Selasa, 12 Oktober 2010

Premier League round-up

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Kolo Toure Joe Hart Manchester City Premier League Toure and Hart blundered for City Kolo Toure Joe Hart Manchester City Premier League Adam wheels away after scoring from the spot Kolo Toure Joe Hart Manchester City Premier League Essien heads home against the Hammers Kolo Toure Joe Hart Manchester City Premier League Arteta and Everton heroes CahillEverton's late fightback stunned Manchester United, Chelsea charged on against West Ham and Blackpool triumphed against Newcastle at St James ' Park.

Manchester City dropped two points as they were hand-held by Blackburn, overcame the loss while Fulham Bobby Zamora to defeat of Wolves.

Arsenal overcame 10 Bolton, Tottenham-man suffered another injury blow in their draw at West Brom and Lee Cattermole saw red again for Sunderland.

Everton produced a stunning recovery with two goals in added time to secure a 3-3 draw against Manchester United at Goodison Park.

The Red Devils Wayne Rooney, who left out of their squad against his former club, looked to be cruising at 3-1 up after goals from Darren Fletcher, Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov cancelled out Steven Pienaar's opener.

Tim's Cahill headed what looked to be a mere consolation for the Toffees in the three added minutes only for Mikel Arteta to lash home a deflected effort just 60 seconds later to send the home fans into raptures.

Chelsea continue to set the pace in the Premier League while West Ham prop send up the table with the title triumphing 3-1 at Upton Park.

The online-form Dimensional wasted little time in stamping their authority on the struggling Hammers with two goals in the opening minutes 18, complicit with the hosts in their own downfall.

First, Carlton Cole could only divert Michael Essien's header information into his own net, before Rob Green spilled a tame Didier Drogba free-kick and Salomon Kalou cashed in on the rebound.

Essien was on target again in the closing stages with Scott Parker's scant consolation for the late response under pressure Avram Grant, although there was still time for Frederic Piquionne to somehow head against the bar from point blank range-.

Blackpool triumphed in the battle of the promoted sides at St James ' Park with Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell on the mark to sink Newcastle 2-0.

Adam made no mistake from the spot shortly before the interval after Alan Smith had been penalised for a clear foul on Luke Varney.

And Campbell sent the Magpies fans heading for the exits when he found the back of the net with a neat finish from the edge of the box.

Manchester City's bid to force their way into the Premier League elite suffered another setback as they dropped two home points in a 1-1 draw with local rivals Blackburn.

Joe Hart and Kolo Toure combined to gift the opener with Blackburn neither player taking the opportunity to clear and Nikola Kalinic allowing to roll home into an empty net.

Patrick Vieira levelled for the hosts file of 10 minutes after the break but despite the best efforts of Carlos Tevez and Jo they could not find a winner.

Zamora Fulham striker suffered a broken ankle in the 2-1 win over Wolves and needed oxygen as he was stretchered from the field.

Jelle Van Damme sneaked in at the far post to fire the visitors ahead in only the 10th minute Zamora went down before in obvious pain after a challenge from half-life Karl Henry, on the hour mark.

But Moussa Dembele bagged a brace second-half-life-coming with the winner in the closing moments, while Christophe Berra saw red for two bookable offences.

Arsenal made light of their striking shortages with a 4-1 victory over 10-man Bolton at Emirates Stadium.

Laurent Koscielny went from hero to villain for Arsenal as he fired them in front against Bolton before gifting the Trotters possession as Elmander Was levelled before the break.

Marouane Chamakh had put the Gunners back in front before Gary Cahill was harshly dismissed by referee Stuart Song and gives Alex Atwell with Carlos Vela punishing the visitors in the closing stages.

Tottenham suffered another injury blow the table as they were a forced to settle for a point following their 1-1 draw at West Brom.

Luka Modric fired Tottenham in front in the 27th minute after good work from Rafael van der Vaart and Roman Pavyluchenko, only to be a forced off soon after following a number of heavy challenges before heading down the tunnel on crutches.

And the Baggies were level prior to the break as Gallas was found wanting; by Marc-Antoine Fortune, with Chris Brunt-nodding home from point blank range.

Asamoah Gyan repaid the first instalment of his £ 13million transfer but 10-man Sunderland were a forced to settle for a point against Wigan at the DW Stadium.

Lee Cattermole, who insisted that prior to the game he wasn ' t a dirty player received: his second red card in three Premier League appearances in only the 22nd minute of Sunderland's clash against former club Wigan.

The Black Cats continued to press and slotted home Gyan from close range after February 1950 Henderson's sublime cross from the right flank for Antolin Alcaraz, only to cleverly glance home a late equaliser.


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Fergie explains Rooney absent

Last updated: 12th September 2010 Subscribe to RSS Feed SKY Sports on SKY
There are no more live football on Sky sport than ever, including in the Premier League, Champions League, Clydesdale Bank Premier League away qualifiers for Euro 2012 in England and Primera DivisiĆ³n.With four live Sky sport channels and Sky Sports News will never miss a moment for sky .Click for more here. Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed, Wayne Rooney leaves his Manchester United team Everton face, since he did not want to be subjected to an attacker to "terrible abuse".

Rooney, who left Everton to join United before six years on a regular basis is jeered by supporters of candy, chewing on his return to Goodison Park.

However, the level of the stick was ramped up on Saturday, after the lurid claims in respect of privacy in the England international over the past week.

Draw Ferguson, however, has chosen against sending runes in Leo den and left his 24-year-olds from 18-man squad for a memorable 3-3.

"We made a decision simply because he shall receive a terrible abuse here.Ferguson, we don't want it undermines this, "said Sky sport.

Rooney is expected to return to the United States party Tuesday for the opening of the UEFA Champions League group a game against the Rangers of Old Trafford.

This match is likely to see Rio Ferdinand made his first team comeback after suffering an injury decline between the knee in training before the World Cup.

Ferguson Added: "I think that Rio will play on Tuesday night."

Man. Utd vs Rangers. Click here to bet.

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Football Freestyle-what is Football Freestyle good for?


Ordinary people who never Football freestyle for almost seen yet to set the phone to always ask "what team play (s) found for", "you can play football as good as you juggle" or "what is it good for, you can not on the field". So what is Football freestyle good for?

First of all I would like to make it clear that you ... just because someone has a amazing juggler it does not mean that he has a good idea (I have a lot of football freestylers meet and, in many cases, they are also good at football). also, it is the same if you have a good football Freestyler, you do not need to be well informed.

If you're a footballer who currently plays for you're probably thinking something like "stupid people spend so much time for something useless".If you have a decent football player and you are serious with your football Football freestyle are, in my opinion, is a perfect method includes additional skills. it improves your first touch, eye coordination, ball control and so on. If you think about it, how come the best players in the world today some Football freestyle tricks?

As I mentioned before I have played football with a lot of football freestylers and most of them are decent. That's probably because their love for the sport, for some reason maybe they stop with football, but still want to kick the ball also do some people just some basic freestyle improve their skills in the field.

Football Freestyle is only in its early days and it is still very small.If you have 10 people ask if they know that football freestyle, I think the 8 or 9 will say no, in some cases even all 10 of them. some people in the world is soccer freestyle full time, they don't get rich from it, but they still have the ability to do what they love.So if you work hard enough practice and dedicated, there is a chance for you to be pro.

I really hope that this sport is getting bigger and bigger in the years to come, and I hope that this sport is recognized around the world, so if you liked this article to if you want to pass it on to a few friends.








You do not know exactly what Football freestyle looks like? take a look at http://www.freestylefactory.net a site with videos, pictures, and information on the sport!



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Hamilton Partizan 1-2

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Rangers striker Kenny Miller scores against Hamilton Miller added to his midweek Scotland goal with the winner at New Douglas Park

Kenny Miller's seventh goal of the season gave Rangers a last-minute win over a battling Hamilton Accies side.

Nikica Jelavic headed home his first Rangers goal early on and the visitors maintained their lead until the break.

Accies had competed well in the opening period and were rewarded for their efforts when Madjid Bougherra's own goal levelled matters.

But substitute Miller's lob restored the champions' lead and their 100% Scottish Premier League record.

Watched by Manchester United scout Martin Ferguson, the match was Rangers' last before beginning their Champions League campaign at Old Trafford on Tuesday, while Hamilton were looking to build on their recent win over Inverness.

Referee Alan Muir ignored early penalty claims from the home crowd after Nigel Hasselbaink was squeezed out by David Weir and Sasa Papac just inside the area.

Jelavic was making his full debut for the Ibrox side and, within six minutes, the Croatian had found the net after bulleting Kyle Lafferty's teasing cross into the net.

Hamilton rallied and came close to an equaliser twice in quick succession.

First, Marco Paixao's curling shot was tipped over by Allan McGregor and the goalkeeper then held a deflected shot by Jon Routledge.

Marco Paixao continued to cause Rangers problems and flashed an effort wide after cutting in from the left.

Jelavic turned provider with a low cross across the Accies box, but strike partner James Beattie could not get the vital touch.

A series of lofted balls into the Rangers box ended with Simon Mensing flicking a backwards header towards goal, but McGregor was on hand to claim.

Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic Jelavic notched his first Rangers goal in the first half

Jelavic shot wide via a deflection on the half-hour mark shortly before being caught late by Jim Goodwin, resulting in a booking for the Hamilton debutant.

Cerny palmed an awkward deflected shot by Jelavic into the path of Beattie, but the Englishman could not turn his rebound into the net.

Kirk Broadfoot limped off shortly before the break after failing to recover from an earlier knock and Ricky Foster made his first Rangers appearance after joining on loan from Aberdeen.

The versatile defender was caught cold when his tame headed clearance let Hasselbaink in on goal and McGregor was required to make a last-ditch save to deny the former PSV Eindhoven player.

Hamilton got themselves level 11 minutes after the break when Bougherra turned Marco Paixao's cross into his own net.

Steven Naismith's powerful drive was beaten out by Cerny as Rangers tried to regain the advantage.

Accies continued to pose a threat on the break and one such attack saw Flavio Paixao's curling shot deflect just wide of the target.

Top scorer Miller was introduced from the Rangers bench as Lafferty was withdrawn and the striker set up Jelavic with a neat lay-off, but Cerny saved well.

Steven Davis dragged a shot wide from distance as Rangers pressed for a late leveller.

But Miller did find the net after latching on to fellow substitute Lee McCulloch's intelligent through ball, despite Cerny getting a hand to the shot.

Saturday, 11 September 2010

Scottish Premier

Final Result Full Time 90:00+3:25 The referee blows for the end of the match. 90:00+1:25 Steven Davis takes the outswinging corner, save made by Tomas Cerny. 89:02 Assist on the goal came from Lee McCulloch. 89:02 GOAL - Kenny Miller:Hamilton 1 - 2 Rangers Kenny Miller grabs a brilliant goal from just outside the box low into the middle of the goal. Hamilton 1-2 Rangers. 88:21 Steven Naismith is penalised for handball and concedes a free kick. Martin Canning takes the direct free kick. 87:41 Free kick awarded for a foul by Lee McCulloch on Flavio Paixao. Direct free kick taken by Tomas Cerny. 87:09 Free kick awarded for a foul by Douglas Imrie on Madjid Bougherra. Direct free kick taken by Steven Davis. 86:00 Tomas Cerny takes the free kick. 86:00 Booking The referee shows Sasa Papac a yellow card for unsporting behaviour. 85:51 Unfair challenge on Flavio Paixao by Sasa Papac results in a free kick. 85:28 Douglas Imrie challenges Sasa Papac unfairly and gives away a free kick. Sasa Papac takes the free kick. 83:35 Handball by Kenny Miller. Tomas Cerny takes the free kick. 81:00 Free kick awarded for a foul by Andy Graham on Maurice Edu. Maurice Edu delivers the ball from the free kick right-footed from left wing, save by Tomas Cerny. 80:24 The referee blows for offside against Flavio Paixao. Allan McGregor takes the indirect free kick. 78:44 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Madjid Bougherra by Marco Paixao. Allan McGregor takes the free kick. 77:56 David Weir takes the free kick. 77:56 Booking Caution for Andy Graham. 77:50 Andy Graham challenges Sasa Papac unfairly and gives away a free kick. 76:06 Effort from 12 yards by Nikica Jelavic. Tomas Cerny gets a block in. 75:45 Free kick awarded for a foul by Flavio Paixao on Lee McCulloch. Free kick taken by David Weir. 74:49 The assistant referee signals for offside against Marco Paixao. Indirect free kick taken by Richard Foster. 73:46 Douglas Imrie fouled by Lee McCulloch, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Simon Mensing. 70:26 Martin Canning takes the free kick. 70:26 Substitution Kenny Miller joins the action as a substitute, replacing Kyle Lafferty. 70:26 Booking Steven Naismith is shown a yellow card. 70:20 Foul by Steven Naismith on Douglas Imrie, free kick awarded. 69:38 Inswinging corner taken by Douglas Imrie, free kick awarded for a foul by Martin Canning on Nikica Jelavic. Direct free kick taken by Allan McGregor. 68:30 Free kick awarded for a foul by Maurice Edu on Andy Graham. Free kick crossed left-footed by Douglas Imrie from right wing, save made by Allan McGregor. 67:47 Shot from just outside the area by Marco Paixao misses to the right of the target. 65:21 Substitution James Beattie goes off and Lee McCulloch comes on. 63:15 Douglas Imrie gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Steven Naismith. Free kick crossed right-footed by Steven Davis, Simon Mensing makes a clearance. 62:43 Outswinging corner taken right-footed by Steven Davis, clearance by Simon Mensing. 62:30 Steven Naismith has an effort at goal from 20 yards. Save by Tomas Cerny. 60:45 Substitution Damian Casalinuovo is brought on as a substitute for Nigel Hasselbaink. 59:25 Unfair challenge on Steven Naismith by Jonathon Routledge results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Steven Naismith. 57:59 Free kick awarded for a foul by Richard Foster on Marco Paixao. Free kick taken by Flavio Paixao. 55:51 Marco Paixao provided the assist for the goal. 55:51 GOAL - Madjid Bougherra:Hamilton 1 - 1 Rangers An unfortunate own goal is conceded by Madjid Bougherra. Hamilton 1-1 Rangers. 55:51 Centre by Marco Paixao, 54:32 Foul by James Beattie on Martin Canning, free kick awarded. Martin Canning takes the free kick. 53:43 Corner taken right-footed by Steven Davis, Flavio Paixao makes a clearance. 53:16 Corner from the right by-line taken by Steven Davis, clearance made by Flavio Paixao. 52:14 Simon Mensing fouled by James Beattie, the ref awards a free kick. Jim Goodwin takes the free kick. 51:28 The assistant referee flags for offside against Nikica Jelavic. Indirect free kick taken by Simon Mensing. 46:15 Corner taken right-footed by Steven Davis from the left by-line, clearance made by Jim Goodwin. 45:20 Richard Foster concedes a free kick for a foul on Marco Paixao. Direct free kick taken by David Buchanan. 45:01 The second half has started. Half Time 45:00+1:57 The whistle is blown to end the first half. 44:51 Free kick awarded for a foul by Martin Canning on Madjid Bougherra. Direct free kick taken by Allan McGregor. 44:28 Corner taken by Douglas Imrie from the right by-line, Allan McGregor makes a save. 44:17 Shot by Nigel Hasselbaink. Save by Allan McGregor. 43:32 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Steven Naismith by Jonathon Routledge. Direct free kick taken by Steven Naismith. 42:15 Steven Davis challenges Jim Goodwin unfairly and gives away a free kick. Douglas Imrie takes the direct free kick. 41:34 Substitution Richard Foster comes on in place of Kirk Broadfoot. 41:20 Shot from just outside the area by Nigel Hasselbaink goes over the bar. 39:45 The offside flag is raised against Flavio Paixao. Allan McGregor takes the indirect free kick. 39:06 Shot by Nikica Jelavic from 18 yards. Brilliant save by Tomas Cerny. James Beattie produces a right-footed shot from close range which goes wide of the right-hand upright. 37:52 Marco Paixao is flagged offside by the assistant referee. Free kick taken by Kirk Broadfoot. 37:38 Steven Davis concedes a free kick for a foul on Jim Goodwin. Jim Goodwin restarts play with the free kick. 36:43 Nigel Hasselbaink gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Madjid Bougherra. Free kick taken by Madjid Bougherra. 32:42 David Weir restarts play with the free kick. 32:12 Booking Jim Goodwin goes into the referee's book for unsporting behaviour. 32:02 Jim Goodwin challenges Nikica Jelavic unfairly and gives away a free kick. 30:34 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Nigel Hasselbaink by Sasa Papac. Douglas Imrie delivers the ball from the free kick left-footed from right wing. 30:12 Steven Davis takes the outswinging corner, clearance made by Jim Goodwin. 29:56 Nikica Jelavic produces a drilled left-footed shot from 18 yards. Blocked by Martin Canning. 27:05 Simon Mensing takes a shot. Allan McGregor makes a comfortable save. 26:38 Marco Paixao takes a short corner. 25:57 Andy Graham fouled by Kyle Lafferty, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick crossed left-footed by Douglas Imrie from right channel, Kirk Broadfoot makes a clearance. 25:26 Unfair challenge on Martin Canning by Nikica Jelavic results in a free kick. Tomas Cerny takes the direct free kick. 23:16 Kyle Lafferty gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Andy Graham. Free kick taken by Andy Graham. 18:45 Jim Goodwin challenges Maurice Edu unfairly and gives away a free kick. David Weir takes the free kick. 18:09 Handball decision goes against Nigel Hasselbaink. Steven Naismith takes the direct free kick. 17:24 Shot from just outside the penalty box by Marco Paixao misses to the left of the target. 16:33 Sasa Papac fouled by Douglas Imrie, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick crossed left-footed by Sasa Papac from left wing, Simon Mensing manages to make a clearance. 15:10 Inswinging corner taken by Douglas Imrie from the right by-line. 14:46 Shot by Marco Paixao. Save made by Allan McGregor. 14:26 Douglas Imrie gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Maurice Edu. Steven Davis takes the free kick. 11:28 Foul by Kyle Lafferty on Flavio Paixao, free kick awarded. Andy Graham restarts play with the free kick. 9:45 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Maurice Edu by Douglas Imrie. Allan McGregor takes the free kick. 8:29 Flavio Paixao fouled by Sasa Papac, the ref awards a free kick. Douglas Imrie crosses the ball in from the free kick, clearance made by Kirk Broadfoot. 5:34 Assist by Kyle Lafferty. 5:34 GOAL - Nikica Jelavic:Hamilton 0 - 1 Rangers Nikica Jelavic finds the back of the net with a headed goal from deep inside the penalty box. Hamilton 0-1 Rangers. 3:13 Unfair challenge on Simon Mensing by James Beattie results in a free kick. Free kick taken by Tomas Cerny. 2:26 Nikica Jelavic is caught offside. Tomas Cerny takes the indirect free kick. 0:00 The referee gets the match started. Live text and data provided by The Press Association.


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Rafael pleased with Spurs bow.

Rafael pleased with Spurs bowVan der Vaart: Spurs debutant SKY Sports on SKY

There are no more live football on Sky sport than ever, including in the Premier League, Champions League, Clydesdale Bank Premier League away qualifiers for Euro 2012 in England and Primera DivisiĆ³n.With four live Sky sport channels and Sky Sports News will never miss a moment for sky here .Click for more.

Rafael van der Vaart was happy with his debut in the draw against West Bromwich Albion Tottenham Hotspur.

£ 8Million signing its first got the taste of Premier League football in Saturday's 1-1 at the Hawthorns and Dutch midfielder caught eye free role for Spurs.

Van der Vaart plays a key role in the 27th minute sounds and Luca Modric with smart looped pass to Roman Pavlyuchenko, but only may look, Chris Brunt secured section for the hosts in the first half equaliser.

New recruit And enjoy its Spurs first outing in the top tier of England even if it yields successful beginning.

Van der Vaart told Sky Sports News: "I think I had a good first game and there were some really good passes is unlucky that we didn't score one more, but in the end, I'm happy.

"They really good plays in the second semester and does not play, and in particular in the USSR".

Van der Vaart had little time to be corrected by joining Spurs day of the deadline for the transfer and was away with the Netherlands in the international break.

But insisted that the 27-year-old, he feels comfortable in terms of Harry Redknapp.

He added: "this is a great team, great location and nice guys so easy for me and I feel at home."

Werder Bremen Draw 12 Evens, Tottenham 11/4/5

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How to profit from older lighter rules as youth football coaching

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On its face the older lighter rule makes a lot of sense, if a player is very small and may struggle with playing in his own age group, let him play "down" an age group so he has a chance to play and compete. In my mind if you have a very small first year 11 year old player that weighed 70 pounds, this rule would allow him to plqay with 9 and 10 year olds and give the plyer the chance to learn the game and get meaningful playing time in an effort to build a love for the game in him. In this particular case, the rule would have met its goal.

Age is a very important factor in youth football. The league commissioner for Omaha's Heartland Youth Football League did an in-depth study of the ages of the teams in our league in 2001. He found there were very significant correlations of average age of teams to wins and losses. He broke the study down to the average number of months the age of each team was and invariably the oldest team in each classification finished in the top 3 in the standings and the youngest team in each classification finished in the bottom 3.

In my first year of coaching youth football, I coached in an age 8-10 "draft" league where the coaches are given only the birthdate and weight of the player to make the draft selection. We were not given the players name etc, basically a blind draft with the exception of the age and weight data. This league had an older-but-lighter rule. As our turn in the draft came around we just selected the largest players available, while the team next to us the "Dolphins" chose lots of 11 year old "older-but-lighter" players that were quite small, as well as medium to smaller 10 and 9 year olds. Our roster was filled with bigger 8s and 9s and a few 10s. As it turned out, the Dolphins were the perennial bullies of the league and had won an incredible number of back to back league titles. They knew what they were doing and that age was far more important than size. They went on to win the league title again that year. That season, we had just one older-but-lighter player and he turned out to be our star player, our tailback and star linebacker.

In many youth football leagues there is an age cutoff, in many leagues it is August 1st. So whatever age the player is on August 1st is what the league uses to determine age for that football season. If a player "Joey" is age 10 on August 1st and on August 2nd he turns 11, according to the league the player is 10 years old for that entire season. So if the age grouping is age 8-10 and an 8 year old player just turned 8 on July 31st, this 8 year old would be playing against a player "Joey", that is 4 years older than him. Age is important, but so is the date of the birthdate. In 2003 I had an "Unlimited" age 8-10 team that had 4 players that turned 11 in August. Needless to say, that was a huge advantage for us.

Now just imagine if you had a lighter 11 year old that had a birthdate of August 3rd, now you have a 12 year old playing 8 year olds. That would be darn right dangerous for some 8 year olds if that 12 year old player had 4 years of football plays under his belt.

My personal teams play in unlimited leagues with "running back" weights. The big kids are required to play between the tackles and are not allowed to carry or catch the football. We have always found it is not the big heavy linemen that are dominating games and making big hits, it is that medium sized or even smaller kid who has speed, aggressiveness and acceleration through contact. While the big linemen may seem a bit imposing at first glance, once the game is under way the players that are feared most are the big hitters, which are rarely if ever the big kids. Hence it could be that aggressive smaller older-but-lighter player that could be the terror of your league, not that "Fat Freddie" big linemen.

What often happens in the youth football leagues that have "older-but-lighter" rules is the rule gets abused. Instead of using the rule as it was intended for, to aid the development of truly smaller and weaker players, teams load their teams up with perfectly well adjusted and experienced smaller players. Some teams even make these already skinny lighter players LOSE weight to make sure they meet the weight guidelines, if the player is close to the weight limit.

I have had youth football coaches e-mail me to say they play teams of 24 kids where 17 are older-but-lighter. If you closely examine the ages of many of the top Pop Warner teams that play on TV for National Titles, quite often you find teams stacked full of very tall and skinny older-but-lighter players.

I'm not sure how to solve the "stacking" of older-but-lighter kids on teams to create competitive advantages. I really like the idea of significantly smaller first year players playing down an age group to give them a chance to develop. However, if the weight differentials are not large enough or already small players are being pressured into losing weight to meet older-but-lighter requirements, I'm not sure we are meeting the intent of the rule.

In our Omaha Youth Football league with August 1st cutoff dates, we often had 8th graders with August or September birthdates that were playing on the 11-12 year old team. The problem was many of their 8th grade buddies were playing on the 13-14 age team. While it would have given us a significant advantage to keep the player on the younger team, if the players were mature enough we would play them up with their friends. We felt doing what was right for that player superseded our need for a competitive advantage; I would hope others would do the same when it comes to making older but lighter decisions.

When I coached in youth football leagues that had older-but-lighter rules, if we had kids what were close to the weight cutoff and they had experience, we just played them up and it worked out fine. If we had a rookie kid that was weaker and close to the cutoff, we never ran him extra or starved him. We just explained the situation to the parents and if they concurred, we asked them to curb the intake of desserts, junk food and sodas. If the player made the weight great, if he didn't make the weight no big deal, we never counted on the player making weight. We did not weigh the player every day or put any pressure on the player to lose the weight. We did not take him to any sauna, starve him or the like, like some do.

If you are in a "draft" league, heavily weight age and experience when making your selections. Keep in mind not only the players age, but his birthdate, it will be to your advantage. Coaching Youth Football well is more than just calling good football plays and having great football schemes, and football practices, it also often involves smart selection or drafting of players. Make sure you are thorough and use age to your advantage within ethical boundaries.

If you have an older-but-lighter player that is close to the cutoff and you are considering having him lose weight, think carefully about how this will look 10-20 years from now. Was it really worth it to the player or team? Personally I prefer beating teams with younger and less talented kids, it's more of a challenge and far more satisfying than doing it with a "stacked" team of scarecrows.

Copyright 2007 Cisar Management Services, Republishing allowed if resource box and links are kept intact.

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Dave Cisar- Dave has developed a detailed systematic approach to developing youth players and teams that has enabled his personal teams to win 97% of their games in 5 Different Leagues at all levels and age groups while retaining 90% of his kids.

His book ?Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan? was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington. His DVDs and book have been used by teams nationwide to run integrity based programs that win championships. His web site is Football Practice



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