NASL  NEWSLETTER

September 9th, 2003
 

1. Upcoming Soccer Calendar - new dates added.
2. Teen Pitfalls - Stress, Boredom, Extra Money
3. New Alabama Director of Coaching
4. Soccer Headguard Gets High School Approval
5. Winning Ways: A Holistic Approach to Peak Performance
6. Pre-Season Ideas for Creating Team Unity
7. Super Club's National Indoor Soccer Championships
8. Coaches must be reckless to be sued in California
9. 2004 NSCAA Convention
10. 2004 USSF Referee Re-certification Clinic and Tests
11. NASL's new No Tolerance Policy for abuse of U9/U10 referees
12. College Soccer Information
13. Free Help for Coaches at NASL
14. How to Remove Your Name From this E-mail List.

• 2004 USSF Referee Re-certification Clinic and Tests  have been scheduled for 09/13/03 and 10/04/03 at First Christian Church on Whitesburg. Specific times will be identified in an upcoming e-mail, but the class session will probably run from 9:00 - 1:00. Grade 5, 6 & 7 refs will need to coordinate PT session with instructors. For planning purposes, please send me an e-mail letting me know on which date you'd like to attend. I'll then forward the list to the USSF Instructors. Alternate dates are also being considered, but have not been finalized. NOTE: The only refs who don't have to recert for 2004 are the ones who took the course for the first time last month. Mike Costello Mike.Costello@Knology.net
• AYSA - Initial fall computer registration disk is due in the AYSA office postmarked by September 15th, 2003 and must include:
  · A correctly prepared and readable diskette.
  · If diskette is not submitted then a roster or copy of the registration form containing required information for all players and coaches. A $1.00 entry fee is required for data entry of players/coaches from rosters and/or player registration forms.
  All discrepancies between the registration diskette and the Registration form must be explained.
• Birmingham Area USSF Referee Re-Certification Clinic - September 21st at UAB Humanities Building, Room #105 at 1pm. Contact David Adams at SocrRefAL@aol.com or 205-542-1164, 205-527-2849, 205-823-6600
• Deadline for teams entering the 2003 Chevy Governor’s Cup is September 26th, 2003
  U-10 - $250,  U-11/12 - $300,  U13 & older - $350
• Deadline for teams entering the 2003 Snickers Cup is TBA. The cost is $400 per team.
• Roster Freeze Date for Governors Cup is October 3rd, 2003
• ASA Board meeting will be Sunday, October 5th, in Birmingham at 3:00 PM.
• Deadline for teams entering the Division II State Championship is October 8th - The cost is $350 per team
• AYSA Final registration is due in the AYSA office postmarked by October 15th, 2003 and must include:· A correctly prepared and readable diskette, roster or copy of registration form containing required information for any player or coach registered after the submittal of your initial information.
• Standings Close for Snickers Cup - October 19th, 2003
• Birmingham Area USSF Referee Re-Certification Clinic - October 19th at UAB Humanities Building, Room #105 at 1pm. Contact David Adams at  SocrRefAL@aol.com or 205-542-1164, 205-527-2849, 205-823-6600
• Roster Freeze Date for Snickers and Division II Cup is October 22nd, 2003. If changes in roster, all paperwork and money is due in office by this date.
• Fall State League Division I Play Ends - October 26th, 2003
• Governor's Cup - Montgomery - October 25th and 26th, 2003
• Snicker's Cup - Huntsville - November 1st and 2nd, 2003
• Fall State League Division II Play Ends - November 2nd, 2003
• D II Tournament - Location TBA - November 8th and 9th, 2003
• Gulf South Conference Tournament - November 8th & 9th on John Hunt Field #1.
• ODP District Tryouts - November 10-13th and 17-20th, 2003
• Adult State Cup - Mobile - November 15-16, 2003
• Birmingham Area USSF Referee Re-Certification Clinic - November 16th at UAB Humanities Building, Room #105 at 1pm. Contact David Adams at SocrRefAL@aol.com or 205-542-1164, 205-527-2849, 205-823-6600
• NIRSA Sports Club National Championship - Nov 20-22, 2003 Tuscaloosa
• ODP State Tryouts for Boys - December 6th and 7th, 2003
• ODP State Tryouts for Girls - December 13th and 14th, 2003 
• Mandatory Referee Clinic - January 9, 10 and 11, 2004 for a mandatory clinic for State referees, instructors and assessors.
• Annual NSCAA Convention will be held January 14-18, 2004, at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C.  Download a registration form here: http://nscaa.com/docs/2004prereg.pdf 
• SportsBlast in Birmingham, Alabama will host SuperClubs' 2004 Indoor Soccer Regional Championship on January 24th and 25th, 2004.

        Top Risk Factors in Teen Substance Abuse, CASA Says

        The risk that teens will smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs increases sharply if they are highly stressed, frequently bored or have substantial amounts of spending money, according to The National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse VIII: Teens and Parents, an annual back-to-school survey conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
        This was the first time in its eight-year history that the survey measured the impact of these characteristics on the likelihood of teen substance abuse.

Among CASA's survey findings:

• High stress teens are twice as likely as low stress teens to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs.
• Often bored teens are 50 percent likelier than not often bored teens to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs.
• Teens with $25 or more a week in spending money are nearly twice as likely as teens with less to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs, and more than twice as likely to get drunk.
• Teens exhibiting two or three of these characteristics are at more than three times the risk of substance abuse as those exhibiting none of these characteristics.
• More than half the nation's 12-to-17 year olds (52 percent) are at greater risk of substance abuse because of high stress, frequent boredom, too much spending money, or some combination of these characteristics.
• "High stress, frequent boredom and too much spending money are a catastrophic combination for many American teens," said CASA Chairman and President and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr. "But it is a catastrophe that can be avoided through parental engagement. Parents must be sensitive to the stress in their children's lives, understand why they are bored and limit their spending money."
  
  Other findings of this year's survey:
   
• More than 5 million 12-to-17 year olds (20 percent) can buy marijuana in an hour or less; another 5 million (19 percent) can buy marijuana within a day.
• The proportion of teens that consider beer easier to buy than cigarettes or marijuana is up 80 percent from 2000 (18 percent vs. 10 percent).
• For the first time in the survey's eight-year history, teens are as concerned about social and academic pressures as they are about drugs.
• Teens at schools with more than 1,200 students are twice as likely as teens at schools with less than 800 students to be at high risk of substance abuse (25 percent vs. 12 percent).
  
  "Two of the most common questions regarding teen drug use and addiction are: how can it happen to my child, and how can it happen to young boys or girls who seem to be typical teens?" said Califano.
  
  "These questions are often asked where the drug-abusing teen does not exhibit one of the usual warning signs of drug abuse – being physically or sexually abused, having a learning disability or eating disorder, suffering from serious depression or another mental health condition. CASA's teen survey suggests that for many teens, the answers to these questions can be found in high stress, frequent boredom and too much spending money."
  
  
        Click here to read the entire survey or go to http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/teens/a/blcasa030819_p.htm
  
  
  My note:  A steady diet of athletics and academics leaves very little time for boredom

New Alabama Director of Coaching

SCOTT SPENCER
New Alabama Director of Coaching

 
Scott is one of the most experienced coaches in the South and an authority of the women's game and youth development. He has the USSF "A" license and twice receiving the NSCAA "Premier" license. Scott has been a youth director for over 5 years and received the "Youth Coach of the Year" award from Tennessee in 1998.

For 5 years, he has coached within the TN Olympic Development Program (ODP) and for the past 3 years has been a Regional Girls' ODP coach. Scott's the Western District Coaching Instructor and the Western District Girls' ODP coordinator. *

Scott has coached the nationally recognized MEMPHIS MERCURY the past two seasons, which were national finalists in 2001, coaching female players involved at the highest levels of the game. Currently he has coached 9 players who have gone on to sign WUSA professional contracts and 11 players who have played for their national teams (USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland). Prior to coaching, Scott played professional soccer for 5 years in Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Canton, Buffalo, and Raleigh.

Recently, Scott has developed a new soccer club, the Memphis Premier Soccer Club, which is where this biographical information came from. http://www.memphispremiersoccer.com/

A responsibility clubs have to their athletes is not only development but also a total program to assist the complicated process of having opportunities at the next level, college.  To fully develop, regular exposure and competition against college teams is a vital component that we will utilize to develop Under 16 - Under 18 players. With our extensive college coaches' network, MPSC will have the distinct advantage of college competition, exposure to different school and coaches, and complete recruiting support system for all players.  Past teams coached by Scott Spencer, have met with coaches' from, taken college tours of, or been given clinics by: U of North Carolina, NC State, Duke, Dayton, Miami-OH, Xavier, South Alabama, Jacksonville State, U of Florida, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Southern Mississippi, UT Chattanooga, MTSU, Auburn, MS State.

In the past 4 years, youth teams coached by Scott Spencer have played:

Want to know a little bit about Scott's Coaching Philosophy?  Check out the webpage at http://www.memphispremiersoccer.com/coaching.htm
Here's a sample:

 

---

From http://www.memphispremiersoccer.com/coaching.htm

Coaching:

Our coaching staff, coaching curriculum, and style of play will be VERTICALLY INTEGRATED throughout the club and is the key to success in all age groups. Vertical integration means teams are not separate groups but part of a greater club where we are in similar training programs.

The club, each team, and age division is developing along the same coaching philosophy and with involvement from the club, directors, coaches, and managers in support of philosophy, club structure, and training methodology. Each age is the building block for the next age. Every team will have full access to the resources of the club.

Teams will regularly:

• Train together in groups with Directors and Team Coaches
• Functional train in positional groups (forwards, midfielders, defender groups)
• Skills clinics with directors
• Athletic training with a speed/ agility program
• Goalkeeping training with the goalkeeping staff

With coordination of training topics and all staff members believing in the philosophy and age division curriculum, the resources of the entire club will be used to the advantage of every player and every team in the club.

An aspect of the environment we will create will be "looking the part"- all players will have the same uniforms and will have training gear for practices.

We'll coach in professional, positive, respectful manner!

Coaching Philosophy on Playing Time!

All players will play! If, you attend sessions and meet the standards (measurable) set for each team (skills, fitness [if older], and individual training logs minimums). You'll know if you're meeting standards and how to improve- IT WILL BE UP TO YOU WHETHER YOU WANT TO PLAY ALOT! Simply stated "If you work hard, and do what we ask, you will play". The only way to develop players is to reward hard work with playing and allowing players to play improves them.

Likewise, if you have worked hard all year, you will know you'll have a place on next year's team- we can always add players but we'll never want to cut a hard worker - they'll get better!

Directors’ Involvement

The Memphis Premier directors will actively be involved with all teams. This will be a major aspect of keeping the club VERTICALLY INTEGRATED. This way we can keep in touch with all teams and players. The weekly club training sessions and skills sessions will often group two teams together (again developing club identity and interaction) but never a group of 50 or more and will be run by the directors. Club sessions will often be tactical themes for the entire club to work on.

Functional training will also be an integral aspect of training often run by the Directors. Functional training means training position specific aspects. With a vertically integrated club, positional roles and systems of play are the same and maintains clear coaching message among all the coaches.

Evaluation Process of team, coach, and players

It is extremely valuable to have concrete information and as much quantifiable information as possible to evaluate the performance and development of the individual player, team, and coach. We will have regular performance evaluations to both identify the current state of the team and player and also to improve our abilities develop the teams and players in addition to being able to have open dialogs with parents and players. There will not be “surprises”. It is important players and parents know where they are at or are not at. Information will be given on what and how to improve and then it is up to the players to “choose”. It is then the players’ choice on making the team next year. It is the players’ choice to get more playing time. If a player decides to not attend sessions or work on what they need to work on, they have chosen that and its’ repercussions. By the same token, we will reward players that are improving and working their tale off. Those players will both play and know that they will also have a team and club to play on the following year.


Coaches will not be evaluated on the win-loss success of their teams. Everyone (coaches, staff coaches, and directors) will be responsible for the teams’ development. Expectations of coaches and staff will have focus areas being technical and tactical development in relation to the age group curriculum, the “team environment”, communication to players and parents, and overall club support.

Individual Players’ opportunities for additional training/ playing

All players in the club will have the opportunity for more soccer opportunities if they desire. In addition to optional training opportunities such as shooting practice and extra skills sessions, any player wishing for more simply needs to ask and we will have challenging opportunities for them. Players will be allowed to train additionally with other MPSC teams if they are wishing for more and may be able to play addition games with other teams as well.

Cross Training / Playing Up Opportunities for the extremely talented

Some players will be identified as players needing to be put in environments where they are challenged more. As a member of US Club Soccer, we have free range of player movement and can at any time allow a player to “play up” on an older team. With coordination and support, we will provide these opportunities. We will decide if this should be offered on a limited occasion to “expose” players to a higher level. Or, we will play players up more often to regularly challenge them. This may involve players missing their teams’ sessions on occasion. This needs to be understood as that players are training within the club, as everyone is. This is identical to the European model where players may get called to an older age group for a practice or game and then return to their original team.

We are a CLUB developing players within the context of teams!

It will be very unusual for a player to play completely in another age group but not necessary impossible. Players should never feel that they are leaving their team. This is an opportunity for other players to take another role on their respective teams and possibly for a player from a younger age group to guest with the team.

Equality of opportunity! Not equality of players!

While every player in the club will have opportunities to develop and train more, the opportunities will not be the same opportunities. Because some players are better than others, some will be able to train/ play with older teams and some may not. We will find opportunities for any player wanting more, they simply may not get the same opportunity as someone else. All players must fulfill their standard commitments before asking to train with other teams.

We will not sacrifice the development of talented players by trying to be so democratic to treat everyone as the same player with the same talents with the same commitment with the same goals!

 

---

http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~11080~1502169,00.html

By Steve Herendeen, STAFF WRITER

It's full speed ahead for the Full90 Performance Headguard. In a surprising reversal on Tuesday, the National Federation of High Schools Association declared the 11/2-ounce headguard -- designed by San Diego-based Full90 Sports, Inc. to reduce head impact forces on the soccer field -- can now be used by all players at the high school level.

The move by the NFHS was totally unexpected. The governing body for all high school sports ruled the headgear was illegal and would not be considered again until its January 2004 meeting. That hardline stand abruptly changed Tuesday when Full90, Inc., CEO Jeff Skeen received a fax from Tim Flannery, the NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Soccer Rules Committee.

"Based on the new interpretation by the NFHS, the Full90 Sport padded head band is legal for use in interscholastic matches beginning immediately," Flannery's fax stated. "The NFHS exercised due diligence over the past 12 months to determine its use for high school play." Flannery did not return calls to his Indianapolis, Ind., office on Tuesday.

Skeen, who actually had the headgear designed after his daughter, Lauren, suffered a third concussion in a high school soccer game last year, was thrilled with the news. "It's hard for me to contain my happiness," Skeen said. "This is a monumental day in the history of soccer. In five years, it will be common to see people wearing soccer head protection. It's a great thing, not just for the company but for the players."

The announcement also ended a long, frustrating run for Skeen and proponents of the Full90 Performance Headguard. The piece of equipment seemingly had support from everyone but the NFHS. Some youth, collegiate and professional women's players had begun using the soft headgear in games. The United States Soccer Federation, which is the national governing body for soccer and recognized by the international governing body FIFA, allows the headgears although they have to be cleared before every game by the head referee.

Some rather big names also endorsed the headgear. Joy Fawcett of the U.S. women's National Team and the San Diego Spirit is an active spokesperson for the headgear. Two-time men's Olympic soccer player Kevin Crow, now the chief operating officer for the Women's United Soccer League, called the $24.95 headgear "an acceptable part of soccer equipment in today's world."

Full90 laboratory studies indicated the 3/8-inch, cross-linked, high-density polyethylene foam headgear -- designed specifically to protect the forehead and temples -- provided "about 50 percent reduction in typical soccer head impact forces." Tests also showed the headgear did not change the direction or speed of the ball during header plays.

Yet, the NFHS fought acceptance of the headgear by field players for a year, even though it allowed goalies to wear a soft head protector. "Our sports committee is concerned about jumping into this," Flannery said three weeks ago. "(Full90) has done studies, but we don't believe laboratory tests are valid. We need field testing and that takes time."

At the time, Flannery suggested any ruling would take well more than a year so the NFHS could get extensive information outside of laboratory settings. Said Flannery: "We estimate we would need 24 schools participating with every kid wearing (the headgear) for a year to get enough feedback to (determine) if they have value or not."

So what forced the 180-degree flip by the NFHS? Skeen, who relentlessly pressured the NFHS by contacting numerous media outlets and providing free headgears to soccer camps around the country, thinks he knows. "I think it came down to common sense," he said. "Just like every other law, it came down to them looking at it and saying 'this product can do some good. There are no negatives to wearing it, so why don't we let this through?'"

He also believes there might be a bigger reason for the turnaround. By refusing to allow the protective headgear, the NFHS could have left itself in a precarious legal situation the next time a high school player suffered a head injury and angry parents decided to sue. "There were no changes in the facts from last week," noted Skeen. "I think (the NFHS) was inspired because they could face lawsuits and other legal problems in the future."

(Note: Thanks to the SAYSO.org newsletter for bringing this to our attention.)

"In Olympic competition, a race is won in the mind...winning is 20% physical and 80% mental..." You might ask what kind of crazy psychologist said this. He doesn't know the rigors of training - he had read too many books. Yet the person who wrote this in his book Deep Water, is Don Schollander - winner of four gold medals at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

The Soviets proved this after the 1972 Montreal Olympics. They divided equally their Olympic team.

• Group one - total physical training
• Group two - 25% psychological and 75% physical training
• Group three - 50% - 50%
• Group four - 75% psychological and 25% physical training.

The most effectively trained group was found to be Group four and then three down to the least effectively trained group #1.

A wise man, Swami Nityananda said, "A strong mind is more important than a strong body." As you know when you train so intensely, yet your mind isn't into competing, you usually don't do so well. Mark E. Schubert, Mission Bay Swim coach, believes in mental training as a key to success. "When the kids get to the National level, they are all just about equal physically." Consequently much of his focus is on preparing swimmers psychologically for upcoming meets. Their team uses the services of a sport psychologist.

The same is true with people at the elite levels of business and academics; the strongest mentally fit people perform better than others. I propose that when you are both physically and mentally fit you can access your spirit. In connecting with this spirit, we receive inspiration, enthusiasm, and enjoyment - from within.

This brings up a question. If I am doing just physical fitness training, what can I do to train my mind - to strengthen my mind?

To read the rest of this article go to
http://www.pelinks4u.org/sections/coaching/coaching.htm

Tim A. Hamel, MS
California State University, Fresno

I have had the privilege to serve as a sport psychology consultant for numerous types of athletic teams and have discovered that my favorite time of year for consulting with teams is during the pre-season. Although this is often the most difficult time to consult with athletes, I have found that the coaching staff loves the pre-season due to the emphasis on the "fundamentals" of their sport. However, the challenge lies in the fact that athletes tend not to value mental training when they are not playing against an opponent. From my perspective, the essence of the pre-season revolves around the cohesion of a team. In this article, I use the terms unity, chemistry and cohesion interchangeably to define the togetherness or closeness of the entire team, coaching staff included.

I have a few basic questions when I talk with a coaching staff during the pre-season. The first question is, "How is your team going to be this year?" Typically, the response goes something like this: "If we come together, we're gonna be tough to beat." Then my follow-up question is, "Other than physically practicing, how have you practiced 'coming together?'" Usually the coach will ask, "How can you practice coming together?" There are several reasons why I focus on team cohesion in the pre-season. First, it kills me to hear a coach at the END of the year say "we had the best talent in the league but we had a bunch of individuals." If I do hear this statement, I follow-up with, "Did you know this going into the season?" Generally the answer is, "Yes, but I thought we could pull together if we won some games." This is where the old cliché that "winning masks a lot of problems" comes into play. In other words, some coaches think that talent will promote team unity. However one must keep in mind that a team represents a large dynamic relationship comprised of a series of smaller affiliations. If one of the links in the bond is damaged, the entire system fails. Winning does not address the problem in a strained relationship, it simply covers it up. Coaches must therefore deal with the problem before it becomes an irreversible issue that has the ability to ruin the entire season. Thus, winning by itself will not fix a team unity crisis. Furthermore, team unity does not magically appear. If it is present at the beginning of the pre-season, it has the ability to be there for the duration of the season. Conversely, if team unity is not apparent at the beginning of the season, it can be worked on and improved. If a coaching staff sees a technical/mechanical flaw in one of their players, do they wait until the end of the season to correct it or do they try and address the problem immediately?

As a consultant, I try and take a proactive approach in promoting team unity. Too often, I have heard coaches tell their athletes to be a team without offering any solutions or suggestions on how to accomplish this task. Would a pitching coach tell a pitcher that he/she needs to develop a certain type of pitch without demonstrating how to perform the desired pitch? The final question I ask to the staff is, "What did you as a coaching staff do to promote team unity?" Because coaches are sometimes baffled by this final question, I have provided practical advice on how a coaching staff can promote team unity. This information is based on my experience in group cohesion and team building with a wide variety of teams from high school to NCAA Division I.

 

To read the rest of this article go to
http://www.pelinks4u.org/sections/coaching/coaching.htm

This year's National Indoor Soccer Championship is going to be the biggest and best yet! More than fifty Regionals sites across the United States, Canada and Mexico will host teams that are competing for the chance to attend the National Finals in one of 52 different divisions.

Each Regional tournament will feature fantastic competition designed to bring out the best in every team. There are a wide variety of locations and dates so that many teams will have multiple opportunities to qualify. It's very common for a team to play in two or three tournaments in an effort to get to the Finals. If a team is successful in their first attempt, they use the remaining tournaments to hone their skills in preparation for Nationals.

http://www.upper90.com/whatsnewdetail2.cfm?key_id=655

SportsBlast in Birmingham, Alabama will host Regionals on January 24th and 25th, 2004.   A complete list of all regionals is available here:
http://jma2.zapto.org/libraryfiles/RegionalNationalDates11.pdf
 

From LA Times: (need a free sign-up)

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-coach29aug29,1,6327387.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california 

SAN FRANCISCO - Coaches who cause injuries to young athletes are protected from lawsuits unless they acted recklessly or intended to hurt the child, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

In a decision in which both sides claimed victory, the state high court
barred athletes from recovering damages if a coach behaved negligently, but permitted lawsuits against coaches whose conduct was "totally outside the range of ordinary activity involved in teaching or coaching" a sport.

Finding potential recklessness in the case of a swim team coach, the court
unanimously reinstated a lawsuit brought by a woman who broke her neck at the age of 14 when her coach told her that she had to dive at a meet if she wanted to compete.

Although a victory for the plaintiff, the ruling makes it difficult to sue coaches. Proving recklessness is more of a hurdle than showing negligence,
the standard for most personal injury lawsuits.

"I think it is frightening for California children that their coaches and
instructors aren't held to negligence standards," said Sharon J. Arkin, who
helped argue the case for the state's trial lawyers. "Coaches can push
children beyond their capability, and there is no liability."

Joseph Collins, a lawyer who argued for the defense in the case, said the
ruling has made it clear that coaches cannot be sued simply for misjudgments.

"For most injuries that occur in the coach-athlete setting, this decision
affirms there should be no lawsuit as a result of that injury," said
Collins, who represented the California Ski Industry Assn., which sided with
the coach in the case.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, the state high
court said a coach's liability for injuries must be restricted because "a
significant part of an instructor's or coach's role is to challenge or
'push' a student or athlete to advance in his or her skill level."

Although the court limited liability, the justices' conclusion that the swim
team coach may have been reckless might ultimately make it easier for other athletes to bring similar claims, said UC Berkeley Emeritus Law Professor Stephen Barnett.

"By letting this case go to the jury, the court indicates that recklessness
doesn't have to be all that reckless," Barnett said.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Olivia Kahn, who was a freshman at a
San Jose high school when she joined the junior varsity swim team. She had little swimming experience and was terrified of diving.

She said the swim team coach, Andrew McKay, promised her that she would not have to dive at swim meets, where the races were held in pools 3-1/2 feet deep, according to the opinion. Instead, he said she could swim the first leg of relays from inside the pool.

But on Oct. 13, 1994, minutes before a meet was to start, McKay told her
that she had to dive if she wanted to participate. The panicky teenager
begged him to relent, according to the opinion, but she said he refused.

Two teammates offered to help train her, and she went with them to a shallow racing pool to practice from a starting block. On her third practice dive, she broke her neck. McKay later said he had given Kahn some training in diving. But she insisted that she had been taught how to dive only into a
deep pool.

A trial judge dismissed Kahn's suit on the grounds that injury from diving
is one of the inherent risks of competitive swimming. A Court of Appeal
upheld that decision.

But the state Supreme Court said the evidence "went far beyond a claim that the coach made an ordinary error of judgment in determining that she was ready to perform the shallow-water dive."

"Clearly, a disputed issue of fact exists as to whether the coach provided
any instruction at all on shallow-water diving," George wrote, "and the
nature of the coach's promises and threats to plaintiff also are in
dispute."

If McKay directed Kahn to dive in shallow water without any instruction,
ignored her fears and "made a last-minute decision that she dive during
competition in breach of a previous promise," a jury could conclude that the coach was reckless, George wrote.

Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar wrote separately, declaring that the
standard for liability for coaches should be conduct representing "a gross
or extreme departure from the instructional norms."

Justice Joyce L. Kennard, in another separate opinion, said the court should have required young, injured athletes to prove only that their coaches acted negligently, not recklessly.

"In the majority's view, a coach of teenage athletes need have little
concern for their physical safety," Kennard wrote.

Kahn, now 22, spent months in the hospital after her accident. She walks
with a limp and suffers from headaches and has little sensation on one side
of her body, said Patrick McMahon, her lawyer.

"I am so delighted for Olivia," McMahon said. "When I found out this
morning, I was in court and was jumping up and down. I was just screaming."

Mark E. Davis, who represents McKay and the East Side Union High School
District in San Jose, said the evidence would show that McKay had not been reckless. Davis said the ruling in Kahn vs. East Side Union High School
District, S105735, was not a complete victory for either side.

"At least the court has recognized that merely pushing a student athlete to do something they haven't done before is not something that should, by
itself, create liability," Davis said.

McMahon said he expected the case to be settled without a trial. Davis said Kahn had previously sought $1.75 million, which was rejected.

Neither Kahn nor McKay could be reached for comment.

The annual NSCAA Convention will be held January 14-18, 2004, at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C. The theme of this year's gathering is "The Family of Soccer."  Registration forms are now available as a downloadable PDF through http://www.NSCAA.com. To download a copy of the form, CLICK HERE. http://nscaa.com/docs/2004prereg.pdf

         Coaches of U9 and U10 teams,

      The NASL will be following a NO TOLERANCE Policy with regard to coaches who abuse referees in U9 and U10 games. The final wording of the policy is being worked on, but the heart of the policy is that these referees are new to the game and prone to make mistakes (just as coaches are).
      Any abuse of the referees resulting in the filing of a game report against a coach will result in the coach being immediately suspended pending an investigation by the league. It is important that we remember the age and experience of these refs and the large number of youth referees who do not return to refereeing because of abuse by coaches. Consider this your only warning to be on your best behavior!

          Although the NASL deals primarily with players 8-18 years old there is a lot of great soccer content available for the college soccer player and fan.  In addition to articles for the college bound player on the realities of college soccer and How to win a scholarship there are links to all the local and state college soccer programs at http://www.nasl.com/collegeinfo.htm
       So with this fall's college soccer season underway, why not check out some of the local games?  Here are links to a few of our local college soccer programs. 

• Alabama A&M Women
  http://www.aamu.edu/pr/sports/soccer/women/soccer.htm
• Alabama A&M Men
  http://www.aamu.edu/pr/sports/soccer/men/soccer.htm
• Auburn Women
  http://www.auburntigers.com/soccer/
• Auburn Men (Soccer Club)
  http://www.auburn.edu/student_info/mens_soccer_club/
• Birmingham Southern Men
  http://www.bscsports.net/msoccer/index.htm
• Birmingham Southern Women
  http://www.bscsports.net/wsoccer/index.htm
• Jacksonville State Women
  http://www.jsugamecocksports.com/sport_front.asp?sportid=218
• UAB Men
  http://uabsports.ocsn.com/sports/m-soccer/albr-m-soccer-body.html
• UAB Women
  http://uabsports.ocsn.com/sports/w-soccer/albr-w-soccer-body.html
• UAH Men
  http://www.uah.edu/Athletics/msoccer/index.shtml
• UAH Women
  http://www.uah.edu/Athletics/wsoccer/index.shtml
• University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Women
  http://www.rolltide.com/Soccer/4418.asp
• UNA Women
  http://www2.una.edu/athletics/Lion%20Soccer/index.html
• Wallace State College Men's Team
  http://www.wallacestate.edu/soccer/index.html

      Since January I have been moving thousands of drills, tips, articles and exercises from my old website at DecaturSports.com to the NASL website in an effort to make the NASL website the largest repository of help for soccer coaches on the internet.  The DecaturSports.com website was one of only two website recommended by NSCAA for youth coaches at their annual convention. Since the DecaturSports.com website covered many sports I felt it was important to place this wealth of soccer material on the NASL website which is soccer only.
      There are articles on virtually every topic that ever interested soccer coaches and for coaches from newly drafted dads and moms to USSF "A" Licensed coaches.  Recently added were on-line videos of all the Coerver moves and the Gary Rue's Exercises of the Day.  This is a year long project for me and I still have many, many  more to post so let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to see and I'll get it posted first.
      Stop by http://www.nasl.com/drills.htm and look around and I think you will agree that it is the finest selection of soccer coaching material on the internet.  Ken dsports@hiwaay.net  

NASL NEWSLETTER:

       You may sign up for the NASL e-mail list and also provide changes (including removing your name from the list) to your current e-mail address and phone numbers by using this form at  http://www.nasl.com/Email.htm This is our means of keeping the local soccer community up-to-date on events and items of interest.  If you have something to contribute please e-mail me at dsports@hiwaay.net
All of the above information and more is on-line at http://www.nasl.com

Thanks for being involved in soccer in Alabama. 

Ken Gamble - NASL Secretary
"Next Goal Wins!"

REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS

     This low-tech emailing list is maintained for the benefit of coaches, referees, and parents involved in youth soccer in Alabama. List maintenance is semi-automatic. If you are no longer in Alabama or wish to be removed from this list for any reason, simply send an e-mail to dsports@hiwaay.net with "Delete", "Remove", "Exclude", "Unsubscribe", "Stop!", No More!, "Cease and Desist!", or something similar in the subject line. Regional dialects, colloquialisms, and various misspellings (e.g., Cut it out!, Delist, Unlist, Disenfranchise, Quit me, Unsuscribe [sic], Unsuscripe [sic], Describe, and Unscribe) are understood.
     "Drop Dead, Pond Scum" works also, although emails with profanity (e.g, Go to He!!) will be filtered out and automatically discarded so that the youth players who volunteer in the NASL office won't see them. Other requests, particularly those that include the word me (e.g., Drop me, Terminate me, Cut me or worse, Cut me off, Take me off, Purge me, Reject me, Take me down, Expunge me, Take me out, and Kill me) are cause for concern but are generally implemented figuratively rather than literally.
     Tense, gender, and grammar (e.g., Please removed us/we/him/her.) are irrelevant. Some requests (e.g., Enscribe and Obscribe) confuse us and may result in additional contact. Manners (e.g., Please, Sorry, and Thank you, anyway.) are optional.
     Explanations (e.g., I visited Huntsville once on the way to the Calaveras Frog Jumping Contest and loved looking at the space museum, but I have never lived in Northern Alabama.) are always interesting and are appreciated.
     Sporting metaphors (e.g., I don't want to play on your team.) help soften the blow. Denials (e.g., There is no one here who plays soccer. or We hate that game.) mean we entered someone's email address incorrectly. We're used to but politely disagree with gender stereotyping (e.g, Real men play pointy football. and Soccer is a man's game, not a game for skirts). Questions (e.g., How did you get my email address?) generally can't be answered because nobody in the NASL office knows the answers to them.
     Your email address and all other alias email addresses that you include in the body of your request will automatically be added to NASL's Exclude List. This will permanently stop delivery of all types of future NASL announcements, including those for upcoming tryouts, coaching/refereeing courses, refereeing opportunities for league and tournament games, and birthday parties. You can also quit yourself from NASL's e-mail page at http://www.nasl.com/Email.htm

NOTE: The wonderful removal instructions listed above were adapted with permission from Michael Lindeburg at San Andreas Youth Soccer Organization, http://www.sayso.org