San Carlos United Clash

Watch Tottenham Hotspurs Train in San Jose

2010-07-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

One of the English Premier Leagues most exciting teams, Tottenham Hotspurs, are playing a friendly against the San Jose Earthquakes this Saturday.

Spurs site also mentions that an open training is taking place this Thursday at 9AM. This could be a wonderful way for players and parents to see world class players up close and in action. Here's the info from the site.

The Club is pleased to announce that we will hold an open training session in San Jose as part of our forthcoming training camp in the USA.

The open session will be at our club partner San Jose Earthquakes' Nutrilite Training Facility at 9am local time (Pacific Time, USA) on Thursday, July 15.

Fans are welcome to take this opportunity to come and watch the lads being put through their paces as we prepare for an exciting 2010-11 campaign.

Map to Nutrilite Training Facility in San Jose, CA.

Try this at Home!

2007-08-12T10:05:00.001-07:00

Hey Clash Players,
Getting a little frustrated with your juggling? It's not so hard, just takes a little practice. Hope this can inspire you!

Good News for Iraq

2007-08-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Iraq's soccer team had a HUGE upset to win the Asia Cup. Some good news from a country that doesn't have much. (any?) Always interesting to me how soccer can be such a huge part of a countries political and social structure.

If this interests you, there's a great book called How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization It has the good and the bad that occurs around the game in the name of power, politics and religions.

The Iraq win is something to discuss with the players on the Clash. How the team and country came together around the Asia Cup.

Rich

How to win a Game

2007-04-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these highlights from the quarter final of the Champions League. AS Roma playing at Manchester United. Man U is running, passing and shoot with style, speed and team work the entire game.

Sorry for the delay in blogging. Back at it now.

Great Article on how to praise kids

2007-03-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
Here's a great article from New York Magazine
about the power, and challenges of praising kids. Here's a snippet but it's well worth reading.

The researchers would take a single child out of the classroom for a nonverbal IQ test consisting of a series of puzzles—puzzles easy enough that all the children would do fairly well. Once the child finished the test, the researchers told each student his score, then gave him a single line of praise. Randomly divided into groups, some were praised for their intelligence. They were told, “You must be smart at this.” Other students were praised for their effort: “You must have worked really hard.”

Why just a single line of praise? “We wanted to see how sensitive children were,” Dweck explained. “We had a hunch that one line might be enough to see an effect.”

Then the students were given a choice of test for the second round. One choice was a test that would be more difficult than the first, but the researchers told the kids that they’d learn a lot from attempting the puzzles. The other choice, Dweck’s team explained, was an easy test, just like the first. Of those praised for their effort, 90 percent chose the harder set of puzzles. Of those praised for their intelligence, a majority chose the easy test. The “smart” kids took the cop-out.

Soccer Clinic

2007-02-06T11:01:00.000-08:00

Here's 7 minutes from a game on Sunday in London where Manchester United puts on a clinic. Have our players watch this and pay attention to the movement without the ball, the fast shooting, wonderful heading and defensive positioning.

does anyone look at this?

Fall and Spring '07 Tryouts this Saturday at 8AM - Highlands

2007-02-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

Hi, we are hosting a tryout for spring and fall seasons this weekend.

We hope to expand our roster by 8-10 players for both seasons. In the
spring we will carry 21-24 players and perhaps add a few more in the
fall. In the spring a majority of these players will be in other sports, and this will allow them to do both. We know that few players can make every spring game due
to other sports, but this will allow us to field a team for each game.

Our new plan is to carry the new players into the fall, and form a
second team that will play in US Soccer Club Norcal League. This new team would include the new players, in addition to our current players,
but would primarily rely on new players in matches thus maximizing their
playing time.

To clarify, in the fall we will have a roster of of about
23-25 Clash Players, supporting 2 teams in 2 leagues. The NorCal team
will be made up of the new players and supplemented with 4-5 CY players
as needed to get 14-15 players on the team for game days. Whenever
possible CY will be on Sunday and Norcal on Saturdays.

We also plan to add another coach to our coaching staff. The team would
practice together and be treated as one group. Both Laurent and I have
experience in this size of a team, and have seen it work effectively.

We are excited by the opportunity to expand the San Carlos Clash, and
have more players in our family. We've been highly successful in
building a team and developing players, and we believe that this will
only make all the players stronger and get more enjoyment out of soccer.
If your son is interested in joining our team, please let us know and
attend our tryout this Saturday, February 10th at Stadium Field in San
Carlos. If you have any questions please email me at rgo1234@gmail.com

Also, please check out our team blog and team website to get a better
understanding of our team values, goals and philosophy.

Our tryout is now set for next Saturday February 10th at Stadium, from
8-10AM. Please let me know if your son will be attending.

Wonderful players

2007-02-03T15:02:00.000-08:00

Northern Ireland's Hero - George Best.

Then watch this goal. It's better when you see all the repeats. Staggering.
"What a Goal!"

Team Tryout Jan 27th

2007-01-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

The Clash are hosting a tryout for players born after July 31st 1995. The tryout is next Saturday from 3-5 at Stadium Field in San Carlos. This tryout is for open positions for the spring '07 season.

Spring '07 Season will be between March - Mid June '07.

Currently we have a full roster for the Fall '07 season.

If you have a player interested in attending the tryout please email me at rgo1234@gmail.com

Thanks,

Rich

Is this the future of San Carlos sports?

2007-01-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Just saw this story in todays paper - headline reads:

Cold wait for playing fields

SHORTAGE OF RECREATION SITES REQUIRES GETTING IN LINE EARLY

As pathetic as this seems, it's not hard to think that we could be lining up to get playing fields in the near future. The San Jose Mercury News has a interesting story today on how parents and coaches are lining up all night just to secure playing field space in their community! The story reads

"Apparently a playing field in San Jose is as hard to get as a PlayStation 3, so these few stalwarts came early, or rather camped out, hoping to be first in line to sign up for coveted playtime privileges with San Jose's Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services."

Entire story here

Sadly it seems things only get worse in San Carlos. With no good solutions. We need alternatives and leadership.

Rich

No Comment Necessary

2006-12-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

Secret to success? Practice

2006-12-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

Interesting article here. I'm linking to it with some caution, but think that the message is worth sharing with our kids. They can be very good or great, but like anything it takes sacrifice and hard work. Holds true for school, band, sports, anything they choose to do well. I found the part interesting about how you practice. Just hitting a bucket of balls everyday won't make you a much better golfer, you need to do it with a purpose. Anyway... see what you think.
Rich

What it Takes to be Great

Heads....We Win!

2006-11-19T12:02:00.000-08:00

District Cup weekend is turning out to be a lot of fun. The Clash are keeping it exciting and giving it the "never give up" effort that the boys are known for. Lots of great life lessons for them, from the other teams, coaches and refs. Wonderful to see that we don't act like victims.

But enough of that. Blogging to celebrate the fine delivery by our Mayle Man and Daniel using his head. Very special goals that we won't soon forget. Thank you parents and thank you siblings for all your support. The cheering was tremendous and positive. So loud in fact that the coach from the game behind us came over during his game to say what great fans we have!

On to the 3rd place game! It's superb that we are in the top 4. A tremendous accomplishment.
cheers,

Coach Rich

More Great Moves!

2006-11-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

Chuck G. found this. It's great video. It's actually better without the sound. Please have your Clash player perfect these before this weekend.

Rich G

Meet the League Champions!

2006-11-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the undefeated league champions - The San Carlos Clash. Wonderful season from all the boys who should be very proud of the team and individual efforts.

The boys scored 4.8 goals per game on average, and only allowed .7 goals against on average. Way to play total soccer!

Rich Godwin

Be seated to watch

2006-11-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

Here's a tremendous goal from the English Premier League on Sunday. Watch the move Robbie Keane makes, I almost fall down just watching it! The sound is a little off, but you get the feel of the game.

Coach Rich

Nine Seconds of Bad Defense Hurts

2006-11-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

Good to learn that even great players make big mistakes. Here's an example of how not to play defense that all the team can learn from. This put Brazil out of the World Cup and France in the finals.

Part 2 - 9 Seconds of Bad Defense

2006-11-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Xabi Alonso goal vs Newcastle

2006-10-30T11:04:00.000-08:00


Tremendous Goal. How did this guy have the sight to see the goalie was slightly out of position? Then he hammers the ball. What a leg!

Maybe one day....

2006-10-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

...San Carlos will get its collective act together and figure out how do get some fields built. For now, we can take some learnings from Los Gatos. 3 need turf fields opening within a few months.....Great headline story in the Los Gatos Daily News last weekend.....

Soccer may score another field

By Kristen Munson

Youth soccer scored use of a brand new turf field for games, marking the third game field added for soccer groups in the past three months.

Saratoga and school district officials developed a joint agreement for use of Prospect High School's brand new turf field every Sunday during the year in exchange for additional security at the site. The Campbell Union High School District board will vote whether to approve the agreement Nov. 2.

The potential addition of the playing field for youth sports comes in the wake of a unanimous agreement between members of the Kevin Moran Park Task Force last week.

City officials are hoping the fields will help start the healing process for residents after a decades-old battle between its neighborhoods and sports groups over the development of the park.

Director of Public Works John Cherbone announced the agreement at Wednesday's City Council meeting, lauding the agreement as "another great moment forward in terms of the city being able to gather more space for youth sports."

The sports user groups will have access to the field for two years as a trial period for $35 an hour, in exchange for police monitoring of the site over the weekend. The city should not incur any of the cost for the field usage because user groups will pay the city in advance, Cherbone said.

Council members Nick Streit and Kathleen King serve on the ad hoc committee with the city's schools and spent the past five months working to gain access to the new field. The two helped broker a deal with West Valley College officials, giving the city access to two fields at the college next spring.

"We've passed one hurdle, which makes me feel that we can get through other hurdles," King said Friday. "We're on to the next step now. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel."

King believes the city needs to work with Cupertino officials about creating cooperative agreements that would give Saratoga children the same priority for practice fields as if they were Cupertino residents.

"(We need) to share what we have instead of the issue we've had of who's from where," she said.

The new field helps ease some of the congestion around weekend games, but there is still a shortage of weekday practice fields for Saratoga children, soccer supporters said.

As of last year, there were more than 350 children registered with the California Youth Soccer Association in Saratoga. Most of those children practiced on fields in West San Jose and Cupertino, said Laura Watkins, a longtime advocate for more field space in Saratoga.

"One more field is a good thing absolutely. It's a step in the right direction," she said. "It helps solve a game shortage problem, but the issue of practice fields is still the same problem that it's always been."

rg

The Rocky/Rudy of US Soccer

2006-10-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

The story in the movie "Goal" is fun, but that can't happen in real life right?

Well, read this wonderful story in Sports Illustrated by Grant Wahl. Jay DeMerit is a mid-level college player from Green Bay, WI. who wasn't drafted by the MLS or even invited to their combine. He's never played for the national team.

Yet in less than 2 years he went from a Sunday Pub league in England to starting in the Premiership. Great story, and a great player to keep an eye on. Think the US team could have used him in Germany?

Rich

Goal - The Movie Review

2006-10-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

Predictable as rain in Seattle, and this trailer won't leave many surprises but the Godwin5 all saw this film last summer and we liked it a lot. Great soccer scenes. Fun film. Worth seeing, but likely unbelievable...until you read the next blog post

Support

2006-10-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Clash families,
I've read that one of the most important factors in getting through any type of trauma is gratitude. During this extremely trying time, my family and I feel so blessed to find ourselves in the company of such incredible coaches, amazing young athletes, and caring families. Jimmy looks forward to practices and games...he announced yesterday that his teammates "have is back on the field and off the field." This type of camaraderie is not to be taken lightly. The environment that Laurent and Rich have created for our boys is exemplary. We are most thankful for this opportunity to watch our son grow in soccer and as an individual.
We are extremely proud to be part of the Clash.
Sincerely,
Helen

A Team That Gives

2006-10-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Chuck is right: Clash players always give 100%. They key word is "give".

They run hard all game long and give us a great show everyday. We are proud of them for that. But we are also especially proud of our players' ability to give respect and consideration to the other team, to the refs, to their coaches, and to each other.

I am pretty certain by now that none of the Clash players will ever question a ref call in any disrespectful way. Perhaps even in any way. It's a long time that I have seen any of them being frustrated by a ref call. That's not only giving refs respect, it's not only giving ourselves the chance to reach higher moral grounds, but it's also giving the team a competitive edge. By training ourselves to be always concentrated on the task at hand, we learn the value of mental discipline. Flush it down and focus on the next thing to do. Never feel or act like a victim. In the end, that attitude is giving ourselves a lot of self-respect and confidence. We can overcome crises based on our own strength.

I was proud of them yesterday when they were deliberately passing the ball to some of our players who don't play forward often, so that they had a chance to score. That's giving good support and friendship to their team-mates.

I was pleased when they took our desire to work on a possession game very seriously, while in the process perhaps foregoing the opportunity to score other easy goals. As their coach, I am thrilled with their understanding of the higher value of a long term development plan over short term gratification, and I hope this attitude will carry over in more difficult games. That's giving trust to their coaches.

It was good to see they understood the value of not running up the score, while not embarassing the opponent by "pretending" to play. That's being sensitive and giving consideration to their opponent, in a way that marries this great AYSO culture of good sportmanshipp we come from (and we never want to give up) with the more competitive context of club-soccer.

As a parent, they give me pride to see them grow as thoughtful leaders and well rounded young men.

Coach Laurent.

It's painful to support England

2006-10-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Being an England fan is like being a Red Sox fan, with the curse still in place. Yes they have great players, but they manage to do things like this. England has a hard time following ROOTS, thus they crucify the players after loses like this. rg

E for effort

2006-10-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Along the lines of Rich's first post, the thing that separates the Clash from virtually every other team we have faced this season is that the Clash gives 100% for all 60 minutes in each game. The little 5-10 minute lapses that invariably happen are often the difference between a win and a heartbreaking loss, as was evident this past weekend against RSC Barcelona. But the boys have managed to keep the pedal to the floor in every game so far, and their results bear the truth. Great work coaches and players!

--Chuck

Defense Wins Championships

2006-10-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

We aren't focused on winning championships. The Clash is focused on effort, learning new skills, working as a team and honoring the game. That said, our defense has been just outstanding this season. 5 - FIVE goals allowed in 14 games!

Congrats to all the boys who've played total soccer this season, and especially to Shane, Garrett, Jimmy, Joey, Jordan, Joey, and Danny who spend a lot of time and take a great deal of pride in shutting down our opponents. rg

Parent Trap - Rick Riley Article

2006-10-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Great article here from Rick Riley of Sports Illustrated. Semi-tongue in cheek, but the point is well made!

The Parent Trap

I went out to get my paper this morning and found my neighbor Dalton instead.

He was slumped on my stoop, looking as though he'd slept under a marching band. His eyes sported five-pound bags, his right hand was bandaged and bloody, and his face was sunk like a bad soufflé.

"My God!" I said. "What happened to you? You look like a 20-car funeral!"

"Youth lacrosse happened to me," he grumbled. "The Competitive Elite Lacrosse League. My little Ashley made one of those 'travel teams.' Pray it never happens to you, dude."

He explained. "See, I really never thought Ashley was all that hot at lacrosse, and she's only 14. But when she made this competitive team, all the parents said it was a big honor. They said it's the only way to make your high school varsity, and it's the road to a scholarship, and it looks great on your résumé.

"I'm not even sure Ashley wanted to do it. But all of her friends made it, so she just had to do it. What was I gonna do? Tell my little girl no?

"Next thing you know, I'm writing a check for $1,500. Then it turns out, they practice or play seven days a week on these things. And it's clear across town, so pretty soon I'm standing on the sidelines every day of the week.

"My wife can't do it 'cause she has to take Justin to hockey every day. Why an eight-year-old nearsighted kid needs a 42-game schedule is beyond me. What is he, Wayne Gretzky? Plus there's pylon camp and forecheck camp and backward-skating lessons with his personal coach, Hans.

"So pretty soon I got no life. Family dinners? Forget it. Every meal is in the car -- righthanded Taco Bell. I almost never see my wife awake. When I do, I have to ask for I.D.

"Then this lunatic lacrosse coach schedules an extra 6 a.m. practice every day. It's like the old bottle-feeding days. I'd be like, 'I got her last time. You get her.' And Denise would moan, 'I had to stay up for Midnight Madness last night. Your turn.' Then, at night Ashley is so tired, we end up doing her dang homework! And we're gettin' C's!

"Anyway, Ashley and I started flying to all these stupid tournaments -- Dallas and Baltimore and, my God, Ottawa! -- and every one is billed as 'the recruiting event of the year!' And do you know who we see at these tournaments? The same damn girls we used to play in our neighborhood league! Essentially, we're flying across the country to get our ass kicked by the same exact people!

"So I start talking to these girls' parents, and it turns out they don't really want to be there either, but their kids were saying we were going to do it, so they had to!

"But then my wife gets to talking to some other moms at Justin's slap shot workshop, and they say we're crazy if we don't have a 'performance-enhancement specialist' for our kids. So she signs them both up with one. Then she finds out most of these girls have 'recruiting consultants' who make highlight reels of kids and send them to college coaches. I'm like, 'She's 14!' And my wife is like, 'You're gonna tell our little girl no?' Then we add a rating-service guy and a sports psychologist and a webmaster.

"Well, what with me working half time and all this crap I'm paying for and all these trips, I had to take out a second mortgage. Denise can't work because she's spending every waking moment in a freezing ice rink, which makes her joints stiffen up. Luckily, Hans knows some New Age massage technique that makes her feel better.

"So now I'm getting no sleep, turning my stomach into a Dumpster and having less sex than a dead monk. But before I can put my foot down, my boss does. He fires me! And as he's firing me, he adds, 'By the way, the average lacrosse scholarship is $1,000, you putz!' So I punch him, and now I think my hand might be broken.

"I stomp out and go find Ashley to say, 'It's over.' And she goes, 'Whatever. I quit today anyway. My sports psychologist says you guys push me too hard.'

"Nice. So I go home to tell Denise, but she's not there. Three days go by. I figure she's at the Elite Competitive Hockeypalooza in Cheyenne. Turns out she moved in with Hans. Says she wants to be with someone who 'knows' her. Oh, and she really likes massages.

"So now I get home and somebody changed the locks! Probably the mortgage company, since I'm way behind.

"And do you know what I learned from all this, man? I learned that the most viciously competitive sport in the world is parenting.

"Anyway, what I wanted to ask you is -- you wanna buy some lacrosse sticks?"

Two Rivers Soccer Camp

2006-10-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

This summer Riley and I , Graham went to Two Rivers. Two Rivers is a soccer sleep over camp in Greyeagle, California. It was a blast you had lots of fun plus I think Riley and I both agree we got much better. This year Riley and I thought it would be fun if as team we go to Two Rivers.I hope every can consider it. You can find out more about Two Rivers here:

http://www.tworiverssoccer.com/

Graham

Great Saves

2006-10-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Check out some other amazing goalies in this video!

The Last Minute!

2006-10-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

Nothing like leaving it to the last minute! The Clash pulled a win out in the dying seconds of our game with RSC Barcelona '96 yesterday. Fun and thrilling game from a coaching perspective. Cheers to RSC Barcelona '96 for playing so well. We look forward to playing you again. They showed great ball skills.

Both sides showed terrific effort, and the game was kept close by solid defense and some outstanding goalkeeping!