Understanding USA Soccer Camps

Coaches run soccer camps to make money...sometimes, lots of it. Fortunately, there are other motivations, too. But you need to the know the organizing principle of the camp to select the right camp ... and enjoy the best camp experience.

There are five types of coaching arrangements that create the U.S. soccer camp "system":

(1) Local coaches (e.g., high school coaches or "premier team" coaches), assisted by local/college players, conduct camps for local players and teams. (Note: local youth soccer associations will sometimes host a Type 1, 2, or 3 camp.)

(2) Regional teams (e.g., MLS and A-league), sports complexes and even equipment suppliers will conduct camps to strengthen relationships with the community and to earn extra money

(3) National or regional professional soccer camp business conducts camps as a money-making enterprise.

(4) College or university coaches conduct camps to earn money over the summer and to raise profile of their program.

(5) State Youth Soccer Association or Olympic Development Program conduct camps as part of their soccer development program to identify players and as a source of income for affiliated coaches. But often the most intensive training is done at special camps for select players and teams A sixth-type of arrangement is becoming more common, whereby international coaches set up a camp in the U.S., or international camps or soccer tours are set-up for U.S. kids. In 2003, Manchester United's "soccer schools" made a big impression in the U.S.

The type of camp and its quality are two different things.

For example, a "lesser" Type 1 camp may be run by USSF A-licensed coaches who use high school players that may have a good rapport with kids--or not. But a "higher level" regional or national camp may simply trade off the name of a coach or player, who "directs" the camp by remote control.

Big camps may provide resources smaller camps don't have, like fitness or mental- performance training. But check them out carefully. The actual coaching staff may be "hired guns, whose motivations will vary depending on their stake in the camp's success, their salary, and their burnout level, particularly at the end of the camping season. Similarly a camp you liked last year may reprint their brochure, but the camp could be significantly worse (or better) due to changes in ownership or personnel.

There may be some benefit attending a university-based camp to expose yourself to the school--and to a prospective coach. But basically coaches rely on recruiters who observe players under actual game pressure, rather than the less-pressured camp environment .

Thanks,

Emmanuel Ayomide Praise
http://www.emmapraise.blogspot.com

Soccer Balls And Stuff

There are a million things you can do with soccer balls. You can kick them. You can play catch with them. You can hit them back and forth across the floor with a baby. You can dribble them with your knees. You can bounce soccer balls off your head. You can play dodge ball with them. You can play with your soccer balls in a pool. Or, you can play soccer with your soccer balls. Whatever your interests, you can find something to do with a soccer ball.

The nice thing about soccer balls is that you don?t need anything else to have fun with them. Sure, if you are going to play soccer, then you might want some soccer goals, or a soccer field to play on, but you can usually find a park that has some or you can make some yourself. Most of the time however, you don?t need any other equipment to find things to do with just your soccer ball.

You can kick soccer balls around for hours at a time and not get bored with it. You can practice different kinds of kicks and soccer tricks, and show them off to your friends. You can kick the soccer ball back and forth with a friend. You can kick your soccer ball around in a park, a field, a farm, up in the mountains, on rocks, anywhere you are, you can probably kick a soccer ball around for entertainment.

One nice thing about a soccer ball, is that you can play games where you compete with yourself. You can test yourself to see how many times you can kick the soccer ball into the air without it hitting the ground, similar to hackey sack. You can do it by yourself or with friends. You can bounce it on your head for as long as you can. You can dribble it off your feet and your knees, your shoulders and your head. Once you?ve done it, you can keep trying to improve and do better. Keep trying to increase the number of times you can kick it, knee it, or hit it with your head without letting the soccer ball touch the ground. It?s nice because it also helps you develop your soccer skills, as well as just being something fun to do. You learn to have better ball control and when you are playing a game you can control the ball better as you are dribbling down the field or passing to your teammates. It will help you to dribble past your opponents better. When you are in a game, you also may be more likely to do a cool move or score a cool goal by hitting it off your head into the goal.

Another nice thing that you can do with a soccer ball is practice cool soccer tricks, like jump kicking it in the air. You can do a straight jump kick or a side jump kick. Or you can do one of those kicks where you jump backwards onto your back and kick the ball while you are in the air, before you hit the ground. One of my favorite tricks, that makes people think that I am good soccer player, even though I am not, is to roll the ball up the back of your leg with your other foot, and then kick the ball with your heel, from the leg the ball rolled up, so that it goes flying forward over your head. My goal is to one day score a goal by doing that trick where I kick it with my heel forward over my head, and then using my head to hit the ball in to the goal and score. Once I?ve done that, my purpose will be fulfilled.

Anyway, a soccer hobby has proven the test of time and space. Whatever country in the world you are in, you will find people playing soccer. It is the most popular sport in the world, and it doesn?t look like it is losing momentum. In fact, soccer is catching on more in the United States, where it is the less popular than in other countries. So start your soccer hobby today and get yourself a soccer ball, and start kicking it around.

This article was written by Peter Jay, owner, president, and CEO of Variety Access, Your Online Soccer Hobby Store and More. You can find soccer balls at Variety Access Sports. Just go to VarietyAccess.com/soccer-balls.php.

How To Make Money From Soccer

The world of soccer is a great niche to tap into to make money. There are a few ways to do it, and I'd like to cover 3 of them, including the technique I personally use.

I love soccer for 2 reasons. Firstly it's good fun! I love playing (I?m not that fast these days I might add!) and love watching.

Secondly I love soccer because it provides an online market which is more than willing to spend money, and in order to grab some of that money, you simply need to offer the market what it wants. The personalization of soccer shirts may be most obvious, but someone who pays for that will pay for all sorts of other stuff to be personalized.

Did you know that 'personalized soccer shirts' as a phrase is searched for online a huge amount of times each and every month? This is highly targeted traffic, because when someone types that phrase into a search engine, we know what they are after - personalized soccer shirts! We don't need to guess what they want.

So, how can we profit from this market? Firstly we can be an affiliate for a company that offers the product. The advantages are that we don't need any stock, we don't need a website, we just drive traffic to the site, and earn a commission from any sales generated. Those commissions can add up very quickly.

The only downside with this method is that you are competing with all the other affiliates - great for the company, not so good for all the affiliates!

The second method is to set up our own operation to provide personalized soccer shirts and other gear. The obvious advantage is that we get to keep all the profit, but the equally obvious disadvantage is that we have to pay out lots in advance, for the stock, website creation, traffic generation, etc, etc. That's why I wouldn't use that method.

The third method is the one I use. You don't need a website or upfront expense - in fact it can be run and maintained at zero cost. It's providing information. Information is easy to produce and distribute with today's technology. People ready to pay for personalization of soccer gear will absolutely be interested in information which tells them how to get the cost covered for free!

How about information which tells them how to earn a lot of money from the world of soccer, so they can buy as much personalization as they'd ever want! It really is a simple way to make money online, and once the work is set up, it continues to work on autopilot!

It works for me, and there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be working for you today, so hopefully I've excited you about how you can make money from the world of soccer.

I discovered How To Make Money From Sport, from a simple step by step guide that I use over and over again to profit from any sport - for just $7. Find out more at: http://www.alan-mclean.com/recommends-sport.html

Soccer Camps Go Global - Language Immersion Travel Camps Expand the World - View of Young Players

In the past twenty-five years, soccer has become the most popular youth sport in North America. Many of these young players have carried their love of the sport into adulthood, resulting in the debut of Major League Soccer, America?s first professional soccer league, in 1996.

Youth and professional soccer in the U.S. continue to grow more popular and more competitive, increasing the demand for specialized soccer training programs. Many of these programs offer training abroad as a way to tap into the fiercely competitive international soccer scene. The best of these soccer camps offer more than world-class soccer training. They foster cultural diversity, maturity, and independence in young soccer players.

Unique experience for young soccer players

Soccer camps have become available in countries around the world. Locations like Spain, France, China, Brazil, Greece, Holland, Italy and Germany have opened their doors to American soccer players. An international soccer program has recently opened in Israel as well. These international camps combine professional soccer training with a full-immersion language experience.

Camps can range from 2 weeks to several months. Young soccer players can live and train under constant supervision while learning to appreciate the unique culture of their host country.

Security: A must for travel abroad programs

If you are considering an international soccer camp for your child, safety should be a big concern. A good international soccer camp will have a clear security plan in place. In Israel, for example, EduKick students will train in safety at Kannot Youth Village, a secure, gated, educational and agricultural youth facility. Professional security will be provided 24/7 and accompany the players on all outings.

Full-immersion language instruction

The time young players spend at camp should be more than a vacation. An important part of the soccer experience abroad is learning foreign languages. Hearing and speaking another language constantly is the best way for your child to gain bi-lingual fluency. Bi-lingual instructors, competition with foreign teams, and structured language classes are integral parts of the EduKick experience.

World-class soccer training

Of course, the ultimate goal of a soccer training camp is top-notch soccer training. Look for highly-educated, experienced coaches with coaching credentials. The best coaches have experience playing at the professional level also.

The international field is highly competitive, offering a level of training that is unmatched in the U.S. When choosing an international soccer camp for your child you should accept no less than the best in soccer coaching. Look for international soccer training that focuses on strength and conditioning, technical precision, tactical development and sports psychology.

Enriching the lives of young soccer players

EduKick founders, Joseph Bilotta and Corey Zimmerman, traveled to Europe with their soccer team mates as teenagers, inspiring them to open soccer training camps all over the world as adults.

Remembering their travel abroad experience, Bilotta said, ?I remember feeling a sense of confidence upon returning home, I knew that I was wiser and it made me feel special."

EduKick international soccer training can have the same impact on the life of your child. Visit EduKick's Website today to find the perfect international soccer camp for your young player.

European Champion's League Match Day 8 - Soccer Giants Kicked Out--2

In another game worthy of attention, the under performing Bayern Munich FC team, which had slipped from first place to fifth in the German Bundesliga, overcame Europe?s most successful team, Real Madrid FC by two goals to one to edge them out of this season?s champion?s league tournament.

With Real leading by three goals to two from the first leg earlier played in Madrid, all they needed was a draw in order to qualify.

However, all their game plans were drastically altered when the Real team conceded an early goal in the tenth second of the match. The goal, which is the fastest goal in champion?s league history, came just after the match kicked off. Real found it hard to come back into the game after that, and Bayern Munich later got their second goal in the second half. Although the Real team got a late goal via a penalty by Ruud van Nistelrooy, it was not enough to get the desired result as they exited from the competition on the away goals rule.

This early exit leaves Real Madrid with only one probable trophy in view-the league trophy. However, they are currently fourth on the table and are separated by four points from the leaders. It remains to be seen if the Real team has whatit takes to beat Barcelona FC and Sevilla FC to the title, or if this will be another season without a trophy for the team, their fourth without winning any silverware.

Arsenal FC of England could only manage a draw against PSV Eindhoven of Holland on their home ground. Having lost the first leg by a lone goal, Arsenal needed an outright win in order to qualify for the quarterfinals. They scored early in the second half, only to lose their lead with just few minutes left in the match. The match ended in a draw, meaning that Arsenal lost out on a two to one goals aggregate score line. For fans of Arsenal, seeing their side crash out of three competitions in just eleven days must have been a painful blow. The club can only hope to qualify for Europe next season by placing third or fourth in the premiership.

Lyon, the dominant team in France, lost out too. They were beaten by Roma FC of Italy by two goals to nil. It was a shock result, given that the first leg ended in a draw in Rome. Given Lyon's strength, everyone expected them to beat Roma easily. The result turned out to be a disaster for them in the end.

Inter Milan FC of Italy, the runaway league leaders in Serie A, were beaten by Valencia FC of Spain on the away goals rule. Having played a two all draw in the first leg at Milan, the two teams played out a goalless draw to ensure victory for Valencia. The match would however be remembered more for the ugly fighting scenes afterwards than the match itself.

Earlier in the season, many pundits had predicted that four teams out of Inter Milan, Lyon, Arsenal, Barcelona and Real Madrid would surely feature in the semi-finals of the championship. Now, with these big teams out, it remains to be seen which of the teams left in the race will eventually lift the trophy in Athens in May. It has become really difficult to predict a winner. Or would any one reading this want to try to predict a winner?

European Champion's League Match day 8 - Soccer Giants Kicked Out

It came without warning. Many football analysts and supporters were totally taken by surprise. But by the time the matches were rounded up, some of the big teams in this year's competition had been kicked out unexpectedly.

Real Madrid FC, Barcelona FC and Arsenal FC, clubs that are football giants in Europe had all lost out to teams that they were expected to beat.

When the champion's league knockout stage draw paired Barcelona and Liverpool together, all expected an easy ride for the former. After all, they were the reigning champions, and were one of the top teams in Europe on current form. But a two to one loss right on their home soil meant that they had to win by two unreplied goals in the return leg at Liverpool. They could only manage to score a lone goal, however and that meant that they lost out on the away goals rule.

The Barcelona fans and many other football followers worldwide were stunned by this result. Many had expected the Barca team to at least reach the finals of this season?s competition. They were one of the best teams around and had given very good displays all year round. Alas, however, they had lost to a smaller club by comparison.

Although Liverpool were the European champions in 2005, no one had expected them to cause a major upset by beating Barcelona, at least on paper.

After the match, some analysts attributed the shock defeat to the recent turmoil in the team. The scorer of the lone goal at Anfield, Eidur Gudjohnssen in a press interview after the match made comments that seemed to corroborate the fact that all was not well with the team, as was being widely speculated.

Now, the Barca team can only realistically hope to aim for the Spanish league title and the King?s cup.

They still have a good shot at winning, as they are still on top of the la liga, ahead of second placed Sevilla on goals difference.

Review - Really Bend It Like Beckham - David Beckham's Official Soccer Skills

David Beckham was undoubtedly one of my favourite football player in the last decade. He launched his very first soccer skills DVD in the year 2004 and I immediately bought this DVD to give it a try.

Here's my personal review of the David Beckham's soccer skills DVD.

An attractive rectangular-shaped DVD case includes two sets of DVD; Disc 1 and Disc 2. Disc 1 covers the main programme and Disc 2 covers the extras like Behind the Scenes.

Select your favourite or weakest skill and drill through a user-friendly main menu interface.

Disc 1

The main programme shows every football skills and drills like crossing, space making skills, free kicks etc personally guided by David himself.

Basic Skills : ball control and turning skills ( e.g Cruyff Turn)

Off-the-ball skills : a) Defending skills : closing down and defending

b) Attacking skills : space making skills, forward play and working for space

Passing skills : passing and long balls ( e.g chipping)

Finishing and Set-Pieces : finishing and free kicks

All football skills are explained in greater depth and shown in step by step with slow motion. One of the 'cool' features I found in this DVD is the split screen showing both the step by step and the execution in 'real' time.

David also guide the kids with his personal experiences by encouraging them to improve their weaker foot and also the importance of first touch in a 'real' football match.

Disc 2

Special Features

Extra Footage You'll able to see what's behind the making of this DVD involving David Beckham and other crews. The kids in this DVD have a once in lifetime chance to ask questions regarding David's personal life and professional career. I personally love to watch the kids playing a football game with David. Some of it are funny and some are interesting.

Special Effects A 'cool' feature for those who likes to know more about the technology used to motion capture, time slice and slow motion effects. I found this one to be interesting because I get to study David's movement and technique in absolute detail.

David's Football Highlights Watch David Beckham's important moments for Manchester United, England and possibly in footballing history. Some of you may want to replay his goal from the half way line against Wimbledon in 1996.

DVD Rom Users are able to print out the coaching plan of the skills and drills so that you can always refer and practice.

My Recommendation

Newbies in soccer are recommended to watch this comprehensive DVD as you'll learn the skills and drills related to the actual situation in football matches and also receive useful tips from David himself.

However it lacks entertaining skills like step overs which might go against 'artistic' players. Experience players may like to reinforce certain basic skills that they're weak at. Until now I'm still watching this DVD to improve my weaker left foot.

In general, the DVD is great, user friendly along with good replay value at an affordable price.

Heikal Suhaili provide reviews on David Beckham soccer skills at http://soccerdvd.blogspot.com

Soccer is the Greatest Game

Soccer is the world game. It brings together people around the world and allows countries to settle their differences on the sporting field. It is a game that takes supreme eye and ball coordination and a superb touch and mindset to judge the correct vision of play. Although our beautiful game of soccer is being brandished by the new art of diving. This art has been successfully employed by Christiano Ronaldo and other predominantly European players especially the Italians as seen by Fabio Grosso's dive that ended Australia's world cup hopes.

Diving is not in the spirit of the game and it is faking an action that a defender has supposedly committed. Showing how diving is cheating. At world cups fifa also needs to make sure referees are not favouring the major teams to much as seen throughout the last world cup. Countries like Ukraine and Australia were constantly giving a hard time where as there big and well known opponents were shown favouritism.

Our game is great and it brings the world together but there are some terrible aspects that is bringing the beautiful and world game down. One for instance is diving and Fifa needs to start banning players doing it as it is cheating and players like Christiano Ronaldo constantly do it. Corruption is not a problem in the world game and the last step fifa have to take is to ensure the referees give small countries and large countries an equal chance at future tournaments.

Fabio Grosso should have been banned for a long time after his dive ensure Italy victory over Australia. Christiano Ronaldo needs to be penalized as well, as he does it every week and gets off usually jet free.

http://www.easychum.com/

Soccer Hobby

Soccer is one of the most popular sports, if not the most popular sport or hobby in the world. The soccer World Cup, which is the world soccer tournament that goes occurs every four years, gets more viewers than any other sporting event in the world. Soccer is such a big deal in some countries that it has caused political tensions between nations when their teams have played against each other in the World Cup. So why is soccer such a great hobby for everyone? For one thing, it does not require much equipment to play soccer, you just need a soccer ball to kick around and a couple friends, and some sort of goal that you can use to kick the ball into. The rules are rather simple and obvious, you just kick the soccer ball around and try to kick it into the other team?s goal to score, and you can?t touch the soccer ball with your hands.

Kicking a soccer ball around is something that can be addicting and you can spend hours and hours doing it without getting bored. You can do different tricks with your like dribbling and or seeing how many times you can kick the soccer ball without letting it hit the ground. You can practice tricks like the bicycle where you jump and kick it sideways or kick it in the air while falling onto your back. You can do that one trick where you roll the ball with one foot onto the back of your other leg and then use that other leg to kick it forward, from behind, over your head; that?s one of my favorites. It makes people think I am a good soccer player when I do that one, even though I am not.

One nice thing about soccer or a soccer hobby is that it definitely keeps you in shape with all of that running you have to do, and you have to be in pretty good shape to do well at soccer. Playing soccer is not like a light jog where you can just take it easy the whole time. You are at a full, dead sprint over and over. It?s fun too, so it doesn?t feel like you are just working out, you are playing a game instead. The last soccer team I played on was an indoor soccer team. I thought I was in shape, but then I could only last for a couple minutes before I had to take a breather, each time I went in.

One of my earliest memories of playing soccer was when I was on a little league soccer team as a kid. I was playing defense and all I did was kick the ball as hard as I could to the other end of the field every time it came to me. I also remember afterwards, I ate a piece of chocolate candy with the wrapper still on it. I didn?t swallow it, but it made me sick and had to quit dribbling my soccer ball on the way home from the soccer game, while I puked because the feeling in my mouth was so disgusting. I think my body was worked up from the sprinting in the soccer game as well and my stomach was tight. It still makes me sick to think about that experience all of these years later. But I sure had fun as a kid playing on my soccer team and had a lot of good experiences. I also still have a lot of good memories from my soccer days as a kid. It was fun being the center of attention as I kicked the ball around each time it came to me. I wasn?t that good though, and I played defense, so I usually just gave the soccer ball a nice boot to the other side of the field each time it came to me.

There are a lot of drills you can do with a soccer balls, just on your own to become a better soccer player. You can just practice dribbling, as mentioned above, where you just kick the soccer ball back and forth between your legs as you run. Once you get good at dribbling the soccer ball, you can show it off when you play games, but dribbling the soccer ball and cutting past people. Or, you can practice kicking and aiming the soccer ball at a certain point on a wall or practice kicking it into the goal or passing with the side of you foot, so you can get your aim better and score more goals when you play. You can dribble the soccer ball with your feet while weaving through cones. You can practice heading the soccer ball and aiming with your head. For some reason soccer player?s favorite thing to do is hit the soccer ball with their heads.

This article was written by Peter Jay, Owner, President, and CEO of Variety Access, Your Online Hobby Store and More! For more information about Soccer and Soccer Balls, please visit Variety Access at VarietyAccess.com/soccer.php

Soccer Uniform - Colors In Play

Nothing is more important for a soccer fan, than his team's colors and badge. In the soccer uniform, the club's badge is on the chest, placed close to the heart.

In the nineteenth century, soccer uniforms had long sleeved shirts and they used knickerbockers that covered the knees in place of the shorts used today, and long socks.

When television was black and white, the color of the soccer uniforms were very important, when one team played in light uniforms the other team had to play in dark. In this way, viewers could tell which team was which, and also the players were able to tell where their team mates were on the field. The basic soccer uniform is made up of shirts (jerseys), shorts, socks and shoes.

The goalkeeper has a slightly different uniform from the rest of the team; the jersey has to be a different color as he is the only one allowed to use his hands in the game. The difference in the goalkeeper's uniform is necessary so that viewers and players can easily recognize which player he is. The goalkeepers usually use special gloves for defending the ball.

The referee and his assistants also need different colour uniforms so that they aren't mistaken for any other player in the field. Players also use protections such as shin pads which can also be included as part of the uniform.

Before uniforms were made of heavy material, when wet with sweat or rain, they would stick to the player's body. Nowadays, soccer uniforms are made from light synthetic material that doesn't stick when wet and doesn't weigh as much as the old uniforms.

The design of the soccer uniforms was quite different in the old days compared to today?s design. The shirts had a collar similar to a polo shirt, with laces or buttons on them. In the more modern uniforms the collars are something like modern T-shirts. The shorts today are very different from the ones used in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, quite shorter and much lighter than before. The socks are quite the same today, but some socks have a few details like lines, the club badge or name.

Today, there are quite a few famous uniforms, like the Brazilian national team, which are famous all over the world, especially among the youngsters. The use of these uniforms as a marketing strategy has become quite common and pretty effective, with sponsors on club or national uniforms.

The amount of official replica soccer uniforms sold is quite big due to marketing campaigns, the passion of the fans towards their national team or the club they support. The uniform manufacturers also use the name of famous players to sell more. Names like Ronaldinho, Beckham, and Zidane are very much used so that more and more uniforms are sold.

The clubs invest highly in marketing their own brand name and their players' names as a way of popularizing the brand and the club or national team. Some clubs and national teams make special editions of their uniforms for important games or anniversaries.

The use of soccer uniforms in marketing has helped the main brands of sports clothes and these uniforms, especially the jerseys are used by young people to go out to parties, going to shopping centres and even on dates.

Get all the latest in Soccer know how from the one and only true source at http://www.SoccerDetails.com Be sure to check our soccer uniform page.