Jaguars on the Prowl!

The Jaguars are on the prowl this week for some hardware — the Highland Hills Jaguars, that is.

Its boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer programs — comprised of seventh- and eighth-graders — have been in super form during the regular season against Louisville opponents.

This is only their second year playing in the Jefferson County (Ky.) Middle School Soccer League. But it will be the first time the teams take part in the league’s knockout tournament, which runs until next Monday.



And hopes of success are high for Southern Indiana’s only participants, as the talented teams have been blazing a trail these past few weeks.

The Lady Jaguars, coached by Lewie Stevens, have been simply purring, notching up five wins out of five, scoring 36 goals and conceding just one in the process. Leading the way have been the likes of Emma Pappas, Presley Roos, Samantha Garcia and Christin Miller.

The boys’ team, meanwhile, has gone 5-1, with its only defeat against highly regarded Noe Middle School.

This evening, the Jaguars will take on Western Middle School at Thomas Jefferson at 6:45 p.m. in what will be a tough first-round game, as the Louisville opposition has a 6-2 record this year.

“I’m hopeful we will play well, having only lost one game in regular season,” said Highland Hills coach Tim Rice.

He has reason to be optimistic. Of the 17 strong roster, only two aren’t on club teams, while three of them are Olympic Development Program players — Tyler McGeorge, Parker Bussabarger-Davidenkoff and Zach Yagle.


Highland Hills' Logan Howland clears his line.

Rice, who has been involved in coaching for a number of years with Southern Indiana United and now Javanon 98/99 Red, said he approached principal Steve Griffin about starting a soccer program in 2009. Unbeknownst to him, another parent, Scott Menne, also had the same idea, and from there it took off.

As well as the boys’ and girls’ varsity outfits, there is a junior varsity team consisting of sixth-graders who will be ready to move up a notch next year.

Of course, there has been a budget issue to run the three teams. But the club has been blessed by the fundraising efforts of parents, which helps pay for equipment. They see the benefits of having the club.

“If we didn’t have a soccer program, none of these kids would be involved in a school sport,” said Rice. “None of them play baseball and there are few that crossover.”

Highland Hills’ success augurs well for the future of Floyd Central High School. For example, eight of the boys’ players from last year have gone on to play for the Highlanders, while 11 will be moving on to the school this fall.

Girls’ numbers are somewhat similar, said Rice, and coaches believe their participation at the middle school level has prevented losing talent to the likes of volleyball by the time high school comes along.




Although acknowledging that budget constraints are an issue at the moment, Rice hopes other local schools can introduce soccer programs in the near future.

“I would love to see teams started in schools like Scribner, Hazelwood, River Valley and the surrounding areas,” he said. “I’d like to see it happening on this side of the river.”

Partly to see a potential improvement in the quality of the game locally, and partly because of the transformation he observes when his players put on a school jersey.

“They show more pride when they play for their school,” he believes. “They’re getting to play with their friends and you can just see the difference.”

Rovers kick off PDL campaign

New Premier Development League outfit River City Rovers make their debut against Akron at Centurion Soccer Field, English Station Road at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The PDL, part of the United Soccer Leagues, is seen as a shop window for Major League Soccer clubs looking to discover and identify aspiring professionals.

The Rovers’ squad comprises players from ages 17-30, many of which play with college teams, including New Albany’s Nathan Driggers, now with Bellarmine.

Others include University of Louisville’s Ryan Smith and Buck Tufty, and Jacob Kemper with the University of Kentucky.

Rovers warmed up with a 3-1 friendly victory over Louisville Soccer Alliance’s adult team last week.

The opener with Akron will be followed by another home game against Michigan Bucks at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Game day tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for youths ages 3-14, while children under 2 will be admitted free. Season tickets are also available.

For further information, check out the team’s website at www.roverssoccer.com

A “cloudy” forecast in Qatar

If you get bored with the game, you can always stare at the clouds.

You could almost mistaken the following for an April Fool’s joke but it is, we are told, not “pie-in-the-sky” by any means.

In fact, it’s a cloud in the sky – an expensive artificial one. It has just been revealed that Qatar is working on “clouds” to block the Middle Eastern sun at the 2022 World Cup.

With June and July temperatures in the Gulf state capable of reaching as much as 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the Qataris have developed a number of innovations to keep players and spectators cool during matches.

One which scientists at Qatar University say they have come up with is a “cloud,” a lightweight carbon structure carrying a giant envelope of material containing helium gas. Four solar powered engines will move the structure via remote control.

Each of the clouds cost $500,000 to produce, although that’s chunk change for a wee nation that owns the third biggest reserves of gas on the planet.

A new idea? Fans of the Simpsons will remember the legendary two-part 1995 episode when nefarious power plant owner C. Montgomery Burns devised a plan to create a giant shield that would block the sun and keep Springfield in perpetual darkness.

With 11 years still to go before they host the big dance, it will be interesting to see what else the innovative and resourceful Qataris can come up with. Would you bet against them, for example, producing 11 artificial “players” good enough to win them the tournament?

Oliver chooses Hoosiers

Indiana University’s soccer program received good news last week when it was announced that Andrew Oliver, the nation’s second-ranked player in the 2012 recruiting class, has verbally committed to play for the Hoosiers.
Oliver, from Indianapolis, has been compared to Landon Donovan and recently led the United States’ U-17 team to the CONCACAF tournament championship in Jamaica, scoring four goals.

Oliver told TopDrawerSoccer.com that playing collegiately close to home was a big attraction.

“I just thought being close to home was a big plus,” Oliver said. “And Indiana definitely has lots of young talent coming up that’s looking really good for the program. It was the right fit for me.”

However, the 5’ 9” striker, who plays his club soccer with Westside FC, may not even make it to IU if he impresses at the upcoming U17 World Cup in Mexico, which starts in June.

A good performance there could see him end up with an MLS Generation Adidas contract, which encourages early entry into Major League Soccer without college graduation. Notable GA graduates include current internationals Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley.

Sweet 16 for Net-Surfers!

This year, the 16th for girls’ soccer club Net-Surfers, is expected to be a sweet one.

After years of effort, the southern Indiana outfit hopes to open its soccer park on Highway 111, just past Gap Hollow Road.

Net-Surfers president Kevin Geron revealed they are “very close” to getting the 22 acre complex – formerly a farm site -- open, expecting it to host games in the fall.

The opening is also expected to strengthen the club’s numbers to beyond a level not seen since it was founded in 1995.

“We believe we can have over 200 girls in the program by next spring,” said Geron. “This will be dependent on getting our soccer park open so all age groups can be practicing and playing at the new fields.”


Net-Surfers players celebrate good times ahead

A lot of volunteer hours have been put in by parents, friends and businesses, he said, to get their six small sided fields and one large full sided pitch graded and seeded.

“We have room for three more large fields once we get the funds needed,” said Geron. “We also have installed half of the parking lot, but need to raise more funding to complete the lot before fall.”

The state of the economy has made it very difficult for Net-Surfers to complete what is now a seven year project. However, the club has managed to secure a number of private donations recently which has helped give them a big push forward.

“Sponsorship levels are from $250 on up, but we’ve had a private donor sponsor a small field for $5,000 and five businesses have each donated $1,000, for example,” said Geron. “We offer various donation options to help support the park and will entertain any suggestions or offers to help get it open.”

At the moment, Net-Surfers is about $40,000 shy of having the park up and running this year. To put the finishing touches to it, it requires approximately $100,000. This would allow them to complete the large fields, install the parking lot, purchase goals and equipment, as well as complete a walking path and running trail around the property.

“It will truly be a great asset to the community to have more soccer facilities for all the youth in southern Indiana -- not just our club,” said Geron. “We hope to share this with others for soccer and provide fitness with the walking and running paths.”

He added the opening should help Net-Surfers move the club forward by allowing them host their own home games and possibly an annual tournament.

“Long term we may have leagues for adults, a summer camp, or a 3 versus 3 league,” said Geron. “It really opens up options with the fields dedicated for soccer.”

This spring, Net-Surfers will have 130 girls playing for teams from U7 to U17.
The U7 team is new, and will play friendly matchups with some of the local recreational co-educational teams. All other age groups have just kicked off their Kentucky Select Soccer League campaigns.

“Clark County Soccer Association has been very accommodating to allow us to play our home games at their park,” said Geron. “Both they and Southern Indiana United have been very supportive.”

Another important development for Net-Surfers is this month’s addition of Rahman "Rocky" Batanovic as the club’s goalkeeper coach.

Batanovic, a goalie for the Louisville Lightning’s reserve team this past season, was born in Bosnia in 1987, spent his formative years in Germany and later moved to the Louisville area when he was 12.

He was a member of the Javanon ’87 team which won a national championship in 2006, and he helped start a co-educational soccer program at Fairdale High School.

“I believe that every kid can learn to love soccer as long as they have someone to build confidence in them while they are showing them how to enjoy the game and play the game the right way,” said Batanovic.

Director of coaching Dave Smith said it is great to see talent of this level working with their players.

“This is one of the dreams I've always had: to offer the same -- or better -- training, with the same -- or better -- facilities so that kids no longer feel the need to play for Louisville clubs to fully develop their game,” he said. “This dream is a long time coming, and very good news for our soccer families.”

If anyone is interested in helping the club, they can contact Kevin Geron at 502-648-3153 (email: kgnetsurfers@gmail.com), or park administrator Tony Holland at 812-267-8478 ( email: tonyholland@insightbb.com).

In safe hands!

They say you need to possess a unique character to be a soccer goalkeeper.

For starters, you must love pressure, enjoy yelling at your team mates and be the owner of a very short memory.

And that comes from one of their own, Nick Karaffa, who has just been taken on by Southern Indiana United as a specialized coach for those between the posts.

“I do personally feel it takes a special person to want to play goal,” Karaffa told Kick It. “There’s a saying that you can’t do anything about the last goal or save, so just focus on the next one. You also have to be able to ‘see’ the game, understand what is going on, who needs to be where, how things are developing and what’s the best way to prevent a goal scoring opportunity.”

Karaffa, a four year starter with both New Albany High School and Transylvania University, said he began playing in goals as a youngster because no one else wanted to do it.

“It’s funny, you can ask a group of kids if anyone wants to hop in goal and the majority will give you a look of disinterest,” he said. “But there are always a few that want to try it and those are the ones I like working with.”

SIU recognized a need to concentrate more on improving its goalkeepers, so he was approached last summer by director of coaching Dutch Vigar and vice president select soccer, Debbie Webb.

“I had moved home to study for the bar exam and hadn't given coaching much thought at the time,” he said. “After talking with them, I thought it sounded like a good way to help some local kids learn about the most important position on the field. I think through their experience, they knew that unless a goalkeeper is getting special work, a normal practice won’t be as beneficial for them as it is the field players.”

The 1983 Indiana ODP team member said you can equate a goalkeeper to a pitcher in baseball.

“Taking infield practice won’t do them much good, so they have special coaches that can design training for them to work on position specific drills,” he said. “That's what SIU realized and brought me in to help with that specialized training.”

Karaffa starts with the basics, like catching and positioning. When a decent foundation is in place, he tries to build the more challenging aspects like diving, handling crosses and organizing the defense.

“We use a lot of repetition in drills for muscle memory purposes,” he said. “It prevents injury and makes the kids get comfortable with what they’re doing so when they need to react in a game, they won’t have to think and instead react naturally with the proper form.”

So if you see some increasingly good saves on the fields of southern Indiana this spring, mixed with the odd constructive yell or two, don’t be too surprised.

Warm neck snoods get the cold shoulder -- and watch out for vanishing spray

Speaking of referees and the Laws of the Game, players like Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri are going to have to find another way to keep their necks warm following a decision to ban snoods from July 1.

A growing number of players have been sporting the latest fashion accessory but the International Football Association Board believes they pose a safety risk if they are grabbed when are running at speed.


Carlos Tevez wll have to find another way to keep his neck snug


The thick neck-warmers became increasingly popular during Britain’s cold winter but had already been outlawed by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
IFAB has also sanctioned the continuation of an experiment using “vanishing spray” in South America.

The spray is used to mark out the 10 yards the defensive wall should be from the ball at free kicks. The referee paces out the distance and marks a white line with the spray, which the wall can’t step over. The line then disappears within a minute.
It was invented sports journalist Pablo Silva, who felt hard done by when a referee allowed encroachment on a free kick he was taking at the end of an amateur game in Argentina.

FIFA has also decided to introduce five match officials for each game at the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine next year. The two extra officials will be behind the goal-line but on the side of the goal next to the assistant referee.

There will also be another year of testing to find a successful goal-line technology system, despite 10 such systems failing tests recently.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter admitted that England’s disallowed goal, struck by Frank Lampard, in last year's World Cup against Germany was "an immense error" and said he would welcome the use of goal-line technology at the 2014 tournament in Brazil if a suitable system can be found.