USA Soccer match in Nashville

[JohnDeere 0]

Had to watch the Morroco vs USA (in Nashville) soccer match tonight on ESPN. They would show a quick shots of the stands while play was slow. The first fan they show is this old guy grayish beard probably late 40s, leaning over the railing wildly flapping the Stars and Stripes over the rail while he is yelling at the top of his lungs. I am thinking this guy is a freaking drunk idiot; then they scan up and this old dude is wearing a Bama baseball cap. I about fell out of my seat laughing. And they keep showing this dude; like the director is thinking "Lets get some more shots of that crazy redneck from Alabama!"

Anybody else see this?

[Fluffed 0]

missed it. wanted to watch the game, but forgot. now that i see the score i'm kinda glad i missed it though.

but as for the bama guy.. he just makes our whole state look bad.

[blue93 0]

John Deere? A soccer fan?

[WarTiger 3,909]

soccer??? Thats for people that don't have real talent to play anything else...

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

soccer???   Thats for people that don't have real talent to play anything else...

236789[/snapback]

My ass. My club team was full of multiple sports lettermen including football, baseball, and basketball. I lettered in soccer, baseball (pitched, 2nd base, batted in the 4th slot), track, and cross country.

We played no pad tackle with our football players from the time we were in grade school through graduation. Seen plenty of soccer players take multiple shots without pads, including myself, from guys that played at schools like Texas and Oklahoma. No problem. Coach wanted me to play fullback for him, he won couple state titles, USA today HS championship, went on to coach in the Big 12. Name several others he wanted also.

Guess a guy like Steve Nash that grew up the son of professional soccer player, and played the sport, doesn't have the talent to play another sport.

What a ridiculas statement. Hey, maybe alot of cacausions play soccer and hockey cause they don't have the talent to play other sports, basketball and baseball is dominated by african-americans and baseball is becoming dominated by hispanic players.

[GalensGhost 0]

soccer???   Thats for people that don't have real talent to play anything else...

236789[/snapback]

My ass. My club team was full of multiple sports lettermen including football, baseball, and basketball. I lettered in soccer, baseball (pitched, 2nd base, batted in the 4th slot), track, and cross country.

We played no pad tackle with our football players from the time we were in grade school through graduation. Seen plenty of soccer players take multiple shots without pads, including myself, from guys that played at schools like Texas and Oklahoma. No problem. Coach wanted me to play fullback for him, he won couple state titles, USA today HS championship, went on to coach in the Big 12. Name several others he wanted also.

Guess a guy like Steve Nash that grew up the son of professional soccer player, and played the sport, doesn't have the talent to play another sport.

What a ridiculas statement. Hey, maybe alot of cacausions play soccer and hockey cause they don't have the talent to play other sports, basketball and baseball is dominated by african-americans and baseball is becoming dominated by hispanic players.

236796[/snapback]

Soccer is for elementary school kids to play. Until they get old enough to play real sports like football.

Soccer is for Frisbee Ultimate players.

Soccer is for Europeans.

[WarTiger 3,909]

soccer???   Thats for people that don't have real talent to play anything else...

236789[/snapback]

My ass. My club team was full of multiple sports lettermen including football, baseball, and basketball. I lettered in soccer, baseball (pitched, 2nd base, batted in the 4th slot), track, and cross country.

We played no pad tackle with our football players from the time we were in grade school through graduation. Seen plenty of soccer players take multiple shots without pads, including myself, from guys that played at schools like Texas and Oklahoma. No problem. Coach wanted me to play fullback for him, he won couple state titles, USA today HS championship, went on to coach in the Big 12. Name several others he wanted also.

Guess a guy like Steve Nash that grew up the son of professional soccer player, and played the sport, doesn't have the talent to play another sport.

What a ridiculas statement. Hey, maybe alot of cacausions play soccer and hockey cause they don't have the talent to play other sports, basketball and baseball is dominated by african-americans and baseball is becoming dominated by hispanic players.

236796[/snapback]

Soccer is for elementary school kids to play. Until they get old enough to play real sports like football.

Soccer is for Frisbee Ultimate players.

Soccer is for Europeans.

236911[/snapback]

What he said..

[mcgufcm 4,107]

soccer is for the world. viewing audience for the world cup is 3 times the audience for "the most watched game in the world," the super bowl.

also, i went to school with freddie milons, jason clark, and a number of other guys who played sec ball. best athletes i've ever known? casey pratt, a soccer player, and travis outlaw, prep to pro basketball player. pratt could've played any sport... he just didn't have a drive. i personally watched him outrun an olympic sprinter in a 100 yard dash. i had to scrape my jaw off the floor. pratt's 6'2" bout 175 with olympic speed. picked soccer over anything else, but you really think he couldn't have played wide receiver?

[JohnDeere 0]

John Deere?  A soccer fan? 

236782[/snapback]

My wife played on the collegiate level. I follow the sport by default. I have seen my fair share of the game on the HighSchool/Club/NCAA level.

My first impressions of the game:

1)It is a great sport for women and girls

2)Only rich little white kids who have parents who can afford to put them on traveling club teams their entire childhood; are the only kids who are offered athletic scholarships

3)All soccer referees in general SUCK and are stuck up pricks who thinking they are the only people on the field that know the rules. They don't have the balls to call a spring sport like baseball and take the verbal abuse from crusty old baseball coaches. They have no professional assocations that enforce standards and conduct (they will shout back at people in the stands).

4)The values gained from playing football and baseball greatly outweight the values gained from playing soccer. Namely, courage and determination to win.

Nobody in the US really cares if you lose a soccer game and this is shown in kids going out and playing soccer half-a*$. And they all fall down like they tore an ACL if they are ever touched by an opposing player.

5)To sum it up; young men should strive to play football in the fall and baseball in the spring. If AHSAA wants to sanction the girls, they can have at it. (It is kind of like volleyball, only girls play it in the Southeast, but in Asia and the West Coast guys play highschool volleyball).

6) The Olympic Development Program is the biggest blight on the the sport in the U.S.. Who would pick out the best football players in the 5th grade and spend thousand of dollars and hours trying to develop them in the best College age players. It is like recruiting Cadillac Williams in middle school and telling him he will start for AU in seven years. Let nature run it course and the cream will rise to the top, aka football and baseball.

My recent impressions of US National Team/the future of the game

1)Mexicans in N.Alabama will soon dominate the highschool ranks. As the first full generation of naturalized Mexicans reach highschool age, they will take over entire highschool teams. (bye-bye rich little white kids & parent booster groups hiring Club coaches to coach their HighSchool team).

2)The African-American population's interest/involvement in the sport will explode when this "elitest better then thou" attitude is removed from the game. And this will include the the downfall of the Club soccer associations as Middle School teams pop-up with better "black athletes" who can beat the better coached "white" Club teams.

3) Evidence of 2) the U.S. national team started like 5 or 6 black players vs Morroco. And these are the real contributors to the team.

[Wishbone 0]

I like Soccer and see no problem with it. I also don't think it is an elitist sport, at least no more elitist than Auburn University. I wish I would have grown up with an interest in the sport because now that I am older I like to watch the US national team. I imagine it takes a very high level of athleticism to play soccer and that the greatest athletes in the world will be found on a soccer field since it is played by the entire World, although it is a different kind of athlete compared to football.

Also, I thought the commetary on the future racial make-up was silly. No way to predict those teams, and foreign kids have always made up a big contingent of soccer players. If blacks were going to dominate soccer it would have already happened.

[JohnDeere 0]

I like Soccer and see no problem with it.  I also don't think it is an elitist sport, at least no more elitist than Auburn University.   I wish I would have grown up with an interest in the sport because now that I am older I like to watch the US national team.  I imagine it takes a very high level of athleticism to play soccer and that the greatest athletes in the world will be found on a soccer field since it is played by the entire World, although it is a different kind of athlete compared to football. 

Also, I thought the commetary on the future racial make-up was silly.  No way to predict those teams, and foreign kids have always made up a big contingent of soccer players.  If blacks were going to dominate soccer it would have already happened.

236945[/snapback]

If you are from a family of limited income will you try-out a sport at your local middleschool. You will not pay an expensive fee to be on a club soccer team and pay all of your own travel expenses.

What was that guy's name that played Cornerback at ND who was also on one of the Junior National teams?

An athlete is an athlete. I would compare a Soccer player to a hands/skill football player. The Soccer player does require more stanmina and endurance vs the explosive strength of a football player. Look at the new faces on the National team, the ones they expect big things from; they have that DB body type.

Sorry, at this point in time, I believe Soccer is an elitist sport.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

Also, I thought the commetary on the future racial make-up was silly.

236945[/snapback]

It was suppose to be

[GalensGhost 0]

also, i went to school with freddie milons, jason clark, and a number of other guys who played sec ball. best athletes i've ever known? casey pratt, a soccer player, and travis outlaw, prep to pro basketball player. pratt could've played any sport... he just didn't have a drive. i personally watched him outrun an olympic sprinter in a 100 yard dash. i had to scrape my jaw off the floor. pratt's 6'2" bout 175 with olympic speed. picked soccer over anything else, but you really think he couldn't have played wide receiver?

236925[/snapback]

Yep. I really think he couldn't have. See above.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

soccer???   Thats for people that don't have real talent to play anything else...

236789[/snapback]

My ass. My club team was full of multiple sports lettermen including football, baseball, and basketball. I lettered in soccer, baseball (pitched, 2nd base, batted in the 4th slot), track, and cross country.

We played no pad tackle with our football players from the time we were in grade school through graduation. Seen plenty of soccer players take multiple shots without pads, including myself, from guys that played at schools like Texas and Oklahoma. No problem. Coach wanted me to play fullback for him, he won couple state titles, USA today HS championship, went on to coach in the Big 12. Name several others he wanted also.

Guess a guy like Steve Nash that grew up the son of professional soccer player, and played the sport, doesn't have the talent to play another sport.

What a ridiculas statement. Hey, maybe alot of cacausions play soccer and hockey cause they don't have the talent to play other sports, basketball and baseball is dominated by african-americans and baseball is becoming dominated by hispanic players.

236796[/snapback]

Soccer is for elementary school kids to play. Until they get old enough to play real sports like football.

Soccer is for Frisbee Ultimate players.

Soccer is for Europeans.

236911[/snapback]

Lol, I love you guys that just hate the sport and have to insult everyone about it. Could try and come up some originals though.

Let me guess, your gonna tell me how tough football was cause you played with some injury in the big game in high school, cause thats usually the next step.

95% of the time the ones that I see in person, some over 30 guy, claiming football is a real sport for real athletes, flashes back to the HS days to prove his point cause he couldn't get to the next level with amazing tales of his str, toughness, and ability, when the guy is lucky if he can make two flights of stairs and live lol.

This state is worse than most considering the love of football combined with the nations 2nd worst obesity rate in the United States.

[gabe_96 0]

When I was a walk on at auburn it was the year robert baker, karsten bailey and those other wideouts were true freshman...Baker was by far the best of the bunch and he is still a star in the Canadian football league, anyway he was an all-state soccer player in florida...I also think it is the chunkier slower football players that particularly hate soccer since speed and endurance are more important in soccer it usually doesn't allow the highschool lineman type to thrive. the really athletic backs and receivers usually don't hate the sport as much and many of them play it.

all that said, i definitely like football better and there is no question about which sport is more violent. Although my adrenaline really seemed to come from escaping the violence, avoiding the hit.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

John Deere?  A soccer fan? 

236782[/snapback]

My wife played on the collegiate level. I follow the sport by default. I have seen my fair share of the game on the HighSchool/Club/NCAA level.

My first impressions of the game:

1)It is a great sport for women and girls

2)Only rich little white kids who have parents who can afford to put them on traveling club teams their entire childhood; are the only kids who are offered athletic scholarships

3)All soccer referees in general SUCK and are stuck up pricks who thinking they are the only people on the field that know the rules. They don't have the balls to call a spring sport like baseball and take the verbal abuse from crusty old baseball coaches. They have no professional assocations that enforce standards and conduct (they will shout back at people in the stands).

4)The values gained from playing football and baseball greatly outweight the values gained from playing soccer. Namely, courage and determination to win.

Nobody in the US really cares if you lose a soccer game and this is shown in kids going out and playing soccer half-a*$. And they all fall down like they tore an ACL if they are ever touched by an opposing player.

5)To sum it up; young men should strive to play football in the fall and baseball in the spring. If AHSAA wants to sanction the girls, they can have at it. (It is kind of like volleyball, only girls play it in the Southeast, but in Asia and the West Coast guys play highschool volleyball).

6) The Olympic Development Program is the biggest blight on the the sport in the U.S.. Who would pick out the best football players in the 5th grade and spend thousand of dollars and hours trying to develop them in the best College age players. It is like recruiting Cadillac Williams in middle school and telling him he will start for AU in seven years. Let nature run it course and the cream will rise to the top, aka football and baseball.

My recent impressions of US National Team/the future of the game

1)Mexicans in N.Alabama will soon dominate the highschool ranks. As the first full generation of naturalized Mexicans reach highschool age, they will take over entire highschool teams. (bye-bye rich little white kids & parent booster groups hiring Club coaches to coach their HighSchool team).

2)The African-American population's interest/involvement in the sport will explode when this "elitest better then thou" attitude is removed from the game. And this will include the the downfall of the Club soccer associations as Middle School teams pop-up with better "black athletes" who can beat the better coached "white" Club teams.

3) Evidence of 2) the U.S. national team started like 5 or 6 black players vs Morroco. And these are the real contributors to the team.

236928[/snapback]

Out of curiosity where did you witness all this at. I played club, ODP, collegiate myself. Played in the classic league in Dallas.

Ya, the club teams have kids that have a decent amount of money.

I've seen plenty of soccer refs take anything a baseball coach could dish out, and seen plenty of basketball, football, and baseball refs get into it with crowds cause they couldn't take it. Respected leagues and tournys I never saw it happen though to be honest, I know the Dallas Cup even has officials with World Cup experience for their tournament.

The courage/ determination thing is a load of crap. I played other sports, and was never like omg its baseball, I better take this serious cause if I don't play hard and try and win now America is going to hate me. Didn't give a f*** what anyone else thought, I wanted to win. So did the people I played with and played against. Talk about half-***ing it, I know for a fact that members of a certain cherished spring sport were out drinking the night after and day before a competition here at Auburn.... boy that sure speaks of courage and determination.

Kids today are half a***ing physically anyway, nothing to do with the sports, part of the reason we have 10 yr olds developing type II diabetes, obesity problems, and a prediction of having the diesease rate of today's 40 year olds when they hit their early 20's. Plenty on all those fields that would rather be blogging or xboxing.

I love actors on the field, cause they do it a couple a times and the ref will ignore it, then you just hack and elbow the hell out of them for the rest of the game and people will think its a act. They card you for acting now.

They do regional and state teams tournys in baseball all the time, no different than what soccer does. Noone made anyone any promises about starting at certain colleges, it increased your exposure to college coaches, just like going to camps do. Tuberville has recruited players to come to Auburn for football based on performances and evaluations they started in camps when the kid was in 8th grade.

I wouldn't worry about the Mexicans. Played all hispanic teams out of South Texas all the time, won alot more than we lost. Some from California also. Probably will happen in N Alabama though, ran into Alabama teams in the Germantown Tourney, they sucked hard. Downed what was suppose to been the best team from Alabama like 7-0. Their parents complained we were to physical and cheating.

Clubs won't be hurt, plenty of african americans making good money now that can afford to put their kids on these teams. It will balance out, be like the rest of the world teams about half and half, some less some more. AC Milan won the champions cup and carries only two, Bayern Munich one of the top teams has none. Good coaching that develops tatics and fundementals will win out over athletes in a teams sport.... see USA basketball in the olympics.

Arena hasn't even named his line up, Beasely and Pope will be in it for sure, Gibbs was in cause Eddie Lewis was still in England, and no way Mastrioni isn't in the midfield come cup time. Reyna runs the show. McBride, Donovan, and Wolff have been alot more stable than Beasely and Pope also.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

When I was a walk on at auburn it was the year robert baker, karsten bailey and those other wideouts were true freshman...Baker was by far the best of the bunch and he is still a star in the Canadian football league,  anyway he was an all-state soccer player in florida...I also think it is the chunkier slower football players that particularly hate soccer since speed and endurance are more important in soccer it usually doesn't allow the highschool lineman type to thrive. the really athletic backs and receivers usually don't hate the sport as much and many of them play it.

all that said, i definitely like football better and there is no question about which sport is more violent. Although my adrenaline really seemed to come from escaping the violence, avoiding the hit.

237020[/snapback]

I would agree with that, when I played college we would hang with the baseball and football players, throw joint parties and stuff. We never got any hell from any of them about the sport. I walked away with the impression that college athletes respect the other college athletes no matter the sport, cause everyone is putting in long hours and busting butt and alot of have played the others.

I remember going into the training room and some football players would cringe when they saw our ankles and knees. We were used to injuries there, and I learned knee's and ankles scare the heck out of some football players... especially knees.

And if some want to move on to college you gotta be honest about what you can do. At 5"10 180lbs I wasn't going to play college football (though I was bigger than Markieth Cooper) or college basketball.

I've no problem with somone liking football better, I just love the oh look its soccer I just have to voice my hatred guys lol.

[Wishbone 0]

A little off topic here, but:

The type of body you need for football is unheathy and not sustainable for a long period of time. You aren't going to live a long life with that much muscle, it's too hard on the heart. You would be alot better off with a soccer players build.

[bammanmr 0]

You aren't going to live a long life with that much muscle, it's too hard on the heart. 

237102[/snapback]

i must correct. this would be better stated that you won't live that long with that much fat. naturally developed muscle mass is a positive, not a negative.

now on to soccer. what we see in our parks and rec leagues, even in collegiate soccer here in the us pales in comparison to what they have in the rest of the world. the world cup that starts in a week or so, is a great event that i watch every time it comes around. imo, if america had a great team (this year's team is ok, they may win a game or 2) soccer and the world cup would be a huge deal, but historically we suck, therefore, we as a society dismiss the game as for reasons stated above.

[penguin149 391]

I think the main reason soccer is so popular world-wide is that with a field, a ball and 2 goals; you can play a game of soccer! Kids in poorer countries can play that sport! No bats, pads, helmets, or any specialized equipment.

Soccer players ARE atheletes! Swimmers too! (Golfers and race car drivers are another matter, but I digress!) Admittedly, my lack of knowledge on the rules, etc make soccer boring for me to watch. Usually low scoring, and you never know when the match is going to end!!! There is no clock that reaches "0" or "72:00" or ever how long a match is supposed to last! Time is kept on the field and nobody really knows that the match has ended until the ref says so. Even hockey has a game clock!!

[JohnDeere 0]

John Deere?  A soccer fan? 

236782[/snapback]

My wife played on the collegiate level. I follow the sport by default. I have seen my fair share of the game on the HighSchool/Club/NCAA level.

My first impressions of the game:

1)It is a great sport for women and girls

2)Only rich little white kids who have parents who can afford to put them on traveling club teams their entire childhood; are the only kids who are offered athletic scholarships

3)All soccer referees in general SUCK and are stuck up pricks who thinking they are the only people on the field that know the rules. They don't have the balls to call a spring sport like baseball and take the verbal abuse from crusty old baseball coaches. They have no professional assocations that enforce standards and conduct (they will shout back at people in the stands).

4)The values gained from playing football and baseball greatly outweight the values gained from playing soccer. Namely, courage and determination to win.

Nobody in the US really cares if you lose a soccer game and this is shown in kids going out and playing soccer half-a*$. And they all fall down like they tore an ACL if they are ever touched by an opposing player.

5)To sum it up; young men should strive to play football in the fall and baseball in the spring. If AHSAA wants to sanction the girls, they can have at it. (It is kind of like volleyball, only girls play it in the Southeast, but in Asia and the West Coast guys play highschool volleyball).

6) The Olympic Development Program is the biggest blight on the the sport in the U.S.. Who would pick out the best football players in the 5th grade and spend thousand of dollars and hours trying to develop them in the best College age players. It is like recruiting Cadillac Williams in middle school and telling him he will start for AU in seven years. Let nature run it course and the cream will rise to the top, aka football and baseball.

My recent impressions of US National Team/the future of the game

1)Mexicans in N.Alabama will soon dominate the highschool ranks. As the first full generation of naturalized Mexicans reach highschool age, they will take over entire highschool teams. (bye-bye rich little white kids & parent booster groups hiring Club coaches to coach their HighSchool team).

2)The African-American population's interest/involvement in the sport will explode when this "elitest better then thou" attitude is removed from the game. And this will include the the downfall of the Club soccer associations as Middle School teams pop-up with better "black athletes" who can beat the better coached "white" Club teams.

3) Evidence of 2) the U.S. national team started like 5 or 6 black players vs Morroco. And these are the real contributors to the team.

236928[/snapback]

Out of curiosity where did you witness all this at. I played club, ODP, collegiate myself. Played in the classic league in Dallas.

Ya, the club teams have kids that have a decent amount of money.

I've seen plenty of soccer refs take anything a baseball coach could dish out, and seen plenty of basketball, football, and baseball refs get into it with crowds cause they couldn't take it. Respected leagues and tournys I never saw it happen though to be honest, I know the Dallas Cup even has officials with World Cup experience for their tournament.

The courage/ determination thing is a load of crap. I played other sports, and was never like omg its baseball, I better take this serious cause if I don't play hard and try and win now America is going to hate me. Didn't give a f*** what anyone else thought, I wanted to win. So did the people I played with and played against. Talk about half-***ing it, I know for a fact that members of a certain cherished spring sport were out drinking the night after and day before a competition here at Auburn.... boy that sure speaks of courage and determination.

Kids today are half a***ing physically anyway, nothing to do with the sports, part of the reason we have 10 yr olds developing type II diabetes, obesity problems, and a prediction of having the diesease rate of today's 40 year olds when they hit their early 20's. Plenty on all those fields that would rather be blogging or xboxing.

I love actors on the field, cause they do it a couple a times and the ref will ignore it, then you just hack and elbow the hell out of them for the rest of the game and people will think its a act. They card you for acting now.

They do regional and state teams tournys in baseball all the time, no different than what soccer does. Noone made anyone any promises about starting at certain colleges, it increased your exposure to college coaches, just like going to camps do. Tuberville has recruited players to come to Auburn for football based on performances and evaluations they started in camps when the kid was in 8th grade.

I wouldn't worry about the Mexicans. Played all hispanic teams out of South Texas all the time, won alot more than we lost. Some from California also. Probably will happen in N Alabama though, ran into Alabama teams in the Germantown Tourney, they sucked hard. Downed what was suppose to been the best team from Alabama like 7-0. Their parents complained we were to physical and cheating.

Clubs won't be hurt, plenty of african americans making good money now that can afford to put their kids on these teams. It will balance out, be like the rest of the world teams about half and half, some less some more. AC Milan won the champions cup and carries only two, Bayern Munich one of the top teams has none. Good coaching that develops tatics and fundementals will win out over athletes in a teams sport.... see USA basketball in the olympics.

Arena hasn't even named his line up, Beasely and Pope will be in it for sure, Gibbs was in cause Eddie Lewis was still in England, and no way Mastrioni isn't in the midfield come cup time. Reyna runs the show. McBride, Donovan, and Wolff have been alot more stable than Beasely and Pope also.

237022[/snapback]

Texas, I didn't know there were Soccer fans such as yourself alive in the U.S.

I witnessed this N.Alabama. Even the Olympics in 96, games played in B'ham didn't produce the knowledge of the game for efficent well organized official's associations to be set up here.

The State Turney is here in Huntsville. Like the point you made, coaches don't come to the Turney to recruit, they come to scout players that other schools have signed and see their own recruits play. The scholarships offers have already been made at club turney's in the fall months. So, your son/daughter of a lower middle income family playing for a not-traditionally strong soccer highschool program, will never be noticed at the State Turney, much less for a strong regular season. It is the same reason the Kentucky HighSchool Athletic Association is banning ANYONE that plays for any club team from playing highschool soccer. In Alabama, it is playing club ball up to a certain date before the highschool season begins, that a determination is made that a player is eligible/non-eligible for the highschool team.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

237022[/snapback]

Texas, I didn't know there were Soccer fans such as yourself alive in the U.S.

I witnessed this N.Alabama. Even the Olympics in 96, games played in B'ham didn't produce the knowledge of the game for efficent well organized official's associations to be set up here.

The State Turney is here in Huntsville. Like the point you made, coaches don't come to the Turney to recruit, they come to scout players that other schools have signed and see their own recruits play. The scholarships offers have already been made at club turney's in the fall months. So, your son/daughter of a lower middle income family playing for a not-traditionally strong soccer highschool program, will never be noticed at the State Turney, much less for a strong regular season. It is the same reason the Kentucky HighSchool Athletic Association is banning ANYONE that plays for any club team from playing highschool soccer. In Alabama, it is playing club ball up to a certain date before the highschool season begins, that a determination is made that a player is eligible/non-eligible for the highschool team.

237143[/snapback]

Alabama isn't that great for soccer at the club and HS level. It just depends on the area your in. Texas, Florida, California, and all along the east coast are great places. Clemson, S. Carolina, Wake Forrest, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Davidson, North Carolina State for example are all top 25 teams. Large cities like St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta etc also have good programs. UAB has been ranked several times and I believe AUM finished second in the NAIA rankings. UAH has a decent team I believe also. Birmingham Southern and Mobile college have also gained rankings in their divisions.

You have to be active in your own recruiting also. Schools I looked at I sent tapes to and got information on. Then sent them a schedule of my games, so I did have coaches from the team come to HS games away from the club league. I also went to the campus's in the spring and worked out with the team for a practice (usually they just scrimmage in spring and they aren't official practices). You can't just sit around and wait for them to come to you. Also if you can afford it going to camp in the summer at a university you want to play for is huge, as you spend a week with the coach's and they really get a bead for what you can do and how coachable you are. Alot of the smaller schools will go to cities surrounding their area and put on day camps for a week (so you don't have to pay room and board) which are considerably cheaper.

Majority of your top D1 schools are going to hit the club touney's and olympic development regional tourney's hard core though. Tons of division II and III and Naia programs around that are alot easier to get noticed by. They can compete with the D1's also. Midwestern State in Texas which is now Div II has beaten SMU quite a few times, and SMU is a top 10 D1 program which basically brings its players out of the Dallas Classic league.

Most club seasons take into account the HS seasons also.

Just to give you a idea of the difference. This was this years bracket for the u-19 Supergroup at the Dallas Cup:

Super Group U19

Bracket A Schedules

Real Madrid CF Madrid Spain

Manchester United FC Manchester England

CF Monterrey Monterrey Mexico

FC Delco Crunch Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Bracket B Schedules

Tigres Monterrey Mexico

FC Groningen Groningen Netherlands

Deportivo Saprissa San Jose Costa Rica

Dallas Texans Red Dallas Texas

Bracket C Schedules

Santos Laguna Torreon Mexico

Blackburn Rovers FC Blackburn England

Eintracht Frankfurt Frankfurt Germany

Consadole Sapporo Sapporo Japan

The Dallas Team won this group, beat Sanos Laguna Torreon in the finals. Dallas teams also won the other 7 age groups which consisted of teams from Florida to California and several from England and Mexico and some other countries. I never played in the Supergroup at the cup, but did in the regular U-12 - U-19's.

And yup, those teams carrying the same as professional teams are associated with those pro teams. Its part of what the Olympic Development program is based on.

[JohnDeere 0]

Impressive.

Do you know how club teams in Europe like Manchester and Madrid, put together u-19 teams? Are there kids paying fees and travel expenses?

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

Impressive.

Do you know how club teams in Europe like Manchester and Madrid, put together u-19 teams? Are there kids paying fees and travel expenses?

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These two teams are associated with the professional teams like AAA in baseball.

That Manchester United team for example is their reserve players. They have a academy that trains players. Essentially it works like if we started building our pro baseball teams at the age of 12.

You can find the reserves (the team that went to the Dallas Cup) on the Manchester United home site, they won the reserve title in England.

While not on their site, they have U-12 and up teams.

Looking at the site I saw something I didn't know, David Becham played in the Dallas Cup.

I highly doubt these kids pay a cent for fee's and travel.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

You aren't going to live a long life with that much muscle, it's too hard on the heart. 

237102[/snapback]

i must correct. this would be better stated that you won't live that long with that much fat. naturally developed muscle mass is a positive, not a negative.

now on to soccer. what we see in our parks and rec leagues, even in collegiate soccer here in the us pales in comparison to what they have in the rest of the world. the world cup that starts in a week or so, is a great event that i watch every time it comes around. imo, if america had a great team (this year's team is ok, they may win a game or 2) soccer and the world cup would be a huge deal, but historically we suck, therefore, we as a society dismiss the game as for reasons stated above.

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United States got a tough draw for their bracket, but they are considered one of the top 5 teams in the world in the rankings atm. Todays kids in soccer area's are improving greatly, and many of our college players are moving on to see quality time in the priemership and the bundeslegia (always spell it wrong). But your right, we still have a ways to go.

I've noticed that you post alot of good information in regards to athletes, nutrition, and training, what did you get your degree in if you don't mind the question?