The search continues - End of Week 4

Well folks the end of open skills practices is upon us. The next phase of choosing a new team is the "actual" tryouts. I put that word, tryouts, in quotes because tryouts began a while ago, these are the "formal" tryouts, which is just a formality. If you don't have an offer from a team that is going to make, it's a mad scramble from this point forward. Fortunately, we have two firm offers and we are weighing the options carefully. We may still look at one more team in the morning...

Honestly, we were spoiled to work with Solar White first. First of all, the level of talent that team is attracting is phenomenal; secondly, the style of practice was hard, up-tempo and very beneficial, especially for my daughter. Unfortunately, no other team has been able to fully match each of those. Sting West 94 has size and talent, but our only practice experience with them was a little too laid back for my liking. Ft. Worth FC has a little less talent, but the practices are tough and a very good workout. There are other factors to consider such as club history, facilities, and future opportunities.

At least we have more concrete opportunities at this time in the process and that is a huge relief after things didn't pan out with our first two choices. I can understand Solar White but Texans West White is still a huge disappointment because of the way it was handled. It will leave a bad taste in my mouth for a while. But like anything, if the right opportunity comes along in the future I'm sure we can find a way to get past it. That's just life...

Here's the rundown for this week:

1. FWFC Red (still looking like a solid choice, FWU D3 core mostly intact; coach is inexperienced, but practices are tough)
   
2. Sting West (history with players, nice mix of size and talent; some former players are going to FWFC)
3. DFW Tornados Blue (former D2 FCD team; NO practices, that I am aware of, since return from Europe, will they even make a team?)
4. Odyssey Gold (history with the coach and a few players; new team with no LHGCL core)
5. Tejanos Premier (D2 core, been together a while; daughter not too interested, some snotty/snobby attitudes from previous experience)

Tomorrow is a big day; wish us luck!

The Search Continues... End of Week 3, Beginning of Week 4

Wish I could say all was bright and cheery in Royboy81 household, but it's not... However, it's not all bad, as I've said before every closed door opens a new one. The soccer family circle is big and sometimes that works to your benefit. As we were attending our final practice/scrimmage with Solar White, I ran into an old workmate back from my first job out of college. I knew her daughter played soccer, but I had not run into her since we played in different leagues and on different clubs. The wife had run into her at a couple of tournaments, but I hadn't. As it turns out, they were heading over to this club for another scrimmage. So we tagged along, knowing that our time with Solar was done.

Oh yeah... well, this was a couple of days after the mad caper that became of our time with the Dallas Texans West. That's a story that is not even as positive as NOT making Solar. We were looking at the #2 team in that division and they were very interested in the daughter... lo and behold, we show up for a practice and they have relegated her to the "new" third team. Now, mind you, we didn't make the Solar team, which I predict will be a force soon in Lake Highlands Classic League, but we didn't miss out by much. The injury really set her back and there were TOO many options for the coach for my daughter to overcome. Plain and simple, he could not go wrong with any of the choices, even if it wasn't my daughter. But this Texans #2 team is nowhere close to the Solar team and now they are telling us that a player they had pursued was now no longer good enough????? Come on, people. Thanks, but no thanks... Movin' on...

This new club looks like it might be a keeper as it's basis is a disbanded D3 Ft. Worth United team. Although the coach is inexperienced, the girls look good. There are some that we know so that's good. I think the coach is a bit inexperienced with respect to North Texas soccer and especially LHGCL, but he is definitely qualified from a pure soccer perspective. We will see how the practices go.

We have not ruled out a couple of other clubs. So here's the rundown:

1. FWFC Red (looking like the likely choice, FWU D3 core; coach is inexperienced, part-time goalie situation)
   
2. DFW Tornados Blue (former D2 FCD team; NO practices since return from Europe, will they make?)
3. Sting West (history with players; some former players are going to FWFC)
   
4. Odyssey Gold (history with the coach and a few players; new team with no LHGCL core)
5. Tejanos Premier (D2 core, been together a while; daughter not too interested, some snotty/snobby attitudes from previous experience)

Wow, still some decent choices. Not where we would have wanted to be at this time, but at least some doors are still open.

Almost forgot... Happy Birthday Mikey!!!

Yesterday was my oldest son's birthday... doesn't even seem that long ago...

The search continues - Start of Week 3

The weather has not been kind to our quest to find a new team for our daughter. First the injury, then camp, and the weather has been a factor throughout. In case you didn't know, after months of drought, we are smack dab in the middle of North Texas monsoon season. Now normally, we expect rain from March to June, but this year has seen the rainiest season in a LOOOONG time. May alone only had NINE days without rain... practically unheard of... Yesterday's practice with the Texans was canceled because a facility could not be found. The practice is rescheduled for Wednesday.

We had a scrimmage with Solar on Saturday in which she did well and played a good bit at multiple positions. I think the issue with Solar is finding her a position; the coach's comments to her were that he was comfortable with his center-mids and was trying to find a place for her. He likes her ability to get to tackles and win most balls. He likes her aggressiveness and toughness. He wants her to play quicker and smarter, which was interesting because I've always considered her a "heady" player but I'm sure he has his reasons. The last few positions on the team are up for grabs and the competition is tough... really tough. Honestly, whatever his decision is, he cannot go wrong based on the talent I have seen out there the last few practices. Even if he doesn't pick my daughter for the team, I can't say it was a bad decision for him and his team. Bad for us, but every closed door opens another.

Also, the list of possible teams is dwindling because my daughter does NOT want to play with one of the teams. So here is the updated list:

1. Solar White (holding out hope; down to last 3-4 positions)
   
2. Dallas Texans West White (closing the gap, nice additions are making them more attractive; down to the last few spots; now, if they would just have a practice...)
   
3. Dallas Texans Black (mainly because they are a Texans team; totally new team)
   
4. DFW Tornados Blue (making their first appearance; may move higher; going BACK to a different Tornados team would be weird)
5. Odyssey 94 Gold (also making their first appearance, previous experience with coach; a new team)

The search continues - Week 2

My daughter just got back from church camp and she seems to be walking and running much better on her injured ankle. So I am hoping she can start making all the practices with the teams we are interested in joining. There are some very interesting developments with teams folding and new teams forming. Some of the developments are very surprising, but that's the nature of the beast, or so I am finding. This is the first time since our daughter started playing club soccer, that we are having to do the whole recruitment process to find her a team. The first time around, we were complete newbs and we just kind of "fell" into the opportunity. I honestly had no reason to believe that my daughter would even make a team, much less get calls from coaches asking her to come out. So it was a pleasant and no-stress experience - then. Now - not so much... This age group is VERY talented and there seems to be no end to the number of girls still playing club soccer. Usually, the numbers start to dwindle as other interests begin to demand time from the girls. It does seem liker there are fewer teams and the same amount of girls - or close too - vying for those few positions.

I do feel badly for her old team, as it seems that many more have left the team. We certainly never wanted to feel like we abandoned them, but we had to do what was best for our daughter. I think they are down to five players give or take two or three. I really hope things work out for them.

Unfortunately, there never seems to be end to the rumors and innuendo. A couple of girls on the team are telling my daughter that when they left and informed the coach, that he was very rude to them and told them that the reason we left was because of them. That is so far from the truth... We never blamed any of the players for our exit and we would have NEVER blamed them, in particular. My daughter "loved" them, in her words and really clicked with them on the pitch. I understand egos and hurt and resentment, and I still respect her old coach for his knowledge and for what he did for our daughter, but for him to say that to them was really not cool - at all. I made sure to keep our decision above board and to not place blame, and we would have never blamed the two girls, NEVER. In the end, it was a feeling that our goals did not match the direction of the team, and that was it. A difference in perspective and objectives. Oh well... My daughter has let the girls know that in no way, shape, form or fashion were they the reason we left. I need to speak to their parents... I don't know if I will speak to the coach; he probably doesn't want to speak to me...

So, these are the teams we are still looking at (with links, if available):

1. Solar White (still on top; down to last 5 spots and it will be very competitive)
   
2. Dallas Texans West White (closing the gap, nice additions are making them more attractive; down to the last few spots)
   
3. Dallas Texans Black (mainly because they are a Texans team; totally new team)
   
4. DFW Tornados Blue (making their first appearance; may move higher; going BACK to a Tornados team would be weird)
5. Odyssey 94 Gold (also making their first appearance previous experience with coach; a new team)
6. DFW Tejanos Premier (relegated down on our list due to no real history or contact, although a contender because they were a LHGCL team)
   

Well, I think that's enough of an update for this week; more to follow in the quest for the new team...

Getting ready for tryouts...

I was thinking of some things to consider as we get ready for soccer tryouts in North Texas. As you may recall we are looking for a new team and, to make matters a little more stressful, my daughter has also suffered an ankle injury.

Just a few tidbits of information that I will or have imparted on my daughter. I'm not perfect or all-knowing but this is a good starting point. The actual tryout period here lasts about a week and, this year, starts on July 1. Open practices began on June 1 and last the whole month of June. To that end, Open practices, also serve as a tryout period, so now is also a time to consider this list.

Here's a list of things to keep in mind:

1. Have fun!
   Fairly simple, but often forgotten in our haste to impress and earn a hard-sought position on a top-flight team. If you are struggling to get ready for practice, it will show in practice. Save yourself and your parent's some grief. If you are not having fun then it's not worth doing.
2. Be in shape.
   Open practices and tryouts are grueling. If you are not prepared for the physical work, then you will fall behind the other girls who are. If you are injured, you will have to work a little harder to get back in shape. Whatever it takes, be prepared to do it.
   
3. Skills - practice them and show them
   Remember all that time and effort learning skills? For some of you, the additional costs? Well now's the time for the payoff. Put those moves and ball handling skills to work! Keep it in context, however. No one likes a show-off, but everyone loves the player who shows a move in a proper moment of the game. Even in practice, there are times when a skill will show the coach that you know when and how to use it. It will also show him/her that you are thinking.
   
4. Be prepared
   That means have ALL of your equipment at ALL times. It's a given to have ball, shin guards, cleats, water, etc. But what if you are coming off an injury? Get the protective braces/wraps you need and USE them. There is no shame in wearing protective gear; absolutely none. However, nothing is worse than re-injuring an already injured part of your body. At some point, you will probably want to consider wrapping ankles as both a precaution and a necessity for a previously injured ankle. My daughter has rolled both ankles in the last year - from now on both will be taped and she will wear ankle braces.
   
5. Don't worry about positions
   The goal is to MAKE a team; positions should be secondary. My daughter is an excellent mid-fielder; she has vision, makes nice passes and can shoot and score when the opportunity arises. So far, she is not playing much in mid and she has been injured. If she works at defender, then that is where she needs to work. Coaches will put a player where they think they best fit on their team. End of story... Unless your child is the second coming of (insert favorite soccer star here), then it doesn't matter where they play, as long as they play and show progress.
   
6. Be confident
   Don't be afraid to make mistakes; learn from them and move on. Don't be afraid to show a skill or a move; sometimes the effort or thought process is noticed more than the actual execution. Don't be afraid to take some risks. Without risks there are no rewards.
7. Be prepared to accept rejection
   It will happen and when it does embrace it as an opportunity. As I explained to my daughter that that every closed door opens another... her reply was "maybe two!"... Damn near shed a tear over that one!
   

As usual, GL&HF!

Trashing Teens; The Case Against Adolescence

A couple of interesting articles about how we, as a society, have artificially extended the length of adolescence. I find this highly interesting and see some good, salient points in the article. With three kids, all teens from early to mid to late, I can agree with a lot that is in the article from experience. Go read and make your own conclusions.

Psychology Today: Trashing Teens

Along that same vein is an article I ran across on things one needs to learn, but that are not being taught in schools. Most of these, we have tried to instill in our kids. I would say we have been most successful with the youngest, probably because WE were still learning some of these, on our own, into our adulthood! Ehhh, our parents did their best... just as we do our best.

27 Skills Your Child Needs to Know That She’s Not Getting In School

AFI 100 Greatest Film Quotes

Found this on John C. Dvorak's blog... as I've said before he doesn't need the traffic, but I'll at least give the credit :D

Detroit, Rock City...

I had to take a day trip to Detroit yesterday for work. Let me tell you, Detroit is an interesting city because despite the Tigers moving to a new stadium, the old Tiger Stadium downtown is still there! And, despite the sorry Lions moving to a new stadium, the Silverdome is still there! Now, this is not like Houston, where the Astrodome is still used or like Dallas, where Reunion Arena is still open for business. Nope, quite the contrary. Just big empty wastes of space.

I really didn't get to spend a lot of time in the city, but that really struck me as weird. Oh well, maybe they forgot demolition in the cost analysis. Maybe they expected someone to buy a property, without it's major tenant. That would be a wise business decision!

The search begins... and ends with an injury - Week 1

As noted previously, my daughter is looking for a new soccer club and we would like her to play for one of the two top clubs in the DFW area.

Generally, the Dallas Texans club is one of the best in the nation, actually they were recently ranked the #2 club for girls in the nation by SoccerAmerica. On the other hand, Solar is a great club that consistently has teams battling for league championships and state and regional titles. All Solar teams are in one of the Classic leagues - Lake Highlands, for girls, or Chamber, for boys. And the team we hope to make is already in Lake Highlands Girls Classic League, having played well enough last year to move into D2. The Texans team we are looking at will try to play in to D3 via the qualifying tournament - never a sure thing...

For the sake of this article and a with a nod to Turf Monster, I will refer to my daughter as DD. If she were a boy, she would be my BB. As in, somewhat facetiously, I assume, "darling daughter" and "baby boy". Obviously, the bulk of the membership Turf Monster, are parents. LOL

Anyway, so we also signed up our DD up for the local high school soccer camp. We figure it would be good for her to lay a little ground-work with the high school coach, even though that's over a year away. Monday morning was pretty tough, but she enjoyed the session. Tuesday morning I get a call from her... she had rolled her ankle when she slipped in mud!

We have had a really rainy May and start of June. This is following a prolonged drought. I think for the month of May, we had only 9 days WITHOUT rain. I don't think that's ever happened in my lifetime... but that's another story.

I guess, I am most upset that the high school coach and host of the camp, has not even bothered to call to check on her after four days. Most clubs canceled their open practices on Monday and Tuesday due to the rain. Most of them were only too happy to finally get them back on track on Wednesday. Of course, we did pay for the camp, and I'm sure there was some sense of obligation to have the sessions come hell or high water (damn near!), but still I think safety is a much bigger concern, especially right now as players look to make moves to new teams and are at a very unsure and unsettled time. But anyway, the point is that I would have expected him to at least called to check on her and he has not. I really don't know this fella, so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but still... it is not right.

We went to the ortho this morning and she is doing much better. He said she could probably start doing some light running and try to get out on the field, errr pitch, a little. We will need to tape her ankle and she should have a brace on at all times. So that was a setback for this week, but fortunately, the cancellations helped a little. We are still at square one - looking for a team. At least the Texan and Solar coaches have been more than understanding, and so far, have not asked us to move on...

Oh, did I forget to mention she goes to church camp next week? So no soccer for another week. Hopefully, she will heal and be ready to go the following week. She will need to have a good showing as we enter July. That's when clubs can actually start handing out contracts to players. Oh, that's another good subject for an article.

Well, till next time... GL&HF!

Specs and prices of Wal-Mart's new Dell desktops revealed? - Engadget

Engadget is reporting the specs on the Dell PCs that will be offered by Wal-Mart starting next Sunday. Looks like a decent machine, but I wonder how "upgrade-able" it is... For me personally, the best thing about Dells, is that you can buy a bare-bones system, and roll your own upgrades. I'm not a big "over-clocker" or "modder", but I can build my own or take a bare Dell and add my own upgrades to make a worthy, if not, top-of-the-line machine.

Specs and prices of Wal-Mart's new Dell desktops revealed? - Engadget

Sign of the times...

Pretty much says it all...

AGLOCO Viewbar is now available!!

The much anticipated and LOOOOOOONG-waited AGLOCO viewbar is now available. Go download it here and start earning some cash!

Here are the instructions from the email I received tonight:

1. Go to the AGLOCO website at https://www.agloco.com/c/portal/login and login to get to your Member Account page. There is now a "Download the Viewbar" button on that page.
2. Simply click the Viewbar download button and follow the download directions. Please click "Run" when offered to Run, Save or Cancel.
3. You will need to enter your Account ID# (or email address) and your AGLOCO account password to activate your Viewbar.
4. After you download the Viewbar, you can launch it for first time by going to your Windows Start Menu and clicking on the AGLOCO Viewbar Icon.

If too many Members are downloading at the same time you may not be able to get immediate access to the Viewbar (a "timed-out" or "no access" page may appear). If this happens, please try again after a short while. If you have a Norton firewall you may be asked to allow access to "viewbar.exe" and "update.exe" (please check "Permit Access Always" for proper installation of the Viewbar).

The Viewbar is currently available for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista and will work with IE (Internet Explorer) or Firefox browsers. When ads start to appear on your Viewbar, please be aware that the Viewbar ad targeting system will not be fully active at first (this will not impact your accumulation of AGLOCO hours).

If you encounter any problems during the download process, please send your questions to help@agloco.com so that we can assist you.

The day we removed "no follow"

After some thought and reading up on the issue, I've decided to remove the "nofollow" tag from the comments section. Seeing as how I get TONS of comments, I thought this would be the sensible thing to do... Maybe it will be incentive enough to get more comments from some of you faithful readers! Oh, that's right I have no faithful readers... hmmmm... Ok, so any trolls wanna take me up on the free backlink, then? Comment away!

As usual, GL&HF!

When it's time to move on...

As I wrote previously, the end of the spring season comes the time to start evaluating and preparing for any changes. Sadly, we reached the conclusion that our daughter must move on from her current team to one that is more competitive and like-minded. That's not a knock on her current team. It's just that we have different goals and there is more urgency in our decision making based on the decisions we made for our son when he was this age. You learn from your mistakes or you are doomed to repeat them and we cannot afford to do that...

As such, we will have a busy month as we go to different open practices so she can get acclimated to the different teams and coaches. Should be fun and stressful. We are leaving a comfort zone of sure playing time and leadership to one of probable bench time and who knows what. In addition we are looking for a team playing in Lake Highlands Girls Classic League, probably the best girls soccer league in the country. Although I doubt we will find a team in the highest division, D1, I have no doubts she is ready for a team in D2 or D3 and work her way up from there. Her goal is beyond high school, although she wants to play in high school, she wants to be prepared to play in college.

Anyway, busy schedule for the month of June and the first week of July...

When Should a Kid Start Kindergarten?

Interesting article from the New York Times on age variations in kindergarten. It especially offers some insight on "redshirting" where you hold back your child and start them a year later. We did this with our daughter who has an August birthday and it was the best thing we have done for her in terms of maturity and social responsibility. We should have done the same thing with our oldest son, who has a June birthday. Although, gifted and intelligent, his immaturity from the time he was young has been a burden to him and to us. Even now, as a young adult, he struggles to put the past behind him and move on with his life. I think I can safely say that although my oldest son and daughter are different in many ways they have the same personality traits; the difference in maturity, besides the male/female differences, I can attest to holding her back a year.

So my advice to you, if you have young children, is to consider holding them back, especially if they will be one of the youngest in their class. If you hold them back one year, in turn, they will become one of the oldest in a class and hopefully, that small change will make a world of difference. Notice I said consider, as usual your mileage may vary!

Standarized Testing - Education - Schools - Test Scores - New York Times