# Wed Sep 14 11:48:03
"Organized" being a loose term at this young age. So far, the strategy seems to be "swarm the ball". But, it is all for fun.
At least at this age. Then, the exact degree of competitiveness vs. fun apprantly varies depending on which youth group association you are affiliated with. This is but one of many facts I learned about soccer as I started some online research. To summarize: soccer is complicated.
Which is to be expected of anything that has been around for a long time. The real problem (for me) is that since I never got beyond the basic soccer knowledge of many Americans (you can't use your hands; they call it football everywhere else), trying to absorb all the history and culture and rules will be like trying to learn cantonese after age 50: I may come to understand some things, but it will never come naturally.
So, she'll have that going for her if she sticks with it, and it's a good way to develop teamwork and make friends and tap into an aspect of the world that is not usa-centric. At the very least, she'll have fun, which is what it is all about right?
Her stats after game 1: one goal scored, one shot on goal blocked
Soccer Dad
I have no minivan yet, but my kid has officially started playing soccer. It started last year with a ball that rolled into our parking lot and sat unclaimed for a while. Now she is in a league, her first foray into organized sports.
# Thu Sep 15 09:27:41
At some point, I became at least somewhat aware of AYSO. Most like because places I later lived in areas where there was a large community of people recently arrived from other, soccer-centric countries. Primarily I remember a lot of bumper stickers, including the AYSO PLAYSOCCER logo.
So when my kid signed up, I was surprised to find that the league was affilaited with a different organization altogether - US Youth Soccer. The parent's first instinct here is to panic - much as worrying about how a kindergarten choice will affect college, I had to worry if being in one league or the other would better her chances for a soccer career, if that's what she ends up wanting to do.
Finding a side-by-side comparison of the two online is surprisingly difficult. I was able to piece together that AYSO was started first, but US Youth Soccer actually has more members (over 3x as many). AYSO is seen as a bit less competitive and more focused on fun/recreation, although I imagine there is no difference at the younger levels. In any case US Youth Soccer is connected via US Soccer to FIFA, so I'll assume that's all I need to know for now.
But I was hoping to find more of a backstory - was there a split within AYSO that led to the creation of US Youth Soccer? Was it more of a regional presence thing (AYSO started on the west coast)? There is a large document of agreements and guidelines for interacting, so obviously there were some issues at some point. Is there a Mac/Windows Coke/Pepsi sort of fanatical rivalry between the players?
There are some other differences of little importance as well. AYSO has a better domain name (soccer.org), and a much more slick and fancy (I won't say better because I haven't evaluated on content) website. AYSO has a wikipedia entry while I find it hard to believe that US Youth Soccer does not. [edit: US Youth Soccer has Pokémon
There are actually a couple of other youth soccer leagues, but I am going to stop my investigation at the two largest for now. If anyone has any useful info/links to add, please leave them in the comments.
To summarize, the only difference it makes to me right now is that I don't get a PLAYSOCCER bumper sticker.
Kid Soccer Leagues
I don't remember a lot of soccer-related activities around me growing up. Which isn't to say there weren't any (I had one friend who played soccer, so there must have been a league somewhere). But our household had more of a focus on baseball.
# Thu Sep 29 06:53:11
They of course face jail time if caught, but people have been killed for doing a lot less to lobster traps.
Hot Lobsters
Lobster thieves have stolen over $17,000 of lobster from Maine wharves this month.
"I live about 300 yards from the wharf, within rifle range," Morse said.
# Thu Sep 29 08:22:05
That 80% deal is only for the first 888 people who sign up, so in case you miss it I've gone ahead and created a promo code for Dreamhost where you can save $60 signing up for any plan (except monthly level 1, where you save $50 because that was the max I could make it).
Just use the Dreamhost promo code save60bucks when you sign up, and you will get $60 off. Plus, I'll save on my fees. So everyone wins :)
Happy Birthday Dreamhost
I've been using Dreamhost for over four years now, and never hesitate to recommend them. They are having a good deal for their birthday - sign up (for one or two year plans) and get 80% off your hosting plan. Plus, you now can host unlimited domains per plan. For $9.95 or $7.95 per month, you get a pretty kick-ass plan.
# Fri Sep 30 07:20:20
Speaking of the weather, it was 45 degrees outside this morning. Brrr! We still haven't turned on the heat (but I did get all the storm windows in).
Rainbow
There was one of the brightest, fullest rainbows I've ever seen in the sky last night just before sunset and just after a day of downpour. It is nice to see some weather besides snow make the news. It must have been quite bright as it was seen from Portland to Yarmouth (scroll down in that blog entry). I'll add the pic I took if it came out (but it had faded by the time I got the camera).
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