Thierry Henry

Not since Zinedine Zidane lined up Marco Materazzi’s chest with his head in Berlin over three years ago have so many opinions, distortions, hyperbole and hypocritical utterances been spewed forth.The “Henry Incident” has provided an opportunity for outlandish stereo-typing and xenophobia. Opportunists have embraced a platform from which to moralize while others see the chance to advocate the red herring solution of video replay. (When Tony Cascarino lectures on ethics and fair play and isn’t laughed out of town then the apocalypse must be at...

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tough coaches, delicate balance

There were an article in the Kansas City Star magazine about coaches yelling at their athletes, saying that players are quitting organized sports before the age of 13, blaming overly aggressive coaching more than any other reason. Personally, I grew up in environment where I wasn't able to talk at dinner,had to be back at home at a certain hour after school, being respectful to the rules, being polite all the time. It always annoy me when a kid comes to my house and don't say "hi"."The win-at-all-costs mentality" is it the reason? Coaches are forgetting...

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Thierry Henry

THIERRY HENRY HANDBALL KILLS IRELAND DREAM! So what! Is it the first time that a player is cheating? Not really! Yes, it is bad. France didn't play well. Irish were much better team on the field but the referee could have blew for penalty kick on the first game and this game for France. He didn't... If we want players to be able to play honestly, we need video... by the way, the only player who got caught by video is Zidane. Final of the world cup. If we didn't have the video the ref. wouldn't have given a red card...So sorry! It is sad but it...

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The Poulidor of the soccer

Raymond Poulidor is a former professional bicycle racer. He was known as the eternal second, because he finished the Tour de France in second place three times. I am thinking that we are becoming the Poulidor of soccer!We started our game with a 1-3-2-2 formation. Our opponent started with a 1-2-3-2. They were more aggressive and were playing a perfect triangle formation. Our defense was suprised and could not really react. It seems they were frozen. Ok, it was raining and freezing. After few minutes, we were down 2-0. I could not keep going like...

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Not so Great Expectations

Now that we almost won our league, what are we going to expect from our boys? Our last game against a younger team, was unlucky but it is soccer. We had our chances and didn't go through! We tied! So how did these kids get so good a such a young age? Some of these kids have been playing premier for a while, when we started at U10. They have been trained through some academies and camps. The players passed, played the wall pass, played one and two...

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INTERNATIONAL STORIES FROM LES BLEUS YOUTH SOCCER TEAM!

INTERNATIONAL STORIES FROM LES BLEUS YOUTH SOCCER TEAM!It’s very unusual, to find a kids’ soccer team made up of many boys with international backgrounds, right in the heart of suburban Overland Park, Kansas! But the draw of “Les Bleus” (The Blues) starts with their outstanding coach, Laurent Denis.Laurent was born in France, and since he was a boy, he has loved soccer. In his youth, he was an enthusiastic team member of “Les Coqs Rouges” (The Red Roosters), a city football (soccer) club, and played until he was 18.Laurent moved to America in 1995...

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Watching soccer

Not only we need to play with a positive attitude and have fun, we need to understand the game. Most of our soccer players are suburban and 2 criticisms that often are leveled at most players are that they don't have a game awareness. Not only, coaches have 2 hours per week to train, generally soccer is not part of their environment. Soccer players will take their game to the next level by practicing on their own, by playing soccer with their friends outside the team environment and by watching the game. We have seen some big improvements around...

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Nature

How can the human mind and body interact? In order to lift a finger, we would have to sacrifice free will or break the laws of nature. Spinoza responded to this problem by claiming that mental and physical phenomena are attributes of a single substance. For Spinoza, there is only one substance: God is not separate from nature. God is nature. God created us as his own image. So our kids are our mirror.I jumped very fast! Kids grow up but we influence them all the time. As parents and coaches we have to make sure we influence them in the right direction.A...

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Expectations for 2010

Today in soccer at the highest levels, players cover mor than eight miles, including 1.8 miles of high intensity sprinting, per game. The number of sprints in the English Premiership has double since 2002. People argue that these distances will increase by 20% by 2025! Players are moving faster over longer distances and are bigger, stronger and more resistant to injury than even five years ago.Future GameSpeed of movement, number of sprints and distances covered by players are increasing. Speed reaction to the events in the game is increasing.Ability...

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crazy

There is an article almost every week in major publications concerning the evils, myths, and horrors of youth sports in America. "Across America millions of children are being chewed up and spit out by a sports culture run amok", says Relin. Too many parents are more than willing to subject their kids to almost anything to follow the myth of the college athletic scholarship. According to NCAA statistics only 2.9% of high school athletes receive a college scholarship offer.“There is a terrible imbalance between the needs kids have and the needs...

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BARCA!

Barcelona did it. While beaten Manchester United 2 goals to 0 in final of the League of the Champions, the Catalan ones sign a resounding trebled one and enter into the annals by the big door. And I ask myself THE question: did we not attend tonight to the triumph of the biggest team of the history of the game? To win one of the most prestigious competitions of club is one thing. But to win it in these conditions with such a mastery, with a totally modified defense and two offensive players of basis raising injury. Frankly, I did not there...

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Tryouts

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Success Story

Les Bleus is leading the U10 Boys league at Heartland and will finish first or second. This position of excellence has been earned just through one year. Les Bleus started few years ago as a recreational team and moved up to Premier last Fall. During Fall season, Les Bleus were undefeated and finish first. We moved to D2 in Spring. This accomplishment is due to our players and parents. Their commitment to soccer is evidenced in its love of the game. Next year is going to be a new development and a new experience. Les Bleus will combine with FC...

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Juggling

As in any other sport, the recipe for succes in soccer is equal parts talent and preparation. There is not much we can do about talent, but there is a lot we can do to prepare. It is important that the boys spend a lot of time playing around with a soccer ball. No matter what positions they play, it is important that they have a high level of "feel" for the ball, and feel comes from nothing else but accumulating experience with a ball on your foot,...

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Jack Jewsbury

We are very grateful for Jack Jewsbery 's visit during our practice on April 28, 2009. Jewsbury was drafted 43rd overall in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft by the Kansas City Wizards, and signed for a developmental contract. Jewsbury has played all positions: striker, defender and now midfield defender, Jack became a significant utility player for the Wizards.We played a few minutes with him and we can see how well he plays. Our kids enjoyed his...

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joga bonito

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Knowing the brain

PhilosophyYou must love the game and want to share with the players a certain way of life, a way of seeing soccer.I am always socked when I see young players that are not allowed to go forward if they play as defender. As coaches, we must constantly seek to become much more multi skilled. Working and learning in areas such as psychology, physiology, nutrition, human development, fitness, self development.... We know that people learn in many different ways. Some are more visually oriented, others learn best by hearing. (not with my accent!) For...

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Hard Work

Times are difficults. Do we have to play or compete?We are going to have kids that are growing up... Our competition is going to be more difficult. We have to start to teack our kids to work hard and compete. Players who PLAY bring skill; players who COMPETE bring everything!We have focused so much on playing that we haven’t taught players to compete, to fight, to work hard or to have the will to win. I am using "we" and you could say that I am the coach and it is my responsability but I need also your help for juggling and motivation etc...Players...

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Expectations

Player Expectations:• Players confident enough to take risks with the ball in training and game situations• 25 juggles in one minutePractice schedule and exercisesEvery practice session is informed and shaped by observations from the previous match. However, we can sketch an outline of a typical session:• Warm-up takes place indoors and consists of cycling, soccer tennis and strength exercises.• The main session starts with small games focusing on attack tactics: short pass combinations, moving up from the backfield, and 1 v. 1 situations on the...

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6 years old!

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