<p>The inflated rankings and complaints about it is exactly the reason come July that the new ranking system will be used.</p>
<p>US soccer is too structured. When I was little, even then the coach was talking about tactics and plays. Kids dont play to play. They aren’t given a ball and told to play around with it. They’re given a ball and told who to pass it to and where to shoot it at. On my little brothers team…they’ve learned to pass it to the kid from Ecuador who can easily fake out the defenders. They aren’t encouraged to learn the moves from the Ecuador kid, just that if they get it to him, he’ll score.</p>
<p>so I have played pickup soccer and love it for once my low cetner of gravity is an asset!-
D has played soccer for about 5 years and loves it- in middle school she was even on two teams- her school team and her rec team.
( she got to see DC united when she was in DC in 8th gd- was quite exciitng- she is a big fan of Freddy Adu- she also really likes the Trindad/Tobogo team- although I don’t know enough about it to know their star players)</p>
<p>In high school though her school team is ultra competitive- so she just has her rec team- she has had same coach and basically same teammates for 5 years and they are great.
I think all kids should be on a team for a few years- they really learn so much
BUt I still don’t understand off-sides calls-
I also do’t understand how come that world cup games can end in a tie
Is there some sort of “soccer for dummies” video?</p>
<ol>
<li>“But I still don’t understand off-sides calls”</li>
</ol>
<p>Off-sides, to put it simply, occurs when an offensive player is in a position where he is behind the last defender AT THE TIME the pass to him is made. </p>
<ol>
<li>“I also do’t understand how come that world cup games can end in a tie.”</li>
</ol>
<p>During the 1st round of the WC they can end in ties because the 1st round is in league format and not playoff format. So during the 1st round you get 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, and 0 for a loss. After each team in their respective league (aka group) plays each other the top two teams in points advance to the playoffs. During the playoffs since each match determines who goes through to the next round there can’t be ties thus they play 2 overtime periods of 15 minutes and if no goals are scored then they have a shootout.</p>
<p>btw the offside rule basically is used to prevent cherry picking. It prevents an attacker from just standing next to the goal waiting for a pass and the an easy chance to score.</p>
<p>“Offsides, to put it simply…” – now there’s an oxymoron of a phrase!</p>
<p>S2 has ref’ed for six years and played since he was five years old; he gets so frustrated with me that I cannot keep track of every single permutation of the off-sides rule. Everytime I think I finally understand the fine points, another version presents itself. (Corner kicks, the offensive player who’s not involved in the play, offensive players on the defensive side of midfield…)</p>
<p>I love it when the offensive player is 10 yards ahead of the last defender. Even I can spot that one!</p>
<p>obviously there are many permutations of the rule but i didn’t want to confuse someone with little knowledge…</p>
<p>It can be quite a tricky rule…cost my team a national championship, we lost in the u-18 us youth soccer national championship because of a missed offsides call. :(</p>
<p>"Off-sides, to put it simply, occurs when an offensive player is in a position where he is behind the last defender AT THE TIME the pass to him is made. "</p>
<p>Bern, I know YOU KNOW the rules of the offside’s violations -never called offsides in the plural, btw! </p>
<p>However, one common error is to believe that the offside position is related to the last defender; that is not the case at all since the key element is the **second last ** opponent. Inamusch as in 99% of the cases, the goalkeeper is the last “defender” and that the position to be checked is indeed the one of the last defender, the rules really relates to TWO players.</p>
<p>FWIW, while the rules of offside are difficult to judge properly by the refs, they are really NOT hard to learn and undertand because they tie in with other aspects of the game. For instance, there are no offside on goalkicks … an no goals can be scored on a goal kick. There are no offisde on throw-ins … and no goals can be scored on a throw-in (normal in a game called FOOTball.) No offside on a corner kick … because you need a forward pass. The list goes on. </p>
<p>One of the greatest accomplishment in soccer is reaching the complete mastery of all the rules and their correct application. One of the greatest annoyances -as Bern National final can attest- is that people who take on the responsibility to become a ref rarely dedicate themselves enough to learn a game they do not understand. Parents and spectators do, however, have the benefit of the doubt. </p>
<p>For the lovers of special circumstances, here’s a couple of soccer questions:</p>
<p>What happens when a defender obtains a free kick in his own side of the field and attempts to kick to his goalkeeper who misses the pass and lets the ball roll in his own goal? Goal or not? How does the game restart? What happens if the ball happens to be in the large penalty area? Same question? Enjoy it! </p>
<p>PS There are a few more situations that are truly bizarre, including some that are impossible to judging and applying the rules correctly at the same time.</p>
<p>yeah i know not to use the plural…but in mexico we always call it fuera de lugar or offsides using the plural so it’s just a bad habit lol…</p>
<p>i was also a ref for many many years and as xiggi said few of other refs took the time to really understand the entire rules.</p>
<p>btw no i don’t play for penn as I suffered a pretty much career ending knee injury senior year of h.s. if not i would have played college ball i was in talks with a few schools at the time.</p>
<p>Sorry about the knee injury…was it an ACL? That is my worst nightmare for my D as several players on her club team and one so far on her college team have suffered through this injury. It is a career ender for most people. I have seen some come back to play after but they never seem to be the same. That is why it is always best to pick the college you love, sport or no sport as you never know when your last game will be.</p>
<p>i tore my ACL, my meniscus, and had a partial tear on my MCL…i was able to recover but just couldn’t play the same as i was always worrying about my knee, etc. it was a hassle…</p>
<p>UMDAD, I forgot about football kickers. I do know one soccer boy who was recruited to a Div I football team. He regrets it immeasurably–he wishes he had played lacrosse. He wasn’t good enough to play Div I soccer.</p>
<p>Were the girls who switched top players?</p>
<p>Another quesiton, while I do know a number of girls who have gone to specatacular schools via the soccer prowess–the talented boys don’t seem to get the same scholarships or ‘kick’ from soccer which shows how steep the pyramid is for college soccer. How do boy’s soccer scholarships compare to football? Baseball? Basketball? anyone.</p>
<p>bern , the ***the methodology of the rankings *** IS the marketing effort of FIFA. At night, they fall asleep drooling about a soccer mad US and the outrageous MONEY they could earn if that happened!</p>
<p>“It’s a goal for the opposing team…both situations…known as the dreaded “own goal”.”</p>
<p>Sorry but that is incorrect … in both cases. Hint: a free kick can NEVER reward the team that suffered the foul. In other words, there is no way the goal can be awarded on a direct free kick. The “fun” part is that the way to restart the game is different depending the location of the free kick. In one case, there is a corner awarded to the other team; in the other, the ball is … your guesses!</p>
<p>Bernie, it’s a shame to have a career ending injury, but the good news is that nobody can take away the experience of traveling to a national championship after … winning the Regionals. In many cases, winning the Regionals is as hard as coming home with the whole national enchilada, especially in the region that includes California. Getting to the final four is a HUGE accomplishment.</p>
<p>Cheers, the scholarship situation for boys is not as generous as it is for girls. The NCAA allows each division 1 soccer program 9.9 scholarships for men and 12 for women. In division 2 the ratio is 9 for men and 9.9 for women. In addition, a good number of soccer programs have been disbanded on the men side while the number of programs increases for women. </p>
<p>As far athletes switching sports, a telling example happened a few years ago at FC Delco, one of the soccer powerhouses in the country. Several girls earned spots at prestigious schools, but it was for … Lacrosse. Newer programs for women in Lacrosse, softball, or even rugby are providing opportunities that did not exist in a past dominated by men football, baseball, and basketball.</p>
<p>I hate FC Delco (they were good in my age group years ago)…and Busch SC and Chicago Magic -these two were the 2 that defeated us in the national championships for both u-17 and u-18 years :(</p>
</p>