Look at the other NCSL games that WERE played today and just in the G division of the U10 league:

369		N9948 GRFL Madrid	vs.	N9930 BRYC Arsenal White	Lockmeade Park	4:30 pm
370		N9906 CYA REAL ‘98 Purple	vs.	N9962 REST 98 United	Franklin MS #2	1:00 pm
371		N9950 SYA Vipers	vs.	N9973 FRED FCF Academy White	Kincheloe #4	1:30 pm
372		N9980 VBSC Lightning	vs.	N9908 VYS Red Bulls	Kincheloe #10	9:00 am

There are untold hundreds of other games being played AROUND Loudoun county yesterday and today, just not WITHIN Loudoun county. 

Normally when all of the fields in a county are closed due to rain, you’d think it would be raining. Oh no, not here in Loudoun. The sun is shining today and it is actually quite warm and dry. But we are not playing soccer because of some person’s bad decision. Somebody somewhere needs to ease off the trigger just a little and allow for an occasion where the players, instead of tromping through a washboard field covered in dust, actually get a little moisture on their shoes.

Update: My neighbor’s son played FOOTBALL on a Loudoun school field today.

In the meantime, if you haven’t followed Women’s soccer from their win in the inaugural 1991 match thru their marvelous win in 1999, you can borrow a DVD we own called The World at Their Feet, an hour-long documentary with interviews and footage from the events. Tim gives it an “It was OK, a lot of people talking though” rating.

If you would like to borrow it from us, send me an email or make a comment below.

Patriots Men’s Soccer single-game tickets are $5 for adults, $2 for youths 17 & under and senior citizens and $2 for groups of over 20 people.

Patriots

09/09/07 at Maryland College Park, Md. 7:00 p.m. ET
09/29/07 vs. ST. PETER’S Fairfax, Va. 7:00 p.m. ET
10/05/07 vs. UNC WILMINGTON* Fairfax, Va. 7:00 p.m. ET
10/07/07 vs. GEORGIA STATE* Fairfax, Va. 2:00 p.m. ET
10/19/07 vs. OLD DOMINION* Fairfax, Va. 7:00 p.m. ET
10/21/07 vs. WILLIAM & MARY* Fairfax, Va. 2:00 p.m. ET
10/26/07 vs. VCU* Fairfax, Va. 7:00 p.m. ET

TO RECREATION SPORTS COMPLEX (Track, Soccer, Lacrosse, Baseball, Softball) (map)

From Dulles Airport

* Dulles Toll Road EAST
* Fairfax County Parkway SOUTH
* Exit at Braddock Road, turn left at traffic signal at bottom of ramp
* Go approximately 3½ miles to intersection with Braddock Road
* At traffic signal, left onto Ox Road (Rte. 123)
* At next traffic signal, left onto University Drive
* Recreation Sports Complex is first building on left, with plenty of free parking

Terrapins

Or try the No. 9 Maryland Terrapins and their nice soccer complex at Ludwig Field (map).

Maryland Men’s Soccer single-game tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for youths 17 & under and senior citizens and $3 for groups of over 20 people.

09/07/07 vs. West Virginia TV College Park, Md. 8:00 p.m. ET
09/09/07 vs. George Mason College Park, Md. 7:00 p.m. ET
09/19/07 vs. Old Dominion TV College Park, Md. 7:30 p.m. ET
10/02/07 vs. Stony Brook College Park, Md. 7:30 p.m. ET
10/05/07 vs. Clemson TV College Park, Md. 8:00 p.m. ET
10/09/07 vs. Lehigh College Park, Md. 7:30 p.m. ET
10/13/07 vs. Virginia Tech TV College Park, Md. 7:00 p.m. ET
10/16/07 vs. Villanova College Park, Md. 7:30 p.m. ET
10/21/07 vs. Cal State Northridge TV College Park, Md. 1:00 p.m. ET
10/23/07 vs. Georgetown College Park, Md. 7:30 p.m. ET
10/26/07 vs. North Carolina State College Park, Md. 8:00 p.m. ET
11/03/07 vs. Virginia TV College Park, Md. 7:00 p.m. ET

I have included the schedules of the Patriots and the Terrapins in our Google Calendar for your convenience.

We also have the Georgetown Hoyas, George Washington University, Howard University Bisons, American University

Here’s the book I’m reading right now and loving it:

It mentions the Maryland Soccerplex and how they had to overcome opposition from the baseball people to build it. They ended up having to pay a “peace tax” of building some baseball fields, basketball rims, walking trails, a water park, etc., just to get approval to build the soccerplex. Wow, manicured grass.

I’ll reproduce the text of the PowerPoint briefing here for easy reading:

Introduction

• Young athletes are not merely small adults: Their bones, muscles, and ligaments are still growing
• They grow and develop at different rates
• At age 9, the weight of a child can vary as much as 50 lbs.!
• Height and weight discrepancies make them more vulnerable to injury

It is the responsibility of the parents and coaches to ensure that each child’s body is respected for its stage of growth and that no child is pushed to the point of injury.

INJURIES IN THE YOUNG ALTHETE

• Federal data indicate that there are approximately 227,000 injuries to children ages 7-17 each year due to soccer alone
• 15% of these injuries are due to overuse
• Assessing Pain in the Young Athlete
• Children often experience some discomfort with athletic activity – usually expressed as minor aches and pains
• Due to the risk of serious injury in the child, their complaints always deserve careful attention
• Sometimes it is difficult to determine if a child has a “real” injury
• PAIN is the body’s response to injury.

Assessing Pain

• Each person feels pain differently
• “Does it hurt a lot?” – What does this mean?
• Use the Rule of “1-10” to help assess pain in children
• This requires advance preparation
• Ask child to remember previous injuries and rate the minor pains as a “1” and the worst pain they have ever felt as a “10”
• Use this scale when you are on the field or sideline.

Assessing Injury

• Does the child “use” the affected area? (e.g. can they bear weight?)
• If use or bearing weight increase the pain – DO NOT PLAY
• Is it swollen?
• R-I-C-E: Rest, ice, Compression, Elevation
• If so, DO NOT PLAY
• Is there numbness, tingling, or shooting pain? If so, DO NOT PLAY
• Respect a child’s reaction to pain
• If crying or scared – reassure and DO NOT PLAY
• NEVER expect a child to “work through the pain”
• Often injured athletes want to “tough it out”
• Coaches and parents must be “tough” to protect young players.
• Don’t be afraid to take a child out of the game!

Common Injuries

• STRAIN – muscle injury caused by over stretching or over exertion of the muscle
• Signs and Symptoms – pain with movement, accompanied with little or no swelling
• Treatment – rest, ice if needed (acute) – heat (later)
• SPRAIN – ligaments are stretched or torn, usually associated with joint injuries
• Signs and Symptoms – “pop” or “snap” is felt, inability to bear weight, loss of motion, swelling, discoloration
• Treatment – R-I-C-E, medical evaluation, x-ray

When to See A Doctor

• Inability to play following an acute or sudden injury
• Decreased ability to play because of chronic or long-tern complications following an injury
• Visible deformity of the athlete’s arms or legs
• Sever pain from acute injuries which prevent the use of an arm or leg

Growth Plate Injuries

• Growth plate is a soft area near the ends of the bones that allow the bones to grow
• Physics 101 – a force will affect the weakest area first – therefore, in a child, the growth plate is more likely to be injured rather than the ligaments.
• An injury that normally would cause a sprain in an adult, is more likely to cause a growth plate injury in a child.
• Sprains in children should be evaluated by a physician

OSGOOD-SCHLATTER

• What is it?
• The patellar (knee) tendon inserts into the tibial tuberosity (growth plate) just below the knee
• Overuse (constant pulling) of the tendon on the soft growing bone causes inflammation, pain, and swelling
• Ice massage before and after games helps
• Anti-inflammatory medication at the direction of your physician may help
• Let the athlete allow the pain to guide their activity

Head Injury

• Loss of Consciousness – call 911 – even if child regains consciousness
• Concussion – dizziness, headache, sensitivity to light
• Nausea, vomiting, amnesia, memory loss
• NEVER ALLOW A CHILD WITH A HEAD INJURY BACK ONTO THE FIELD WITHOUT MEDICAL EVALUATION!

FLUIDS

• Water, water, water
• Don’t wait for thirst
• Sports drinks
• Contain high amounts of sodium and potassium
• Only needed for endurance athletes – > 90 minutes of aerobic activity
• Children like to imitate adult – if they’ll drink, its better than them not drinking
• How much water?
• 3-8 ounces 20 minutes prior to game/practice
• 3-8 ounces every 20 minutes during game/practice
• 6-8 ounces after game/practice

NUTRITION

• Teach young athletes about good nutrition
• Foods high in carbohydrates provide athletes with the energy their muscles need
• Healthy carbohydrates – whole grains, etc
• Encourage 4 servings per day of calcium-rich foods like milk, cheese, yogurt
• Encourage 4-5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables
• SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOT NECESSARY!

HEALTHY CARBOHYDRATE SNACKS

• Whole-grain ready-to-eat cereal with low-fat or skim milk
• Low-fat fruit flavored yogurt
• Peanut butter on whole wheat toast and ½ apple
• Lean meat on pita bread with ½ cut orange juice
• Graham or animal crackers and box of raisins
• Low-fat frozen yogurt and 100% grape juice
• Oatmeal raisin cookie and low fat milk
• Low fat pudding, bagel, and 100% apple juice

Katie Roper’s daughter Ellen likes to play lots of sports — soccer, basketball, softball and swimming. But even at Ellen’s tender age of nine, that’s getting hard to do.

Kids in her swim program are dropping other sports to specialize in competitive swimming year-round, and Ellen is having a tough time keeping up. The year-round swimmers tend to beat others badly, says Ms. Roper, of Los Altos, Calif. “I’m sad that soon she’ll be discouraged and probably want to quit a sport she loves.”

As millions of kids take to fields, courts and rinks this fall, as many as half to two-thirds are destined to quit sports by their teens, largely because they’re not having fun, studies show. A trend toward specialization — pressure for kids to play just one competitive sport year-round — is one reason, researchers say.

Many kids thrive in competitive year-round programs, learning advanced skills and enjoying expanded opportunities. But the programs can be a bad fit for others, fostering stress and an overemphasis on winning, says a recent focus-group study of 67 school officials, coaches, parents and teens led by Daniel Gould, director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University. Such strains are linked to higher injury risk, reduced motivation and burnout.

For parents who want their kids to embrace sports as a path to lifelong fitness and fun, the trend calls for new vigilance. Here are some early-warning signs that your child may be burning out:
• It’s no fun. A child who grows bored, resists practices and games, feigns illness or injury, or retreats to the back of the line in drills, is at high risk of dropping out. Jeffrey L. Brown, a Harvard Medical School psychologist, also cites fatigue, performance worries or a lack of concentration in other activities.

• Teammates aren’t compatible. Camaraderie is a big source of the fun in sports and its absence can signal trouble. Joy Wyatt’s daughter showed early aptitude for gymnastics and worked hard, at age 8, to prepare for her first competition. But when she was forced to sit out with an injury, her teammates were unsupportive and unkind, says Ms. Wyatt of New York. Put off, she decided to quit at the end of season.

• Cheating rears its head. If your child complains about cheating or starts cheating himself, burnout may loom. Blaming a bad call for a loss or error may signal that a child is frustrated, anxious or too focused on winning, Dr. Ewing says. It also may be a clue that you’re hovering too much: An in-depth 2006 study of four junior tennis players at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, found parental pressure to win was by far the biggest reason players cited as the cause of cheating.

• Your involvement eclipses your child’s. A 2006 Norwegian study of 677 soccer players ages 10 to 14 found children who felt heavy performance pressure from parents and coaches were overconcerned about making mistakes and harsher in their self-criticism.

If you see such emotions in your child, Michael Checchi advises, “take a hard look in the mirror.” When Mr. Checchi’s son showed early talent for baseball, he immersed him in the sport, enrolling him in off-season training and doing drills at home. But to Mr. Checchi’s dismay, his son began at age 13 to lose interest. “The harder I pushed, the more resistance he gave me,” recalls the San Ramon, Calif., father. Finally, his wife “told me I was being a jerk,” he says. He backed off, and his son’s interest in baseball soon reignited.

The challenge for parents is to help children hold on to the joy of participating while others are focused primarily on winning. Switching to a community, YMCA or recreational league program can help. But it’s usually best to finish the season, says Marty Ewing, an associate professor of kinesiology at Michigan State. Exceptions might include cases when a child is clearly in over her head and can’t focus, or is so mismatched with a team that she’s at risk of injury.