Elite Games Indoor Soccer Tournament

Athens Soccer Academy entered five teams into the Elite Games...Here is a brief Recap...

2 Under 10's

Pearls

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These Pearls played well, had fun, and got some clowning done...

what more can you ask for?

Green Dragons
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The Dragons met with the Tournament Champions in our Final Match, and that experience capped off a long day for these talented players.

Well sometimes these humbling experiences move us in ways, and we grow.

The Dragons will continue to improve, and look for better match-ups next month.

Under 12

Red (and Green) Dragons
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 Their bracket happened Friday night, and this is the only image on record, but be assured their play was inspiring.

The Team has never practiced, but because the talent base is so strong as individual players, they can overcome some of the what they lack as a team.  This Team also has two players who are Club Ohio
Guests, and one Academy Player who serves as a Club Ohio Guest.

Also, as this team played, Alexander Soccer Club parents and coaches were actively cheering them on.  It was a remarkable show of Soccer Community, and every player on these clubs deserves such respect.

Thanks ASC and CU.

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Under 14

Black Dragons

 
So where is the kid we eventually lift in the video (the video is below click on the Raising the Goalgetter screen)?  He hadn't arrived as we lined up for the team pic. Then we started the game, without him and without his brother, our defiantly strong #2 (and potential Captain).

Have you ever heard of an "Impact Player"?  Well after casually arriving--I think the car got lost-- maybe four minutes after kickoff.  Our impact player ran across the game to join the team.

We still didn't know how he was to become the Impact Player, and in the first game he seemed rather contained.  Our first game was against the Cobras, and they won the night, after all.

Yet the Tiger had not awakened in Game 1. Game 2 was another matter.

His play was inspired, electric.  He asserted two goals to overcome the opponent and we walked off the field winners.  We knew we deserved that chance, but scoring was elusive, until the game changer decided, he needed this win.

Then we all got behind him, and played the final minutes in a rush of perfection...






High School Girls

Soccer Sisters

We still have had too few trainings to match up well against these opponents. Unfortunately we picked up another likely concussion in this match, after our defender took a huge hit and smashed the floor hard. 

Recover Well, L!

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Soccer Friends--
The teams and the coaches, and ...even the parents make these events memorable and enjoyable. Well Done Belpre Fireballs, and everyone behind a soccer club. Soccer players need support, and don't we all!

Fireballs (Belpre) on Three!

Respect between Coaches and Referee

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Back to Country--
This Tournament ends, and I drive home with a car full of High School Girls singing Taylor Swift songs to each other.  We drop by a player's house, and her dad's art renders me speechless for a moment.  I step out and capture what I can in the darkness...

This reminds me we are each artists working at our craft, and we have potential beyond our present expectations.

2013 Adult Indoor Championship--Part 2

Warning: The videos in this How To Soccer post show footage which could frighten young viewers. These clips are from an adult soccer match, and should be shared by adults.

Passback

The Adult Indoor Soccer League at Ping Center plays under a modified version of the Laws of the Game.

Both the Laws and the Rules have stipulations that a goalkeeper cannot use his hands to play a ball passed to him by a team-mate.  The referee decides the question of what is an illegal touch, and what was an intentional pass.

From the Laws of the Game, Law 12

an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a goalkeeper, inside his own penalty area touches the ball with his hands after it has been deliberately kicked to him by a team-mate.

From Ohio University, Intramural Sports, Athens Indoor Soccer Rules, Rule 10

The following violations by a goalkeeper shall result in a free kick

b. passback

At about two-minutes, thirty-seconds into the second half, with the score 3-1 Blue, this was the play.

Remember you are the referee--from the comfort of your browser--so you need to determine if this play fits the above criteria and should be sanctioned.

So does play stop after this, or is play allowed to continue?  You can leave your answer as a comment.  Oh, and the last player to touch the ball before the goalkeeper is his team-mate.

That was pretty easy, huh? You didn't have to provide any reasons, explanations, or rationales, and if you made a decision, you passed the test.  Congratulations. Now on to lesson 2.

Misconduct

The indoor rules have three designations for misconduct:

• Blue Card
• Cautionable Offenses
• Ejectionable Offenses

Unsporting Behavior falls under Cautionable Offenses, and the sanction is  five minutes in the penalty box. So the opposing team has a player advantage for five minutes.  Regardless of how you saw the first call in the video above, this video shows clear misconduct.

As the referee, how do you intervene?   What do you say?  What do you decide, from the comfort of your browser?

The game has taken a turn. Whatever happens in the ensuing minutes will be deflated in spirit and hollow in tone.

As the penalty is served blue scores twice.  The score is now 5-1 blue. 

Then the cautioned player comes back into the game at 13:40. 

If you read Part 1 of 2013 Adult Indoor Championship, you may recall the following details from the first game video.

• At 1:14 of the video, we see the ball ricochet off the back of the crossbar and play continues. 
•  At 1:20 the ball hits structure--the basketball apparatus-- and play is stopped.  The difference between how the area behind the goal and the apparatus are called will become a factor in part 2.

As happened in the first half, these indoor rules allow the ball to touch the back of the goal and remain in play.  The ball is out of play if it hits the basketball hoop apparatus, goes over a line on the back wall, or gets trapped behind the goal.  Otherwise the ball remains in play when it goes behind the goal.

Here is a second misconduct episode from the second half.  The ball flew over the goal, hit the crossbar, and came back into play when an attacker stepped into the goalie area* and headed the ball into the goal.

The referee stopped play when the attacker entered the goalie area, and the ensuing restart was a goalkeeper possession

Regrettably the following video does not show the play in question, so we are left to wonder whether the ball has touched the basketball apparatus or not as the grey player contends.

Now this game has lost the right to be called a game.  Nobody will enjoy the remaining minutes. The footage was too flat to show.

The players will go away grumbling.  The referees won't want to work these games.

We have seen the videos.

We have made a few calls.

We may have an idea if anybody is to blame.


*Per Athens Indoor Soccer Rules: Opponents may not enter the opposing goalie area, the restart is a goalkick.

2013 Adult Indoor Championship--Part 1 of 2

2013 Adult Indoor Championship

The Facility

The Arena

The Champions' Medallions

The Game

As you can see from the video below, these players have technical skill and they play quickly compared to the youth game.  Ball movement changes the point of attack and opens up gaps between defenders. Within the first few minutes of this match, a few key events are caught on tape.

• At 1:14 of this video, we see the ball ricochet off the back of the crossbar and play continues. 
•  At 1:20 the ball hits structure--the basketball apparatus-- and play is stopped.  The difference between how the area behind the goal and the apparatus are called will become a factor in part 2.
• 1st Goal of the final @ 2:04 of this video.

Second Goal

First Half Action

As we move toward half time, Grey applies pressure on blue's goal.

That was how the first half played out.  We had a good game. Blue was controlling possession, grey was earning chances off of counter-attacks and from risky play in the back-line.  The game was under control. Score at halftime 3-1.

But the control couldn't last today.  In the sixth minute of the second half, the game blows up. One incident sends the grey goalkeeper into the penalty box for 5 minutes.  In indoor soccer this penalty is similar to a hockey power-play, in that blue plays with a man advantage.

Ensuing dissent sends a second player into the penalty box from grey. Now the game is going to be a joke.  Grey will play three against five for two minutes and then four against five for three additional minutes.

The Blue team appeals to the supervisor to just forgive the second penalty so we can salvage the game.  That player does play again, but it is no use.

The goalkeeper from blue erupts again. In both of these incidents he is claiming the referee got the call wrong.  Both incidents are on tape, so we will look at those two incidents which destroyed this game in part 2.  You can be the judge in part 2.  You can play the role of the referee from the comfort of your browser.

But referees in the game have to stare down the face of rage.  Referees mediate the span between the Laws and the emotional content of the game.

As we will see in part 2, that emotional content can sometimes appear rabid.

Congratulations 2013 Ping Indoor Soccer League Champions

Players Know When to Play and When to Pay