Music Snoop Likes
An Interview with Jim Schneiderhahn
Jim “Snoop” Schneiderhahn is in his third year as the Emporia State University Woman’s Soccer Head Coach. I sat down with him and talked about his soccer career, coaching soccer, woman’s soccer, the Women’s National Team, coaching overseas, the Men’s National team, Eddie Johnson, and goalkeeping.
Today I’m bringing you the first part of the interview. Monday I will publish part two. Enjoy.
Soccer Basics
What is your first soccer memory?
It was probably when I was five or six and we were moving into a new house. I was outside kicking the soccer ball in the back yard with the neighbors.
Right after that we were downstairs in the basement with the kids of the family we were buying the house from and we were kicking the soccer ball around the basement. I think my folks were signing the papers when I put a soccer ball through the window downstairs.
Did you play youth soccer?
I loved baseball and I went to catholic grade and high school. Particularly in Catholic communities in St. Louis you would play for your parish team. I played soccer, baseball, and later on basketball. I didn’t start playing club ball until I was 12 years old. The goalkeeper on our team had gotten hurt and I had played a little bit of goal in second grade.
In about 6th grade I stepped in and played goal and in my seventh grade year I was asked by a coach to play for a club team, a bush team. That’s when I was hooked.
Did you play high-school and college soccer?
I went on to play high school soccer in St. Louis. I was cut one year I was there, and then got an opportunity to play college soccer at a NAIA college, Benedictine College, just outside of Kansas City. I played and had a blast there. I got to play for and against some pretty good teams and had a chance to go the National Tournament. I graduated in 1990.
Did you ever think about playing professionally? Was there any opportunity at that time?
I thought about it certainly, every kids grows up thinking they want to play professional sports but I recognized that I was a 6’0 goalkeeper and the majority of goalkeepers who got opportunities to play professionally in the ‘A’ league were several inches taller than I was.
I started having ideas about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I didn’t put forth the effort I should have. I went back to St. Louis and played in a lot of indoor tournaments, paid tournaments where if your team won they won a couple thousand dollars which was normally used to pay the bar bill. That was as close to professional soccer as I got as a player.
How did you make the transition to coaching?
I kind of fell into it. My father runs a small service company in St. Louis. I worked for him for about three years and worked for myself for three years as a photographer and a photographer’s assistant in commercial photography. You would be in the studio at 6am and leave at midnight. What started to get me was in January and February, the short days; I could go three or four days without ever seeing the sunlight. That got to me. I went back to Benedictine to get my education degree and worked there as the Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach.
After about a year of coaching college I [realized I] liked college coaching from the standpoint of dealing with the players along with putting together a team. To me it’s a multidimensional puzzle. It’s not just about getting the right number of forwards and backs. It’s also the other dimensions and probably the more important dimensions, the personalities and the way people are and trying to fit those personalities into one cohesive whole.
I said I would give it a chance and gave myself four years to get a college job. I figured I was already broke and I didn’t want to get in a high school position and start making money and say “Hey I’m comfortable doing this." Within that time the Women’s Coach at Benedictine resigned and they came after me to take that position.
Coaching and Coaching Accreditation
I think a lot of people are in the dark on how the coaching accreditation process works. Can you fill us in?
The United States Soccer Federation has, and this is something all of the developed nations have, a licensing procedure. In the United States there are essentially six total grades.
You start at the State level and can get 'F,' 'E,' or 'D.' They have pretty much done away with the 'F' and the 'E' and they call those youth modules. Those are for dealing with kids 12, 10 or younger. If you pass the 'D' you can go through and get your 'C' which is the first level in the United States National Federation.
Essentially it is a school you go to for ten days, normally in the summer, where you have to demonstrate your ability. You learn and you have to turn around and demonstrate your knowledge of the game and your ability to play, you have to prove you can play as well as demonstrate, and you ability to teach the game. You actually run a training session with all the other candidates. You do this in front of staff members who grade you.
If you pass you can go on to the next level within a years time or you fail you have to go back and learn and come back at least three months later and try again. The ‘C’ is primarily the smaller numbers of the game, 1v1 to 6 v 6 and dealing with kids from about 10-12. Your ‘B’ is kids 12-16,6v6 to 9v9. ‘A’ is 9v9 and 11v11. You’re also weeding people out through the process.
Do a lot of people fail?
Generally the failure rate for ‘A’ is about 70-75 percent. I wanted to learn the game so the stressor didn’t hit me until afterward. Not going to lie, it is stressful. The Soccer Federation creates that atmosphere. I’m happy I’m through and got my ‘A.’ Once you get through every four years you must audit a course or go to various continuing education units. If you build up enough of those you can maintain the ‘A’ license.
Who leads the clinics?
It is a little bit of everyone. Other college coaches who have gone through and passed the testing procedure to test. Youth coaches who have gone through. Coaches from the national team. Even coaches they bring over from other countries. It’s a little bit of a hodgepodge of everything. Male, female, whatever.
Women’s Soccer
Why do you coach women’s soccer or do you have a preference one way or the other?
You know I don’t know if there is a reason I stayed with it. The simplest reason was it was a job. When I was initially offered the job (at Benedictine) it really didn’t make a difference to me. The women bring a different skew and view of the game and athletics in general than I was use to in an all male environment which was very refreshing.
They aren’t going to kill their friends on the other team for the sake of the game. In some respects it’s easier and in some more difficult. They want to succeed and learn where guys tend to be more hard headed. With girls there is a huge communication factor. You have to have the ability to communicate with them and establish a trust. If they can’t trust you and what you are doing then you are lost.
What struggles do women face playing soccer in America?
I think it depends on what the ultimate goal is. For those at the elite level there is a shortage of opportunities to play after college. Starting this year the new women’s league (WPS) is starting up and I think that is fantastic. There are other opportunities. My assistant has played the last three years in the W league which is professional, maybe a little semi pro, for those who have the ability and want to continue playing.
There are struggles from the outside world looking in at women trying to play a sport at the highest levels. One of the great things that was an outcome of the 1999 World Cup was we saw a boom of young girls who wanted to be the next Mia Hamm or Brandi Chastain or Briana Scurry. They had this tremendous ad campaign of team building and we get along and that was great but ultimately when you get into the top levels its about competition and can you compete. There are struggles there.
One of the things we talk about with our girls all the time is being happy. Some of this is not necessarily fun. It’s not all puppies and sunshine. Fitness for some people isn’t fun. Going into a fifty-fifty ball and risking getting hurt isn’t fun. For other people it is. There is somewhat of a identity crisis of what exactly is the game. Is it fun and participation and everyone gets to play or is it a sport where competition is at its premium and who is the best player?
Finally, the acceptance of the sports community at large. We have a double whammy in that we are soccer. Soccer automatically is still the commie foreign sport where it’s always the butt of the jokes. I don’t know why that is. Maybe people are afraid we are going to “take their athletes.” We have the double whammy or soccer as the commie sport and as women’s sport. We have to gain credibility through all that.
How do you think the new Women's Professional Soccer League will do?
It looks like they have a decent plan in place. They aren’t sticking them in big stadiums. They are getting the help of MLS. That is one of the reasons the WNBA has lasted so long is because the franchises in the WNBA are helped along the by the same people who own the NBA franchises. You can share the same marketing people and front office staff plus one or two more as opposed to hiring the whole staff. You can share resources. I certainly hope it will do well. I would like to see more publicity. The soccer community knows about it but who else? I remember when MLS started up; they did a lot of things wrong but they also did a lot right. They had the ads on TV and on ESPN, and I’m not really getting that from the new women’s league.
Why it the United States Women’s National Team so dominate?
The same reason why our baseball team has always dominated until the recent years. We started it, we embraced it more. In a lot of the soccer playing countries of the world, Women’s Soccer is looked down and frowned upon. Maybe women’s sports in general are. Soccer is seen as a man’s game. The England, the Germanys, the Brazils didn’t embrace it immediately.
We’ve been able to give our young ladies a chance to play since the 80s and early 90s, we were able to get ahead of the curve. Now you are seeing many of the soccer playing nations catch up and even pass us. Brazil is tremendous. The flair of the men’s team has caught up and gone over to the women’s team. You would love to be dominate forever but in the growth of the game and how it is played more competition is better.
Monday
The rest of the interview will be published on Monday, stick around folks, more great stuff to come.
Contest
Today is supposed to be the last day of my supporter pictures contest but I haven’t received many submissions yet so I am going to keep it open until Monday. Please submit to grahamfox[@]gmail.com so I can hand out the Bumpy Pitch T-Shirt and the 25 dollar gift certificate to SoccerPro.com
Showing posts with label College Soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label College Soccer. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Soccer in America: Soccer with James Parker, Manhattan KS
The Interviewee's Music Picks!
Introductions
I met James while playing pick-up soccer at K-State. He is a talented player who is heavily involved with the K-State Men’s Club Team.
Who is James?
Hi James, would you give the readers a quick background of yourself?
I’m a fourth year right now at K-State in the architecture department. I grew up in Manhattan, and played football and soccer there.
What’s your first memory of soccer? How far back can you go?
It may be one of those that’s more ingrained in my dad’s memory. My dad forgot to sign me up for city league soccer. I was sitting there just bawling my brains out at the city department because I wasn’t on the team. I was crying, wouldn’t get in the car, pissed off at the world. My dad felt pretty horrible and he reminds me of it time in time out.
You played both Football and Soccer in High-School?
I gave it a shot. I was just a kicker. I played four years of soccer, three varsity. I wanted to try something different. Me and my friend both did a multi-sport same season our senior year. We were both kickers for the football team and members of the soccer team. It pretty hectic but it was a blast.
What are your soccer aspirations do you have hopes for semi-pro or professional soccer?
I’ve always gone back and forth with that. Soccer has been my passion and dream since I was a little kid. I love soccer so much, I could easily see myself doing it but at the same time it’s so much training. I know I have the basic skill-talent to do it but I don’t have much time to train so the dream starts to fall away.
When I go to Europe this next spring I really want to get out there and play and see if I can hop onto some semi pro teams.
What is K-State Club Soccer?
How did you become involved with the Kansas State Men's Club Soccer?
Actually the first year of college I pursed football and went and kicked at a community college. I realized that football wasn’t my sport, I just had too much of a passion for soccer and love for the game.
I came back to K-State because I knew I wanted to do architecture. I was out playing one afternoon when a few guys off the team told me to come out for try outs. I didn’t even know K-State had a team. At this point the team wasn’t structured that well, there wasn’t any real direction on the team so I said, “OK, I’ll give it a try.”
When does your season run? You have games in the Fall?
There are actually two seasons. The main core of the season runs in the fall. We’ll get a good 15 games in. It really comes down to how much time we have to travel.
We do a little in the spring. We have a tournament and bring teams in from around the Midwest, teams like Creighton, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
How is the club led? Do you have a president or coach?
It’s set up president, vice president, secretary treasurer. Because it’s a club you’ve got to give everyone a title. When it comes down to it as far as importance, everyone has basically the same duties, equal responsibility. Just because you’re president doesn’t mean you do all the work.
Have you ever had an official coach? How do you manage the coaching duties?
I know the girls have had a coach in the past. They’ve liked it but not having a coach becomes an advantage for certain players at K-State. They are there for mainly academics so they aren’t really focused as much on training and getting better. They make practices when they can.
As far as drills we don’t have anyone setting them up. We just get out there. That’s the only thing that sucks about it because everyone is busy and we have so much on our plate we aren’t able to sit down and say “Hey, here is what we need to work on tonight, here is what we need to improve on.”
The thing I love about K-State is so many different nationalities are represented. Do you know how many different countries are represented on the club team?
Right now I believe there are four of five. We had a few guys from China, a guy from Japan, a few guys from the Middle East, and a few guys from Europe also.
What’s you assessment of the talent level at Kansas State?
There is a lot of good talent that comes out. We’d be competing with division one programs, maybe not the top teams but competing.
It’s hard to see such good talent. They should be able to play somewhere bigger and better but the fact of the matter is they’re at K-State.
A lot of people think “The club team, oh they are going to be bad," but they don’t realize that they are some of the best players you will see in the Midwest but they are focusing more on academics because here in America there is really no outlet for soccer.
K-State Soccer and Nationals
What kind of support do you get from K-State?
We get a little bit of money from the school. It ends up being divided out even through the Recreation Complex between all sports clubs. We don’t get as much support as we like. But at the same time there is money and we are able to fundraise and do what we need to do to get by.
I noticed we were really running into troubles with the Kansas State when we made it to nationals. It was the first time K-State had done it.
We had approximately one month do get down there [Pensacola, Florida]. We didn’t necessarily have support from the school but there were quite a few nice ladies who worked at K-State who saw what we were trying to do and accomplish. They set up a nice soccer clinic. We got quite a good showing last year and raised quite a bit of money.
I know the club team has had some success, you went to nationals last year, how did you do in that tournament?
I think it was more a learning experience. That’s what everyone always says but there is some merit to that because we faced some great competition. We faced Virginia Tech, Georgia, and Michigan.
The teams we faced all had coaches. That’s where we first saw the difference between what we had and the other top schools. They were able to train before the game while we were kinda standing around not really knowing what to do. It took us a good 15-20 minutes to get in the grove of the game and ready to play and by that time we were already down a goal and fighting back the rest of the time.
Men’s and Woman’s Soccer in the Big XII
Why is there no Men’s Soccer in the Big XII?
I couldn’t tell you. I do know if K-State was to get a soccer team it would be girls not guys because K-State is the only team in the Big XII without a woman’s soccer team. It’s very hard to believe especially considering we have such a nice stadium.
I love Memorial Stadium / The Old Stadium so much. It’s a great place to play and so beautiful.
I was talking to someone who used to work in the Athletic Department at K-State and he was telling me that because of Title 9 it ends up shooting the girls in the foot because for some reason K-State would have to build a new stadium just for the Woman’s soccer team. That’s a whole new plot of land and a whole lot of money and they’d rather put it somewhere else.
Do you think we will ever have Men’s Soccer in the Big XII?
I’m going to say yes just because I want to see it. I hope so. It’s a sport that’s growing. Just recently it’s starting to come around and I think there’s a whole era of kids right now. Our era is getting older and we’ll have money. The era above us grew up on football and baseball so that’s what they make their kids play. We are going to grow up and have our kids play soccer. Hopefully down the road it will come around.
Introductions
I met James while playing pick-up soccer at K-State. He is a talented player who is heavily involved with the K-State Men’s Club Team.
Who is James?
Hi James, would you give the readers a quick background of yourself?
I’m a fourth year right now at K-State in the architecture department. I grew up in Manhattan, and played football and soccer there.
What’s your first memory of soccer? How far back can you go?
It may be one of those that’s more ingrained in my dad’s memory. My dad forgot to sign me up for city league soccer. I was sitting there just bawling my brains out at the city department because I wasn’t on the team. I was crying, wouldn’t get in the car, pissed off at the world. My dad felt pretty horrible and he reminds me of it time in time out.
You played both Football and Soccer in High-School?
I gave it a shot. I was just a kicker. I played four years of soccer, three varsity. I wanted to try something different. Me and my friend both did a multi-sport same season our senior year. We were both kickers for the football team and members of the soccer team. It pretty hectic but it was a blast.
What are your soccer aspirations do you have hopes for semi-pro or professional soccer?
I’ve always gone back and forth with that. Soccer has been my passion and dream since I was a little kid. I love soccer so much, I could easily see myself doing it but at the same time it’s so much training. I know I have the basic skill-talent to do it but I don’t have much time to train so the dream starts to fall away.
When I go to Europe this next spring I really want to get out there and play and see if I can hop onto some semi pro teams.
What is K-State Club Soccer?
How did you become involved with the Kansas State Men's Club Soccer?
Actually the first year of college I pursed football and went and kicked at a community college. I realized that football wasn’t my sport, I just had too much of a passion for soccer and love for the game.
I came back to K-State because I knew I wanted to do architecture. I was out playing one afternoon when a few guys off the team told me to come out for try outs. I didn’t even know K-State had a team. At this point the team wasn’t structured that well, there wasn’t any real direction on the team so I said, “OK, I’ll give it a try.”
When does your season run? You have games in the Fall?
There are actually two seasons. The main core of the season runs in the fall. We’ll get a good 15 games in. It really comes down to how much time we have to travel.
We do a little in the spring. We have a tournament and bring teams in from around the Midwest, teams like Creighton, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
How is the club led? Do you have a president or coach?
It’s set up president, vice president, secretary treasurer. Because it’s a club you’ve got to give everyone a title. When it comes down to it as far as importance, everyone has basically the same duties, equal responsibility. Just because you’re president doesn’t mean you do all the work.
Have you ever had an official coach? How do you manage the coaching duties?
I know the girls have had a coach in the past. They’ve liked it but not having a coach becomes an advantage for certain players at K-State. They are there for mainly academics so they aren’t really focused as much on training and getting better. They make practices when they can.
As far as drills we don’t have anyone setting them up. We just get out there. That’s the only thing that sucks about it because everyone is busy and we have so much on our plate we aren’t able to sit down and say “Hey, here is what we need to work on tonight, here is what we need to improve on.”
The thing I love about K-State is so many different nationalities are represented. Do you know how many different countries are represented on the club team?
Right now I believe there are four of five. We had a few guys from China, a guy from Japan, a few guys from the Middle East, and a few guys from Europe also.
What’s you assessment of the talent level at Kansas State?
There is a lot of good talent that comes out. We’d be competing with division one programs, maybe not the top teams but competing.
It’s hard to see such good talent. They should be able to play somewhere bigger and better but the fact of the matter is they’re at K-State.
A lot of people think “The club team, oh they are going to be bad," but they don’t realize that they are some of the best players you will see in the Midwest but they are focusing more on academics because here in America there is really no outlet for soccer.
K-State Soccer and Nationals
What kind of support do you get from K-State?
We get a little bit of money from the school. It ends up being divided out even through the Recreation Complex between all sports clubs. We don’t get as much support as we like. But at the same time there is money and we are able to fundraise and do what we need to do to get by.
I noticed we were really running into troubles with the Kansas State when we made it to nationals. It was the first time K-State had done it.
We had approximately one month do get down there [Pensacola, Florida]. We didn’t necessarily have support from the school but there were quite a few nice ladies who worked at K-State who saw what we were trying to do and accomplish. They set up a nice soccer clinic. We got quite a good showing last year and raised quite a bit of money.
I know the club team has had some success, you went to nationals last year, how did you do in that tournament?
I think it was more a learning experience. That’s what everyone always says but there is some merit to that because we faced some great competition. We faced Virginia Tech, Georgia, and Michigan.
The teams we faced all had coaches. That’s where we first saw the difference between what we had and the other top schools. They were able to train before the game while we were kinda standing around not really knowing what to do. It took us a good 15-20 minutes to get in the grove of the game and ready to play and by that time we were already down a goal and fighting back the rest of the time.
Men’s and Woman’s Soccer in the Big XII
Why is there no Men’s Soccer in the Big XII?
I couldn’t tell you. I do know if K-State was to get a soccer team it would be girls not guys because K-State is the only team in the Big XII without a woman’s soccer team. It’s very hard to believe especially considering we have such a nice stadium.
I love Memorial Stadium / The Old Stadium so much. It’s a great place to play and so beautiful.
I was talking to someone who used to work in the Athletic Department at K-State and he was telling me that because of Title 9 it ends up shooting the girls in the foot because for some reason K-State would have to build a new stadium just for the Woman’s soccer team. That’s a whole new plot of land and a whole lot of money and they’d rather put it somewhere else.Do you think we will ever have Men’s Soccer in the Big XII?
I’m going to say yes just because I want to see it. I hope so. It’s a sport that’s growing. Just recently it’s starting to come around and I think there’s a whole era of kids right now. Our era is getting older and we’ll have money. The era above us grew up on football and baseball so that’s what they make their kids play. We are going to grow up and have our kids play soccer. Hopefully down the road it will come around.
Monday, January 12, 2009
It's Really Drafty in Here!
Combine Harvest's Goals
The combine is now well under way. Games have been played, weakness exposed, and the quality of some has show through. While I would love to be at the Combine giving you on the spot live videos, interviews, and pictures that is not going to happen on a grad school budget.
Instead I am going to focus on just a few players, the players who scored goals and the keepers who posted shutouts. Of course, you can play a great game without being a goal scorer so just because there name doesn’t appear below doesn’t mean they didn’t put in a great performance.
The Combine Games
Official MLS Combine Roster
Day 1 Game 1: adiTunit beat Powerserve 2-0
Goals: Chris Pontius, Peri Marosevic
Shutout: Stefan Frei, Evan Bush
Day 1 Game 2: adiPure beat Tiro 1-0
Goal: Jordan Seabrook
Shutout: Neal Kitson, Alec Dufty
Day 2 Game 1: adiTunit tied Tiro 1-1
Goal: Peri Marosevic; Nick Perera
Day 2 Game 2: PowerSwerve beat adiPure 2-0
Goals: Quincy Amarikwa (2)
Shutout: Evan Bush
The Players
Forward Chris Pontius(USCB): 1 goal
Chris is a 6’0 170 forward for UC Santa Barbra. In the 2007 season he was the conferences top goal scorer with 11. In 2008 he was the team Co-Captian, as well as a M.A.C Hermann Trophy Candidate. In 2007 he was the Big West Offensive Player of the Year.
Listen to an Interview with Chris Pontius
Forward Peri Marosevic (Michigan): 2 goals
Peri is a 5’9 160 forward from Michigan. He has played with the US U-17 and U-20 National Team. While with the U-20 team he scored a brace against Mexico. While at Michigan he has qualified for a variety of teams, including All-Distric First Team. He holds the record for single season shot total (66). Too bad that is just shots and not goals.
Peri scores the first goal in this video.
Forward Quincy Amarikwa (UC Davis): 2 goals
Quincy is a 5’9 160 forward who is loaded with skill. He has been named to the Big West All Conference Second Team and finished the season with 5 goals in his 2007 season (2 of the game winners).
In 2008 he was named to the All American team after a season with 15 goals.
Read an interview with Quincy.
Watch Quincy hit a sweet bicycle kick.
Forward Jordan Seabrook(South Florida): 1 goal
Jordan, a 5’10 160 striker is very fast and has handled himself well during the combine. In his 2007 season he had 5 goals and 8 assists. He was ranked #42 in the nation based on assists per game. Seabrook is also a track and field star.
Watch Seabrook twist and turn in the box to create a game winning goal in the Big East Tournament Championship.
Forward Nick Perera(UCSB):1 goal
Nick is a 6’3 200 forward for US Santa Barbra. He has a great first touch and is very calm in front of goal. In 2007 he appeared in every match during the season. In the 2006 Men’s College Cup he was named the best offensive player (when he was a sophomore).
Wow a whole video dedicated to a college soccer player. I just shat myself.
GK Evan Bush (Akron): 2 shutouts
At 6’3 185 Bush has size and speed. He has been named to the All MAC First Team twice. In 2007 he started 21 games and posted 12 shutouts.
Unfortunately there are no videos of Bush in action. Weird huh?
Great MLS Draft Sites
-Pro Player Pipeline:The best breakdown and explanation of every game, notes on each player, and overall grade
-Soccer by Ives: Daily updates, you probably already visit here
-MLSnet: The official MLS site has updates and video of the combine.
-3rd Degree: The FC Dallas site has great insider observation and info
-MLS Draft: A whole site dedicated to just the MLS draft. Ooooooh
Twitter
TWEET TWEET TWEET I have a Twitter feed.
Next time on Advantage Played
On Wednesday I continue my Soccer in America series. I look at soccer at Kansas State and in the Big XI.
The combine is now well under way. Games have been played, weakness exposed, and the quality of some has show through. While I would love to be at the Combine giving you on the spot live videos, interviews, and pictures that is not going to happen on a grad school budget.
Instead I am going to focus on just a few players, the players who scored goals and the keepers who posted shutouts. Of course, you can play a great game without being a goal scorer so just because there name doesn’t appear below doesn’t mean they didn’t put in a great performance.
The Combine Games
Official MLS Combine Roster
Day 1 Game 1: adiTunit beat Powerserve 2-0
Goals: Chris Pontius, Peri Marosevic
Shutout: Stefan Frei, Evan Bush
Day 1 Game 2: adiPure beat Tiro 1-0
Goal: Jordan Seabrook
Shutout: Neal Kitson, Alec Dufty
Day 2 Game 1: adiTunit tied Tiro 1-1
Goal: Peri Marosevic; Nick Perera
Day 2 Game 2: PowerSwerve beat adiPure 2-0
Goals: Quincy Amarikwa (2)
Shutout: Evan Bush
The Players
Forward Chris Pontius(USCB): 1 goal
Chris is a 6’0 170 forward for UC Santa Barbra. In the 2007 season he was the conferences top goal scorer with 11. In 2008 he was the team Co-Captian, as well as a M.A.C Hermann Trophy Candidate. In 2007 he was the Big West Offensive Player of the Year.Listen to an Interview with Chris Pontius
Forward Peri Marosevic (Michigan): 2 goals
Peri is a 5’9 160 forward from Michigan. He has played with the US U-17 and U-20 National Team. While with the U-20 team he scored a brace against Mexico. While at Michigan he has qualified for a variety of teams, including All-Distric First Team. He holds the record for single season shot total (66). Too bad that is just shots and not goals.
Peri scores the first goal in this video.
Forward Quincy Amarikwa (UC Davis): 2 goals
Quincy is a 5’9 160 forward who is loaded with skill. He has been named to the Big West All Conference Second Team and finished the season with 5 goals in his 2007 season (2 of the game winners).
In 2008 he was named to the All American team after a season with 15 goals.
Read an interview with Quincy.
Watch Quincy hit a sweet bicycle kick.
Forward Jordan Seabrook(South Florida): 1 goal
Jordan, a 5’10 160 striker is very fast and has handled himself well during the combine. In his 2007 season he had 5 goals and 8 assists. He was ranked #42 in the nation based on assists per game. Seabrook is also a track and field star.
Watch Seabrook twist and turn in the box to create a game winning goal in the Big East Tournament Championship.
Forward Nick Perera(UCSB):1 goal
Nick is a 6’3 200 forward for US Santa Barbra. He has a great first touch and is very calm in front of goal. In 2007 he appeared in every match during the season. In the 2006 Men’s College Cup he was named the best offensive player (when he was a sophomore).
Wow a whole video dedicated to a college soccer player. I just shat myself.
GK Evan Bush (Akron): 2 shutouts
At 6’3 185 Bush has size and speed. He has been named to the All MAC First Team twice. In 2007 he started 21 games and posted 12 shutouts.Unfortunately there are no videos of Bush in action. Weird huh?
Great MLS Draft Sites
-Pro Player Pipeline:The best breakdown and explanation of every game, notes on each player, and overall grade
-Soccer by Ives: Daily updates, you probably already visit here
-MLSnet: The official MLS site has updates and video of the combine.
-3rd Degree: The FC Dallas site has great insider observation and info
-MLS Draft: A whole site dedicated to just the MLS draft. Ooooooh
TWEET TWEET TWEET I have a Twitter feed.
Next time on Advantage Played
On Wednesday I continue my Soccer in America series. I look at soccer at Kansas State and in the Big XI.
Friday, January 9, 2009
It's Drafty in Here
Music Time (My girlfriend helped pick these out)
The MLS Draft is Coming!
Well the draft is almost upon us. The Generation Adidas contracts have been signed and the draft fodder is now heading to the combine. During three days they will all play each other under the watchful eye of all fifteen MLS teams coaches and scouts. For these young men it’s got to be a time of deep anxiety. The dream of playing pro-soccer is closer to them than ever before.
Yet they still have to prove themselves after four years of success. The past seasons they have stood out above their teammates and shown their skill. Now they have to build on their previous confidence to take it to the next level.
While the rookies have to be at their best, so do the MLS scouts. Every year there are late picks that far exceed the early picks. Without the supplemental draft and reserve league those diamonds will have to be found quick and early.
If you are like me, you know what is happening in college soccer but you don’t get to see a lot of games. In this update and the next few, I’m going to do the video search for you and present you with a rich buffet of the stars of tomorrow in action (I can’t promise you will love the music that goes with the videos).
The Stars of Tomorrow Part 1
Steve Zakuani
Steve comes to us from Akron College. From 1997-2003 he played with the Arsenal Youth Team. At 6-0 170 pounds, this forward has skill and great vision. In 2008 he had 20 goals for Akron.
Omar Gonzalez
Omar comes to us from the University of Maryland. He has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. At 6-5’, 206 pounds he is an imposing presence. Omar has been with the U.S. soccer residency program since 2005. He scored the goal which secured the US U-17 team a spot in the FIFA U-17 World Championship.
Omar scores the #3 goal of the 2007 season in this video (2.23 in).
Rodney Wallace
Rodney, a 5-11’ 152 pound Midfielder for the University of Maryland. A former teammate of Stephen King, he has focus and confidence that will serve him well in MLS.
Rodney scores the #8th, 7th, 2nd, and 1st best goal of Maryland’s 2007 season in this video.
Next Time on Advantage Played
I’m going to give you an even better update on the draft players. I will scour the internet and find every last video of anyone in the draft. And I do it because I love you.
Help Me!
If you know college soccer players with an interesting story who would like to be interviewed for my soccer in America series, please let me know. Email is at the top.
The MLS Draft is Coming!
Well the draft is almost upon us. The Generation Adidas contracts have been signed and the draft fodder is now heading to the combine. During three days they will all play each other under the watchful eye of all fifteen MLS teams coaches and scouts. For these young men it’s got to be a time of deep anxiety. The dream of playing pro-soccer is closer to them than ever before.
Yet they still have to prove themselves after four years of success. The past seasons they have stood out above their teammates and shown their skill. Now they have to build on their previous confidence to take it to the next level.
While the rookies have to be at their best, so do the MLS scouts. Every year there are late picks that far exceed the early picks. Without the supplemental draft and reserve league those diamonds will have to be found quick and early.
If you are like me, you know what is happening in college soccer but you don’t get to see a lot of games. In this update and the next few, I’m going to do the video search for you and present you with a rich buffet of the stars of tomorrow in action (I can’t promise you will love the music that goes with the videos).
The Stars of Tomorrow Part 1
Steve Zakuani
Steve comes to us from Akron College. From 1997-2003 he played with the Arsenal Youth Team. At 6-0 170 pounds, this forward has skill and great vision. In 2008 he had 20 goals for Akron.
Omar Gonzalez
Omar comes to us from the University of Maryland. He has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. At 6-5’, 206 pounds he is an imposing presence. Omar has been with the U.S. soccer residency program since 2005. He scored the goal which secured the US U-17 team a spot in the FIFA U-17 World Championship.
Omar scores the #3 goal of the 2007 season in this video (2.23 in).
Rodney Wallace
Rodney, a 5-11’ 152 pound Midfielder for the University of Maryland. A former teammate of Stephen King, he has focus and confidence that will serve him well in MLS.
Rodney scores the #8th, 7th, 2nd, and 1st best goal of Maryland’s 2007 season in this video.
Next Time on Advantage Played
I’m going to give you an even better update on the draft players. I will scour the internet and find every last video of anyone in the draft. And I do it because I love you.
Help Me!
If you know college soccer players with an interesting story who would like to be interviewed for my soccer in America series, please let me know. Email is at the top.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Inside American Soccer
Listen to Some Music Chosen by the Interviewee
American Soccer
I want to take you inside American soccer. You will see the trials, joys, tribulations, and excitement that the young men and woman of American soccer experience. You will also start to understand their training and daily lives.
We enjoy our footballers when they are on the pitch, but off it they face just as many challenges, especially the college hopefuls. Today I’m bringing you the first in what I hope to be a series of articles focusing on footballers in the American collegiate system.
Inside Midwest Soccer with Center Midfielder David Fox
Welcome to Advantage Played David. We’ll just start out with the basics. What college do you play for?
I play at William Jewell College in Liberty Missouri.
How did you end up at William Jewell?
My club soccer coach’s daughter plays at Benedictine the school that my coach at William Jewell’s twin brother coaches at. So that was one of my connections. Jewell’s head coach talked to my club coach and liked what he heard. I came up, tried out, had a kick around with the team, and they offered me a scholarship.
What are your thoughts after you first season with William Jewell?
It’s what I love about soccer. It’s really competitive but at the same time the feeling of being on a team [is great] and the team chemistry at Jewell is amazing. Everybody gets along so well. Even though everyone is fighting for spots and playing time the team still stays together. There is no in-fighting between the players.
How did you do personally in your first season?
I ended up with about 35 minutes of Varsity playing time as a freshman which I was pretty excited about. We defiantly have some good players. Next year I am looking to play a more significant role.
Are there going to be seniors leaving, or will you find the way in through your own virtues?
There really won’t be seniors leaving, but I know things I can improve on and how to improve on them in the summer and offseason. Hopefully that will make the difference.
What are you going to try and improve on the most?
The biggest area is touch, the first touch on the ball makes or breaks a center midfield player. Good control and balance when there is pressure on my back and working on making my shot more accurate and powerful.
What is a typical day of training like?
Pre-season begins with waking up at seven and we go to breakfast as a team. We have practice ball control in the morning for the first thirty minutes, then drills for another hour. Then there is an hour break and lunch as a team. After lunch we have another practice. We do sprints and drills for the rest of practice. We then go to dinner as a team, and have a practice after dinner where we scrimmage.
So that’s preseason?
Ya, in season we practice once a day. Sometimes we’ll go two a day if our games are spaced far enough apart.
Do you like training all the time?
I’ll be able to answer that better after the offseason when we lift weights all the time. I did like it. One of the reasons I decided to play college soccer is because I can play all day and look forward to the next day of soccer.
What is the main difference between college and high school soccer?
In high school each team has a couple good players and good athletes; in college everyone on the field is very skilled. The biggest difference is you have to be at your top form every game. The intensity and amount of skill required is incredible. The good teams in college aren’t going to mess up in the back. You have to work to create your own opportunities.
A lot of time in high school you get goals because the back line messes up or the forward steals the ball from a defender.
How does the training in college compare to training in high school?
It’s defiantly different. We didn’t have the best high school team (Salina South) but we had some good players. Most high schoolers aren’t as committed.
When it comes to college training everyone was the best player on their high school team. We have to do the drills 100% or everyone will know you’re slacking. It’s a lot more pressure but it makes you work harder and get a lot better.
What is your favorite soccer moment or memory from your first season?
That’s easy I know that right away. It was preseason and our third scrimmage. We were playing the non-starters vs starters. I was playing center mid for the non-starters. We were down 1-0. I got a pass from about 40 yards out and I took a step with it. Their center mid came in to mark me. I did a step over, broke to my left, and I fired from about 35 yards out with my left foot. It felt really good and I could see the ball just flying. It curved into the top left corner. It hit the back of the net and I went crazy. I remember the keeper standing there flat footed watching the ball go in.
What are your future soccer aspirations?
Even though there is a low chance I can see myself playing soccer after college. There is a semi pro indoor team that plays maybe 15 minutes from our campus and probably next year I’ll try out for them. I know a couple guys on the team who have made it. I’m going to work on any opportunities I get in the Kansas City area so someday I can hopefully make money playing soccer.
Any last words to the soccer world?
You can expect Jewell to go to the National Tournament next year. Be looking out for that!
American Soccer
I want to take you inside American soccer. You will see the trials, joys, tribulations, and excitement that the young men and woman of American soccer experience. You will also start to understand their training and daily lives.
We enjoy our footballers when they are on the pitch, but off it they face just as many challenges, especially the college hopefuls. Today I’m bringing you the first in what I hope to be a series of articles focusing on footballers in the American collegiate system.
Inside Midwest Soccer with Center Midfielder David Fox
Welcome to Advantage Played David. We’ll just start out with the basics. What college do you play for?
I play at William Jewell College in Liberty Missouri.
How did you end up at William Jewell?
My club soccer coach’s daughter plays at Benedictine the school that my coach at William Jewell’s twin brother coaches at. So that was one of my connections. Jewell’s head coach talked to my club coach and liked what he heard. I came up, tried out, had a kick around with the team, and they offered me a scholarship.
What are your thoughts after you first season with William Jewell?
It’s what I love about soccer. It’s really competitive but at the same time the feeling of being on a team [is great] and the team chemistry at Jewell is amazing. Everybody gets along so well. Even though everyone is fighting for spots and playing time the team still stays together. There is no in-fighting between the players.
How did you do personally in your first season?
I ended up with about 35 minutes of Varsity playing time as a freshman which I was pretty excited about. We defiantly have some good players. Next year I am looking to play a more significant role.
Are there going to be seniors leaving, or will you find the way in through your own virtues?
There really won’t be seniors leaving, but I know things I can improve on and how to improve on them in the summer and offseason. Hopefully that will make the difference.
What are you going to try and improve on the most?
The biggest area is touch, the first touch on the ball makes or breaks a center midfield player. Good control and balance when there is pressure on my back and working on making my shot more accurate and powerful.
What is a typical day of training like?
Pre-season begins with waking up at seven and we go to breakfast as a team. We have practice ball control in the morning for the first thirty minutes, then drills for another hour. Then there is an hour break and lunch as a team. After lunch we have another practice. We do sprints and drills for the rest of practice. We then go to dinner as a team, and have a practice after dinner where we scrimmage.
So that’s preseason?
Ya, in season we practice once a day. Sometimes we’ll go two a day if our games are spaced far enough apart.
Do you like training all the time?
I’ll be able to answer that better after the offseason when we lift weights all the time. I did like it. One of the reasons I decided to play college soccer is because I can play all day and look forward to the next day of soccer.
What is the main difference between college and high school soccer?
In high school each team has a couple good players and good athletes; in college everyone on the field is very skilled. The biggest difference is you have to be at your top form every game. The intensity and amount of skill required is incredible. The good teams in college aren’t going to mess up in the back. You have to work to create your own opportunities.
A lot of time in high school you get goals because the back line messes up or the forward steals the ball from a defender.
How does the training in college compare to training in high school?
It’s defiantly different. We didn’t have the best high school team (Salina South) but we had some good players. Most high schoolers aren’t as committed.
When it comes to college training everyone was the best player on their high school team. We have to do the drills 100% or everyone will know you’re slacking. It’s a lot more pressure but it makes you work harder and get a lot better.
What is your favorite soccer moment or memory from your first season?
That’s easy I know that right away. It was preseason and our third scrimmage. We were playing the non-starters vs starters. I was playing center mid for the non-starters. We were down 1-0. I got a pass from about 40 yards out and I took a step with it. Their center mid came in to mark me. I did a step over, broke to my left, and I fired from about 35 yards out with my left foot. It felt really good and I could see the ball just flying. It curved into the top left corner. It hit the back of the net and I went crazy. I remember the keeper standing there flat footed watching the ball go in.
What are your future soccer aspirations?
Even though there is a low chance I can see myself playing soccer after college. There is a semi pro indoor team that plays maybe 15 minutes from our campus and probably next year I’ll try out for them. I know a couple guys on the team who have made it. I’m going to work on any opportunities I get in the Kansas City area so someday I can hopefully make money playing soccer.
Any last words to the soccer world?
You can expect Jewell to go to the National Tournament next year. Be looking out for that!
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