DOC Blog

DOC Blog #4

Well it’s been a few months since I wrote anything. I am not a big writer but I will try to say hello a little more frequently.

We are on snow day number two today. Our kids are going are stir crazy as I am sure most of your kids are! So we then try to hold a practice of some sort indoors, hopefully at one of the many church gyms in the area. I have set up a few practices for some of the teams and still working on and waiting on a few more locations for a response. It’s great that we can get indoors to train and I will try to establish an indoor schedule so regardless of the weather our teams can get together and play. Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed for the use of multiple gyms for our kids.

My first season with CVYSA went pretty well. It had its highs and lows, but overall, the experience was a good learning one for myself. I am becoming adjusted to the NC club world of soccer. Club soccer in Pennsylvania is not as organized as it is here in NC. The majority of clubs are all based in the local communities or towns. A lot of the clubs were somehow connected to the local high schools, these clubs then acted as a feeder for the high school program. There are big clubs as well. These clubs are similar to our club in size and makeup and then there are a few very large clubs, but those are located closer to larger metropolitan areas. The soccer leagues, in PA, that the kids play in are not organized by the state association. They are more regional to the state and vary in size from league to league. Similar to how challenge leagues are structures in NC. Generally the top 3 or 4 teams, from each league, are invited to state cup. If teams were in the top of their local league many of these teams would then travel to the Philadelphia / SE PA area to participate in the DELCO League (the following season). This league traditionally has the top teams in the state. These teams had quite a bit of traveling if they were coming from NE or N Central PA, 3 or 4 hours one way for a game. This traveling can begin, for those fanatical teams, at U11. In my opinion is way too young to start that kind of travel.

Anyway, I like the structure of NC Youth Soccer much better. It’s more regionalized and teams, for the most part, are all similar in level and competition. This makes for a more challenging game for the players. As our kids get older, the promotion/relegation adds to the suspense of the game and adds additional pressure to the kids. Pressure of the game is good and adds in the development of the player. Pressure is not good, in my opinion, when expectations are placed on the kids by coaches, parents and other outside influences. What are your expectations of your child playing? A child’s expectations are probably to play, have fun, develop, socialize and to win. We all want to win, especially the players, but sometimes, for whatever reasons, a win just does not happen. However, as long as we as a club, coaches, fans and parents support our players regardless of the outcome, the players come out winners, learn about the game and also learn about life.
CVYSA is a small club. We need each other and our club community to continue to grow and develop in order to survive in the world of the Charlottes, Greensboro and Raleigh Teams.

Thank you, to ALL in the CVYSA Community – coaches, fans, sponsors and especially parents for your past support and hopefully your continued support for the future!

Now, please ask for some sunshine and warmer weather so we can get on the fields and participate in the game we all enjoy.

Jeff

DOC BLOG #3 10/27/09

The North Carolina Youth Soccer Association Olympic Development Program (NCYSA ODP) tryouts are to begin November 8th 2009. For those of you new to CVYSA and our long standing members, the NCYSA ODP tryouts are fast approaching. Early registration is $70 and ends October 31, 2009. Registration includes a minimum of two separate training sessions by the NCYSA Staff, two T-Shirts and the opportunity for the players to test their skills against players from all over the state. ODP team age groups are based on a players’ birth year. A good portion of the Head Coaches, of each age group, is current college coaches from universities located all over the state. The Lenoir Rhyne University Women’s Coach is the ’93 Girls Head Coach. Other staff coaches are former US Olympic and World Cup players. The experience for the player is invaluable and I highly recommend the tryouts for all our CVYSA players.

For additional information and the importance of the ODP Program click here.

For the ODP Training Schedule and locations click here.

For Boys ODP Parent Information click here.

For Girls ODP Parent Information click here.

The youngest ODP Players are 1998 and 1997 birth year players. These two age groups are trained as east and west groups. The ’97 age group would come together next year as a state team and the ’98 age group would come together in two years to form our future state teams. The training and opportunity would be very beneficial for all of our younger players to experience. Training for these two age groups occurs in primarily in Statesville, but we have a training date in Hickory at Henry Fork on November 22, 2009, 9 AM.

CVYSA has been fortunate to have several of our current and past players participate in the ODP Program. A few of our players have made it all the way to identification for the Region 3 US Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) Team. Once a player is identified for the Regional Team he then has the chance to be pulled into training for the US Youth National Team Program.

I hope to see as many CVYSA players at the tryouts as possible! If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me or NCYSA directly.

DOC BLOG #2 9/28/09

I’d like to give a “shout out” to a few groups who provided excitement to CVYSA over the weekend who I feel deserves some recognition. This is just a random response, but I believe the CVYSA community needs to be aware of the positive effect they had on the club.

These are the top three (3):

Third: 95 Blast Girls

The girls had two games over the weekend. Their first game was away against MUFC Navy and the second was against Charlotte United. Both games were against clubs which draw players from a larger population. The girls came away with two hard fought ties, 0-0 vs. MUFC and 1-1 vs. CUFC. Congratulations to the ALL the players and Coach.

Second: 96 Blast Blue Boys

The boys played, with only 11 players, their first home CVYSA Game in the rain against a strong North Meck Team. North Meck was near the top of the standings prior to the start of the game. With no subs, the CVYSA boys played a focused, organized possession game. They got an early goal and were unlucky not to get a few more. The players kept their composure and never lost sight of their objective. As I watched second half of the game from Field 7, I noticed our keeper standing in goal very relaxed. That was an indication to me that the team had the game under control. Congratulations to ALL the players and Coaches!

First: Dave and Tim, our Henry Fork Field Maintenance Men

We all know how much it rained Friday night (1.7 inches overnight) and no one, including myself, thought we would play on Saturday. Wade Dudley (CVYSA Field Coordinator) and I met with Dave at 7 AM Saturday morning to check out the fields. Field 3 had to be closed, too much water. But to my surprise, all the other fields were in good shape. The grass was a little longer than normal on all the fields, but this was a good thing. The long grass helped to absorb some of the water and kept the fields intact. So PLEASE, the next time you see Dave and Tim, say THANK YOU to them for their efforts in maintaining the fields at the Henry Fork Complex! It is because of Dave and Tim’s’ efforts we have such a nice facility and that we were able to play games in the rain this past weekend. Let’s make sure we ALL continue to assist them in their efforts to maintain and keep our facility clean and neat! And if any of you like to cook, Dave and Tim informed me they like ALL kinds of food!

Thank you and have a Great Week!

Jeff

August 2009

Hello CVYSA Parents and Friends,

This is the first CVYSA DOC Blog and I thought that this would be a great time to start considering we had a good weekend with all our teams competing in the ABYSA Asheville Riverside Soccer Tournament.

I want thank all the parents for allowing their children to participate. From my perspective it looked like every team and player had a positive experience.

I was very busy trying to see each team play at least one half and still be a parent and catch my own child's games.

I must report that I saw every team but the U11 Girls. So this team is the first on my list to watch when our season begins in September.

I'd like to congratulate the five CVYSA teams that made it to the finals (U11 Blue Boys; U13 Blue Boys; U14 Boys; U12 Girls and U14 Girls)!! It is always nice to start the season off strong. However, it is early in the season, so we must not think we have "made it". It is important for each and every player to come to practice prepared to play with the proper equipment (shoes, shin guards, clothes & an inflated ball). Then each player needs to focus on the activities presented by their coach. We will always continue to focus our training on the technical (skill) development of each player regardless of the age. As our skill level rises, so will our success as players, team and club!

So players work hard, focus and listen to your coach!

Parents, well done! I did not see or hear of anybody getting too carried away. I did notice a few folks full of nervous excitement during the finals. So to those people, thanks for the entertainment!

Other teams I would like to recognize:

U11 Girls: Your Coach saw a lot of progress in your performance over the weekend. Keep working hard at practice and on your juggling.

U11 Boys White: the boys showed a lot of creativity in their attacks. Keep up the good work the goals will come.

U12 Boys: after a slow start on Saturday they showed some real good ball movement, creativity and finished the tournament with a real nice final goal, which began with our keeper.

U13 Girls: showed a lot tenacity and hard work. Continue with the strong effort, it will payoff as the season moves forward.

U13 Boys White: I saw some real good ball movement and the creation of some nice goals & attempts on Goal.

U15 Girls: Another slow starter, but came together and finished with two good team efforts.

U17 Girls: two ties and a win. You are beginning to look like a team! Keep up the progress!

U18 Girls: Scored some very nice goals in their final game. Good ball movement and team work!

To ALL the players, Keep working hard, spend just 10 to 15 minutes a day with a ball & you will have a big improvement in your game.

All the Best to every player and team!

Jeff