per person.

NY Times style and Ronaldo

One hesitates to mention reading the NYTimes in Oakland County. But for soccer fans, particularly female soccer fans, there may be some interest in checking out today's NYTimes Style Magazine and cover boy Cristiano Ronaldo and other men of Manchester United. Alas, native Brits (namely Sir Alex Ferguson and everyone's favorite quasi-thug Wayne Rooney) don't look so good in comparison to their continental counterparts. Whither Beckham? Rooney's 5 thousand dollar Tom Ford coat ("make me look like a Liverpuldian post-war tough guy wearing scratchy wool from dieing/ dying wool industries") on page 129 or so is kinda  cool though.




http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2011/09/11/t-magazine/mens-fashion-issue/index.html

Next week -- rematch

Sat 9/17           6.00pm            vs Jags Green                                                  West Hills

Match play, Sept 10

The Force have learned -- or should have learned -- that any game against the Novi Jags Green 00 team will be unusually physical. Such was the case in the opener of the first week of match play.

The Novi Jags came out banging, as usual, and the Force got no help -- and was to get know help from the officials. To complicate things, the Jags have improved their ball control, and thus they were not only able to bump away in the corners to get opportunities but pass back and move the formation up field.

Kate came up big, though, to keep the game in reach. She stopped a point blank shot midway through the first half. And when the rebound trickled to the open side of the net Sophie made a nice play to clear.

Offensively, Christina had some terrific runs in the first half but the Force was pinned so far back that she had little help when she got down field.

But the pounding the Jags delivered finally drew some attention from the official.

Emmi lobbed a penalty kick from the right side, dropping it perfectly in front of the goal. Christina dug hard but was denied by Kate-like goalkeeping by the Jags. Grace had positioned herself perfectly, though, for the rebound and drilled it into the left corner to put the Force up 1-0.

In the second half Jill outdid her "pound for pound the toughest kid on the field" performances of earlier games by stopping up the Jags attack at midfield. She owned the left the side for the first 15 minutes of the half. And Kate continued with the great ball stopping, snagging two point blank drives -- without giving up a rebound (although, in fairness to the Jags, the second one was so hard it seemed to get stuck in Kate's gloves -- the only harder sound the ball made was when Lauren was taking her now vintage headers -- Abbey Wambaugh [sp?] to be).

Then, the official decided to insert himself into the game, calling a trip in the box on the Force (see earlier post on how women are learning to "dive" just like men in soccer). Kate read the play well and almost got a piece of what turned out to be a weak shot. But it spun in to the corner.

Seemingly demoralized by this turn of events -- and with the help of another penalty -- the Force quickly gave up another goal.

Final -- an infuriating 2-1 loss.

The Force came out sluggish in Game 2. This was a catastrophe in that the LSC Meteors turned out to be a very skilled and very well prepared team. They dominated play as the Force struggled to clear and then win balls at mid-field against the quicker well coached opponent. LSC forwards cut through Force defenders and ended up 3-0 15 minutes in.

The Force would hang tough though. Emmi continued to step up and make plays from the backline. Sending balls up to Rhea and Christina who gave the Force some offensive thrills with nifty give and gos and both forwards came up with goals.

5-2 loss.

Practice is on today, despite the rain -- thank goodness!

Practice is on today, September 8, even though it started raining last nite and has been raining throughout the day. Thank goodness! While last spring's rains were record setting the repeated decisions not to allow kids to play or practice -- decisions made mainly by assorted school systems and park systems -- was simply bizarre. Certainly there are days when the fields are simply too soggy to play -- but those days are rare. More often than not it seems that school systems simply got in the habit of restricting use for the sake of restricting use. If fields in various districts were meticulously maintained it would make sense to use the utmost care in April and May. But most public school fields and parks are not that carefully groomed. Whatever use they incur in April and May is repaired by underuse in June and July.

Sept. 10 Match play schedule

Saturday Game Times at Independence Park

12:30 arrive by 11:45 wear BLACK Jags Green 00 Field 6

3:30 arrive by 2:45 wear WHITE LCSC 00 Meteors Field 6

Link to Game 3 photos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1AZMmTdu3bsnbQ&eid=118">Click

More great photos from Pam -- including the foul against Rhea in the box!

Also: kudos to John for what was easily the best (non-corporate) ad in the Force Invitational Program (U14 girls' ad pretty good, too). John's ad should have been the cover.

Force Invitational Game 3

0-1-2. Not what the Force wanted for its own tournament. But not bad either. One has the sense that The Force U12 Purple girls are quickly getting a feel for 11 v. 11 play. Next week: league match play.

The girls arrived in great spirits this AM (645!) to take on a much bigger WAZA team. Good ball movement for the Force created pressure throughout most of the first ten minutes. This pressure, in turn, led to one of Chistina's brilliant individual efforts, cutting hard on the left side and driving a strike into the back of the net. A few moments later it looked like the Force would take a commanding 2-0 lead when Sawyer scored. But a tough offside call went against the Force, disallowing the goal. Waza quickly tied things up (but parents stayed calm as many missed the "no goal" call for Sawyer).

The good ball movement continued, however. Sophie drove a nice header to Sawyer just inside the midfield line and Sawyer provided a terrific lead to Anastasia who dashed down the left side before being almost forced out at the baseline. "Stasia" stuck with it, though, dug it out, and set up the always active Christina for her second goal.

But Waza played hard, and came up with a tying goal again.

Tough officiating, again, seemed it would cost the Force when Rhea snagged a breakaway and was knocked to the ground just inside the penalty area -- but no call. Sports has its own poetic justice, though -- in addition to make up calls -- and when Waza took a penalty a few minutes later Lauren dropped the ball nicely into the front where Rhea got the tap in.

Things looked good. And this blogger headed for an 840 tee time. Just as I reached the parking lot, hower, Waza came back again. Commenters will have to fill me in.

Two terrific tournament efforts.

Force Invitational Game 2

The awful Labor Day weekend weather (and Midland Fusion 00) finally caught up with the Force U12 girls. Fortunate scheduling had the girls in the comfortable AC of Ultimate soccer Friday evening and, today, when the humidity was even more oppressive, the girls were set to go at 7PM after the worst of the sun and steam had past. But Midland's consistent pressure landed a single goal early in the second half and the overcast sky -- so welcome at the start of the game -- turned to lightning and the Force walked away 0-1-1 in the tournament heading into Sunday.

There were some offensive highlights. Lauren chased down an errand Midland pass on the wing and lobbed a perfect lead past to always moving Christina. Annabelle let a Midland forward slip past at midfield but with a determined dash caught up and stripped the ball just at the edge of the box.

It says something, though, when most of the other highlights came from Force defensive moves against the 7 or 8 corner kicks they allowed in the abbreviated contest. Living up to her name, Grace effortlessly headed a dangerous corner away. And Sophia, playing disciplined soccer, held to her far post position and saved what looked like a sure goal.

Early tomorrow morning -- in what looks to be much cooler weather -- the girls take on a big Waza team at West Hills.

Force Invitational Game 1

Ties, many say, are like kissing your sister. But that is not entirely true. Some ties -- like the 0-0
Force U12 Purple opener in The Force Invitational against Farmington Fusion 99 -- feel pretty good.

Playing up in the 13y division, and on an indoor 11 v. 11 field (that is, one exactly measured to regulation length and width), the girls found themselves with their backs against their own net for most of the first half. Force clearing passes got jammed up at midfield and, at some point, ten minutes or so in, they just started clearing rather than passing, and they could not get themselves into the Fusion half of the field. Fortunately, the Fusion weren't able to put together much offense in or around the 18. Emmi courageously stepped in front of one hard shot. And Kate, who controlled the field brilliantly during all this pressure, dove on a rolling ball that could have been popped in.

There were some other bright spots. Jill played tough at midfield. Zoe sent some balls deep and was fouled herself just outside the box toward the end of the half. Annabelle's wicked strike almost found the back of the net.

The Force managed to turn things around a bit in the second half. Christina and Sawyer played hard up front and Sophia and Emmi made big plays consistently on the backline. The ball gradually shifted into the Fusion half of the field. The momentum shifted enough so that in the last few minutes the Force changed formations to go for the win (skip the sister), putting two forwards up front. There were several spirited runs -- runs that led to one dangerous counterattack in front of Kate -- but no goals.

Game two is tomorrow nite outside at West Hills.

Force Golf Outing

http://forcefc.org/forcefc/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=1vsi7lM__UI%3d&tabid=38

This is a lot of fun. I have gone the last 2 years. 

Fall schedule

U12 Girls Fall Game Schedule

Date                Time               Team                                                              Location

Sat 9/10           TBD                vs LCSC                                                         Independence Park, Canton

            TBD                @ Jags Green                                                  Independence Park, Canton

Sat 9/17           6.00pm            vs Jags Green                                                  West Hills

Sat 9/24           12.00pm          @ Jags White                                                  ITC Sports Park, Novi

Sat 10/1           5.00pm            @ TNT                                                            Kenneth Hope, Lansing

Sun 10/9          9.00am                        vs TNT                                                            West Hills

Sat 10/15         3.00pm            @ Canton Black                                             Independence Park, Canton  

Sun 10/16        5.30pm            vs Jags White                                                  West Hills

Sat 10/22         Playoffs – games could be scheduled throughout the day

Sun 10/23        Playoffs – games could be scheduled throughout the day, if we win Saturday