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17 meetings with the Jays this season.
There are many pitfalls in youth soccer in our country. Tampa Bay Rays Gear . Over-invested parents; the pressure to win at too young an age; high-pressure coaches who focus on winning instead of on development; and increased dropout rates because of these and other factors are just some of story lines that we see repeated over and over. Much of this negativity comes because of our collective mindset that the only way for us to measure our childrens progress in soccer is through the scores of their games. How many points their team gets and how many goals our children score have, for too many years, been the metrics by which we gauge their progress. But what if there was a different way to develop soccer players in Canada? What if we could simply teach kids to play better? That is the goal of Willie Cromack, founder of Play Better, an innovative plan to improve sport culture in Canada. The program attempts to shift the mindset of players and parents alike, away from scoreboard success and towards empowering children to discover their potential - both as soccer players and as human beings. Play Better is a grassroots soccer program designed to provide clubs, coaches, parents and players with a clear and accountable pathway through soccer. This includes an LTPD-compliant curriculum, lesson plans complete with desired outcomes, video training sessions, as well as tools for gathering metrics beyond simply the number of goals scored. The reason behind the gathering of those metrics is where the genius lies. Play Better aims to marry a holistic charitable program with the training and development of young soccer players. The program does through by asking teams to do the following: • Choose a cause or charity. For example; the SPCA, the Canadian Cancer Society or your local childrens hospital. • Choose a baseline metric. For example; a recreational team can choose 100 completed passes per game. A more competitive team can choose a larger number, such as 200 completed passes. This is called the team goal or team win. • Have a pre-season meeting with parents to explain your objective; for every game in which your team achieves its team win, ask parents (or friends, family members or sponsors) to donate a pre-determined dollar amount to the team cause/charity. The monetary amount is not important - it can be as little as a loonie per parent/family. • Create a team website, where the kids can tell their story. It gives them a chance to explain, in their own words, how achieving their objective every game will not only help them become better soccer players, but also make a difference in the world. It also allows them to track and promote how much money they have raised for their chosen cause/charity. Team Falcons is a U11 boys gold soccer team in North Vancouver. Click here to see how they have committed to Play Better. I am often asked how we can shift away from the win-at-all-costs mentality that has infected youth soccer in our country. As I have written many times before, it is one of the biggest hurdles we must overcome if we are to create an effective youth development system in Canada. It isnt the players that we need to convince; it is the parents. A program like Play Better might just be the bridge we need to achieve this. As the members of Team Falcons can attest, players participating in Play Better quickly realize that their sporting endeavours have a bigger meaning. It isnt just about winning and losing anymore - it is about helping others. This teaches players to work on their fundamental skills (to complete 100 or 200 passes per games, players have to focus on what they learn in training), but more importantly, it teaches them about helping others, about community investment and about personal growth. What parent doesnt want their child to learn those lessons? If these lessons can be tied into the technical development of young soccer players, then Canadian soccer could be onto something big. *If you or your team is interested in Play Better, you can read more about the program here, or contact Willie Cromack at willie@championsinsport.com Wade Boggs Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation. Cheap Rays Jerseys . -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night.(Sports Network) - The New York Yankees are running out of time. The Yankees try to put the brakes on a four-game losing streak and keep their fading postseason hopes alive on Wednesday when they continue a three-game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Toronto added to New Yorks woes on Wednesday, as R.A. Dickey prevailed in a pitchers duel with Andy Pettitte, and the Blue Jays eked out a 2-0 victory. Dickey (13-12) yielded just four hits and two walks while striking out eight over seven scoreless innings. Casey Janssen struck out the side in the ninth to nail down his 31st save. "It would be nice to continue to grow. These are important games, for me in particular. We are going to be competing next year, it is important to start getting it right now," said Dickey. The setback dropped New York 3 1/2 games back in the American League wild card race, where Tampa Bay and Texas currently hold the top two spots after the Rangers defeated the Rays on Tuesday. "Were getting to where we cant lose much more," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Pettitte (10-10) gave the Yankees a chance by firing 6 2/3 effective innings, with the veterans lone mistake a solo homer to Colby Rasmus in the bottom of the fourth. Rajai Davis added a solo shot later on and finished 2-for-4 in the win, only the Blue Jays second in their last seven overall games. Getting the call for the Yankees on Wednesday will be righty Phil Hughes, who is just 4-13 on thee season with a 5. Brandon Lowe Rays Jersey. 07 ERA. Hughes returned to the rotation and started against Baltimore on Thursday, but lasted just three-plus innings despite giving up a run and three hits in his teams 6-5 win. "After having not pitched a lot in the last couple of weeks, command was my biggest concern," Hughes said on Thursday. "It was pretty good. I didnt walk anybody and I was throwing a lot of strikes, so I was happy with that." Hughes is 5-6 lifetime versus the Jays with a 4.84 ERA. Toronto, meanwhile, will counter with lefty J.A. Happ, who has lost four of his last five starts. Happs latest setback came on Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels, as he allowed four runs (3 earned) and six hits in 4 1/3 innings, dropping him to 4-6 to go along with a 5.15 ERA. "Im just trying to prove to myself more than anything," Happ said. "You want to keep the team in the game and you want to have respect. Im thinking about the team more than Im thinking about anybody else analyzing me. I hope to go out and finish strong, thats for sure." Happs struggles could continue on Wednesday, as Toronto has lost his last six starts at home. Hes also 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season. Despite Tuesdays loss, New York has won 13 of its 17 meetings with the Jays this season. In fact, since 2001, Toronto has won the head-to-head matchup with New York just one time, going 10-8 against the Yanks in 10. ' ' '
- Created: Nov 16 '19
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