Sir!

So official time on the scoreboard is a good thing because...??? .. there is nothing like the excitement of a "buzzer-beater" in soccer. ... fans will complain less if they just know how much time is left in the game. ...less injuries, fouls or misconduct when players are trying to get off/deny that last second shot. ... FIFA is moving to keeping official time on the scoreboard, eliminating "added time" and using a scoreboard horn.

U11-U18 KY Top State Titles by Club: LFC (Boys 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17; Girls 12) KFJ (Girls 14, 15, 16, 18) Javanon (Girls 11, 17; Boys 18) KHA* (Girls 13; Boys 16) KHA also won OH for Girls 17 and 18.

Will it also require a scoreboard with a horn?

NCC and NDA finished in the top 10 according to Maher rankings. Anyone know if those local schools do winter or spring(*) work-outs during the school year? (*) High school coaches may refer to winter and spring as "off-season" but to the athletes' bodies they are still in-season. Rather than a loaded weekly schedule of M-W-Sa for 3 straight months during HS season, in Club they get 5-6 tournaments with 3 games over a weekend plus league games mostly on non-tourney weekends. With training 3x per week it's still a fairly heavy load... particularly coming off a tournament weekend. And since high schools have girls playing on different teams most weekends in the spring are tournament weekends for someone on the team.

As for summer workouts, back in the day a group of seniors would get the team together two or three times a week starting a couple weeks before try-outs for fitness and some play at "captains practices." Under the "professionalized model" so widely embraced today they either haven't learned to motivate and organize themselves or (more likely) parents and coaches are too personally invested in the success of their kids' soccer career to risk seeing it fail by handing responsibility over to the players. I think Holden Caufield had it right... "the thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them."

Athletes (and especially adolescent athletes) require a break at some point during the annual meso cycle of training. It helps prevent over-use injuries and mitigates motivational burnout. More isn't always better. A little understanding on the part of high school coaches about training periodization would go a long way to inform the value (or harm) of high school workouts concurrent with the Club season... IMHO.

Do coaches spend time educating players on the role of food/nutrition? We don't want players out-eating their conditioning programs or alternatively failing to properly fuel the machine. I would think it goes hand-in-hand with strength and conditioning.

Do Clubs want to develop talent or be accumulators of talent -- coach kids or poach them? When I was growing up you never would have gone to play for the rival Club. It was a matter of pride and loyalty. Plus parents wouldn't drive a kid 1/2 hour (let alone 45 minutes) to get a kid to practice if there was a local Club closer and good enough. Learning to play with a little bit wider band of competency made the best players even stronger and pulled along the above-average to become better. Those players often caught up in development over time particularly as when everyone went through the changes that come with PHV- growth spurt. No doubt it isn't good for development if a kid is playing on a team that is well below their level, but there is arguably an advantage in terms of development to be in the top third of a team, getting maximum playing time and being an impact player, as opposed to being in the bottom third of a team, getting less time in games, and only being a role player on the field. With the exception of a very few top teams (where college coaches recruit from the team at large) it's arguably more important to be the best player you can be rather than be on the best team you can be. Those may be the same in many cases, but too often parents and kids use the team's success as a proxy for their own success -- and that may or may not be justified. As a result we get parents who are willing to Club hop when they are the least dissatisfied. And Clubs frequently put the highest value on assembling the best top team instead of developing the best overall soccer players -- because they know that their customers (parents paying the bills) will vacate if they feel the team isn't up to their kids standards or if there's even a sniff that their kid might get dropped to the second team (an unthinkable slight). Too many kids playing soccer for the prestige of possily playing at the "next level" (an oft illusory goal) rarher than playing because they absolutely love the game today.

What exactly is a professional coach -- makes their full-time living from soccer; has attained a certain level of licensing; gets paid by a Club for training and coaching in addition to their full time (non-soccer) job? In what respect does having more players play in higher level training and game environments make KY better? It may increase the overall level of soccer being played, but it also often sucks the joy out of playing (as well as sucking $ out of parent wallets) for the vast majority whose competitive playing days end with high school. The focus, if you really want to raise the level of KY soccer, should be on revitalizing the broad base of youth soccer at the U6 and U8 levels so that kids fall in love with the game before their parents fall in love with the idea of them playing "at the next level." Limits on facilities and cost in our pay-to-play system make doing that through a professionalized club environment a challenge. Those clubs should be embracing local recreational programs, improving the parent-coaching at the younger ages, and assisting with transitioning players to higher level teams in something that makes more sense than the "cattle-call" tryouts relied on to sort things out.

Congrats to KHA Red on locking up KPL. They get KFJ in Group A the first weekend, which I thought was also counting for their last KPL and MRL games. Probably two of the three best teams in KY in the same group. Good luck to KHA at state cup - indeed some very talented individuals on that team. How much does it hurt if Ibra is out of action for State Cup?

Things you shouldn't pay (money) for: 1. Sex 2. Coaching gear 3. Getting recruited

Maybe in the higher divisions, but what are the chances that the school that "discovers" them is a good fit academically, demographically, or financially? Better off inverting the strategy and recruiting yourself to targeted schools. For just the travel/hotel cost of attending a CASL or Disney tournament you can go to a college ID camp at a school you're actually interested in. Or maybe... very old-school... arranging a campus visit and a kick-about with the coach and some current team members (if that is still allowed). For reference... At 2015 CASL Girls Showcase in NC in just the U17 age group there over 2,000 girls playing on 130 different teams in 195 games in 17 divisions at multiple locations. When you're in the Copa Black (17th) division and none of your games are at the main complex, are you really going to get "discovered"? The real zinger is when you travel all the way to NC and play a team from Ohio South!

Daniel Mescher is a great kid. Sophomore and kicks for the football team too, right? Fast... and would run through a brick wall for his team.

Maybe Brewer was Wittenberg?

Someone mentioned these two NCC boys... Kyle Bleser / NCC / Thomas More Chad Brewer / NCC / Wilmington Can anyone confirm?

Two separate college coaches I've spoken with recently have shared that observation. I don't know that it changes approach, just makes it a bit harder for coaches to know what year they're looking at. IMO the most successful kids recruit themselves by screening and targeting schools that are a good fit in terms of academics, demographics, and soccer. But... for those kids (and parents) sold on being "discovered" at a showcase tournament, I'm working on a year-of-graduation fluorescent sunscreen (2017 green; 2018 orange, etc). Players can purchase and apply it at major tournaments and college coaches will be given complimentary sunglasses that reveal the color. Working name = "Scholly-Tone"... Tentative product tagline = "Don't get burned at your next College Showcase." Thoughts?

Any idea the break between '99s and '00s on this team? It'll be interesting to watch what the change to birth year registration does to change team composition, particularly at this age group. I know college coaches are groaning at the prospect of having to sort out at the (new) U17 level whether they are watching sophomores or Juniors and at the (new) U18 level whether they are watching Juniors or Seniors. I'm sure the needs of college coaches is well down the list of priorities for USSF.

Mount St Joe plays Marietta this fall. Sellers and Thieman should see each other on the fielld as Id expect them both to get to play pretty quickly. I think Sellers is slotted to play outside back, which would be a fine fit.

Good for Austin. Hopefully his knee is 100% again and he can break into the squad. Findlay had 41 on their roster last fall. I hope they play a reserve team schedule to get some of those boys some PT!

Nice. St Catherine (NAIA I think) scrimmage Centre last year and played Hanover in their regular season, so maybe Alex will get to see Brady Gesenhues or Tate Johnson on the field next fall.

Congrats to the following: Bryce Day / CovCath / NKU Ben Thieman / CovCath / Mount St. Joe Devin Morgan / Scott / Marshall Tate Johnson / St. Henry / Centre Brady Gesenhues / Highlands / Hanover Noah Sellers / Highlands/ Marietta I'm sure the list is longer. Who else?

I can only assume you meant "pansy." Miriam Webster defines a pansy as follows: 1: a garden plant (Viola wittrockiana) derived chiefly from the hybridization of the European Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor) with other wild violets; also : its flower 2a usually disparaging : a weak or effeminate man or boy, usually disparaging : a male homosexual. So what exactly are "mommies and scardy (sp) cat daddies" making and why are you so bothered/interested?

In tetherball a high wrap = game over... not really a great game IMO. Now 4-Square... that's a great game.

They will be in the Netherlands less than a week after the passing Johan Cruyff - legendary player with Holland, Ajax and Barca; an innovator whose imprint at Barca as a manager is still evident. As a frame of reference, I'd recommend the boys do a little background research on Cruyff. At a minimum, Google "Cruyff Quotes" to appreciate his incisive intellect and understanding of the game. Enjoy the trip and take a moment while there to pay homage to Cryuff.

I believe that HB217 didn't make the game official responsible, it allowed the game official to remove a player from the field if they had already been removed from the game and the official believed they had been put back in without being evaluated. It looks like House Floor Amendment No. 2 (HFA2) amended HB217 to take this provision back out and clarify that a coach is prohibited from putting a player suspected of having a concussion back in a game without being evaluated (e.g., by ATC or doc). No real change in current law that's been in place for the past several years now regarding concussions. No new responsibilities or authority for game officials. Looks like HB217 as amended by HFA2 is being passed by House and Senate and will become a fairly minor amendment to the existing law.