USSDA Winter Showcase 2009

The Third Annual U.S. Soccer Development Academy Winter Showcase gets underway tomorrow, December 4, in Phoenix, AZ. The Development Academy has evolved over the past three years and this event will be no different.

The 2007 Spring Showcase in Rockford, IL is the standard by which I will continue to compare, but as I built our itinerary this event seems to have it all... meaningful meetings, coaching education, exposure to the U-17 National Teams, every game scouted by the U.S. Soccer scout and the most college coaches of any soccer event in the country.

The event isn't perfect though. In fact, the players will miss too much school over the next few days at a time that couldn't be worse. The Federation has agreed to work better to create a schedule in the future that at least saves us one day at the 2010 Winter Showcase. We have built 3 different mandatory study hall periods into the schedule this weekend.

The player's focus will obviously be their three matches across four days. The day off will be spent with recovery, study hall, and the NIKE Soccer + Master Control program.

"See how you rate against other USSDA players by taking the Cesc Fabregas challenge. Trial the Nike CTR 360 Maestri boot and receive a unique code (typically only available with CTR360 Maestri boot purchase) to download exclusive Nike Elite Training Control Camp on Nikesoccer.com."

As a group we'll be able to watch the U-17 MNT Portgual v Netherlands and U-17 MNT USA v Netherlands. Its a tremendous opportunity for our players and coaches. The player lounge is available with FREE Gatorade for all and X-Box FIFA 2010.

For the first time at a Showcase, the coaching schedule is rather extensive. Our coaches will attend the following sessions at different times over the weekend:

• Developing an Elite Training Session (classroom)
• NIKE Soccer + Master Control (field)
• SPARQ Speed, Power and Agility for Soccer (field)
• Translating an Elite Training Session from Paper to Practice (field)

My schedule is completely filled. Obviously, my focus will be our games. This is my first event going to sit in the second chair for both games, something I am looking forward to. I am responsible for the SPARQ warm-up for the teams in each game and providing input and feedback to the coaches. I will scout our third opponent while Marc is scouting our second.

Additionally, I will attend a classroom session on Developing an Annual Training Plan (Note: the Ohio Elite SA Annual Training Plan is published on the U-15/16 OESA-NWC and U-17/18 OESA team pages.) and SPARQ Soccer Forum.

I have organized a meeting with the Midwest Pre-Academy League teams this weekend to finalize our spring schedules. More on the Pre-Academy League after the meeting, but these are the teams involved - most of whom have not put their top U-14 & U-15 teams in the MRL - Ohio Elite SA, Crew Soccer Academy, Indiana United (fka: Carmel), Vardar, Derby Country Wolves, Internationals, Chicago Magic, Sockers FC, Chicago Fire and FC Milwaukee. This league will again provide our younger teams with the most competitive opportunities of any club in Cincinnati.

I'll be tweeting regularly this weekend. For a behind the scenes look and updates follow me at www.twitter.com/mikecullina

Want to learn more about the Development Academy and its future at Ohio Elite SA? Which rumors are true and which are not? Put February 21 on your calendar for a 'U.S. Soccer Development Academy Town Hall' with U.S. Soccer Full-time Technical Director for the Central Conference Louis Mateus.

CNY United FC Joins Empire United Soccer Academy

CNY United FC Joins Empire United Soccer Academy

In the past year Ohio Elite SA has reached out to area clubs to work together to field one USSDA team representative of the city of Cincinnati per the growing trend around the country instead of the typical youth soccer politics that benefit no one. We are very pleased to be working with Northern Warren County and look forward to future relationship for the benefit of the game, its players and its coaches.

Well Done Rochester/Syracuse!

www.twitter.com/mikecullina

2009 Fall Season

With Labor Day now behind us we look forward to the rhythm of the Fall season. While I enjoy coaching the older players, the fall season is the best time of the year for a full-time coach charged with player development. The fall brings fewer distractions, a longer season, better weather (except daylight issues), and a much better training:games ratio.

U.S. Soccer Staff Coach Roberto Lopez has already visited twice and is set for a third in October when we host the USSF "C" License re-test. His first visit on August 25 was aimed at evaluating our academy training program and providing feedback to our players and staff. It was invaluable! On his return yesterday, he was able to work with our top training pool and then review the changes we made to improve the product. Just getting another set of respected eyes to provide feedback to me and our staff is huge, but when you consider it comes from a full-time U.S. Soccer Staff Coach, who worked with the U-14 BNT and will be in Florida later this month to work with the U-17 BNT we couldn't be luckier.

Beginning this fall we have implimented true academy training with 2 program enhancements - the Tuesday Academy Night and Open Training.

Tuesday Academy Night
We bring in invited U-10's and all the U-11 through U-14 players and coaches for a 2-hour session. Players are put in training pools that change every two weeks based on several criteria. We have players training up/down age groups and later in the season will look at adding positional play (U-13 & U-14 primarily) to the criteria. The academy training is based on developing the individual player. We use the other 2-3 days of training to develop the player within a team concept.

(Note: I made a comment in an earlier blog that I believe high school freshmen shouldn't play Varsity soccer and that has some how been spun to say I don't believe in kids playing up when in fact the opposite is true. A 14 or 15 year old boy playing and more importantly socializing with 17 and 18 year men is a far different argument than a kid playing up a year or even two.)

Open Training
When I first arrived at OE I told the parents that our training sessions, except the Development Academy, are open to all players provided both coaches are notified. I re-iterated that policy this season and we are seeing many more players take advantage of it. Personally, I'd like to train 4 days/week, but the reality is a majority of families have lives outside of soccer that would make it improbable. With the rule of 10,000 (it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something) in mind we don't want to hold the those kids who want the additional training back. We now have a couple dozen players who have trained or regularly train an additional day with another team. An additional 90-minute session each week over the course of a 12-week season is an additional 18 hours of training.

Welcome Back!!

The kids going back to school tomorrow officially signals the beginning of the fall in the Cullina household. We took to summer off from blogging and tweeting, but with us now completely immersed in the fall season both are back to keep both our membership and those of you interested in the goings on at Ohio Elite informed.

The Ohio Elite Facebook page now boasts 181 fans and will soon feature more posts and discussions in our discussion forum. We will monitor the discussion board to ensure posters are identified with legitimate FB accounts/names as well as to be actively involved in the discussion and answer questions posted on the discussion board.

Both myself and Tim have created personal twitter accounts (we welcome any pressure placed on Doug to do the same). After deleting all the spam followers, OE Twitter currently has 94 followers. (If we have mistakenly blocked you, please send me an email.) Expect regular tweets again starting this week. We are transitioning the @ohioelite account to post club-wide information. Follow me directly @mikecullina.

A Look Inside from Nationals - Part 1 Preparation

I wanted to provide a view of nationals from a coaches perspective. What were we thinking about? What were the challenges? How did we approach each game. This is a technical look at my experience from nationals and the preparation leading up to nationals. I apologize ahead of time for the length, but I want to give some detail.

When we were U14 and made it to nationals I don't think we understood what we were there for. When I say that I don't mean just the players. I include myself in that statement. Oh yes, not only have the players learned along the way, the coach has too. What we learned is that you have to be willing to change and adapt. Most of all we learned that every game will provide a significant challenge. Arriving again at U18 was awesome. The players knew exactly what we were there to do.

Background Factors Leading Into Nationals

Systems of Play - In 90% of our games a 3 forward system is best for us. Most teams have struggled to deal with our pressure in that system. At the highest level we know that there are teams that can deal with our pressure so we have opted for a more defensive approach in those games. Anyone that has ever seen us play knows that we are an attacking team, but I have learned that at the top level you just can't concede goals and win. Games and opponents dictate the system. We try to play the system that can make us successful against a given opponent. For example, against Minnesota Thunder in the regional semi-final we knew from experience that they struggled with our 3 forwards and did not have overly dangerous attacking individuals so we played 3-4-3. The result ended 5-0 in our favor. In the regional final against Michigan Hawks we knew it would be a more defensive game and they were talented in attack so we played 4-2-3-1. The result ended 1-0 in our favor. We certainly have systems that we are more comfortable in than others, but we set it up based on the circumstances. I have asked the team to play many systems over the past few years so we are comfortable in most. More importantly we have the talented players to fit most any system.

Substitutions - One of the biggest strengths of our team is that we have 20 very capable players. In the past I have tightened our rotation in big games. I think that has hurt us at times. I have put a lot of faith in our bench this year and it has paid off. In every game at regionals all field players that dressed played a part in every game. Many big games this year have been decided by players off of our bench. The season is very long and demanding. I credit our bench for a great deal of our success this year. We weren't about to change our thinking leading up to nationals.

20 Players Means 2 Sit - The hardest part of regionals and nationals was the knowledge that if we stayed healthy 2 players would not be able to dress for each game. Having 20 players has been great for training and cover throughout the season, but with every player fit to play it was very hard. These decisions were based on current form, opponent, chosen system of play and other factors. Examples of other factors were the possibility of going to penalties, getting players rest, etc... Emotion is not involved in these decisions. As a coach they are the toughest decisions, but also your responsibility. When you have 20 very capable players it's even harder. If I had it to do over again I would take 20 players on the team. The reality is all of these players will face fierce competition at the college level. We have and will continue to create the most competitive environment possible.

Distractions - With these players going off to college we never had everyone at training in the 3 weeks leading up to nationals. Many players had to go to summer school, college camps and college orientation. There is much planning that also goes into going to nationals. Hotels, transportation, meetings, media obligations and meals. I just try to shield the players as much as possible from any outside distractions. It is tough. You try to keep things as normal as possible. All the parents, siblings and grandparents are there as well they should be. Fortunately we qualified for the final after our second game which allowed some free time for the players and their families. It is a delicate balance between preparing properly and enjoying the experience. It's an art, not a science.

Coming soon...Part 2 - The Games at Nationals

Misinformation Rules the Day...

We live in a world where facts sometimes mean little and people are left to sift through what is real and what is not. Youth soccer mirrors the world I am speaking of and sometimes is worse. Misinformation, propaganda and spin continue to attempt to mislead people in the world of youth soccer. This is most definitely the case in our community.

It's gone even farther these days. There is an obvious and very calculated effort to cause confusion by spreading misinformation. It is one thing to have an opinion about something. It is very different to present misinformation as fact. Making statements like Ohio Elite is getting kicked out of the U.S. Development Academy is irresponsible and without basis. Claiming Ohio Elite does not support high school soccer and threatens our players into playing for our fall team is another example of what I am talking about. Worse yet is speculating on the future employment of people who have chosen soccer as their profession. Finally, the lowest of the low are those who talk directly about individual kids. Those who make these type of statements should be embarrassed by this behavior.

Many of the people making these statements hide in anonymity on message boards and public forums. These forums can be a great avenue for discussion. They can also be destructive. Their presence will continue to allow gutless anonymous posters to recklessly spread information about organizations and individuals that is far from true. It empowers those who have no real voice in the soccer community. Unfortunately it also overshadows the posters that understand the real intention of these forums which I believe is healthy opinion and discussion.

I have always had the utmost respect for the people and organizations who work hard making their product the best it can be. I try to have a policy of not talking about other organizations and focus on what I think is great about what we do. I also know that Ohio Elite is not for everyone. That's perfectly okay. Bottom line is that if you do a great job your players will stay and new players will come, period. I think that we are very successful in that regard and I also think there are other organizations out there doing a great job.

When selecting a team and club for your child I encourage you to do your homework. Beware of those who bash others. They are often afraid you will find out the truth. Like the opinions in this blog or not at least you know who they are coming from.

Understanding the Club's role in Player Development

I am often asked about the Development Academy and Elite Clubs National League. Certainly the top players should be in these leagues, but as important as playing in the league is the question of why Ohio Elite is the only member of either and the only NIKE Premier Club in Cincinnati .

Is it our Infrastructure? Coaching? Connections? Politics? Knowledge of the various processes? The simple answer is yes and it is equally important to consider when determining the club your child should play for. Tim is on the US Club BOD, Doug is the V.P. of the ECNL and I was an original member of the MRL Commission (all volunteer positions btw). These are not coincidence.

While training and coaching are the most important and the best parts of our job we spend an equal amount of time away from the field ensuring these opportunities for our players. When proper programming doesn't exist, Tim, Doug and myself have a proven record of helping to create them. The EPL was the first league in Cincinnati to have small-sided games while myself and other area directors worked with other league administrators to adopt it a year later.

Ohio Elite was the only club in Cincinnati to apply for the Development Academy when U.S. Soccer announced it was accepting applications during the spring of 2007. While other clubs made the decision not to apply (I personally made such a decision) or took a wait and see approach, Ohio Elite was once again the leader with its acceptance into a League. U.S. Soccer continues to show a commitment to the inaugural clubs and accepted only 5 clubs out of a pool of 250 applicants for year number three.

There are many qualified trainers in Cincinnati, each with his/her own strengths, but clubs have a responsibility to its membership off the field to help create the right environment for its players on the field. The game is evolving with technical people having a greater influence in policies and programming. In a two-week period in the middle of May, Tim, Doug and I were involved in nearly 30 conference calls and meetings - local, regional and national - directly related to League play and programming.

Membership in these Leagues and the opening of the new 30-acre facility confirm Ohio Elite's commitment toward meeting ALL the demands of players development.

Too Much Emphasis on State Cup

As I sat through, and ran between State Cup games this weekend I started thinking about the State Cup tournament. Specifically as it relates to what we do at Ohio Elite or more importantly what we are trying to do. My main thought was how much emphasis is put on State Cup. Of course we all want to win and be successful, but is a one and out tournament like State Cup really a good gauge of success?

I say this after we advanced six teams to the final weekend on the girls side second only to OP who has seven. Next closest Cincinnati club was CUP with four. Having said that, isn't a greater indicator of success a team competition that lasts over an extended period of time like the Midwest Regional League or the new Elite Clubs National League. This is where you play the top competition in the region and nation everytime out. Our U18 girls won MRL for the fifth time and the U15 and U16 girls still have a legitimate chance at the wild-card to regionals.

Individually, I look at the kids we have going to the next level (college/pro) as an indicator. I am happy to say every one of our U18 players (Academy and Gold) is going to play in college. Now that's something to be proud of. How are our players doing when they leave us for college, high school and US National Team duty? We have seen great success from Ohio Elite girls players in all of these arenas.

Unfortunately, we do and probably will continue to live in a world of youth soccer that rewards short term success and often fails to see the big picture. Good luck to all of our teams this weekend in the State Cup semi-finals and finals. We will be working as hard as we can to win as many as we can, but it won't be the end of the world if we don't.

U.S. Soccer Delays U-14 Development Academy League

In a conference call on April 23, U.S. Soccer announced that it will not launch a Development Academy League for the U-14 age group in 2009-10. While disappointed, we certainly appreciate that it should not launch the league if there are still important logistical issues that could not be addressed in the appropriate amount of time to allow clubs to enter the tryout cycle. (Several clubs have already had tryouts for the 2009-10 year.)

The Northeast and Southeast have decided to move forward with a U.S. Club Soccer Pre-Academy League this fall and several clubs in our Region are interested in discussing the concept. The Columbus Crew has taken the lead on the project for our Region and we have expressed our interest in the discussion. Depending on who joins the League travel will be very similar to the Midwest Regional League - Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Columbus - with travel outside the Region for tournaments only, not League games.

At this time, we have decided to reserve a decision regarding the program pending further discussion. While I believe that programming for high school freshmen capable of playing at the level of the Academy should exist, I have reservation about taking that stand for the 2009-10 year without legitimate support from enough capable players and other clubs to make the programming worth their while.

The majority of high school freshmen should play high school soccer. This would be for serious soccer players ONLY and those with a long-term goal of playing in the full U.S. Soccer Development Academy.


More to come...

Swine Flu Affects Development Academy

After careful consideration and after several conversations with U.S. Soccer and the Columbus Crew it was with little hesitation that we have decided to cancel our trip to San Antonio and Austin to play Lonestar and Classic Elite in U.S. Soccer Development Academy matches this weekend.

U.S. Soccer fully supported the collective decision made by Ohio Elite and the Columbus Crew who is our travel partner in the Development Academy.

The uncertainty regarding the threat of the Swine Flu outbreak in Texas as well as the actions of local officials to close several schools and cancel all school athletics until May 11 weighed heavily in our decision. The risks of going far outweighed the cancellation fees assessed by the airlines and any logistical inconvenience.

Become a FAN of Ohio Elite on Facebook

In recognition of the growing trend of social networking, Ohio Elite Soccer Academy has created a profile on Facebook. Facebook is recognized as the largest social networking website in the world. To become a fan of Ohio Elite go to www.facebook.com or link from our website at www.ohioelite.com.

Dealing with Players Returning from Injury Responsibly

It is a fact of life that players will suffer injuries during the course of a season. With limited roster sizes and a crowded schedule of games coaches can feel pressure to rush players back to playing. It can be difficult to watch your teams struggle when the addition of a couple of key players out injured could make the world of difference.

I come at this strictly from a coaches perspective. I have played and coached at the college and youth level and have gained some experience on this subject. I have had short-term and long-term injuries myself. I have also talked to doctors, trainers and players about injuries and how to deal with players returning from them. I try to have an in or out policy. If you can participate in training you can do so at 100% with no restrictions. If you can not participate at 100% with no restrictions you should be limited to running or work on the side if permitted. For me there is no "I can play for 10 minutes" or at 50%, etc...

I look at injuries in two catagories.

1. Short-term Injuries - strains, sprains, mild concussions, etc...

2. Long-term Injuries - broken bones, ligament tears and other serious physical injuries

In the case of short-term injuries I have found that when a player feels 100% they should wait another week or two before they enter training. When first coming back players from muscle strains, sprains and mild concussions players will feel good, but need that additional week or two to help combat a re-aggravation of the injury. It is important that the player gets meaningful full speed training in before returning to game action.

In the case of long-term injuries it is important that you require the player to train for 4-6 weeks at 100% with no restrictions before introducing them into a game situation. This is for physical and mental reasons. Cleared does not mean ready to play. Cleared means ready to return to training. Players should look comfortable and confident before playing in a game. When dealing with female players, ACL and serious knee injuries are a major issue. Re-injury happens, but can be minimized by a proper plan in integrating the player back into your team.

It is the responsibility of coaches in the case of both types of injuries to look out for the long-term well being of the player and not the short-term gain of the team. Finally, I encourage players to be responsible and mature enough to be honest about their injuries and their ability to play at 100%. Unfortunately, sometimes as coaches all we have is the word of the player and the parents to make our decision.

Spring Training

Although the month of Spring Break is for the most part over, the season of rain continues. The past few weeks have been about combining sessions and coordinating with other training groups to make training meaningful for those in attendance.

We are cautious when deciding when to have training and when to cancel. The facility is less than a year into use and is still a work in progress. We also haven't gone through a spring season before so we are learning just how quickly the fields drain. (Btw, it appears as though they drain very quickly, almost too quickly actually.)

That said, our ultimate goal and responsibility is training. Because training is the priority, we will only cancel early in the day when we know the fields will be closed due to an accumulation of rain or a relatively certain forecast that includes dangerous weather. We will often make decisions at the field when weather is predicted, but hasn't yet impacted the fields. On these days we ask that parents remain available in case we end training early due to lightning.

Please continue to check the weather line each and every day during the Spring. DO NOT rely on the Club-wide calling system as your only source for knowing when practice is canceled.

Creating a Culture...

I frequently evaluate and evolve the way we approach things with our teams and our players. When we approach a process of development we prioritize the entities that exist within our club in order of importance.

1. Player
2. Club
3. Team

With this in mind I have come to the conclusion that we are required to challenge our players based on their individual ability. Those challenges may be technical, tactical, physical, mental, social or as leaders. We must create a culture in which our top players set the standard. We must first identify top players that need more than what their team can provide. Then we must provide those top players unique training and competition options. We will continue to achieve this in a number of ways moving forward.

• Offer top players the opportunity to train with older high level teams within the club.
• Offer top players the opportunity to guest play with older high level teams within the club.
• Roster top younger players on older teams.
• Introduce Elite Player Training Program in which top 18-20 player in U11-U14 age groups and U15-U18 age groups come to together to train one time per week. We will also look to have these players play together at a tournament/showcase during the season.

These concepts can only help these players. In addition, they help all of our players by setting a clear standard. It is my hope that this will also motivate other players to strive for these opportunities.

I sat this weekend watching Manchester United v. Aston Villa. Frederico Macheda a Manchester United 17 year old came on to score the game winner in this crucial EPL match. Every first team opportunity can only help this youngster understand what is required to be successful. In the future this young man may star for Manchester United or another club. After the game the Manchester United Manager, Alec Ferguson noted that over 60 players from their youth program have gone on to play for various clubs in English professional leagues. Not a bad track record in teaching young player to be professionals.

Although we are not dealing with young professional players we must continue to challenge our players with unique opportunities.

Blogging from Ohio Elite

This blog was originated about a year ago as a means to communicate our philsophy and highlight Ohio Elite Soccer Academy to our membership and the soccer community. Its important to self-evaluate and toward that end Doug and I have agreed on the following adaptation of this blog.

• We aspire to post a new blog each week, alternating every other. (Doug's up next week!)
• As a general rule we will shorten our blogs to make for an easier read for our readers
• We will allow reader comments, but only after reviewing them and without apology eliminating those that lack a certain decorum and signature (no anonimous posts here)
• While the Development Academy and Elite Clubs National League are unique to Ohio Elite, we aim to provide a broad range of topics from the entire club

Time to Run Again...

In 2007, we established the Donna Vinson Memorial Scholarship. The idea came to me first and foremost to make sure her daughter Sarah had her fees taken care of until she left Ohio Elite. The idea grew into a scholarship fund that could help families in need play for Ohio Elite. I added my love for running and found that others had the same love and/or the desire to honor Donna Vinson. The 2007 Cleveland Marathon was a great success. My worst time ever, but one of my most satisfying races. Then I decided I would run a race every year for this cause. Last year it was the 112th Boston Marathon on April 21, 2008. Running last year in Boston in her honor most certainly pushed me a little more around mile 20 when I started to hurt and complain, something Donna or Sarah would never do. Like Sarah I simply put my head down and pushed to the end.

This year I approached Sarah about running a race with me. We chose the 32nd Heart Mini-Marathon in Cincinnati on March 29, 2009. Although I am not certain Sarah is thrilled to be running a 15k (no soccer player really likes to run unless they are chasing a ball), she wants to play a part in advancing this cause. That's just the kind of kid she is. All class.

It feels strange to bring this cause to light every year because Donna and the Vinson Family would never want to be in the spot light. They are the picture of hard working, dedicated and humble people. I get the feeling that they may even be embarrassed by the small attention this brings their way. In fact, I never really asked them if it was okay to establish this scholarship in Donna's name. I think maybe they would have said no. That fact gave me and others every reason to do it.

For those who knew Donna they knew a very positive woman who loved to watch the 90/91 Ohio Elite Girls' (then U11 and U12) play. She made it out when she could after she became ill when Sarah was 12. She was a great support as is her husband Todd. They were the perfect soccer parent's as far as I am concerned. They supported Sarah, the team and the club to the utmost. They always seem to put Sarah ahead of anything else. She was at every practice, game and tournament we ever had. Donna and Todd made sure of that.

Then there is Sarah. The kid just finds a way to make an impact on our team. She says little, but she doesn't need to say anything. Her actions speak for her. I truly believe that Sarah would do anything to help her team be successful and she has. She always put the team ahead of herself. Like a lot of players she has had her ups and downs through the developmental process. In the tough times she always put her head down and worked harder to sort it out. She has been the definition of a team player. In the good times she was simply our most valuable asset. The best story I can tell is Sarah asking me recently if it was okay to go to a Christian Camp this past summer prior to our playing in regionals. She promised she would run every day and be well prepared, but she thought the camp would be a great experience. Imagine my surprise given Sarah has never asked for any special consideration. She didn't need to ask this time either.

Most of you who read this don't know Donna or Sarah. But for every reason the Vinson Family would prefer not to have the attention there is every reason to hold them up as an example.
I hope that many will find in their hearts to support this cause. Most of all I know Donna and Sarah would be happy to have their family name attached to something that helps kids play soccer. For more information about the Donna Vinson Memorial Scholarship go to http://www.ohioelite.com/.

Sarah an I are off for a run!

-Doug

Ohio Elite College Showcase - A Behind the Scenes Look

After two very long and quite stressful weekends on the OE College Showcase Tournament I thought it may be interesting reading to get a behind the the scenes look at everything that went into the event.

First and foremost, our volunteer base at Ohio Elite is incredible. We implemented a policy that each family must volunteer 10 hours across the year, but it still impresses me how the membership stepped up to make the event a huge success. On the two weekends we had nearly 300 volunteer slots that were filled. It was cold and yet our volunteers, including my wife who took two shifts at Turpin, braved the temperatures admirably.

On behalf of the Directors, THANK YOU!!

My first official event as a member of Ohio Elite was the 2008 Men's weekend. I knew at that time that I wanted a larger role in the men's weekend itself, but had no idea I would assume the role of Tournament Director for the club as a whole.

Nick Flohre was our Tournament Director, but when he assumed a larger role in the facility the time he was able to commit to the various events was limited. Doug, Tim and I discussed it and I assumed the role. There wasn't a series of meetings or discussion at the board level. We just decided what needed to be done and we did it. In fact, I'm not even sure if all our board members know I am the Tournament Director.

I tell that story because it relates directly to the event itself and how we handle various decisions within the event.

The most difficult part of the team selection and scheduling process is avoiding coaching conflicts. We had planned on identifying facilities for each age group/level to make it easier for college coaches to find the appropriate groups for them. Unfortunately, in order to help coaches of multiple teams, we had to move teams to other sites. Town & Country was the only facility where with the exception of 1 game on Friday night of the girls event we held true to our plans.

Our tournament committee does a great job of handling volunteers, hospitality and registration making it much easier to handle the other areas of need. I greatly appreciate everyone's role within the committee.

We have two challenges in the event, both of which are largely out of our control: (1) college coach attendance, (2) weather.

The women's event was very well attended by college coaches with overflow seating in the T&C observation area for most of the event as well as college coaches traveling to other sites. The men's coaching list increased from a year ago, but with fewer schools combined with a later and more defined recruiting calendar attendance was less than the women. That said, it is the player's responsibility to communicate with coaches regarding their schedule. Simply attending a Showcase does not necessarily lead to getting recruited. Too few clubs educate their families on their role in the recruiting process. If you are good and you do the work, coaches will see you play.

As a side note, one of the concerns with the Development Academy is the opportunity to attend Showcases and get exposure for our players. Most forward-thinking Showcase events (e.g. CASL, Disney, Dallas Cup) have reached out to the Development Academy and received approval for DA teams to attend. Others have simply allowed league matches to be played in conjunction with the event as a win-win for the teams and the event itself. (OE hosted 4 matches at the OE Showcase, Carmel will host 4 at the Crossroads, Strikers will host 4 at the Jeff Cup, Sockers will host 4 at the NIKE Showcase, Surf hosted several at the Surf Cup, etc...).

By having the event the last two weekends in February, weather is certainly a challenge. (It shocks me that teams would register for an event and then complain of the cold. ITS FEBRUARY, of course its going to be cold.) Cincinnati is blessed with many turf fields. It also appears to often be on the lower edge on inclement weather patterns.

The last few days leading up to the event are the most stressful. Once the event kicks off you hope its boring for the Directors of the event. The 2008 event was battered with snow and ice. On the Monday leading into the 2009 women's event the forecast wasn't much better. It improved as the week went along, but as late as Friday morning there was still some doubt about getting the games played. I received multiple phone calls from teams expecting the event to be canceled, but we weren't going to cancel because it might snow.

As the event got underway, the forecast seemed to improve every hour. From a 100% chance of 2-3 inches by 8am on Saturday to scattered snow on Saturday evening. Here is a timeline of weather v. decisions.

Girls Weekend

• Friday, 10pm - weather for Saturday morning looks promising, no reason for change
• Saturday, 5am - radar looks clear, temperatures cooperate, game on
• Saturday, 10am - radar remains remarkably clear
• Saturday, 1pm - light rain begins, temperature begin to fall
• Saturday, 4pm - cold and wet (this was probably the worst of the weekend)
• Saturday, 5pm - changes to snow (reports from UC, Madeira of field concerns), send Marc Sabin to Madeira, Fred Lee is at UC, Tim Lesiak is at Anderson HS
• Saturday, 6:30pm - close Maderia, last two games canceled, Anderson continues play in snow (coaches and players had a blast), UC shortens games as water begins to ice over, Sumitt's last game completed (don't have access to lights on weekends), all other fields remain playable
• Saturday, 9pm - reschedule two games from Saturday, affecting 10 games in total to get 2 played
• Saturday, 10pm - field inspections, Tim and I went to every site to assess the damage for Sunday morning. It is hard to explain what we saw. For example, Town & Country was completely clear, while Anderson only 7 miles away was unplayable for Sunday. Sumitt had 2-3 inches of snow on it while Walnut Hills, just a couple miles away was clear. Xavier - clear, UC - unplayable due to ice
• Sunday, 12am - field inspections complete: unplayable - UC, Anderson, Madeira, Summit; questionable - Turpin, Princeton, Walnut Hills; playable - Town & Country, Xavier, Withrow

Here is the difficult part. Anderson and Turpin had plans in place to clear the fields to make them playable so they were essentially in the playable column, but we didn't know how long it would take (i.e. if the 8am games were a go). Btw, the people of Anderson and Turpin HS were the absolute best to work with. They had people on site, concessions were open and they cleared the fields to allow the event to continue.

We knew we had 3 fields that were unplayable, but I decided not to make a backup plan at that time and contact the teams because the forecast made it impossible to predict any other changes. Staying up another couple hours to make a plan that was likely to change was pointless when we expected there would be much work to do in the morning. We simply didn't know what to expect over the next few hours.

• Sunday, 4:45am - conference call with Tim and Doug. The radar looked OK, but we had serious concern over the temperatures. A decision simply couldn't be made until we revisited the fields and checked the temperature first hand
• Sunday, 5:15am - Doug, Tim, Nick and I dispatched to various fields to check the condition and decide on the temps. UC and Madeira were already eliminated. Sumitt was checked again, but also eliminated. Tim drew short straw and went to Princeton
• Sunday, 5:45am - heavy snow begins to fall, confirmation that crews were dispatched to clear Anderson. Turpin needs a quick brush to remove loose ice. The field was playable, but we were concerned for the safety of the player is she fell and hit some of the ice. Princeton closed due to snow accumulations
• Sunday, 6:30am - estimates on Anderson for 10am, Turpin for 12pm. First update to the weather hot line of a delay
• Sunday, 7:15am - the four of us stood at Xavier and watched it snow. Accumulations were well over an inch and the entire event was threatened
• Sunday, 7:45am - Hot line updated later than expected due to rapid change in field conditions at Xavier. Snow ended (we were probably 20 minutes at most away from cancelling the entire day) Xavier closed, remarkably this was the one field we were confident would be playable the night before. Even more remarkable, Walnut Hills and Withrow (each less than a few miles away) confirmed as open and playable. Town & Country confirmed playable. Estimates on Anderson moved to 8:30am, Turpin, 9:30am. Games at Town & Country, Walnut, Withrow to start at 8am. All games moved to 50 minutes.

This moment was the reason we decided not to communicate with the teams the night before, especially since we really didn't have good answers. By doing so, I believe we would have created more confusion and not been able to get teams to the appropriate fields to begin play. While it wasn't the most convenient for the teams, it was much easier to communicate through the field marshal to get them to another facility when they were already out of the hotel and ready to play than to get them together from the hotel to the site. That decision helped us get the day started on time and get all the games in.

• Sunday, 8:00am - Teams from Xavier and UC sent to T&C to play at 9am. Summit sent to Walnut. Princeton sent to Withrow. Madeira to Anderson. Teams at Anderson to start as soon as field playable. Teams at Turpin on delay until 10am.
• Sunday, 8:10am - Arrived at T&C to complete schedule. Internet access through Verizon inexplicably unavailable. Timing couldn't have been worse as we were unable to use the email and text functions within Soccer Scheduler to communicate directly with the teams. The 9:40am teams were most affected because the communication timeline was off by about a 1/2 hour. We relied on the Internet and should have had a few extra people available to contact teams directly via phone. (This was something that was addressed for the boys weekend and now part of our "emergency plan" for future events.)
• Sunday, 9:20am - Schedules finally posted, final hot line update made
• Sunday, various - four teams forfeited their game - 2 from Dynamo, 1 from FC Pride and 1 from Indianapolis Premier. One of our teams, a team from Columbus, one from Cleveland and one from Wisconsin affected.

Tim had an 8am game at Withrow and decided to stay between that site and Walnut Hills for the day. It allowed him the opportunity to talk with coaches from other teams a be the face of the club while Doug, Marc and I sorted out the schedules and communications. Nick was dispatched to get referee monies to the appropriate fields with the changes.

The rest of the day went without a hitch and quickly became boring for me, which was much appreciated. We didn't expect many college coaches, but they quickly came in droves and attended Sunday very well.

The 50-minute games were appropriate given the temperatures and the loss of fields. 94 of the 102 teams (4 teams that forfeited at the 4 opponents that were affected) played 210 of the 240 minutes originally scheduled. No team played less than 2 full games.

The men's weekend was much more relaxed. All games were played in full with very few delays. The weather, while still cold, cooperated. The greater challenge on the men's weekend is referees. We used many of the same referees that received high praise on the women's weekend. Unfortunately, managing the testosterone on the men's weekend is a greater challenge and one a few could not meet. That said, on the whole we received very good feedback on the officiating.

To summarize, the Ohio Elite College Showcase hosted 202 teams, used 11 turf fields, scheduled 303 games and approximately 100 referees, contracted 14 hotels and had almost 300 volunteers positions filled.

Thank you to everyone that helped make the 2009 Ohio Elite Showcase a success!

Development Academy Likely to Offer Fall Program

The concept of a U-14 age group for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy has been discussed over the past year, but for the first time now appears to be inevitable.

While the specifics have much to be determined, the concept received unanimous support in a conference call on Wednesday, January 28 with the Federation and representatives from the Development Academy clubs in our Conference (OESA, Crew Jr., Carmel, Gallagher, Sockers, Chicago Magic, Metro, Empire, Vardar, Wolves, Chicago Fire, etc...). The Northeast has already started their own U-14 League through US Club Soccer this spring.

Again, the specifics (schedule, travel, etc...) will be determined over the next couple months, but the general principles I expect the League to utilize are: a limited travel schedule as compared to the U-16 and U-18 and therefore lower expenses; no "National Championship"; National and Regional Showcases in conjunction with National Team programming; and, withdraw from all US Youth competition, including ODP, MRL and State Cup as the older age groups do.

Two things are of particular interest to me.

First, as a former State Director of Coaching it is now clear to me that on the boy's side ODP as we know it is for the most part done. Until now the end was gradual, but the introduction of the U-14 age group will change the program from one of identification perhaps back to its origin of development. There are still many, many quality players around the country that either have chosen not to participate in the DA or otherwise don't have the opportunity, but the number of kids brought into National teams program through USYS ODP will drop significantly.

The second thing that jumps out is the conflict between club and high school. The Development Academy utilizes calendar year in determining the roster versus the August 1-July 31 year. Thus, the U-14's in 2009-2010 will be players born in 1995 and younger, the majority of whom will be high school freshmen in the fall. This would only affect U-14 players that are freshmen in high school as the U-16 and U-18 teams will continue to schedule after the high school season concludes. There is no expectation that this will move forward to include older players in future years.

The debate about players forgoing high school is one that has been discussed ad nausea. However, until now the debate has been limited to the girl's side of the game. The Chairman of one prominent area club indicated that offering such a program is irresponsible. I can only assume then that his club will not be applying to the Federation for Development Academy status, since it will offer a program that forces players to choose and one in which Academy members will field a team largely comprised of high school freshmen during the high school season.

I welcome the opportunity. It's one thing for a high school senior or junior to participate in high school athletics, but I can think of no value for a high school freshman. If he is good enough to play on the varsity then his physical, emotional and social health is placed at risk. If not, he plays on a JV or Freshman team. And while there are many fine high school coaches, there are very few JV or Freshmen coaches who can provide kids the proper environment. Even the best coaches would struggle to coach the best kids when the range of talent is so large.

But what about playing for your school and in front of all those fans? First of all, he'll have 3 more years to play for his school. Secondly, when is the last time you went to watch a JV or Freshman soccer game that your relative or BFF wasn't playing in. While some high schools will attempt to punish kids "for not supporting the program", even the most selfish coach should recognize that in the long run his/her program will be better off for a freshman participating in club soccer during his freshman year.

The Development Academy itself is a very good program that continues to improve in year number two. Most Technical people have openly questioned why if it's about development do we wait until 16 years old to provide such a program. Quite frankly, logistics and costs are the primary reason and now that the League is on firm footing it appears that they are now comfortable and capable of expanding into the age group that in my opinion will most benefit from principles of the League.

Call me irresponsible, but I say it's about time.