ANNOUNCEMENTS

Fall Season Dates Announced -- Form now available for download in the Forms section!!!

Online Registration Temporarily Disabled. Please accept our apologies as we work to get it back up.

Schedules Not Yet Posted!! Check the Recreational Soccer page from the main site page!!!

The Bluegrass State Games concluded on Sunday, July 20 with the awarding of top spots to several Ohio County players. The State Games are a compilation of different sports sponsored by the state of Kentucky and several partners designed to bring athletes from all over the state for competition and encourage a healthy lifestyle. The events are also sanctioned by the US Olympic Committee. Several Ohio County players earned gold and silver medals this past weekend.

Ohio County Area Soccer's Under-10 Girls All-Star team (Rage) captured the silver medal on Sunday afternoon falling to the Hot Shots of NK United 8-1 after several weather delays placed the game on hold. The team started play on Saturday morning defeating Asteria of Nelson County 3-2 in a very tight match. Later that day, Rage secured their spot as the group winner and earned the #1 seed in the semi-finals by hanging on to a 2-0 lead at halftime against the St. Agnes Wildcats. The Wildcats tried to build some momentum in the second half by scoring a goal with 8 minutes left but were held scoreless by the Rage defense. Sunday morning's semi-finals pitted Rage against the Lady Storm with the winner playing for gold and loser playing for bronze. The first ten minutes of the game saw a battle from both teams but Rage finally found the net in the 13th minute. Capitalizing on that, the teams went to half with Rage leading 3-0. Rage kept the momentum going in the second half and shut out the Wildcats 7-0. A great weekend to finish their season and a big congratulations to the girls!!!

Six other local players earned gold this weekend as well competing with West Kentucky. The West team was coached by John Tichenor, currently the Madisonville-North Hopkins Varsity Boys Coach. John has over 20 years coaching experience and selected the players from 4 different counties. West began play on Saturday morning overcoming a 2-1 deficit at halftime against the NK United Force to end the game with a tie at 2-2. Their next game pitted the West team against a younger LFC Premier team that was playing up an age bracket. Taking advantage of their size and speed, West shut out the LFC team 9-0. This secured a #1 seed for West heading into Sunday's semi-finals. Sunday morning the team played the Newcomers of NK United for a berth in the championship Sunday afternoon. A very tight battle in the first half led to the teams being tied at halftime, 0-0. West overcame the quickness of the Newcomers in the second half and secured their right to play for gold with a 2-0 finish. Sunday afternoon's championship had West playing the Hot Shots from Northern Kentucky. A very competitive match with questionable officiating was finally settled near the end of the game with a goal by West. Gold was theirs with a 1-0 score.

Congratulations to both squads and players for their accomplishments this weekend!!

Team Draws Now Compiled Electronically Through Our League Management Software!!

Greetings,

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The Coaches Connection was established to educate and further the flow of information between coaches across the nation. Aligning the numerous resources of the organization, the Coaches Connection connects you to the US Youth Soccer Coaching Education Network.

Membership is open to anyone interested in connecting with leaders in the field of coaching and player development. Stay current with discussions on such topics as small-sided games, recreation and competitive soccer, parent education, ethics and morals in sport, nutrition, fitness, sports medicine and much more! Get the latest information on training youth players in age appropriate training activities.

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- Annual subscription to the bi-monthly Success in Soccer Magazine ($27.99 value!)

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- Discount to Coaches Connection Annual Coaches Symposium

- Discount (10%) on coaching aids from Success in Soccer

- Member Only access to Coaches Connection on USYouthSoccer.org

- Copy of The Novice Coach DVD for either U6/U8 or U10/U12

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- Kwik Goal Soccer Notebook

If you have any questions about becoming a member, please contact me. Group discounts are also available to groups of 20 or more. Don’t wait, sign-up today at www.USYouthSoccer.org, just click Coaches Connection.

Sincerely,

Jill Wiser, Programs Assistant

US Youth Soccer

Technical Department

jwiser@usyouthsoccer.org

800.4SOCCER

www.USYouthSoccer.org

The Board of Directors for Ohio County Area Soccer has identified two key areas in critical need of new parent involvement and participation. These are Administration and Referee positions. To better understand how these needs have arrived, a brief background description has been prepared.

Ohio County Youth Soccer originally began in 1999 under the direction of two individuals. At that time, there were only a handful of youth players, mainly girls, who began traveling to Bowling Green every weekend to play games. Over the next couple of years, interest grew in the program allowing several co-ed teams to be formed. All registrations and games were played under the auspices of Southern Kentucky Soccer (SOKY) based in Bowling Green. All fees were collected by SOKY with no disbursements for local practice areas, equipment, or games. In 2004, players and teams had grown to a number not easily managed by a single individual any more. At that time, a concerned group of parents decided to form the current youth soccer organization and keep all fees here and conduct the practices and games to better cultivate the sport in the county.

There has been numerous parents involved with the program over the last several years but now their children have grown older and are either no longer playing, chosen a different sport to pursue, or playing with other clubs who offer more options for a higher playing level than recreational soccer can afford. As a result, the once overwhelming participation has now dwindled and operations of the program have fallen on a just a few individuals. Several of those have children that have now grown older and making similar choices to past players. Without involvement from new parents who have younger children that plan on continuing playing soccer, the operations of the program may cease very soon due to the amount of time and involvement required of a few individuals versus a full board of directors. It is with this dire need, the Board of Directors is urging any parent of a player who has several years of playing left, become actively involved with the program and the administration thereof. Many times, parents are too intimidated to become involved due to their lack of knowledge about how a program works, but our directors are more than happy to welcome new members and help them get acquainted with the program and all that is needed to continue its operation from season to season. Again, we urge you to contact us and inquire about what positions are open and will be open in the very near future and we will get you started right away!! Our club number is 298-3336 and all our directors can be reached via email as well. Our website address is www.ohiocountysoccer.net and from there you can contact any board member for more information.

Our other area of need is for new referees. This area has a similar story line to our administration needs. Our original referees now have children who have grown older and not playing, playing a different sport, or not involved with the program anymore. In addition, those same players who were also referees have become too involved with other interests and have either given up their license or are on a very restricted schedule that allows a bare minimum of officiating. Soccer games need referees. We have recently been scheduling a referee clinic over the last couple of years. The requirements to become a referee are quite simple and take a minimum amount of time. There is no minimum age requirement (however the recommended youngest age is 12) and the costs involved with becoming certified are reimbursed to the referee by the Association. The clinic consists of an 8-hr instruction period and then a passing grade on a 50 question test. The instructors are from the State Referee Association and are very knowledgeable and helpful during the clinic. Please consider registering to become a referee or if you have children or know of children that would enjoy officiating our local games, don’t hesitate to register them either. It’s a great way to learn the game and get paid as well for your time and involvement with the soccer youth of Ohio County. Details for the clinic can be found on our website, www.ohiocountysoccer.net, and you can call us for more information as well at 298-3336.