I hope this newsletter finds you and your's safe and enjoying another great soccer season.

1. Soccer Season Starts
2. A Shocker
3. Help for Parents – Cup TV Schedule
4. A Simple Drill
5. New Online Game

Wow, what a week! Soccer season started last week for me.

Have any of you ever coached a U-5 team? My youngest son started soccer this year so I volunteered to coach his team. Yes, I really and truly volunteered.

Go figure.

We’ve had two practices so far and I’m still trying to find good games they like that will also keep them kicking or moving a soccer ball around. Most U-6 games are too much for the 3-year olds.

If there is enough interest, I will set up a journal web page of my experiences this year, giving advice on what works and what doesn’t.

Email me if the journal page interests you. Also, any advice on simple games is welcome.

Enjoy the World Cup!

I couldn’t believe it.

At the pre-season soccer coaches’ meeting the fund raiser for the year was passed out and “pushed”. What happened to doing it in the Spring season?

Lucky me. I’m coaching kids & parents who have never been involved in soccer before so my Parent’s Meeting (read about them) goes something like this:

"Welcome to our soccer program. I believe you will find soccer to be the best sport around for kids. Unfortunately, no one who distributes funds seems to be aware of that so the program is under funded. Parents, welcome to SOCCER FUND RAISING 101!"

Speaking of which, I just finished the first pass on a resource page for soccer fund raising. You should check it out.

I was able to setup a deal with one of the best online fund raising companies, ScratchandHelp.com. Mention my special promo code to get the details.

The code is:

Good luck!

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to watch the Women’s World Cup this year!

Being the host country means you don’t even have to tape it or stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Watch it live!

This is a great learning opportunity for the whole family, not just the soccer player of the family.

The following tv schedule was pulled from the soccertv.com website. You can copy and paste it into a document to make it more printer friendly.

Another good resource to know what soccer games are on tv is Soccer.com. Their listings could be considered a little better because you do a search based on your zip code. After entering your zip cope, you then have the option of selecting your cable or satellite provider.
Give it a try!

Mon Sep 01 11:00PM Eastern Length: 2 hr LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's Int. Friendly - United States vs Costa Rica

Sun Sep 07 01:00PM Eastern Length: 2 hr LIVE ESPN (US)
Women's Int. Friendly - United States vs Mexico

Sun Sep 21 12:30PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 30 min LIVE ABC
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group A United States vs Sweden

Sun Sep 21 11:10PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 20 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group D China vs Ghana

Wed Sep 24 04:55PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 15 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group B Norway vs Brazil

Thu Sep 25 04:30PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 30 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group A Sweden vs DPR Korea

Thu Sep 25 07:25PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 15 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group A United States vs Nigeria

Thu Sep 25 09:55PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 15 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group D China vs Australia

Sat Sep 27 03:25PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 15 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group C Germany vs Argentina

Sun Sep 28 01:00PM Eastern Length: 2 hr LIVE ESPN (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group A Sweden vs Nigeria

Sun Sep 28 03:30PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 30 min LIVE ABC
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group A United States vs DPR Korea

Sun Sep 28 10:55PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 15 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Group D China vs Russia

Wed Oct 01 04:30PM Eastern Length: 5 hr 30 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Quarterfinal Doubleheader TBA vs TBA and TBA (United States if it qualifies) vs TBA

Thu Oct 02 07:25PM Eastern Length: 5 hr 5 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Quarterfinal Doubleheader TBA vs TBA and TBA vs TBA

Sun Oct 05 07:25PM Eastern Length: 5 hr 5 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - Semifinal Doubleheader TBA (United States if it qualifies) vs TBA and TBA vs TBA

Sat Oct 11 03:25PM Eastern Length: 2 hr 35 min LIVE ESPN2 (US)
Women's World Cup 2003 - 3rd Place Match

Sun Oct 12 12:30PM Eastern Length: 3 hr LIVE ABC
Women's World Cup 2003 – Final Carson, California. Kickoff 10am PT/1pm ET

Courtesy of http://www.NASL.com

"Wave Game" This game is with a 20x20 area (easily could be bigger). Have all the kids with a ball at one end. Their job is to dribble inside the square to the other end. Start with the coach or other person in the middle. They are to try and kick the ball out of the area. If a person loses their ball, they help in the middle. Play starts on a go command, so there is a big wave of people trying to get across.

Thanks to: Brian Whitney

More soccer drill resources can be found on the Soccer Drill Page.

I am actively growing the website so check back often for updates.

One of the favorite pages is the online game page. I have to admit I have spent a considerable about of time playing them with my son.

Ok, I’m going to come clean.

I play them without my son too (also – whatever).

The new game is called Pebbles® Dome Reefball. This is an underwater shooting game similar to the Roby Baggio game. You can also use your head (no pun intended).

Go there now.

Until next time.

Randy