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looked back from there, as the team held the Terriers

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The Vancouver Whitecaps were denied a well-earned three points against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, after Gonzalo Pineda converted a controversial penalty kick to level the score at 2-2. Cheap Swingman Mavericks Jerseys . Whitecaps skipper Jay DeMerit was judged to have fouled Sounders striker Cam Weaver, though the "foul" that DeMerit allegedly committed was a mystery to me. In the aftermath of the game, I tweeted this: If we start giving penalty kicks every time players make minimal contact heading crossed balls, well ruin the game. — Jason deVos (@jasondevos) May 25, 2014 To which I received this response: @jasondevos LOL -too late! You already ruined it with your stupid LTPD plan. #keepscore — Jon Empringham (@92jays93) May 25, 2014 While Mr. Empringhams tweet wasnt relative to the Vancouver Whitecaps game against the Seattle Sounders, it did highlight another important point: LTPD, the CSAs long-term player development program, is still very misunderstood. According to his twitter bio, Mr. Empringham is an elementary school teacher who coaches basketball, soccer and track. Given his occupation, he would appear to be the ideal proponent of the principles of LTPD. Yet he seems adamantly opposed to the removal of scores and standings for youth soccer players below the age of 13. While the removal of scores and standings is just one small component of the changes brought forward by LTPD, the concept still faces considerable pushback. I believe that much of that pushback comes from the general publics misunderstanding of the reason why scores and standings have been removed. Keeping scores and standings is not inherently bad for children. We havent been doing young players a disservice all of these years by tracking the results of their games, nor by adding up their wins and losses at the end of their seasons. What we have done, though, is compromise their development by linking their opportunities within the game – perceived or otherwise – to their results on the field. As it is my home province, I will use Ontario to explain. Until the introduction of LTPD, the "Pyramid for Play" (the name of the competitive structure for youth soccer in Ontario) was based on promotion and relegation between multiple tiers. The higher the tier, the more "competitive" the level of play. Tier 1, provincial "rep" soccer, was considered the highest level of play, while Tier 7, local "house league" soccer, was the introductory level. Teams who won their leagues (or finished in the top two or three, in some cases) were promoted to the next highest tier, while teams who finished bottom of their leagues (or finished in the bottom two or three, in some cases) were demoted to the next lowest tier. This movement of teams every year caused a major problem. Players as young as 9 were coming under immense pressure to win promotion - primarily from their coaches and parents. In some cases, failure to win promotion would lead to the break up of an entire team, as players would scatter over the off-season in order to tryout for teams that did win promotion. The concept of promotion and relegation created a false belief amongst coaches and parents that the key to success in the game - the way for kids to "make it" - was to play at the Tier 1 level, which began at the under-14 age category. The years leading up to under-14 were becoming a dogfight, as players jostled to be on a team that was poised to win promotion to Tier 1. It didnt really matter how games were won, or what players were learning, so long as promotion was achieved. The competitive structure itself reinforced this "win at all costs" mentality, and youth soccer in Ontario found itself spiralling into a vicious cycle that was getting worse every year. In my time working as the Technical Director of the Oakville Soccer Club, I once had to gather the parents of an entire age groups competitive program after a fight had broken out amongst parents on the sidelines of an under-10 boys game. On another occasion, I had to intervene on the field of a house league game, as the coaches and parents were incensed by a call made by the referee – who was a 16-year-old girl – and were verbally abusing the young lady. Yet another incident saw a 14-year-old referee leave the field in tears after being verbally abused by spectators at a game. Over time, we have collectively lost sight of the fact that youth soccer is a game that is supposed to be enjoyed by its players, coaches and spectators. Young children shouldnt have to shoulder the burden of "needing to win this game" in order to win promotion or avoid relegation. That pressure is difficult enough for seasoned professional players to handle. Imagine if children had to finish in the top three in their class in order to graduate to the next grade each year? Our school system would devolve into chaos - wed have parents submitting homework and assignments on behalf of their children, as theyd be terrified that their kids would miss out on graduation! Critics have argued that over-competitiveness amongst parents is a societal issue, and that other sports suffer from the same problems. If that is the case though, then surely it is up to our governing bodies to try to better the environments in which our children experience the game of soccer? Surely they should do everything in their power to compensate for our societys failings? Critics have also suggested that, rather than removing scores and standings, we should just remove promotion and relegation from the system. But doing so is far more difficult than it sounds. For starters, how does one determine which teams play at which competitive level? Does one make that determination based on population, geographic location, club size or historical club "success" – all the while knowing that any "success" that was previously achieved was done in a flawed system that was systematically abused? Additionally, there are many people firmly entrenched within the clubs and districts who rule the game in Canada who dont think anything is wrong with how we develop soccer players. Some of those individuals believe this because they do not know what a genuine, player-centric development system should look like, while others believe this because they have a vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo. It is those individuals who will fight the hardest to maintain the previous competitive structure. The only way to combat this is through education – by shining a light on what our real problems are. Because the only way we are going to fix our problems is if we first acknowledge what they really are. It isnt about scores and standings being "bad" for kids. It is about the behaviour that keeping scores and standings brings out in adults. Cheap Mavericks Jerseys Authentic .com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. Cheap Mavericks Jerseys . The 17-year-old had four goals and four assists in 38 games for Liberec in the Czech pro league this past season. Zacha had three goals and two assists in seven games at the world mens under-18 championship in April when the Czech Republic took the silver medal.Morgantown, WV (SportsNetwork.com) - The 17th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers close out the non-conference portion of their schedule on Tuesday evening, as they play host to the Virginia Tech Hokies at WVU Coliseum. Buzz Williams first season in Blacksburg has gotten off to a fast start. The Hokies are sitting at a solid 8-4 on the season thanks to the teams current four-game win streak. Virginia Tech was in action on Saturday and blew out Presbyterian at the Cassell Coliseum, 87-65. Bob Huggins Mountaineers have quietly gone about their business this season, but continue to rise in the national rankings thanks to wins in 11 of their first 12 games. West Virginia is also sporting a four-game win streak entering this contest, but has been idle since a Dec. 22 lopsided victory over Wofford (77-44). These two teams have quite the history. Former Big East foes (2000-03), West Virginia and Virginia Tech are meeting for the 78th time in a series that dates back to 1921. The Mountaineers hold a 47-30 series advantage, but the Hokies have won four of the last six meetings, including an 87-82 victory in Blacksburg last season. Both teams got off to slow starts, but Virginia Tech started distancing itself from Presbyterian thanks to a 15-5 run in the first half and took a 45-32 lead into intermission. The Hokies maintained a double-digit lead over the final 20 minutes to post their fourth straight win. Freshman Ahmed Hill led the team with a career-high 18 points. Four other Hokies joined Hill in double digits, as Jalen Hudson (15 pts), Adam Smith (14 pts), Justin Bibbs (13 pts) and Joey van Zegeren (13 pts) all joined the offensive onslaaught, as Tech shot a sizzling . Wholesale Mavericks Jerseys. 536 from the floor in the victory. Offensive proficiency has been the name of the game under Williams this season. The Hokies are averaging a modest 70.8 ppg, but are making the most of each and every trip down the floor, converting just under 50 percent of their shots (.492). Long-range acumen is also a strength, with the team knocking down over 41 percent from behind the arc. Bibbs headlines a trio of double- digit scoring threats for Tech with his 12.7 ppg. Smith is a close second at 12.4 ppg, followed by van Zegerens 10.4 ppg. West Virginia isnt getting it done with quite the same accuracy, but the team is still putting up a hefty 78.7 ppg. A lot of that has to do with the Mountaineers tenacity on the defensive end. The team is forcing an impressive 22.8 turnovers per game and leads the nation in steals (159), steals per game (13.3) and turnover margin (+11.2). Offensively, West Virginia is led by senior guard Juwan Staten, who is netting 15.9 ppg. Forwards Jonathan Holton (11.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Devin Williams (10.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg) provide frontcourt balance. The Mountaineers once again dominated an opponent, as smothering defense was simply too much for Wofford to overcome in WVUs 33-point romp last time out. Huggins squad jumped out to an 18-2 lead and never looked back from there, as the team held the Terriers to a mere 11 field goals in the entire game. Staten once again led the charge, posting a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Holton added 10 points and key reserves Elijah Macon and Jevon Carter tacked on 11 and 10 points, respectively in the rout. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '