Rec soccer kicks off

(Published in The Evening News & The Tribune, September 4, 2007)

Fun is the name of the game as recreational soccer kicks off in Southern Indiana this week.
The Southern Indiana United recreational soccer program caters for hundreds of children from the age of 4 and upwards and is run totally by parent volunteers. The opportunity is provided for all children of any skill level to learn and play the beautiful game between now and the end of October.
SIU registers approximately 550-700 children each season, relying completely on parent coaches. As many teams as possible are set up based on the number of parent volunteer coaches and field availability.
Under 6s will be the first to take the playing field on Thursday at Church of the Nazarene, located next to Floyd Central High School. Then it’s the turn of the U7s, U8s and U10s on Saturday, with the U5s kicking off their careers next Monday.
SIU’s recreation organizers said their main focus is on fun.
“Players learn about good sportsmanship, teamwork and get great exercise,” they said on their Web site, siusoccer.com. “All team members play at least half of every game. There are no cuts or tryouts. Each child receives a uniform and players provide shinguards, a ball and a water bottle.”
Registration for the fall recreational program closed in July. But if you’re interested in getting your child involved in the spring games, you can find out more at the SIU club’s Web site.

Hard test at Hoosier Cup
The Providence boys’ and Floyd Central girls’ varsity teams were up against some of the best squads in the state when traveling to the Hoosier Cup this past weekend.
Some 48 teams from Indiana and Kentucky took part in three boys’ and girls’ pools. The Pioneers, in Pool B, took on Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger — currently listed as a “Team to Watch” in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association polls — in their opening game, going down 4-0.
The following day, Providence went up against Evansville Harrison in a game that finished 1-1. However, the Pioneers were unlucky to go down to the bleachers on penalties.
In their third game for seventh place, they finished on a high note, beating Edgewood 3-0. Dwenger went on to the Pool B final, where it lost to 2-0 to Avon.
Floyd Central meanwhile, lost its first game 4-0 in Pool E to No. 17-ranked Bloomington South Friday, before going down narrowly to Lexington Lafayette of Kentucky and Greenfield Central, both by 1-0 scorelines.
In fact, the Highlanders’ first-game result turned out to be no disgrace at all, as Bloomington South went on to win the pool by beating No. 11-ranked Brownsburg 2-0.

Hot rivalry at JV Firefighters Cup
High school junior varsity boys’ teams take center stage this week when the fifth annual Firefighters’ Cup is held at Jeffersonville High School.
The rivalry will no doubt be intense as the competition pits the Red Devils against Floyd Central and Providence.
Providence and Floyd Central will kick off proceedings at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Then on Friday, host Jeff will have a busy evening as it entertains the Pioneers first (5:30 p.m.), followed by a game with Floyd Central at 7 p.m.

September is Youth Soccer Month
Did you know that more than 19 million children between the ages 5-19 participate in soccer regularly in the United States? In fact, more children play the game than peewee football, youth basketball or Little League baseball.
Recognizing the impact and importance the sport plays in the day-to-day lives of America’s families, September has been designated Youth Soccer Month and Indiana Youth Soccer will be celebrating with a variety of youth soccer nights at soccer associations, high schools, colleges and universities across the state.
And with so many high school soccer games going on at the moment, as well as club recreational and select soccer now in full swing, it’s not hard to catch a game in your area (just check our area calendar). Sixty-eight universities countrywide will also host more than 50 events from coast-to-coast.
If that isn’t enough, two collegiate soccer matches will be featured on the Fox Soccer Channel (University of Tulsa versus Virginia Tech on Friday, Sept. 14 and the University of Tennessee versus South Carolina on Thursday, Sept. 27).
Oh, and don’t forget also to watch the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which starts in China next Monday and sees the USA going into the tournament ranked No. 1. More on that in next week’s column.
Meanwhile, Susan Boyd, a featured US Youth Soccer National Championships blogger and soccer parent, will be writing a weekly story about the four messages of Youth Soccer Month — fitness, fun, family and friendship.
You can go to www.youthsoccermonth.org Monday mornings to read her story and to catch up on what’s going on in your area.