The Vancouver Whitecaps were denied a well-earned three points against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, after Gonzalo Pineda converted a controversial penalty kick to level the score at 2-2. Discount Michael Kors Handbags . Whitecaps skipper Jay DeMerit was judged to have fouled Sounders striker Cam Weaver, though the "foul" that DeMerit allegedly committed was a mystery to me. In the aftermath of the game, I tweeted this: If we start giving penalty kicks every time players make minimal contact heading crossed balls, well ruin the game. — Jason deVos (@jasondevos) May 25, 2014 To which I received this response: @jasondevos LOL -too late! You already ruined it with your stupid LTPD plan. #keepscore — Jon Empringham (@92jays93) May 25, 2014 While Mr. Empringhams tweet wasnt relative to the Vancouver Whitecaps game against the Seattle Sounders, it did highlight another important point: LTPD, the CSAs long-term player development program, is still very misunderstood. According to his twitter bio, Mr. Empringham is an elementary school teacher who coaches basketball, soccer and track. Given his occupation, he would appear to be the ideal proponent of the principles of LTPD. Yet he seems adamantly opposed to the removal of scores and standings for youth soccer players below the age of 13. While the removal of scores and standings is just one small component of the changes brought forward by LTPD, the concept still faces considerable pushback. I believe that much of that pushback comes from the general publics misunderstanding of the reason why scores and standings have been removed. Keeping scores and standings is not inherently bad for children. We havent been doing young players a disservice all of these years by tracking the results of their games, nor by adding up their wins and losses at the end of their seasons. What we have done, though, is compromise their development by linking their opportunities within the game – perceived or otherwise – to their results on the field. As it is my home province, I will use Ontario to explain. Until the introduction of LTPD, the "Pyramid for Play" (the name of the competitive structure for youth soccer in Ontario) was based on promotion and relegation between multiple tiers. The higher the tier, the more "competitive" the level of play. Tier 1, provincial "rep" soccer, was considered the highest level of play, while Tier 7, local "house league" soccer, was the introductory level. Teams who won their leagues (or finished in the top two or three, in some cases) were promoted to the next highest tier, while teams who finished bottom of their leagues (or finished in the bottom two or three, in some cases) were demoted to the next lowest tier. This movement of teams every year caused a major problem. Players as young as 9 were coming under immense pressure to win promotion - primarily from their coaches and parents. In some cases, failure to win promotion would lead to the break up of an entire team, as players would scatter over the off-season in order to tryout for teams that did win promotion. The concept of promotion and relegation created a false belief amongst coaches and parents that the key to success in the game - the way for kids to "make it" - was to play at the Tier 1 level, which began at the under-14 age category. The years leading up to under-14 were becoming a dogfight, as players jostled to be on a team that was poised to win promotion to Tier 1. It didnt really matter how games were won, or what players were learning, so long as promotion was achieved. The competitive structure itself reinforced this "win at all costs" mentality, and youth soccer in Ontario found itself spiralling into a vicious cycle that was getting worse every year. In my time working as the Technical Director of the Oakville Soccer Club, I once had to gather the parents of an entire age groups competitive program after a fight had broken out amongst parents on the sidelines of an under-10 boys game. On another occasion, I had to intervene on the field of a house league game, as the coaches and parents were incensed by a call made by the referee – who was a 16-year-old girl – and were verbally abusing the young lady. Yet another incident saw a 14-year-old referee leave the field in tears after being verbally abused by spectators at a game. Over time, we have collectively lost sight of the fact that youth soccer is a game that is supposed to be enjoyed by its players, coaches and spectators. Young children shouldnt have to shoulder the burden of "needing to win this game" in order to win promotion or avoid relegation. That pressure is difficult enough for seasoned professional players to handle. Imagine if children had to finish in the top three in their class in order to graduate to the next grade each year? Our school system would devolve into chaos - wed have parents submitting homework and assignments on behalf of their children, as theyd be terrified that their kids would miss out on graduation! Critics have argued that over-competitiveness amongst parents is a societal issue, and that other sports suffer from the same problems. If that is the case though, then surely it is up to our governing bodies to try to better the environments in which our children experience the game of soccer? Surely they should do everything in their power to compensate for our societys failings? Critics have also suggested that, rather than removing scores and standings, we should just remove promotion and relegation from the system. But doing so is far more difficult than it sounds. For starters, how does one determine which teams play at which competitive level? Does one make that determination based on population, geographic location, club size or historical club "success" – all the while knowing that any "success" that was previously achieved was done in a flawed system that was systematically abused? Additionally, there are many people firmly entrenched within the clubs and districts who rule the game in Canada who dont think anything is wrong with how we develop soccer players. Some of those individuals believe this because they do not know what a genuine, player-centric development system should look like, while others believe this because they have a vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo. It is those individuals who will fight the hardest to maintain the previous competitive structure. The only way to combat this is through education – by shining a light on what our real problems are. Because the only way we are going to fix our problems is if we first acknowledge what they really are. It isnt about scores and standings being "bad" for kids. It is about the behaviour that keeping scores and standings brings out in adults. Michael Kors Outlet 85% OFF .com) - Alex Steen had two goals and an assist to guide the St. Michael Kors 85% OFF .Y. - Washington forward Drew Gooden has been fined $15,000 by the NBA for attempting to throw the Lakers Nick Young to the floor during the Wizards victory Friday night.DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche showed they can win playing from behind as well as with a lead. Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist in the third period, Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots and the streaking Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Sunday night. Matt Duchene and Jan Hejda also scored and Gabriel Landeskog added two assists for the Avalanche. Under first-year coach Patrick Roy, they are 10-1 for the second time in franchise history. "That was the first time we came from behind in the third period," Stastny said. "We got chances and we didnt stop. We just kept going." Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little had a goal and assist each for the Jets. The Avalanche trailed 2-1 entering the third but came out strong at the start of the period. They put nine quick shots on goalie Al Montoya before Hejda tied it with 12:47 left off an assist by Stastny. Stastny netted the winner with 5:28 left to give Colorado its fourth straight victory. "When (Alex Tanguay) brings two guys to him, you know something good is going to happen," Stastny said. "I was just going back door and trying to yell as loud as I can to Landy because he was looking to shoot. He changed his mind at the last second and just gave me a tap-in. He passed it between two sticks. Thats something we practice." The rally was ignited before the Avalanche took the ice in the third period. During the intermission Roy broke out video tape to correct some things to help free up the offence. "We had to make some adjustments because the way they play defensively," Roy said. "We wanted to transfer pucks. Thats what generated our best chances and our goal. They overload the puck side. We moved the puck and that opened the ice for us." It helped Stastny break out with his second goal and eighth point of the season. "The goals to me arent as important," he said. "As long as someone on our line is getting them, someone from our team is contributing." Montoya stopped 33 shots before being pulled for an extra skater with 1:30 left. Despite controlling the puck in Colorados end, the Jets managed just one shot with the advantage. "Theyre the hottest team in the league right now so I was ready from the gate," Montoya said. "We knew what they were going to bring. Just disappointing to not come away with at least a point." The Jets went 0 for 5 on the power play to add frustration to the loss. Michael Kors Outlet. Winnipeg has failed to capitalize on 25 power-play chances in the last eight games and has just five goals in 49 chances this season. "Power play is getting old. These are the same players we had last year and there was a reason why we were last year," coach Claude Noel said. "Were seeing some of the same things we saw last year. We dont make the greatest decisions, we dont execute, and these are the things we lamented before. We were 0-for-5; it cost us the game." Wheeler gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead when his hard shot from the right side slipped through Varlamovs legs with 9:58 left in the period. Montoya tried to make it stand up but after tremendous pressure, the Avalanche tied it. Stastnys shot from a sharp angle bounced out to Hejda, who used a screen by Tanguay screen to beat Montoya with 12:47 left. The Avalanche scored first when Ryan Wilson started a 2-on-1 break by putting a pass on the tape of Steve Downies stick in the neutral zone. Montoya stopped Downies slap shot from just inside the blue line, but the puck caromed right to Duchene, who was skating down the left side. He scored in the open net at 8:04 of the first. Little matched the goal midway through the period after Nick Holdens shot off the back boards bounced to him in the right circle. His one-timer beat Varlamov stick side. Winnipeg couldnt generate many chances after that, opening the door for Colorados comeback. "It was pretty special to win that one. The first time weve been behind going into the third," Duchene said. "New territory for us, but we believed and we had some big guys step up." NOTES: The Jets announced before the game that D Paul Postma has a blood clot in his leg and will be sidelined indefinitely. Postma played Saturday in the Jets 2-1 shootout win against the Dallas Stars. Postma will take blood thinners and remain with the team through Tuesdays game against the St. Louis Blues. Postma will be examiner further when the Jets return to Winnipeg. ... Jets C Olli Jokinen played in his 1,100th NHL game. ... Duchene matched Joe Sakic and Chris Stewart for the most goals scored in the month of October in a season since the team moved from Quebec. Sakic scored nine in 1997, and Stewart matched it three years later. ... The Avalanche have killed 18 straight penalties. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '
