Grade: A+

I hope you're watching the Olympics.  I give it an A+.  It's been quite a show, from the politicized opening ceremony to the wealth of unique events.  I've watched badminton (China's Xie Xinfang is awesome), rowing, beach volleyball (May/Walsh rock), swimming (4 x 100 relay!), gymnastics (I've had enough though), boxing (normally hate it), and field hockey.

Don't forget about soccer.  The US men stumbled when, unexpectedly, they couldn't beat Nigeria in large part because of a very early red card by newcomer Michael Orozco, who has potential to sneak into the senior men's team at outside back.  They're going home.  But the US women have found a groove despite missing Abby Wambach.  Amy Rodriguez is filling in nicely and the midfield is dominating at the moment.  My favorite, Lori Chalupny, is back after a mild concussion.  The US women are in the knock out rounds.

Remember - we scrimmage today

Bluemont Park, 6:30. We'll start scrimmaging around 7:00 p.m. Lots of people have RSVP'd so we should have a nice group. Pay attention to tab B on the map.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bluemont+park+arlington+Virginia&ie=UTF8&ll=38.877804,-77.124968&spn=0.034946,0.076904&z=14

Happy dogs

Here's a potd for you.  

While Griz and family went to Colombia for a short vacation, we watched boom, who is the Red Merle Aussie.  It's Moxie and Boom, best of friends. 

The winner of the poll was Sierra Nevada, which received 5 votes. That's what will fill our keg at the summer bash. It was a come-from-behind win, with Yeungling in the early lead.

Stay tuned for final details of the party

Time to pay; deadline is Sept 4

It's time to pay up for the fall season. You must pay by Sept. 4th. Please send via paypal, using pdi.usa@gmail.com.

$80 dues

$18 optional charitable contribution (learn more)

-------------------------------------------

$98 total

Notes: dues have gone down again - by another $5 versus last season. We have a full roster, therefore we can spread the fees among more people. Unfortunately, with inevitable increases in the future, don't expect dues to drop any more. We'll do our best to keep them here for as long as possible. Maybe someday we can get a sponsor to defray costs. That would be cool.

Spring 2008

It's time to turn the page on Spring '08, our most successful season ever. We went undefeated in eight regular season games, securing the division title, and placing second in the playoffs. We achieved promotion to the Second Division this coming fall. Golf clap.

This bunch won our first title

We set several records:

- First title of any kind

- First undefeated season (6-0-2)

- Longest streak without a loss (14 games). We still have a 14-game regular season streak going. Let's remember that...

- Most players scoring points in a season, which I discussed in this post (21)

- Most women on the score sheet in a single season (8 - Jackie, Bri, Ally, Katya, Carolyn, Jackie, Kate, Ashley)

- First goal scored by a keeper, although he was assigned to the field at the time (Liam)

- Most players on the score sheet in a single game (10, versus Red Tape)

- Fewest minutes played while short players (only 1 half versus Quicksilver).

Jon a.k.a. "Bubbles" won the scoring title and $1.00 off fall dues. Chris remains the all-time leading scorer by a wide margin. Deanna, Pete, and Jon get the MVPs. Hey, only two people voted and we each got one vote. De was a stand out, that was clear. I accept my co-MVP for coaching acumen. Recall that each player was required to take one practice PK after the Red Tape match. Turns out that was key to our win in penalties in the semis the following week.

The MVPs

Review the game reports for the season here. This was my favorite game report of the season, for obvious reasons. Wow, I was a happy fellow after that match.

But enough with stats. Most memorable to me is the concentration and dedication displayed by all players. We showed up in force to every game. We were aggressive. We made adjustments. We didn't take plays off. People drove in from out of state - all in pursuit of our common goal of winning our first title. It paid off, we did it.

Now it's on to the fall season, which will offer plenty of challenges - and fun of course.

Have anything to add?

Official results:

SPRING 2008 (.1000)
-------------------

• Mar. 30th - 1-0 win vs Flirts
• April 13th - 2-0 win vs Celtic
• May 4th - 3-0 win vs Capital Crew
• May 11th - 3-0 win vs 2LF (forfeit)
• May 18th - 2-2 tie vs Quicksilver
• June 1st - 4-4 tie vs ClareAndDons
• June 8th - 2-0 win vs Tsunami
• June 15th - 7-0 win vs Red Tape
• ----------------
• SEMIS - June 22nd - 2-2 win vs Quicksilver (penalties)
• FINALS - June 29th - 4-1 loss vs Flirts

Budget report

Team finances are in decent shape, all things considered.  

For dues, we're running a deficit for the year.  We have a few delinquents out there - you'll get emails from me.  I'm not a bank, please remember that.  Most of the deficit comes from indoor, because two guys who signed up bolted before the first game.  We were actually running a surplus for a long time because the indoor league never bothered to charge me.  I had to remind them like three times.  They just did it in July; I was about to issue refunds.

For our charity program, which is off budget, we collected $125 in the Spring season.  Because it took a while to get everyone paid up I never disbursed the money.  I'll hold onto it until fall and send the whole jackpot to United for DC at once.  It's just as well, our spring total is a  little disappointing.  Previously, we raised more, with a 50% participation rate, despite higher dues.  This time around, less than a third of the team contributed.  Let's raise a nice sum this fall.  Pretty soon, we'll pass that $1,000 mark in total contributions over the year or so that we've been doing the charity program.

Fall dues were paid to the league this week.  That's the topic of a future post.

Pre-season practice scheduled for Tuesday Aug. 12th

A mandatory* preseason practice has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 12th at 6:30 p.m. at Bluemont Park in Arlington. We're going to do a few drills and then scrimmage Max's team, who I like to refer to as "Rolling Thunder" because Nate once led us to believe that was their name. We want as many bodies there as possible so we shake off rust and begin to work well together before the season and not during it.  The tournament showed that we're not sharp right now.

Lots of people have said they can make it.  Good, see you there.

*Exceptions made for those living in Baltimore

Captain's Meeting Report

Tonight, Jackie and I attended the semi-annual captain's meeting. As usual, it was a long and divisive affair. Read about past meetings here and here. Following are the issues we discussed:

1. Schedule - season starts Aug. 24th. No games Labor Day Weekend. Season should be over in early Nov. Make up games Nov. 9th, playoffs to start Nov. 15th. T-giving is the hard stop date. No changes to the inclement weather line - look to the left on our blog homepage for the correct number.

2. DCU - we are again partnering with DC United. On the league website, we have a dedicated link to sell discounted tickets. Trust me, they're usually the best deal available. We get a cut of each ticket, which reduces our dues. Also, we get access to the RFK Auxillary Field for playoff games.

3. Fees - they are $1650 per team, same as last season. Included in that amount is $20 per player, that goes for liability insurance, medical coverage (over an above your health insurance), dues to national and state associations, and a contribution to youth soccer. Fees are high in this league compared to others, but we associate with state and national groups, we hire 3-person accredited reffing crews ($100 per game), and we pay for premium fields.

4. Fields - we will be using Trinity, George Mason HS, Kenmore, and possibly GWU and St. Stephens. Always looking for more opportunities if you know of them. Jackie is going to check into getting access to CUA's fields for the league.

5. Schedule - it will be out by Aug. 17th. We have a lot of people out the first few weekends so I may send in a scheduling request to try to get a bye in those early weeks.

6. Coed cup - this national tournament returns. This year it's in Dallas on Oct. 25-26. See earlier post this week. We may try to send a team.

7. Fines - we have to pay a $200 fine per forfeited game unless we properly notify the league by Wednesday night of the game week. Also, as I frequently mention, we must provide a referee to the league. If we do not provide a ref that's available for 5 games per season, we are fined $100 per game missed (that's a rule change - it used to be a straight $500 fine).

8. Registration issues - roster are due September 21. By next season, we'll likely have online registration, possibly with direct fee payment. Keep that in mind. We had a divisive debate on player passes. Organized, state-association types favor requiring players to use passes at each game. Most captains don't favor it because it's an extra burden. Goleros voted against implementing the pass system (for now - we actually voted on a motion to suspend debate). If you want to know more, send me an email and/or refer to my post a few weeks ago on the matter.

9. Discipline - we discussed the "jackass rule," which means as captains we are supposed to deal with those few people on each team that act like jackasses. We don't have any right now - let's keep it that way.

10. Social committee - we'll have a DCU tailgate this season. TBA.

11. Promotion/relegation - In the Third Division, Goleros and Flirting with Sobriety are going up. In the Second Division, Diplomats and Taz Devils are going up; Red Devils and Buena Vista Soccer Club are going down. In the First Division, Team X and Black Haggis are going up; Lost Tourists is going down. In the Premier Division, Mall Rats is going down and Team Q is disbanding (leaving space for Black Haggis to move up from First).

12. New Teams - we may have several new teams come in as some disband. We are currently at 37 teams. Although we want to reach a final number of 40, we're not ready yet. We'll stay at 37.

Need more power?

This is DC, where power really counts.  If you're in need of more power, become a referee.  You can blow the whistle and make people respect you.  

Well, it's not about power, but...it's a good way to help out, get exercise, and make money.  We have some good refs on the team - Jer, Liam, Nate in a former life, and now maybe Katya!  But we can ALWAYS use more.  Remember, we have to ref a certain number of games or our dues go way up - like $500. 

Check out this opportunity:

All:

 

CCSL and WAWSL are again offering a New Referee course for players, friends of teammates, spouses, significant others who are interested in officiating.   Becoming a referee is a great way to learn more about the game, stay in shape, make some extra money, and help your team fulfill their referee requirement. 

WAWSL/CCSL 2008 Grade 8 New Referee Course information:

Cost:  $65 - Reimbursed to WAWSL player-refs after they officiate 10 games
Class Code: NORTH00071-09
Class Type: New Referee
Grade(s): 8
Area: North
Location: Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs, P.C., 1620 L Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington DC 20036 (this is in walking distance from several metro stations including Farragut West, McPherson Square—orange and blue lines—and Farragut North—red line). Street parking also opens up at 630p.

Dates: Tuesday Aug 12, Thursday Aug 14, Tuesday Aug 19, and Thursday Aug 21st

Times: 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM

Sponsor: WAWSL / CCSL

Instructor: Tom Frank
Contact: Jessie Kratz -  refs@wawsl.org

**You must attend all four sessions**

To register: You must complete online registration to sign up for the clinic (two-step process) at the State Referee Program web page:www.vadcsoccerref.com

First, you go to the site and click on "on-line" registration. Then you get to a page that says in bold and red: CLICK THIS BUTTON TO REGISTER FOR 2009—click where is says "register here." Once you have registered, you will have an option to select a clinic. Please select the clinic with "Jesse Kratz" as the point of contact.

If you have a problem registering and signing up for a clinic, e-mail me.  Cost of the class is $65.  You can pay on-line or bring check to class. Checks should be made out to "State Referee Program."

If you can't attend one of our sponsored courses, you may attend one listed under clinics here: www.vadcsoccerref.

com 

 

Thank you for your consideration.

 

Best regards,

 

Jesse Rosenthal

USSF Assignor

Tournament outlook

Re-visit this post to see the 2008 tournament calendar. We've got at least two more possibilities.

What's your level of interest?

There's a Fallfest tournament in Columbia, MD, tentatively scheduled for early November.

Then, there's the National Coed Cup in Dallas on October 25-26. Although I'm not committed by any stretch of the imagination to sending a team, we should consider it. Lodging and airfare would raise the cost, for sure. Flights are currently going for about $400, based on a quickie Expedia search. We would almost surely need to partner with another team to get enough players - perhaps Far Post or Tsunami. Budgets and schedules aside, it would be a lot of fun.

If you know of any other fall tournament possibilities, let me know.

This is going to be one of our secret plays

Watch carefully, I want us to be able to execute this play if necessary.

Early exit

We sent a trim squad to compete in the Coed Classic on July 19-20. It was our fourth appearance in the Columbia, MD tournament. Read about past exploits here, here, here, and here. We used a base of Goleros players plus some new blood to spice things up.

But we weren't spicy. We went 0-3, failing to clear our group for the second year in a row. The rec division was mighty competitive this year - especially in the North division with all the NOVA teams. That being said, we were capable of beating them all - we just didn't jell until it was too late.

We opened the tourney with a 3-1 loss to Flying Pigs, which has been known to field a good team. Three years ago, we lost to them 2-1, but man we were a ragged squad then. I'm pretty sure we beat them two years ago. We were a defensive disaster this time around, and the midfield was absent. Alec made at least 5 outstanding saves, sparing us a nasty loss. Our goal was a last-minute run all the way to the goal line by Adrian (who had the assist?).

Next, we played the familiar Capital Crew. Only they weren't familiar; they were good and sportmanlike. We lost concentration on one play and gave up a breakaway. Then we couldn't sink one of our own. 1-0 loss. It was frustrating but we were outplayed.

Coed Classic, July 2008

On Sunday, we still had a slim chance to advance if we won, didn't give up goals, and Capital Crew lost by 2 goals. Unfortunately, we gave up 2 goals in the first half on defensive miscues so it became an exhibition pretty quickly. We played our friends at AC/DC, who have four players that developed in our system: Carlos, Anna, Jen, and Georgie (no transfer fees were ever

obtained). We really had them on the ropes in the second half when we showed inspiration and aggressiveness. Chris scored midway through the half after shredding the defense and placing one just past Anna's reach. It's too bad we couldn't sink another one - to our credit, though, AC/DC did have to resort to a series of intentional fouls to preserve the win (2-1).

He was on a mission

She was pretty darn good

Well, it was fun but we're now riding a 4 game losing streak in all competitions. Hopefully, that will motivate us for the fall season. Thanks to Lance, Ashley, Turner, Alec, and Lexie for joining us at the tournament! You guys did a great job.

Wien

I said I would post a few more pics from my recent travels.  I was always like to see photos of foreign places - hopefully you do too.  Here are some shots of Vienna, Austria. Sleepy but beautiful, particularly if you an architecture buff.  It's very much a gateway to Eastern Europe.

The first photo is the Kunst History Museum near the spectacular Hofburg in the city center.  It was one of many places that I passed by quickly in my 2 hour walking tour (that's all the time I had).  

The second photo depicts Karlskirsche, a wonderful oriental and baroque-style church.  Apparently, there are some incredibly intricate scenes carved on the columns.  I wouldn't know, it was getting dark and I had more to see!    

The third photo is just a shot of the city center near Stephansplatz, which is near the scary-looking St. Stephan Cathedral.  That place is so Goth.  

Summer Bash

Our girl Ally is hosting our summer get-together - it's Friday night, August 22nd.  She needs a sense of who's coming.  Friends and significant other are welcome.  

Are you planning to come and how many will be in your party?  Let us know for real for real (as Ally would say).

I'm pulling for jello shots, and not, as Jackie suggested, an Ice Luge.  Got into big trouble once with an ice luge - woke up in the bathroom three hours later.

 Consult this helpful graphic for more info on jello shots.  What, you say, they're not classy?  I beg to differ.  My friend served them at his fancy country club wedding last month! This is the graphic I wanted to use - but I try to keep it family friendly here.

Thursday: pick up and margs

We had quite a turnout for the spur of the moment pick up tonight at W&L (we moved to Quincy Park when the field was full).  

Apparently, we're going to do it again Thursday night, followed by drinks at the Rio.  Try one of their margaritas - decent.  

Stay tuned for more details.

Pick up

Tonight - W&L High School in Arlington, 7:00.

Player passes

CCSL is an affiliated league, which means we are members of a regional soccer association, which in turn is part of the US Soccer Federation structure.  Most affiliated leagues require players to present passes to the referee before each game.  It helps the associations track members and ensure fair rosters.  CCSL doesn't require player passes, but many tournaments do.  We have the option to obtain passes through our league.  Read the email below.  I will probably raise this issue again.  It would be nice to get a pass for everyone.

Hey all,

 

There have a been a number of requests lately for us to create player passes for individuals for upcoming tournaments (Neptune especially).  There is a real cost of these to the league to create these in terms of fees, materials, and shipping, and up till now, we have been trying to accommodate the random requests even though they are for activities outside of our league.  Going forward however, we are going not going to be able to eat the costs and will need to charge a nominal fee for each card made.  As a reminder, cards can only be made for players already affiliated and rostered in CCSL in the Spring or Summer.

 

Each player pass will cost $5 to make but if you need to have an entire team, we can create passes for $50 total.  As with normal league dues, we will need to have payment before providing the cards.  And please allow at least 10 days for your requests.

 

For those who simply need updated stickers for existing cards, there will not be a charge.

 

So if you need to have a player pass created please contact our registrar Rachel at ccslregistrar@gmail.com.

 

Please let us know if any questions.

 

thanks!

 

Sanjay

Pick up on Sunday

My friend Rachel is organizing some pick up this Sunday in South Arlington. Feel free to email her and show up. Here's the email that went out.

Hello to you all,

I wanted to give you more information on what is going on this Sunday with
our pick up game. We are aiming to start at 4pm at the small field that is
in front of Abingdon Elementary School (3035 S. Abingdon St., Arlington VA
22206). The school is at the end of a dead end street, and you'll see the
field on your right before you approach the school. I'll try to get there
a bit before 4pm to try and secure the field for us. If any of you have no
idea where this school is, please let me know! We are about .5 mile from
Shirlington, in the Fairlington Village area.

If you guys could bring a light and a dark shirt, a ball, and if anyone has
cones, please let me know! If not, I'll bring out some old shirts to serve as
posts. I don't mind playing in rain, as long as there isn't thunder and
lightening and the field doesn't turn into a swamp. What about you all??
This is my first attempt to putting something like this together at the school,
so I hope everyone shows up, and hopefully we can continue this pick-up for
weekends to come.If you all know anyone else who is interested in playing,
please pass-on this email to them.

All skill levels and ages will be showing up. Also, if you find out
you CAN'T come, please let me know!! (Suda, I already know you won't be
there; I thought I would send this to you in case you wanted to send it on to
others)Any questions? If not, see you all (and hopefully more!) this
Sunday at 4pm!

Rachel
rach98blue@hotmail.com

Don't forget about the Team BBQ

Remember folks, we've got a BBQ scheduled for August 22nd.  It will be a nice start to the fall season, which will kick off Sunday the 24th.

...and I'm back

Let's get this blog fired up again.

Here are the first of some photos I'll share of my business trip to Europe.  

I had a free weekend in London towards the end of the trip.  What was my first stop?  Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea FC plays.  Check out the location here on Google maps.  I stayed in nearby Kensington so it was an easy place to start.  The stadium has been around for more than 100 years - obviously they've renovated the place.  I took a little tour.  Not bad, but for L10 ($20), I would have liked to scrimmage with the team.

Has DCU ever played Chelsea?  You tell me.

And the scoring title goes to...

Bubbles!  Congratulations, Jon, you win $1 off fall dues.

But it's not all about Jon.  Check out the score sheet for Spring 2008.  We are an equal opportunity scoring machine.  We don't discriminate based on size or gender.  We set new records for the number of players on the scoresheet (20) and the number of women scoring points in a single season (8).  Impressive.

Scoring is done as follows: goal (2pts), PK (2pts), assist (1 pt), earned PK (1 pt).  Feast your eyes on this:

Jon - 6 goals, 2 assists, 14 points

Chris - 5 goals, 2 assists, 12 points

Adrian - 4 goals, 1 assist, 9 points

Ermy - 2 goals, 3 assists, 7 points

Mike - 2 goals, 1 assist, 5 points

Nate - 2 goals, 0 assists, 4 points

Katya - 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 points

Bri - 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 points

Kate - 1 goal, 0 assists, 2 points

Jackie - 1 goal, 0 assists, 2 points

Liam - 1 goal, 0 assists, 2 points

De - 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points

Chip - 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points

Ashley - 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point

Ally - 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point

Jer - 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point

Pete - 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point

You must remember that this is just a tally of the offensive scoring. Everyone knows that a team must be equally balanced on offense and defense. You can't win without either - there's just no quantitative way to measure your defensive value.  Our objective is always for the team to perform at its highest level. We aren't about individual scoring. Many players never even get the opportunity to get that assist or take that shot. They are too busy tracking back and trying to win the ball back for the offense. So people, give the defense our due!

[Edited to reflect Liam's goal!]

America the Beautiful

Happy Fourth of July!

America, I miss you. I'm in Paris now, seeing the sights before my meetings start on Monday. It's a beautiful city. I haven't been here since 1994, when I gave a tour of the Louve to a French girl who never ended up giving me her phone number. All those art history classes for nothing.

Kate, I'm thinking of you with all these museums. You'd like it here.

Out of office

Hear ye, hear ye. I'm headed on a sweet business trip tonight. I return on July 15th. I won't be posting often, but if I get stuck in the hotel, I will update the site with some travel stories. I wish my darn ankle would be healed so I could school some Europeans on their own soil.

Movin' on up

As you can see from the Commish's email below, we are moving up to the Second Division in the fall. It's a nice reward for an excellent season - actually, our best season ever.

The Second Division will likely consist of the following 10 teams: 

DC Thunder

Hoover FC

Armory (they may fold)

DC Divided

Far Post

Funky Town

Prism

Lost Tourists

Goleros

Flirting with Sobriety.  

Taz Devils and Diplomats, who were in the Second Division, will likely move up to First Division, while Prism and Lost Tourists will likely come down to take their place.  To make room for Goleros and the Flirts, the Red Devils and Buena Vista Soccer Club will move down.

One more note about promotion and relegation.  Both Black Haggis and Team X are likely moving up from First to Premier.  One of our former players, Justin, is a star midfielder for Black Haggis.  And Team X's rise demands respect.  A year ago they were playing in the Third Division.  They cruised through First and Second division in one season each.

Hello all,

We have officially wrapped up our Spring 2008 CCSL season and I want to congratulate the playoff champions. Interestingly enough, yet again, none of the regular season division champions (three of whom went undefeated) won their respective playoffs. Really speaks to the parity and quality of play throughout our league.

Premier: Conquistadors took a forfeit title from Booters FC (Booters won regular season title)
D1: Team X defeated Black Haggis 3-2 (Haggis won regular season title)
D2: Diplomats defeated DC Divided 3-1 (Taz Devils won regular season title)
D3: Flirting with Sobriety defeated Goleros 4-1 (Goleros won regular season title)

To reiterate, regular season and playoff champ have option of promotion with bottom two teams faced with relegation.

Thanks to everyone for another great CCSL season. We all very much appreciate everyone’s flexibility and patience with the inordinate amount of rainouts and reschedules that we had.

Just to put a placeholder for you all for the Fall, we are tentatively aiming at having the captains meeting on Monday Aug 4th with a season start on Sunday August 24th.

It would be helpful for me also to know if you are planning on coming back for the Fall season as it will help us get a sense of how things are shaping up. So if you could email me back and let me know (yay, nay, or not sure), that would be appreciated.

As always, any feedback on ways we could improve is always welcome and if anyone has leads on decent fields (college or HS alums, personal contacts, or otherwise), we always want to try and pursue those.

Thanks and have a great summer!

Sanjay
CCSL Commissioner