Certified Coach

I am now certified to coach soccer. I attended a USSF "E" Certificate Course recently and the trainer was great. I received a lot of information on coaching and learned some things about the game I was never taught before (as a player). The guy leading the training was very good and held all but one license (a newly created premiere license) from both licensing bodies in the US (USSF and NSCAA). The last day we spent several hours in a parking lot, in the rain learning coaching principles and running through examples. Everyone was soaked by lunch, but it cleared up and we dried out for the afternoon session.

I'm now collecting equipment so that I can coach a team. I'm hoping to assist a coach for the Spring season and then take the "D" License Course in the Summer of 2009. That way I'll be ready for my own team in the Fall. I'm giong to talk to a few coaches I know to see if their clubs' need coaches or if they need a helping hand for the Spring. I'm excited about getting involved with coaching. I'd like to move on with the coaching courses and possibly coach at a higher level. It took a while, but I've finally come around to coaching.

I hope I'm able to be involved with Chloe if/when she decides to play. She has the genes for it, but I won't force her to play. She says she wants to play so I guess we'll try to get her signed up and see how long it lasts.

Old Schoolers

That’s the name of our team for the over-30s winter league. We played our first game last night and we won. We beat a team 3-2 that looked like they had no one over 30. I played keeper unexpectedly. Our first-string keeper was out sick and our second-string keeper can’t play goal until January because of rehab from a car accident earlier this year. I did well once I adjusted.

I let an easy first goal in because I wandered a little too far off my line. The lines aren’t well defined, so I lost my bearings a bit and a player put one over my head for the first goal of the match. I got my finger tips on it, but couldn’t re-direct the ball. The second goal was a decent goal where I didn’t have much of a chance at making a stop. An opposing player made a break through the defense for a one-on-one with me. I tried to wait a few seconds for a stutter-step, or for him to commit to a shot, but he held and I had to come out to cut down the angle. He snuck it past me into the left side of the goal at the last second to put them up 2-0. We had a few more close calls, but they couldn’t convert (a couple of them were good saves on my part).

Franz scored a goal one or two minutes before the half to pull us within one. We came out strong in the second half. Brian had a ripper than clanged off the right post and went flying 40 yards out of bounds. Then finally a light at the end of the tunnel, Nate made a run down the field, beating a couple defenders and going around the keeper for the easy put-in. That brought us to even. The other team was frustrated they “let” us come back and made a bad pass on the restart. We stole the ball and made a quick run for an easy one-two goal to put us up 3-2. We were elated. There was only about 12 minutes left, and the other team pressed for an equalizer. I came up with a couple of great saves and the defense made a couple of key stops to help us hold on to the 3-2 victory.

Glory days!

Marriage debate

The recent Newsweek article regarding homosexual marriage and the bible is stirring up quite a storm. It’s hard not to notice it, so I read the article. The piece is not 100% accurate and is written with a certain bias that does not understand the counter culture. It did what I believe was intended though, it got readers – and readers create revenue. Fanning the flames sometimes can be very profitable when you’re selling fire wood.

Now, I’m not against homosexuals having committed relationships recognized by the government. I’m not against homosexuals enjoying the same benefits other civil unions enjoy from a governmental perspective. What I have a problem with is forcing a quite large subset of the culture to accept something counter to their religious beliefs. If my religious belief is that eating meat is wrong, will the government force me to eat it because “most” Americans disagree with me? My example is arbitrary and not perfect by any means, but hopefully conveys my point adequately. The government needs to be careful about making laws that go against individual beliefs, especially ones as wide-spread as this.

I’m not sure there is a perfect answer to this dilemma, but how about this for starters? Have the government change all references to marriage to say civil union instead. Allow religious organizations the use of the term marriage, but force the government to recognize the term as nothing more than a civil union. Next, allow any couple wishing to enter a civil union, under governmental law, the ability to do so (and afford them the same benefits unilaterally). All civil unions would be equal under governmental scrutiny and therefore, by law, no discrimination would occur. Then, allow religious organizations to place restrictions on the use of the term marriage, if they so desire, within their own organization. Each organization would not be required to recognize a marriage from a different organization, but would be free to do so, if they so choose. This affords exclusion and inclusion to be determined by each group of people sharing beliefs (including homosexual communities). Leaving a particular organization/community wouldn’t discount your civil union, from a legal perspective, upon exit. It may affect your status as married, but not your legal standing. Let the groups determine for themselves what marriage means and let the government call everything a civil union.

I think we should keep the government out of the business of telling its people what to think and/or believe. I thought that was one of the basic tenants of this great nation – freedom to say and think as you choose?

Facebook

I've been sucked into Facebook. I've known about MySpace and Facebook for years, but never saw a reason to join either. Slowly though, more and more people I knew and met were joining and sharing on these social networking sites. As the number of people I knew on Facebook grew, I began to realize I would eventually be sucked into it. I resisted for a little while, but relented recently. I doubt I will join MySpace because I know very few people on there and the target market seems to be a bit younger.

So far Facebook has been good for getting updates on some buddies I lost track of some years ago. It has also been good at connecting me to people I haven’t seen or talked to in a very long time. It’s free and works better than classmates, so why not. It also gives me a connection to the group I play pick-up soccer with regularly.

I linked here from my Facebook page, so we’ll see if I get more readers. Some people might find it interesting to read my rants. Some might even be offended. A few might determine I’m crazy. Oh well, such is life.

Hard to believe seven years ago I was in Alberta, CA. I hope we get to go back at some point.