There are many pitfalls in youth soccer in our country. nfl jerseys china . Over-invested parents; the pressure to win at too young an age; high-pressure coaches who focus on winning instead of on development; and increased dropout rates because of these and other factors are just some of story lines that we see repeated over and over. Much of this negativity comes because of our collective mindset that the only way for us to measure our childrens progress in soccer is through the scores of their games. How many points their team gets and how many goals our children score have, for too many years, been the metrics by which we gauge their progress. But what if there was a different way to develop soccer players in Canada? What if we could simply teach kids to play better? That is the goal of Willie Cromack, founder of Play Better, an innovative plan to improve sport culture in Canada. The program attempts to shift the mindset of players and parents alike, away from scoreboard success and towards empowering children to discover their potential - both as soccer players and as human beings. Play Better is a grassroots soccer program designed to provide clubs, coaches, parents and players with a clear and accountable pathway through soccer. This includes an LTPD-compliant curriculum, lesson plans complete with desired outcomes, video training sessions, as well as tools for gathering metrics beyond simply the number of goals scored. The reason behind the gathering of those metrics is where the genius lies. Play Better aims to marry a holistic charitable program with the training and development of young soccer players. The program does through by asking teams to do the following: • Choose a cause or charity. For example; the SPCA, the Canadian Cancer Society or your local childrens hospital. • Choose a baseline metric. For example; a recreational team can choose 100 completed passes per game. A more competitive team can choose a larger number, such as 200 completed passes. This is called the team goal or team win. • Have a pre-season meeting with parents to explain your objective; for every game in which your team achieves its team win, ask parents (or friends, family members or sponsors) to donate a pre-determined dollar amount to the team cause/charity. The monetary amount is not important - it can be as little as a loonie per parent/family. • Create a team website, where the kids can tell their story. It gives them a chance to explain, in their own words, how achieving their objective every game will not only help them become better soccer players, but also make a difference in the world. It also allows them to track and promote how much money they have raised for their chosen cause/charity. Team Falcons is a U11 boys gold soccer team in North Vancouver. Click here to see how they have committed to Play Better. I am often asked how we can shift away from the win-at-all-costs mentality that has infected youth soccer in our country. As I have written many times before, it is one of the biggest hurdles we must overcome if we are to create an effective youth development system in Canada. It isnt the players that we need to convince; it is the parents. A program like Play Better might just be the bridge we need to achieve this. As the members of Team Falcons can attest, players participating in Play Better quickly realize that their sporting endeavours have a bigger meaning. It isnt just about winning and losing anymore - it is about helping others. This teaches players to work on their fundamental skills (to complete 100 or 200 passes per games, players have to focus on what they learn in training), but more importantly, it teaches them about helping others, about community investment and about personal growth. What parent doesnt want their child to learn those lessons? If these lessons can be tied into the technical development of young soccer players, then Canadian soccer could be onto something big. *If you or your team is interested in Play Better, you can read more about the program here, or contact Willie Cromack at [email protected] cheap jerseys from china . Howard had 19 points and nine rebounds in his first game since signing a four-year, $88 million deal with the Rockets in the off-season. Howard was 6 of 11 from the field and 7 of 11 from the free-throw line in 27 minutes. wholesale nfl jerseys . With just seconds left in the third and final minute of stoppage time, substitute Haris Seferovic finished off a length-of-the-field move by slamming home a close-range shot. After wild Swiss celebrations, Ecuadors shell-shocked players barely had time to restart before the final whistle was blown.CALGARY -- Jamie Gregg gained medals and confidence in the first speedskating World Cup of the season, while Christine Nesbitt went empty-handed with a bruised morale. Gregg, from Edmonton, earned his second bronze medal in the 500 metres Sunday after picking up his first in the distance two days earlier. His were the host countrys two medals at the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating event in Calgary. Canadas womens pursuit team finished fourth to conclude racing Sunday. The Canadian long-track team has three more World Cups before trials in late December and early January to determine the countrys Olympic speedskating team for Sochi, Russia. "I want to make sure Im building into Sochi," Gregg said. "I dont want to peak right now, but Im happy with where Im at and where it puts me in the world." Nesbitt, the reigning Olympic champion in the 1,000 metres, finished 10th in the distance Sunday and 1.77 seconds back of winner Heather Richardson of the U.S. Retired Canadian speedskating star Clara Hughes has said she loves "Nesbitts rage" on the ice, but Nesbitts emotion was bewilderment Sunday. Her time of one minute 15 seconds at the Olympic Oval was over two seconds slower than the world record she set there in 2012. "I cant remember the last time I skated a 1:15 in Calgary," she said. "Its been six years or something, or I dont know maybe longer. Eight years. I dont understand whats going on really. "This isnt really helping my confidence that much and thats what I want to be building. I dont know what to say." The 28-year-old from London, Ont., has been managing tightness in her back for over a week, but she insisted after finishing seventh in Saturdays 1,500 metres that wasnt an issue for her. She intended to analyze tape of her races with coach Xiuli Wang. The Canadian team departs this week for Salt Lake City, Utah, and the next World Cup races starting Friday. "If I dont understand why Im going so slow it means I need to watch my races and maybe learn a few things," Nesbitt said. "I feel good, but obviously how I feel is not whats happening out on the ice." Wang has also trained Hughes and multi-Olympic medallist Kristina Groves. With her objective, experienced eyes, Wang pointed out Nesbitts opening 100 metres was one of her fastest, but Nesbitt also had a slip on the second turn that cost her speed. "Todays race, definitely theres some things we need to be working on," Wang said. "But I believe from how we train, shes strong, she has the power and we just need to synchronize the mental with the body as one unit. "I did talk to her. I said we give you tools, we help you get there, but at the end of the day, youre taking charge. Its your race." Gregg and Ron Mulder of the Netherlands tied for third in the mens 500 with identical times of 34.52 seconds. Tucker Fedricks of the U.S., was the winner in 34.46 ahead of world and Olympic champion Tae-Bum Mo of South Koreea in 34. jerseys from china. .47. Gregg finished eighth in the 500 at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. The 28-year-old from Edmonton won his first World Cup gold in 2012 and was fourth at the world sprint championships in January. "In order to win a medal at the Olympics, you have to be consistently up around the medals at World Cups," Gregg said. "Going into the last Olympics, I won my first bronze medal here in Calgary a month or two before, but you need that consistency to give you that confidence on the line knowing that you dont need a magnificent, perfect race to put yourself up there. "I just need to do this and give myself confidence that I can skate really well and still be up there. I dont need to have some out-of-body experience to get on the podium." Gregg initially thought he was fourth and missed a medal by a thousandth of a second based on his electronic time. His official time, however, was determined by photo finish and it was fast enough for him to stand on the podium again. He is the son of former Edmonton Oilers defenceman Randy Gregg and two-time Olympic speedskater Kathy (Vogt) Gregg. His sister Jessica is on the national short-track team and won a relay silver in 2010. The Olympic 500-metre champion in Sochi will be determined by the combined times of two races. Greggs ability to put two strong 500s together at one event is promising, according to Speed Skating Canadas long-track director Sean Ireland. "The thing I really liked today was his fast lap despite his relatively slow start," he said. "Having that lap time he did, he looked good doing so and having that top-end speed was exciting." Sven Kramer and Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands were first and second respectively in the mens 5,000 metres. Kramers time of six minutes 4.46 seconds was just over a second off the world-record time he set at the Oval in 2007. Saskatoons Lucas Makowsky was 16th. The Netherlands took the womens team pursuit ahead of runner-up Japan and bronze medallist Poland. Ottawas Ivanie Blondin, Winnipeg Brittany Schussler and Reginas Kali Christ were 2.02 seconds back of the winners in fourth. The Canadian long-track team trains at the Oval in Calgary. The teams performance in the season-opening World Cup there was mixed, said Ireland. Other than Greggs two bronze, the mens and womens pursuit teams that finished fourth were the only other top-five results. Nesbitt is the long-track teams best prospect for gold in Sochi. With the 2014 Winter Games less than 100 days away, Ireland believes she can get back on track for Sochi. "Looking where she was at a few weeks ago with performances at trials and practice races, I feel like shes on track in terms of her physiology, in terms of her preparation," he said. "Weve seen good testing results and such. "I think just hit the re-set button now and get into another head space as well as look forward to the next few World Cups." cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '