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Kenmore Soccer News Volume 7, Number 7 Kenmore/Tonawanda, New York August 2013

Kenmore Soccer Approved for Independent Health FlexFit Family and personalBest!

Kenmore Soccer is pleased to announce that we have been approved by Independent Health for their FlexFit Family and personalBest! plans. This means that anyone who is a member of Independent Health, and who has a plan that includes these features, will be able to pay their soccer fees through this program. Processing will be done on-line via MasterCard, using our new credit card feature that we will be adding to our web site in late August. As soon as the system is functioning on the site, we will send an e-mail alert to everyone. We are excited to be adding this option, which previously was only available for our Summer Soccer Camp. While we recognize that not everyone will be able to benefit from this option, it is one more step in our ongoing efforts to contain costs and provides more programs and options than any other soccer club in our area. Free Academy, Free Goalkeeping Training, Free Futsal play, the lowest Travel fees in our area, professional coaching, and now the option to use health care coverage. Stay tuned as we continue to build the area’s finest youth soccer club.

New Website Coming—Credit Cards Will Now Be Accepted

Kenmore Soccer works diligently to keep costs affordable for our parents and players, while remaining financially solvent, unlike several other local clubs that are struggling to stay afloat. In preparing our 2013-2014 budget, we have been able to hold the line on fees, and absorb the cost of credit card processing. So, beginning in late August, we will be moving our web site to a new Internet Service Provider. You will find a new look and many modernized features, which will include credit card processing for player fees, uniforms, and apparel orders. We are excited to make this change. There may be a few hiccups, but we believe this will help both players and Kenmore Soccer.

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Registering with Kenmore Soccer for 2013-2014

Registration for the 2013-2014 season is now open using the “Join Kenmore Soccer” link at www.kenmoresoccer.com. Returning players are guaranteed placement on a travel team if they register before October 1st. Fees for 2013-2014 will remain at $150 if paid by that date. Starting with the 2013-2014 season, dual registration will no longer be permitted in any age group. That means that you will not be allowed to play for more than one soccer club, although players can attend training programs for multiple clubs. Kenmore Soccer continues with its policy of not conducting formal tryouts, since we believe that does not allow for coaches, players, and parents to best determine if a team is the “right fit”. Instead, we will continue to invite interested new players to attend training sessions to see if Kenmore Soccer is a fit for them. We encourage our existing players to invite interested friends to register on-line, and we will invite them to attend upcoming team training sessions. Questions regarding our programs can be directed to Ken Voght, our Operations Manager, at 837-1627. If you know someone interested in joining Kenmore Soccer, please encourage them to register ASAP.

Trivia Question

(answer on page 12)

In 2012, Lionel Messi broke Gerd Muller’s 40 year old record for most goals scored in a calendar year. How many did he score?

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Under 12 Kenmore Ambush Girls Dominate in Capturing BWNYJSL Title

They raced off to a 6-0-0 start and never looked back, as the Under 12 Kenmore Ambush girls captured their division championship in the Buffalo/WNY Junior Soccer League. The girls played a schedule against teams in both the A and B Divisions, and finished with a 9-3-1 league record. The team played tough defensively, and converted opportunities to score when they were presented to them. Scoring was at a premium, with the Ambush converting 17 chances in the 13 game schedule, but only surrendering 8 goals. Five of their league victories were 1-0 finals, indicating how competitive the games were, but also how well the girls performed under pressure for the full 70 minutes of each match. The team trophy was presented to Alyssa Piazza, who anchored the defense with high level play in the goal for the entire season. Pictured below are the Under 12 Ambush players, along with coaches Amanda Contarin and Ken Voght. Special thanks to Jeanine LaCroix and Cullen Weber who also served as coaches for the team.

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Kenmore Ambush Under 14 Girls Capture BWNYJSL Championship

Scoring 46 goals while surrendering only 9 over a thirteen game schedule proved to be the ticket to the league championship for the Under 14 Kenmore Ambush girls. Although they led the league wire-to-wire, they ended up winning the title by virtue of the tiebreaker rules, due to a 3-2 win over the Orchard Park Dragons back on May 20th, in which Krista Tomizzi scored the winning goal with under 1 minute to play. As the girls now know, every minute of every game is important. Congratulations to the girls, who are pictured below at a recent match at Arcade.

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Under 19 Kenmore Talons Place 1st in A Division

In a highly competitive Under 19 A Division this season, the Kenmore Talons had a fight on their hands in all 10 league games. The core of the team was returning from an 8-0-2 record in 2012, during which they coasted to the Under 19 A championship. But 2013 would prove to be much more of a challenge. The team raced off to a 6-0-0 start against several very competitive teams, but then stumbled against a Lockport team that benefited from several officiating breaks en route to a 2-1 victory. The following week saw a disappointing last minute goal by South Buffalo which resulted in a 1-0 loss, but the girls rebounded to handily defeat the Northtowns Twisters and West Seneca Scream to finish the season at 8-2-0. They had to wait for the results from other games in the final week in order to determine the outcome, but they repeated as league champions by nosing out the Hamburg Monarchs by 2 points. Congratulations to the girls! Playing at the highest level in the Buffalo/WNY Junior Soccer League, they scored 26 goals, while surrendering just 5 over the ten game schedule.

Local Coaches Charged with Referee Assault

Two local coaches were recently charged with referee assault during a match at a local tournament. Fortunately neither are associated with Kenmore Soccer, but the incident does reinforce the zero tolerance rule that exists in regard to coach and parent behavior. Touching a referee and/or verbally abusing a referee is deemed assault. If USYSA determines that an assault occurred, coaches or parents can be suspended, and in some cases can receive a lifetime ban. It is always important to remember that youth soccer is about the kids, and that there is never an acceptable excuse for berating or touching a referee. It is also important to remember that referees are human and may make a mistake - just as coaches and players make mistakes. Finally, remember that it is just a game.

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Thanks and Welcome The end of every season brings some changes in the coaching ranks, and this year is no different. Thanks to…………..

Jamie Ruggiero has worked with Kenmore Soccer since it’s founding in 2006, and his 35 years of coaching experience has been a great benefit to the hundreds of players whose lives he has touched. However, it has also earned him the right to retire from soccer coaching. We wish him the best as he moves onto the next phase of his life.

Nico Ruggiero has coached for the past 3 years in tandem with Jamie. He has now completed his college degree and is moving into the workforce in a position that will require extended travel and long hours, precluding his ability to coach. We wish Nico the best, particularly in his initial work assignment with the Big Ten.

Chris Warren has coached for the past 3 years, working with a coed team that competed in the boys divisions. Many of the players he has coached are moving to the NYPS and Empire United soccer clubs, including his daughters. We thank Chris for his work, as well as his wife Danessia who assisted on the bench and with team administrative issues.

Katie Tutak joined Kenmore Soccer this season to help coach the Under 11 Girls Sparks. She recently secured a full-time position as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Marywood University. We wish her well in her new career.

Welcome to………… Hector Vasquez is one of the top coaches in the Buffalo area and will be

assuming the head coaching responsibilities for the 2013-2014 Under 14 Boys. Currently a staff coach with Buffalo FC, Hector has previously coached at Daemen College, and with the Riverside and Delaware Soccer Clubs.

Shane Magaris joins Kenmore Soccer as a coach for the Under 10 Boys. Shane played for many years and is now one of the top referees in the area, working ACC and Big East college games. A teacher at Kenmore West Senior High School, Shane has also assisted with their varsity girls teams in recent years.

Angela Donadio joins Kenmore Soccer with a team that decided to move from another club in the area. Prior to relocating to Buffalo, Angela coached in the Rochester area, where she attended St. John Fisher College.

Our appreciation to all of these individuals who devote so much of their time to the youth in our community, serving as teachers and mentors.

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Fall Academy to Begin on September 7th

The Kenmore Soccer Academy will commence for 2013-2014 with an outdoor fall session that will operate on Saturdays from 10:30am-Noon at the Hoover Middle School field. The initial session will be held on Saturday September 7th, and will continue on successive Saturdays through October 26th. Following the fall session, the Academy will move indoors for the winter, with that schedule posted to the club web site by mid-October. Prisco Houndanon, the Director of the Kenmore Soccer Academy, will lead the sessions. The focus will remain on improving individual skills in the three foundation areas of soccer—dribbling, passing, and shooting. As a reminder, the Kenmore Soccer Academy is free to all Kenmore Soccer travel players. However, we do ask for an 80% attendance commitment, and that you register in advance so that we can properly plan for the number of attendees. The Academy is very structured, combining individual drills, small-sided exercise, and small-sided games. It is focused on Brazilian training methodology which was adapted by Prisco and Nick DeMarsh, the Director of Coaching for the Kenmore Soccer Club.

Rylee Torrico from the Under 11 Kenmore Sparks shows real determination on a throw-in

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Being a Guest Player—Why, How, and When?

Kenmore Soccer is pleased when our players are asked to guest with another club at a tournament event, as it is a recognition of the quality of players within the Club. However, there is a proper protocol that must be followed, so before you say yes, make sure the following steps are completed: 1. Your team cannot have an event of its own during the same time

period as the tournament. Under USYSA rules, you must attend your own team’s events if there is a conflict.

2. Make sure the coach asking you to guest with his/her team contacts your coach to seek permission.

3. Make sure you have your player pass and Medical Release to give to the coach for use as a guest player, and make sure you get them back after the tournament.

It is very important to follow these steps in order to stay away from potential trouble. We recently encountered a situation where a coach from a neighboring club “borrowed” one of our players for a tournament. He never asked our coach, and did not even secure the player pass. Instead, he registered the player under someone else’s name and player pass. Had this been detected by the tournament, the player and coach would likely have both received suspensions. Even more importantly, had the player been injured at the event, there is a likelihood that she could have been denied insurance or liability coverage by USYSA. If you are ever approached about being a guest player for another team, please refer the requestor to your coach in order to ensure things are done the right way.

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Sports Specialization Not the Key to Athletic Success by Joe Black

I have been down this road before but I had a father and son sit down with me just last week and asked me what I thought about the son cutting back to just one sport. This is a youngster who has played football, basketball, soccer, swimming, and baseball. When I asked him which was his favorite, he struggled to find an answer. But it seems that a rather well known local coach has asked him to play on his traveling team which would require him to give up all other sports. That would be part of the deal: this kid and his family would even be asked to sign an agreement that they would devote their full attention to this one team. Obviously, he has demonstrated some promise in this one sport (I’m trying to leave the sport out of this discussion just to keep from condemning any one sport). This youth sports coach actually told the family that he could see a career in the game from this young man. Did I mention that the kid was 10? 10! The father was genuinely interested in doing what was best for his son. A family of very modest means, a college scholarship might mean the difference between a college education and a job right out of high school. He was appropriately worried that his son might miss out on some things. Like missing the fun of the games that he might play. And growing up and playing sports with strangers instead of his friends from his home community. This can be a real dilemma for a lot of families. Almost always, there is a youth sports coach out there “recruiting” the best players. The parents might be on that coach’s side, which puts a lot of pressure on the youngster. Or the parents might not agree at all, which can put them in conflict with their child. This monster is called “sports specialization” and is best defined as year-round training in a single sport. At its best, it can be a travel squad from a community that gives youngsters competitive opportunities that can help a young athlete grow. At its worst, it can cause families to move across the country or to send their child to a boarding school or academy where they get the opportunity to be raised by someone else. The good news is that youth sports participation is on the upswing, going from 9% in 1997 to 12% in 2008 in children 6 and younger. But I would respectfully suggest that early sports specialization is not the key to athletic success. A survey done by Robert Malina and published in 2010 found that among Division 1 college soccer players, only 17% listed soccer as their first sport. The point was that diversification was the most important ingredient in producing college athletes. Early sports specialization also increases the change of injuries. That one has been proven in many studies. Not to mention the problems of burnout. My advice? Until this youngster can identify what is his favorite sport AND until he reaches late adolescence, play it all.

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A Proper Perspective on Youth Sports by Dr. Claire McCarthy of the Boston Globe

At my son's soccer game the other day, a parent kept yelling very loudly at one of the players on the other team, giving various directions as to what the player should and shouldn't do. When I say "very loudly," I mean so loud and harsh that it startled me each time. The kids were first-graders. The mother of one of my son's teammates (who was wincing along with me) told me that at her daughter's soccer game earlier that day, the coach of the other team was berating the players, telling them what a terrible job they were doing and calling them names. Those kids were sixth-graders. Really? Now, I get that these are extremes. But with five kids, I've been to a lot of sporting events, and have listened to a lot of parents and coaches pushing — in good ways and bad ways — kids to achieve. And while achievement is generally a worthy goal, I'm not sure it's the best goal for youth sports. Often, when I talk to other parents, I hear stuff about hopes for athletic scholarships. Only about 2 percent of high school athletes get athletic scholarships to college, and very few of them are full rides. The chances of "going pro" are even smaller: about 0.03 percent for basketball, 0.08 percent for football, for example. Unless your kid is extremely gifted and lucky, he's not getting any money out of sports. Here's what your kid can get out of youth sports: Exercise - With a third of US kids overweight or obese, we need to get more kids moving. Not only does exercise help kids now, it builds healthy habits for a lifetime. Friendships - Sports can be a great way to build relationships and social skills. Positive self-image - Feeling strong and learning skills can make a kid feel really good about herself. Involvement in positive activities - Sports are a way better way to spend your time than video games or hanging out on the streets; for many kids, sports are what keep them on a good life path. Time management skills - Athletes, especially high school athletes, need to learn to get homework and other things done around practice. Fun - With the right approach and attitude from the athlete and the coach, sports can be a lot of fun. They are, however, not fun when you are being yelled at — or pushed all the time to achieve. Which is probably why the majority of kids drop out of sports before high school and miss out on all the benefits. So, parents, let's keep some perspective. When you are on the sidelines, let the coach do the coaching. If you are going to yell anything, make it encouragement. If you see coaches treating kids badly, speak up, and find a different team if it continues. Don't push your kids to achieve — we should always try to do our best, but it's not always the point of everything. It's certainly not the point of youth sports. Sometimes it's good enough — better, even — to show up, play the game, and have fun.

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serving the area's best pizza, and supporting our youth soccer teams

2375 Elmwood Avenue in Kenmore

Trivia Answer - from page 2

Messi scored 91 goals in all competitions

during the 2012 calendar year.

Submissions Anyone ???????????? We want this to be your newsletter. We also want you to be a part of the Club web site. So, we are looking for your ongoing input—articles, pictures, match highlights, team and player

recognition, etc. Each team should consider having a designee that can channel information to the Club for inclusion in the newsletter or web site.

Send your submissions to us at voght@msn.com. Pictures are welcome, but should be in a

A Special Note of Thanks to 2 Special People We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the incredible work done by Andy Gardner in recent seasons. He has taken hundreds of superb photographs at his granddaughters’ games, and then complied them into season-ending DVDs and albums for the players. His granddaughter Lauren performed editing and added music to the DVDs. The Under 11 Sparks , Under 12 Ambush, Under 12 Talons, and Under 14 Ambush were beneficiaries of his work and his generosity this season. Also, our thanks to Marty Wende from the Under 12 Ambush whose outstanding photographic skills have provided Andy with much of the content in his DVDs.

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Soccer Word Search

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Fund Raising

The Kenmore Soccer Club is able to conduct fund-raising, but each activity needs to be approved by our Board of Directors.

If your team wants to conduct any fund-raising, just e-mail us at doc@kenmoresoccer.com

with the details of what you propose, and the eventual use of the funds raised. We will get back to you promptly.

Contacting Us

Web Site — www.kenmoresoccer.com E-Mail — doc@kenmoresoccer.com

Telephone — 716-837-1627

Mail — 57 Greenleaf Avenue, Tonawanda, New York 14150

Our thanks to M.J. Peterson for helping sponsor our teams

Kenmore Soccer Club Goals

To be the best club in our community To recruit and retain the finest youth soccer coaches in Western New York To continually evaluate and revise our coaching curriculum to insure that all of our players are participating in practice sessions that are challenging, interesting, and fun To encourage our players to develop healthy and responsible goals of their own

The Kenmore Soccer Club belongs to all of us, and we encourage you to bring your contributions and expertise to the club. If you have any suggestions or concerns, please speak to your child's coach or contact us directly at your convenience.