Hot Hot Hot

Rockets on a cooler March day - Picture by Glenn Thomas

My son's travel NCSL game at the Germantown Soccerplex was played in 90 degree heat this afternoon. The DC Stoddert Rockets did well against their top of the league opponents to draw 1-1 - check out their league status here - but with a short roster we wilted a little in the heat.

Proper hydration is crucial and can make a big difference on game day. Check out the following links on proper hydration:

Sports medicine

US Youth Soccer 

Remember, smaller kids tend to dehydrate quicker so be sure to have players drink water before during and after games.

Also be sure to avoid sharing water bottles with the current flu alerts.

Coach Parents Too

This is a tricky area. It's been discussed in many forums at many coaches' meetings, among commissioners and at the board level. A coach's job does not end with instructing and guiding his or her players. We need to educate parents on a number of fronts, including how to be better observers of the game and not participants (or assistant coaches).

There was an article recently in the Washington Post about a group of parents who managed to get themselves a restraining order of sorts, ordered to not come within 100 yards of their kids' games because they berated a referee in the previous season. This is an extreme example of parents simply getting too involved emotionally and venting their frustration (arguably) inappropriately.

On the other side of the coin are parents who don't participate at all. They barely watch the game, take no interest in what's happening on the field. They stand, sip coffee and chat amiably with one another. Then, after the final whistle blows, they say to their children, "So how was the game?"

Without laying judgment on either of these two types of parents, it seems fairly apparent that coaches have at least a minimal role to play in giving parents some guidelines on appropriate and acceptable behavior on the soccer field.

Without appearing pedantic, how do we, as coaches, get parents more (or less) involved on the sidelines? What should our role be in this area? How far should (or can) we go?

The best start is to be enthusiastic yourself. Show how much pride you have in your team and how eager you are to see them have fun and succeed (without coaching from the sidelines). In other words, set an example.

You might also want to think about getting parents involved at their kids' level. Include them in the pre-game and half time pep talk. Maybe even have them help out withe pre-game practices (for U8 and under).

There are obviously many ways to get parents to show their best face at game time. Feel free to post your thoughts.

The Bald Soccer Chairman's Blog

Jim, an old school friend from England, recently tracked me down through the power of a Google search and his first two comments were "You've gone completely bald" and "I can't believe you are the Chairman of a Football Club". I'm not sure what was the biggest shock to him! The last time I saw him I still had some of the curly hair seen in this picture of me as a U12 player for our school St Bonaventures R.C. in Forest Gate in London. That picture was taken during the warm up session of a school match and as you can see there was not a lot of warming up going on with only one boy, Brosnan, chasing the ball off camera with the rest of us standing around looking a bit the worse for wear. 

In those days a Football Club Chairman looked like the character played by Jim Broadbent in the excellent Damned United. Coincidentally the film depicts events at Leeds United happening around the same time the photo of me was taken. Presumably my mate Jim sees me as a bald version of the ruddy faced, cigar smoking, pin stripe suited, whiskey drinking Jim Broadbent, conducting nefarious Football club Chariman's business behind closed doors in a smoke filled room.

Well fortunately there is not a lot in common between the Chairman of DC Stoddert Soccer in 2009 and Derby County in the early 1970s. Aside the smoking ban at our Jellef offices the biggest difference is transparency. The way we conduct club business is very different now than was the norm back then.

At DC Stoddert we are using this blog, an overhauled club web site and Google Groups to increase communication and allow greater discussion and exchange between club volunteers and parents and staff. All club Board meetings are open to club members and minutes are posted on the club web site (note to self, check that they are up to date). We are just about to launch some parent surveys to gather feedback on issues important to parents of our recreational and travel players. Those surveys will provide input to a planned strategic retreat as we seek to align our club programs with identified priority needs. Earlier feedback from recreational coaches and commissioners identified fields and the reach of coach education and support as two key issues. Our recent Premier Partnership Agreement with DC Department of Parks and Recreation is a start on the fields issue. But we have a lot more work to do there to improve field quality and support DC DPR in expanding their programmtic reach.

One pending action item is for the club to undertake a strategic assessment of our field needs for both our rec and travel programs and then work out the different options for meeting those. This includes the DC DPR partnership and investing $180,000 a year in fields and equipment. We are also purchasing time on DC public school fields and private school fields as well as continuing our relationship with the Maryland Soccerplex in Germantown for our "home" travel games.

In the coming weeks I'll look to share something on what the DC Stoddert Board is doing and will look for comments and feedback from club members on what we are doing well, and what we need to do better. If you really want to confirm that we are not making decisions behind closed doors in smoke filled rooms, join us at Jellef on May 6 at 7:00 PM for the next fun packed Board meeting.