Soccer is going strong this summer.  Chicago Red Stars are playing at Benedictine University and the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park.  Get out to some games to watch the players as well as the Referees and Assistant Referees.
http://www.chicago-fire.com/
http://chicagoredstars.com/

SPRING is here.  Soccer season is always so great in the spring.  It can be anywhere from 90 degrees to snowing on the field.  It always keeps us guessing about what to wear.  I just got a new pair of Official Sports shorts for the new season and look forward to running on the pitch.
I just began a mentoring program for new referees.  I have four referee mentors that will be on the field and next to fields helping referees learn the game.  This is an idea from John C. Maxwell.  You can replace yourself after you have trained others.
Have a wonderful soccer season and let me know how you're doing.

Women's World Cup team

Saturday Feb. 11, 2012 at 3pm CT the Women's World cup team will be streamed on ussoccer.com

Watch our team play vs. New Zealand.

April 1 the US women play Japan for a rematch of the World cup.

I'm looking forward to some more referee training tomorrow. Spring is almost here even with the snow falling this weekend in the mid west.

Think Soccer!

Can you ever know enough about offside

Check out

dynamic-thought.com

They do a really simple but neatly done offside explanation. You will enjoy the little moving people.

Hope everyone is doing their preseason training. Getting outside and moving is always fun this time of year.

Spring is near

What are you doing to prepare for Spring 2012 soccer? It's sure has been warm enough in the country to run/walk everyday outside. This is a must if you're going to be running the pitch in a month or two.

I am training some new referees this weekend and next and I look forward to inside training before we head outside in April.

It's a good time to do a little soccer shopping on Official Sports website.

http://www.officialsports.com/

Thinking Spring (even though the Groudhog saw his shadow yesterday )

Grace

Uefa- soccer

The president of Uefa - Platini said this about referees-

"These people are going to make mistakes and to be a referee I think you have to be a masochist."

So is that one of the reasons it's hard to retain referees in the first few years?

As the outdoor season comes to an end, remember to keep on exercising and eating healthy so your spring season will be great. Re-certify and be ready.

Happy winter

Cool Soccer

How many layers of clothes does it take to be outside doing soccer all day?
Oh about 6 should do it in IL on a very brisk fall day.

We had a referee call a kick back to the keeper. Got to love good calls.

Have a great week.