Shomit Mukherjee’s Soccer Blog

Please pass along this link to youth soccer players who want to make improvements in their play during the summer months. 

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometrics.html

The three teams are a combined 21-3-14  through 38 games of league play dating back to the start of the fall 2007 season.  The three losses were all by one goal, with the U9B Attack Blue dropping two 1-0 contests to the same team and the U-14G Arlington Eagles dropping a 2-1 decision. 

For the U9 age group, standings are not posted, but here are the links for the Express and Eagles standings.  Keep up the good work!

http://www.wagsl.com/scores/20081/W15D4.html

http://www.odsl.org/schedules/Spring2008/9257945.html

Set your goals high and have a good time trying to be the best that you can possibly be.  In soccer, it is a lot of fun to pursue lofty goals when you know that your teammates want to do the same. 

Many people associate being competitive with “too much pressure”, or “it’s not fun”.  Through my experiences as a player and as a coach, I have found that players often are having the most fun when they are challenged to accomplish things that they perhaps did not feel that they could accomplish before. 

Set your goals high and never be afraid of failure.

Stay tuned for a question and answer session with one of the soccer stars from Wakefield High School, Jerson Delgado.  Jerson helped his high school team (Wakefield) come from behind tonight and score a huge victory 3-2 on the road against J.E.B Stuart.  A tremendous leader on the field, this junior is certainly college ready.  At 6′1 170 and gifted with tremendous leaping ability, Jerson’s ability to win balls in the air leaves opposing forwards frustrated.  The intangible qualities of leadership and love for the game of soccer are certainly evident in this rising star of Virginia High School soccer, not to mention a work ethic that is top-notch.

Image details: Linesman waving a flag for offside served by picapp.com

Players who are often targeted, with penetrating passes in the attacking third of the soccer field from their teammates, must keep a watchful eye on the offside flag being raised. As an attacking player, it is always wise to be sure that the opposition’s last defender is between yourself and the goal, while also maintaining sight of the soccer ball.

Players who are more advanced are also able to see the potential for surrounding support based on the positioning of their teammates. Attacking players should certainly never let an offside call affect them in terms of their attacking mentality.

The offside may (or may not) be called, depending on a variety of factors. Some of those factors would include the timing of the run in relation to when the ball was released from the passing teammate.

Certainly, good teams will have crisply timed runs with balls played into dangerous spaces so the awareness of the flag must be there.

Don’t let an offside call (or non-call) get you down during the course of a game. Continue to attack and the goals will come.

Please see the link below to find out more about the importance of hydration in young soccer players. It is important for coaches to monitor their players’ fluid intake during training sessions and dictate to the players when to hydrate at the proper times. If a young player remains poorly hydrated, on-field performance is likely to be poor also.

Here is the link

Anyone who is interested in becoming a soccer referee can find more information here:

http://www.atsc-va.org/resources/referee_information/index_E.html

The U-15G Arlington Express have concluded a twelve month period between March 2007 and March 2008 with an overall record of 27-7-5. The team has appeared in five consecutive tournament finals during that time period, winning two titles. The Express won championships at the 2007 Arlington Spring Invitational and Mid-Atlantic Cup while earning runners-up honors at the FPYC Labor Day Patriot Cup, Dulles National Tournament, and 2008 Arlington Spring Invitational.

In league play, the Express are entering spring 2008 coming off of back-to-back league titles in ODSL Division 1 and WAGS Division 5.

Congratulations to all of the players and parents of the Express for their time and dedication to the team.

The Under-15G Arlington Express and Arlington Blitz both reached the tournament finals in the classic and premier groups. The Express lost a close game in the Classic group final 2-1 to the Chantilly Arsenal and the Blitz lost a close game in the Premier group final 2-1 to Rochester Rhinos.

All of the players on both teams deserve congratulations for making it to the finals with such tough competiton in each of their groups.

“A champion is someone who does not settle for that day’s practice, that day’s competition, that day’s performance. They don’t live in the past. You can’t step out onto the field and expect anyone to roll over because of what you did a year before. Champions think about that everyday. You need to stay on the edge of your game. You need to get better every year. You need to leave them in the dust and leave no question of who is the best. That’s what a champion is, that person who perseveres and doesn’t ever get satisfied with what they have done in the past.”
– Brianna Scurry, 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist