ASA seeks volunteer coaches for Spring Rec & Teen soccer

February 21, 2012 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News

ASA is seeking new volunteers to serve as coaches and assistant coaches for Rec and Teen soccer.

Volunteers must like working with children! Soccer experience is helpful, though ASA will provide coaching education at no cost to the participants. The time commitment is about the same as a regular parent’s time commitment: attend one or two practices per week on weeknights, and attend a Saturday game.

Practices start March 26 or later, and the season starts April 14 (April 21 for U6 and U7 play) and last 8 weeks. ASA provides all equipment; all a volunteer needs to bring is enthusiasm.

This can be a great opportunity for soccer parents, young adults who just like soccer, and even high school or college students interested in volunteering with kids and sharing their enthusiasm for the game. For high school students, this can even count towards your volunteer hours requirement.

For more general information, check out this page. For answer to questions, please contact Bib Bigney, ASA’s Technical Director, at coachbob@arlingtonsoccer.com.

Tags: coaching, rec, teen, volunteer

ASA teams wins sportsmanship awards for Fall 2011 play

January 24, 2012 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

Congratulations are in order for some ASA teams that have received sportsmanship awards from their respective leagues!

Arlington’s Rowdies Blue (U14 Girls) and Eagles Black (U12 Boys) both won the ODSL’s Randy Rawls Sportsmanship Award for the Fall of 2011. This is a great recognition for our team’s hard work and fair play attitudes. This is also a reflection of a great group of parents who stay positive on the sidelines! One team from each division is granted this prestigious award based upon voting by the teams in their division.

The winning teams will be honored at the ODSL Preseason Meeting on March 25, 2012 and will be presented with a team trophy and individual awards for the players and coaches.

Elsewhere, Arlington’s Flame and Blast (both U16 Girls) won the WAGS Sportsmanship Award for Fall 2011 play in their respective divisions. The teams were given this award after being nominated by other teams in their divisions. The teams will be presented with a check to commemorate this achievement.

Congratulations to these teams, and thanks for representing Arlington in such a positive fashion!

Tags: awards, fair play, Fall 2011, sportsmanship, Travel

ASA coach wins VYSA Coach of the Year Award; reception set to celebrate award

January 12, 2012 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

ASA’s Grant Smith has won the 2011 VYSA Boys Competitive Coach of the Year award, and we’re going to celebrate!

Grant had an outstanding 2011, and he’ll receive his award on February 3rd in Richmond, VA at the Virginia Youth Soccer Association Convention. For Arlington-area folks, ASA is hosted a reception for anyone who wants to come by and give Grant an “attaboy” or some other comment of choice.

What: Congratulations Reception for Grant – with appetizers and a cash bar

When: 5 to 7pm on Sunday, January 29th

Where: Whitlow’s on Wilson (map link here) in the Sandbar Room

Who: Anyone interested in saying “good job!” to Grant. Players are welcome to attend. No need to RSVP. We hope to see you then!

This award is based on the nominee’s success in 4 areas: sportsmanship, player development, personal coaching development & community involvement. Grant’s award reflects the following year in soccer for Grant:

- Served as assistant coach for Virginia’s ’95 ODP boys team that won the national championship title in March.

- Served as head coach of Arlington’s U13 Boys team, Impact Red, who won the State Cup this Spring, as well as finished first in NCSL’s Division 1.

- Grant took over as head coach for the ODP ’95 boys team who played for the national title under Grant’s leadership.

- Grant led Impact Red to a sweep of preliminary games in the Region 1 Cup competition, and into the championship game, where his injury-depleted squad finished as runners-up.

- Over Labor Day weekend, Impact Red won the top flight of the OBGC Capital Cup and became the number one ranked team for their age group in the nation on GotSoccer.

- Grant continues to coach the ODP boys ’95 state team, as well as the ’99 boys district team, and Impact Red has succeeded in its first season in the newly formed VCCL North league.

Tags: award, coach, Grant Smith, Travel, VYSA

ASA Coach selected to attend US National Team Camp

January 11, 2012 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News

Arlington resident and ASA coach Kika Toulouse has been selected to the US under-23 women’s national team program.

Kika, a standout player at the University of Virginia, will travel to Sarasota, FL next week to participate in a week long training camp. Players in this pool are competing for spots in the Women’s Professional Soccer league (WPS), the US Olympic Team and the full National Team.

During the past Fall season, Kika was very active in ASA activities; coaching in the Pre-K Program, working with players in the After-School Soccer Program and training the girls in the Academy Program. All the players love working with Coach Kika and she did a great job with the players.

The ASA wishes Kika the best of luck at the National Team camp!

Tags: camp, coach, national, training

ASA teams admitted to prestigious Region I competition

January 6, 2012 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

Congratulations to the following ASA teams for gaining admission to Region I play!

Based on their record of play, each team was granted admission to prestigious Region I league play this Winter/Spring. The Region I Colonial League is available ONLY to those teams within the following State Associations of Region I:

Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York West, Pennsylvania West, Virginia, West Virginia

Representing ASA in the Colonial League are U15 Girls Athletica Red, U15 Boys Strikers Red, U16 Girls Flame, and U16 Boys Suprema Inferno.

The Region I Premier League is for the top sixteen teams through out the Region in the U14 to U18 age groups for both girls and boys. The competition is designed to allow the very best teams in Region I to play each other in a league format. With only sixteen positions available in any age group through out the Region, entry into the league is competitive.

Representing ASA in the Premier League is the U14 Boys Impact Red.

Congrats to all participants and good luck!

Tags: region 1, Travel

Winter coaching clinics coming on Monday nights – no-cost coaching education

January 4, 2012 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News

Coaches,

Given the seasonal break in regular soccer activity, now is a great time to attend some free coaching clinics and pick up some new tips or skills you can use this Spring. Need some guidance on how to focus your players on certain topics? Have only a little coaching experience and need to learn more? Have a lot of coaching experience but happy to add new tools to your array of coaching skills? Come out on Mondays and learn!

Sessions are planned around various topics. Sessions will be held indoors at the Gunston Bubble (directions linked here) on Jan. 16, Jan. 30, Feb. 13 and Feb. 27, all in the early evening.

Full session details and schedules are posted here.

Questions? Please contact Coach Bob at coachbob@arlingtonsoccer.com.

Tags: clinic, coach training, coaching education

ART’s iGiftbag – available for your ongoing use! Enjoy the offers.

December 2, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News

As a token of our appreciation for supporting Arlington Soccer, we’d like to give you the official 2011 Arlington Recreational Tournament iGiftBag that we distributed to all of the participating teams.

Make sure you explore your virtual iGiftBag’s great offers from local Arlington and national sponsors! This iGiftBag includes gifts from sponsors such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, DC United, District Taco, Northside Social and Scoresports.

Please click the icon below to immediately enjoy your iGiftBag. You can bookmark your iGiftBag in your Web browser to easily access it until the offers expire.

Tags:

Fall Successes for Travel teams (Updated)

November 29, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

Fall success stories reported for Travel teams…..

Impact Blue Takes Top Division Title

Arlington Impact Blue (U-14 Boys), coached by Luis Gendive, took first place in ODSL Division 1 this weekend by beating CYA Cesena 97 by 5-0. The defense, headed up by goalie John D., only gave up two goals over the 8 game season. The team has placed in the top three in ODSL Division I for its entire ten season career.

Arlington Impact Blue kicked off the season by taking first place in the August Cup Premier Division at the Maryland Soccerplex.

Members of the team are: Hamza B., Nicolas D., John D., Geronimo K. P., Ryan L., Alexander M., Braian N. C., Saquib M. N., Adam N., Gus N., Lucas O., Pablo O., Michael P., Evan S., Caleb W., Brandon W., & Alec W.

The team was assisted by volunteer coaches George Shirley and Othmane Benkhallouk.

More recently, extra practice paid off as the team won the Hunt Country Classic U-14 Boys division. (The U-12 Girls Red team also won)

Impact Blue didn’t give up a single goal throughout the four games of the tournament and scored 15.

U11 United White Claims Championship Victory in the Liberty Flight at the Bethesda Tournament

Coached by Glen Grey and Steve Olivarez in the tournament.

Through much “high adventure” over the two days of the tournament – three wins in three games over two days, the path to victory included a win over a team that had beat us in Fall NCSL season play. Then a championship game in which United White fought from a two-goal deficit to tie the game and send it to overtime, through two scoreless overtime periods, culminating in a dramatic and heart-stopping shoot-out at sundown in the rain as the light was fading – the boys have a memorable victory.

The other unique twist about our news is that, because of field availability, United White played three games on Sunday. Hitting the field at 7:15 AM and not ending until nearly 5:00 PM. By that time, all but two of some 70+ teams involved in the tournament had headed home, 8 of the 9 fields had been dismantled and even one goal from our field was dismantled. It was getting dark, and raining.

The experience is one that they can all be proud of, remember, and should easily motivate and carry them over into the Spring season with a renewed love of sport, sportsmanship and soccer. A great accomplishment for the ASA Club and fitting closure to a successful Fall 2011 season for the United White team. United White was complimented by opposing coaches and tournament staff for high level of sportsmanship.

U11 Comets-Red Team

The U11 Arlington Comets-Red girl’s team won the Chesapeake Division of the prestigious Bethesda Thanksgiving Tournament, which was held in Poolesville, MD, the weekend of November 12-13. In pool play, the Comets defeated LDC United Eclipse (3-1), MSC Academy Green (6-0), and SAC/HC United Premier Blue (3-2) to advance to the Championship, where they beat the Severna Park Lasers, who previously had not lost a game all season. The Comets win was a total team effort, with outstanding offensive and defensive efforts by all players. Comets-Red players include Ana C., Mckenna C., Isabel D., Gretchen H., Samantha H., Savannah L., Lacey M., Maeve M., Maggie M., Macy M., Petie N., Carly R., Emily S., and Cadyn W. The team was coached by Jerry Ellison.

U14 Boys Impact Red Win Top Division of 2011 Bethesda Tournament

The U14 Boys Impact Red won the top division of the Bethesda Tournament the weekend of 11/19-20. The boys played in the Potomac bracket and won all 4 of their games to win the championship. The first game was against a team from NY called Manhattan SC Cruziero. The Impact Red won the game 2-1. Next up was a German Club team from Eastern PA named Vereinigung Erzgebirga SC. The boys won that game 6-0. The semi-final game was a rematch of the opening game in the PDA tournament last may against one of the best teams in Region 1, Lehigh Valley United from PA. The game was hard fought, but the Impact Red prevailed 1-0.

In the final, the Impact met a familiar local foe in Chantilly United. The first half was a good back and forth battle and neither team could break the other down. In the second half, the Impact started to find their rhythm and created multiple scoring chances. Chantilly’s goalie has historically been tough to beat and he was again very good keeping the game tied. The match went into overtime and the rule was a golden goal would end the game. In the first overtime, Joey F. got in the box unmarked with the ball. He was about to finish when he was taken down form behind. Joey calmly finished the penalty kick to clinch the win for Impact 1-0. This is the Impact’s second tournament win for the fall 2011 season.

Tags: fall season, Travel

2011 Food Drive bags a record donation amount for AFAC!

November 29, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Teen Soccer, TOPSoccer, Travel Soccer Club

ASA’s 2011 Food Drive is now history, and in it’s second year the drive bagged 78% more food than last year’s effort!

The food drive, benefiting AFAC, sought donations of food starting a little more than a month ago. ASA teams were asked to compete with each other, and the team that donated the most food by weight wins a pizza party from Joe’s Pizza & Pasta. The total donation this year came in at 3,441 pounds! By comparison, last year’s total was 1,929 pounds.

Many teams took part this year. The top five were:

5 – U10 Girls Samba Blue, with 223 pounds

4 – U14 Boys Impact Red, with 280 pounds

3 – ASA Staff, with 295 pounds

2 -U11 Girls Comets (all 3 teams in the group? Not sure) with 369 pounds

…and the winner is:

1 -U10 Boys Rangers Red, with 498 pounds!

Other participating teams included NWAL Lions / Driscoll, Aces / Conley, AK Stingers, Revs / Kelly, NWAL / Hamilton, NWAL Lions / Gray, Lightning Hoppers, AK Cosmos, AO Dragonflies, Storm Blue, Storm (white or red?), Civitans Stingers, Rangers White, Aces / Conley, Samba White, United Black, Eagles Blue, Aces / Mara, Tornados / Brewer, Aces / Love, Impact White, Civitans Bengals, NWAL Emson, Aces / Lent & O’Hara, Big Pink / Mingus

A huge THANK YOU to all of those who donated such a great amount of food to AFAC. It is wonderful to be able to work together to help enrich the lives of so many.

Tags: AFAC, donations, Food drive, pizza party, thanksgiving

Rec playing rules by age group – including REVISED U8 rules – online for your reference

August 14, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Filed under: News

Tags: playing, rules, U8

ASA opens the E-store with Score sportswear!

June 10, 2011 by justin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

ASA opens the store….the Score sportswear e-store, that is!

We still have some ASA logo’d items available at the ASA office, but we know you want more. Best of all, you get to purchase quality products at attractive prices, and a percentage of the total purchase comes back to ASA!

All you need to do is go to their site, create an account, enter our special “ASA” club code, and you’ll see the ARLINGTON SOCCER tab at the top of the site. Hit the tab to browse through the items that are available and equip yourself with ASA gear!

Full instructions are available here. The web site for Score is http://scoresports.com/, and is linked to this banner.

To start we have a limited number of items available. If you don’t see something you would like, please let us know so we can determine what to add to the store in the future.

Tags: ASA gear, logo, Score, sportswear

Player Safety Policies document (UPDATED) – a must-read for all ASA parents and coaches (please)

March 30, 2011 by justin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

PLAYER SAFETY POLICIES AND GUIDELINES

We love our kids! At the Arlington Soccer Association, we strive to provide quality soccer experiences for our members in a safe and healthy environment. In an effort to achieve this goal, the ASA has compiled a set of safety policies and guidelines regarding several areas of the association. The objective is to outline procedures, many of them new, that can be followed by players, coaches, parents and others to provide a safe, enjoyable place for our children.

The Player Safety Policies and Guidelines focus on:

• Parent Responsibilities at Practices and Games (new)

• Transportation (new)

• Inclement Weather Procedures

• Check-in and Check-out Procedures (new)

• Bathroom Breaks at Practices and Games (new)

• Medical Releases and Situations (new)

• ASA’s “KidSafe” Program (Background Checks)

• Movement of Soccer Goals

• Injury Information (new)

The complete document can be found here.

Several important highlights of the Player Safety Policies include:

• A parent volunteer must be present at all team events (where there is only one coach present)

• ASA Staff (coaches) cannot provide transportation to any player

• A check-in/out system for players at all team events to be established

• Players MAY NOT move goals at any time

Please review and incorporate the policies and procedures in this document. ASA thanks you for helping take care of all of the kids in our programs!

Tags: player safety, policies and rules

ASA car magnets are now for sale

March 28, 2011 by justin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

ASA presents the new ASA car magnets. These are 5 3/4″ diameter circular magnets that let you share your affinity with ASA with others.

These magnets are available for purchase at the ASA office (5210 Wilson Blvd.) and they cost $5 per magnet.

TRADE-IN OFFER: If you have any of the previous style ASA magnets on your car, why not trade it in and update it today? Bring your old ASA magnet in to the office and trade it in for a new one for the special trade-in price of $4 per magnet!

Adorn your ride with the latest way to show your ASA pride!

Tags: ASA promo, car magnet

Concussion awareness – Information available to all parents, coaches and players

February 23, 2011 by justin · Comments Off
Filed under: News, Travel Soccer Club

ASA Board members and staff recently attended a couple of worthwhile presentations on sports-related concussions. One of the key takeaways is the need for greater awareness of symptoms, issues and aftereffects. The information below is presented in the hope that ASA families will “read and heed”. Towards the end there is also a link to a full online “course” from the NFHS that educates visitors about this issue. Please share this information with others you know in the soccer community and elsewhere.

1) The Center for Disease Control’s Fact Sheet — HEADS UP: CONCUSSION IN YOUTH SPORTS — http://www.cdc.gov/concussioninyouthsports/english/toolkit_coaches_factsheet.htm (available in English and Spanish). Discusses symptoms, treatment and general guidelines. Key point: If you think your athlete has sustained a concussion, take him/her out of play, and seek the advice of a health care professional experienced in evaluating for concussion.

2) The National Federation of State High School Associations’ online course “Concussion in Sports – What You Need To Know” – http://www.nfhslearn.com/electiveDetail.aspx?courseID=15000 . In this course you will understand the impact sports-related concussion can have on your players, how to recognize a suspected concussion, the proper protocols to manage a suspected concussion, and steps to help your player return to play safely after experiencing a concussion.

3) Heads Up! US Youth Soccer and CDC Team Up to Help Keep Young Athletes Safe from Concussion – http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/news/story.asp?story_id=5963. US Youth Soccer and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are proud to be teaming up to help protect participants of all youth sports who may be at risk of concussion. The campaign, is an expansion of the “Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports,” and will help get concussion information into the hands of coaches, parents, and school and health care professionals who are on the front-line to help identify and respond appropriately to concussions among young athletes.

Tags: concussions, head trauma, injuries, injury