August 2007

RAISING THE LEVEL

Through their excellent performances, nine Boca teams represented our club goals. Congratulations to the coaches, managers and parents of the two younger age subgroups that traveled to Beaverton, Oregon to make this opportunity a reality. We received many exciting reports from our own Boca Family and many raving accolades from the outside who watched our teams perform in Oregon.

One of our major club goals is to have the perspective of "Raising the Level" of our whole club in terms of Technical Development, Tactical Growth, and Mental Game. The performance of our teams in Beaverton obviously is a practical affirmation of our collective efforts and especially of the coaches of those teams. We are grateful to all our members who took the nine teams to Oregon and by their performances have already developed a recognizable way of play, resulting from a method of teaching which is intended to make the players learn the ideas of the game and perform without the coaches standing on the sidelines and trying to pull the strings! This method is based on the US Soccer mandated "Best Practices for Youth Soccer" guidelines. It takes restraint and patience from coaches to let the young players figure it out when the coaches could make a quick impact by telling players what to do. But obviously a more lasting effect can be achieved by teaching the players options and let them make the choices and own the game!

One of the personally satisfying observations came to me from one of my friends, a former member of our Women's National Team who was in Oregon coaching a team from Seattle. She was very appreciative and expressed appreciation of the way the Boca teams she saw played. It was not so much the outcome of our games, but she could recognize a consistent approach to the game by our players. She observed that what they were attempting to do, whether accomplished or not, seemed to have a purpose and the players clearly made attempts to connect and collaborate! This was a great compliment from someone who played at the highest level of the game!

Often it is easy to recognize the outcome, but it takes a great deal of unseen work and cooperation to get there. It is significant that those two training subgroups have been the most effective in putting to practice our training program and cooperating with each other in training, arranging scrimmages and meeting as subgroups to plan the curricula and projects together. It was no small fete to plan for all nine teams to travel to the same tournament and coordinate their trips. By all accounts, it was also quite apparent that they went to each other's games and cheered for each other. I commend the coaches and managers of our two youngest subgroups for setting such an excellent example and for a successful trip. It is not an accident that all nine teams reached at least to the semifinal stage of their competition and two teams were finalists.

The goal is to win soccer games but winning is the outcome of all the managing, planning, teaching and cooperation that must precede it!

Go Boca!

The Youth Academy got the chance to enjoy some weekend Play Days on July 21st and 28th.

The boys played host to MDSL Azzurri and the Placer United Soccer Academy, while the girls played in Squaw Valley against Summit 7000 Academy and Cal Rush. "I was really pleased with the way the girls played this weekend," stated Jeremy Field. "It was fun to see them hang out as a team and bond on the field at Donner Lake."

All three age groups really enjoyed themselves and played inspiring soccer.

As we enter the month of August, the Youth Academy will take part in their Intensive Training from the 13th - 17th, 8-10 A .M. at Larchmont Park.

Don't forget to come out to the Friday Play Days for pick-up soccer and ice cream.

Go Boca!!!

• Fridays, 8/3, 10, 17 and 24 - PLAY DAYS at Larchmont
• Wednesday, 8/8 - Coaches Meeting at 7
• Thursday, 8/9 - Management Meeting at office
• Monday-Friday, 8/13-17 - Intensive Training (U8- U10 & U13-U14)
• Tuesday, 8/14 - Manager's Meeting at 7
• Thursday, 8/23 - Management Meeting at office

For a detailed calendar, view our website's calendar tab.

Earlier this year, CASA implemented the "SUBGROUP" philosophy in an effort to bolster and improve the overall training and cooperative efforts within our club. The subgroups are organized by age groups and a subgroup leader is assigned to assist in coordinating activities within that particular group.

One of the basic and most important concepts is to provide a cooperative and interactive training environment for our players and coaches. We attempt to plan training times and locations so that subgroup teams are practicing in close proximity on the same general field areas at the same times. This schedule allows for the coaches to easily communicate with one another, exchange ideas, plan and align training topics and become familiar with the players on other teams within the subgroup. We also have the opportunity to have multiple subgroup teams training and playing together at specified times under the supervision and direction of all the coaches.

We have noticed strong improvement in the play of our BOCA teams as a result of this interactive, positive, upbeat and competitive training environment. We have also noticed a much stronger level of support for each other as spotlighted by our recent tournament in Oregon. Overall, CASA was represented by 9 teams at the Adidas Beaverton Cup, including all 5 teams from the U11-U12 subgroup. The number of coaches, players and family members that turned out to cheer on the other BOCA teams was incredible. Melissa Cavitt's team played a match that had so many screaming fans; you would have sworn you were at a major college game! Another example was the U12 boys team. After just completing a tough match, they marched down to the field where the U12 girls were playing. The boys were heartily cheerring "BOCA! BOCA! BOCA!" with Coach Antonio Sutton leading the cheer (and also leading the march). This spirit was very symbolic of the overall attitude and enthusiasm of our club at that tournament. It was a great time, and we look forward to more of the same in the future.

The subgroup idea is working extremely well and, as we progress, it will only get better. Stay tuned. Everyone keep up the hard work! See you on the field.

Go BOCA!

The U13 girls from the Boca 94' team invaded the pitches of the Beaverton Cup in Oregon in a big way as their mode of transportation was a 21 foot RV.

The U13's were making their first out of state tournament appearance and their coach, Tris Rieland, left nothing to chance as he transported the girls in style to Oregon via the giant RV. Nothing says team unity like having 15 players pull up to a game site in a RV.

The Beaverton Cup was obliviously a great experience for the U13's as they enjoyed their time in Oregon. They also had success on the pitch as they were a Finalist in the U13 girl's bracket.

The club provides Intensive Training sessions for each team during the summer. These are designed in accordance with our overall club coaching philosophy based on the US Soccer's "Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States". The club conducts these intensive sessions for our teams at no additional cost as part of our overall service to our members. This is in contrast to the usual case where the main goal of many summer camps is to generate revenue.

This year we had commitments from Martin Vasquez the assistant coach of Chivas USA and former National Tam player, Larry Draluck the Coaching Director of the So Cal Blues and a former professional player, Tad Bobak the U15 Girls' National Coach, Rene Miramontes a USA National Staff Coach, Abner Rogers Coaching Director of the Laguna Hills Eclipse and Juan Fresques coach of the two time HS champion Damien team and a former collegiate standout.

The program for the summer of 2007 looks as follows:

• July 9-13 U15-U18
• July 23-27 U11-U12
• Aug 13-17 U8-U10 & U13-U14