Blog for Sale

Well not really for sale, but anyone interested in taking over MNFUTBOL, please contact me at tim.gibbons@consultant.com. Tell me your ideas and I hope to pass this on to someone with more time and energy!

Hejda Allihop

Hej Allihop,

My name is Greg Rosenthal or Rosie for short. I'm currently living in Uppsala Sweden, and have been playing football for Gamla Uppsala Sport Klub (GUSK) for almost a year now. My club is located in Gamlis (old) Uppsala along with Gamlis' famous Viking burial mounds. Gusk currently plays in Division II, and taking third place last season we aspire to move up to Division I.

My football career started in St. Paul Minnesota when I was about six or seven years old. My Mom and Dad had me play with a recreational team called GRC. It was a new sport to me, and I actually found it troublesome understanding the concept. At that age it seemed like both teams formed a blob that was kicking and running after a ball. After a while I started to really enjoy football and eventually became very passionate about the game.

It helped having two brothers to always play with. We would be in the backyard for hours playing world cup, wall, pig, or just juggling. There was no greater competitiveness than brother rivalry. My older brother AJ always pushed me, and I always pushed my little brother Brian. Playing in the backyard with my brothers was the most fun I had playing football.

I entered the competitive level when I was eight with the St.Paul Blackhawks. Then within a ten year span I played with many teams moving from club to club, switching from position to position, and searching for the most competitive leagues. At this point it became my personal goal to reach the professional level. Each team shared an important roll in my development towards becoming a professional. I had the opportunity to play with some great organization in my youth like Bangu, Eagan, Twin-stars, St. Paul Central High, ODP Region II and for college the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Playing for all these teams throughout my youth also gave me the opportunity to make some great friends including my fellow MNfutbol bloggers Van Hong, the Gibbo's, and Sippola.

Signing with Gusk in 2011 as a left/center back was such a gratifying moment in my life. I was very proud to reach my goal after so many years of hard work, and it opened many door for my future in the game. I'm still very passionate about football, and look forward to proving myself at this level.

In the past year playing with Gusk I've been written about a couple times in the local UNT newspaper, and also was voted Division II top defender. I will put some links in for you below, although everything will be in Swedish. Google translator works, but is not the best, so there will be some amusing translation. I look forward to sharing my football experience with you all.

hejda,
Rosie

2012 State Cup Preview

Should be an interesting and wide open tournament on the boys side this year with DAP players and teams not eligible for State Cup Play. Good luck to all the players, clubs and coaches!

I am looking for 2 U15+ girls and 2 U15+ boys to share there perspective on the State Cup competition by writing a blog post after each State Cup game. I am more interested in hearing about a players perspective on training, game preparation, team chemistry, excitement of the cup, etc. than match highlight stories. I will turn comments off for player's posting upon request. Please contact me at mnfutbol@yahoo.com if you are interested. Talk to your parents first as I will ask for their written permission if you are under 18.

Please direct State Cup chat to the new chat section to the right. Please be civil and do not call out any players by name unless you are complementing them. Thank you!

Questionable Decisions From MYSA and My Beloved U16

MYSA is soon to be a thing in the past. The association is ran by a group of incapable ego maniacs. Some may have some experience in soccer, some are just enjoying the droplet of power that they feel entitled to.

It is frustrating when incidences that have big consequences happen to you repeatedly. I coach a U16 team in St. Louis Park. When the boys were 13 they played C1. They were at most an average team. They finished the season with 25 percent of the max point that can be earned in a season.

The rule states that is a team earns 25 percent of the total points or more they will not have to face relegation. It took weeks for the decision to be made, and the final word from MYSA was...they had to move down to C2.

The kids worked their butts off! They won C1 tournaments locally and went undefeated and was promoted back to C1. There, they had a successful season as well. They won the league, finished C1 state runners up and was promoted to Premier, and so we thought until MYSA got involved.

Soccer Unites People

A few months ago, I had an opportunity of a lifetime to live in Mexico. I spent about five weeks volunteering at an incredible orphanage in Puerto Vallarta.

The first couple days of volunteering I traveled via taxi between my grandmother’s condo and the orphanage. On the third day of the experience, I gathered up enough courage to try to find my way home by foot.

The experience was both terrifying and exciting. I started on the right path, but suddenly I found myself going in circle. The more I walked, the faster my heart beat, and I don’t think it was because of my fitness. As a person who is scared of dogs, the combination of being lost and stray dogs were not calming to my nerves.

After being drenched in sweat from the heat and probably anxiety, I stumbled upon a futsal court. The sound of a soccer ball being crushed against the cement wall put a huge smile on my face, and my anxiety vanished.

There were two eleven-year-old boys taking turn shoot on each other. I stood there observing them for about five minutes, until I built up enough courage to use my Spanish to ask if I can just kick it around with them.

My first shot was pretty embarrassing. With a one step approach I skied it, and the ball sailed over the fence into the garbage filled river that ran underneath the court. Fortunately it got better after the first shot.

Shortly after, another one of their amigos joined us, and we started a two on two game. After about an hour of an intense match under the scorching sun we ended our game. One of the kids asked me if I played professional, I laughed and told him no. With some extra change in my pocket, I gave the boys 50 pesos to get a soda to share. After we started to part way one of the boys, Felipe, asked me if I was going to return the following day.

That day’s adventure was about being lost and found, but that experience was about soccer and how it can be such a powerful tool that can unite strangers. For all I know they probably thought I was Mexican, so I never told them I was Cambodian American.

Soccer: Not Just a Game!

Tears streamed down my face. Post-game treats didn’t taste good. Parents of my teammates used to tell me that soccer is just a game. But when I was young, soccer was never just a game to me.

I moved to the St. Louis Park, Minnesota from Cambodia when I was nine years old in 1998. Half a world away from home in a strange land and not being able to speak a word of English, I felt pretty small, scared and lonely. I carried on my shoulders these feelings for the longest time, until my gramma signed me up for traveling soccer that very spring.

Until this day I can never thank her enough. Soccer has been a footstool that has allowed my to stand eye level with everyone else that had a head start. It became a game that has helped define who I am today.

I can recall my first practice like it was yesterday. On a chilly spring morning my gramma dropped me off at Ainsworth Park in St. Louis Park. On one side of the field there was a great big hill, and on the other side was low-income housing. I showed up to my first practice in denim shorts and a grey tee shirt that read ‘World’s People’ across my chest. After the first practice was done, that was my history in the making.

Chat: 2012 European Championship

Chat: 2012 European Championship

Chat: '12 Boys State Cup

Chat: '12 Girls State Cup

Early Years

I would like to give a shout out to the youth players/parents/coaches and anyone else who might shape the young players of the game. When I look back on when I was a young player, just learning what offsides really meant, starting to play for a real soccer club, and going from a size 4 ball to size 5 ball, I am extremely thankful for the people who trained me. I do not know if they fully realize how much of an impact they had on my confidence with the ball, but after I write this I will be sure to remind them.

In the winter months when my team had to play indoors in a basketball gym, we would go up to the wall with a ball each and just bounce kick it over and over with the right foot. "Count how many in a row you can get." I always remember my coaches saying that. I am such a competitive person that it drove me to keep trying to beat my own personal record. I would go home after practice, race down to the basement, and keep kicking against the wall. I wanted to go to the next practice with an even higher record. That is what drives me to keep doing the simple drills even now. I want to keep improving on them. If I get to comfortable on a drill I tweak it to make it harder. Now, I warm up with the bounce kicks against the wall, but then transition to kicking against the wall with no bounce. For a visual, I am just juggling with the wall. Every couple touches I kick it against the wall and it bounces back to me where I must control it in the air and begin juggling again. I like to also add certain restrictions or juggling combinations to the drill. I will go into a raquetball court for an hour and do simple drills like kicking against a wall and enjoy it. I love being on the ball.

The Beautiful Game

I cannot begin to imagine my life without football. Since I could barely walk, that's what I have enjoyed. There is nothing like the game. I feel free when I am out on the field and for 90 minutes the game belongs to the players, and the players alone. There are no time outs. Only three subs are allowed thus, giving the power to the players on the field. In real life, getting 11 people to work together seems like a strenuous task, but on the pitch it is a different story. Once you get to a quality level of football, 11 players working together almost comes naturally. Anyone who plays the game knows the amazing feelingly when everyone just clicks and the game becomes something like a dream. You know where the ball will be in two or more passes with your teammates supporting you in every direction on the pitch. It's beautiful when everything comes together. No other team in the world has figured this out better than Barcelona. You become mesmerized when they string more then 30 passes together to create a goal. Their mix of Total Football and Tiki-taka is what every team should strive for, not only for the players, but for the fans of the game. It's amazing to watch.

FC Barcelona news from former Fuller Park Tornado, Minneapolis South Tiger and UW Milwaukee Panther

Abraham Gibbons is following and reporting on FC Barcelona as part of a journalism class during a semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain.

Abe will be writing weekly stories after watching games at various locations in Barcelona and from other European cities. Check out his blog by clicking below or on his image to the left.

http://abegibbonsbarcafc.wordpress.com/

John Sylvester Fundraiser Sunday Sept 11 3:00-8:00M @ Brits

Please come out and support John Sylvester at Brits Pub in Downtown Minneapolis 1110 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55403 - (612) 332-3908. See you Sunday!!!

For more information or to donate please visit: 
http://www.team4sly.org/Home_Page.php

MN High School Soccer Underway

The Minnesota High School soccer season is underway. Cheer on your favorite team in the Chat Threads listed in the upper right corner of the blog.

John "Sly" Sylvester Medical Fund Raisers

Come out and support former MN Thunder player, current Minneapolis United Director of Coaching and one of Minnesota's finest soccer people. For those who don't know, John has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease.)

For more information about John, and to help or donate to his medical fund please visit www.Team4Sly.org

Tomorrow, Saturday August 13th there is a Coed Soccer Tennis Fesitval at Minneapolis Wahsburn High school. More information is available at Soccer Tennis.

In addition, a silent auction and fundraiser is also scheduled for September 11 at Brits Pub in Minneapolis. More information available at Brits Fundraiser.

A Day in The Life of a Major League Soccer Player: Ben Sippola

To start off this post, I would first like to congratulate Jake Gibbons on being offered a professional contract in Europe. I have known and played with Jake for a good part of the last decade and he is very deserving of such an honor and accomplishment. It is great to see other Minnesotan's getting a shot at the next level. Congrats to Jake and his family.

So, I thought since most youth soccer players in Minnesota rarely get the chance to interact with professional soccer players (at least I was rarely given this opportunity), I would give a sort of run down of what my average day consists of as a professional footballer. I have been with the Columbus Crew for the past five months and my daily routine has been fairly consistent for the majority of that time, excluding the first two months of preseason where I lived out of a suitcase in various hotels across the country. Here is how I employ the twenty-four hours of a natural day.

7:45 am- Wake up and eat breakfast. Breakfast usually consists of something high in carbohydrates with some protein. My favorite choice is oatmeal with fruit and yogurt. Most of my teammates eat a small breakfast. The guy I carpool with eats a bag of fruit snacks and two granola bars on the road. I like to eat something hearty to sustain my energy for practice.

8:45 am- Report to the training facility. Practices usually begin at 10:00 am and the standard time for all players to report is 9:15 am, however I like to get to practice early. This allows me to get in any treatment that I might need and some extra ball work before the organized practice begins.

9:30 am-10:00 am- By this time most players are out on the field and ready to practice. Common activities during this time are soccer tennis and 5 v 2.

10:00 am-11:30 am- Coaches report to the field and official practice begins. Practices are usually about 75 to 90 minutes in length and consist of a dynamic warm up intermixed with passing drills, moving to small sided possession with goals in tight, and ending with a large field game and crossing and finishing.

11:30 am-11:45 am- During this time, I like to stay after practice and do some extra work, shooting, passing, dribbling, etc.

12:00 pm-12:45 pm- Team Video Session with coaching staff. During this time we watch video of ourselves and our opponents. The club usually provides lunch for the players at this time from Subway, City BBQ, and KING GYRO. On days where we do not watch video this time is usually allocated for a team lifting session run by the training staff.

1:00 pm- Team obligations are terminated and players can go home. This is also the time to get any extra treatment. I usually hang around to do some final stretching.

2:00pm-5:00pm- Down time. I like to go fly fishing or take a nap. Today I did both.

6:00 pm- Dinner. I eat Chipotle too much.

7:00 pm-8:00pm- Second work out. About 4 times a week I like to do a second work out outside of training. This workout is very light and usually consists of injury prevention exercises like stretching and yoga.

8:00 pm- Bedtime- Sometimes I go fishing again, haha. However most of the time, I like to just hang out watch TV, blog, call home to Minnesota, hang out with friends etc.

So, that is an average day in the life of Ben Sippola. As you can see professional athletes have a lot of downtime. The challenge is finding something productive to do during this time and to not fall into a monotonous lifestyle. I am definitely working on that aspect of my life, lately I have been coaching a soccer team made up of refugee children in the Columbus area and I have also been coaching Ohio ODP. I have also been perfecting my fly fishing cast.

Thanks for tuning in and for those of you lucky enough to be living and fishing in the Land O' 10 Thousand Lakes,

Tight Lines,

Sip

IK Skovbakken news

Exciting times in Aarhus. I trained with just the 1^st team for the past few days. After training yesterday, the team manager called me into his office…I knew it was going to be good or bad. He said they are going to offer me a contract! I don’t have all the details yet and hope to get more during the next few days. I will be playing in the final league game with the 1^st team  on Saturday and then my trial period with IK Skovbakken will be done.

I still have to figure out details of the offer and I might go back to Norway or on to Sweden looking for more soccer. The down side is that things are wrapping up in all the Northern Europe seasons. I guess my first goal of getting a team interested enough for a contract offer is accomplished.

I also tried to make a carrot cake for my host family today. We couldn't quite figure out what american baking powder was in Danish ingredients and I guessed wrong. Sort of a flat cake, but should still taste good I hope.

Joga Bonito,
Jake

IK Skovbakken

Wed 6/8. It’s been a few exciting days since my last post. I have been training with IK Skovbakken 1st team and things have been going well. I did pick up a knock at training on Tuesday where during a dribbling speed drill I popped my hip-flexor. I didn’t want to sit out, so I did my best to keep training. By the end the coach called me over and asked what was wrong. I told him and he sent me right to the trainer. Good thing for me that Wednesdays are a day off, when a game is to be played on Saturdays. With some ice, treatment and day off, it feels much better, but not 100%.

My host Calle Graversen took me over to Aarhus facilities on Tuesday. We got to walk around the pitch, check out the locker rooms and meet a few players who were working out. I did not get the opportunity to train with AGF Aarhus or Fredmann. They have a partnership with IK Skovbakken (a 3rd division team 3 places behind AGF Fredmann in the standings.) AGF Fredmann is also 3rd division, but will most likely be moving up to 2nd through playoffs. AGF Aarhus is going back to 1st division. They are not looking to sign any international players until promotion/relegation is figured out. Because they are both moving up they are expecting they will have lots of interest from some top European players and academies. I guess I will just keep working hard and see where that takes me.

Joga Bonito,
Jake

Aarhus Day 2

Day 2 in Aarhus was full of firsts.  It was my first day of full training with a professional team, the first time meeting all the players on both the 1st and reserve team and the 1st time I've ever been thrown up top as a legitimate scoring threat!

I arrived for reserves team training a bit before 6 and saw the 1st team playing.  The coach, who I had meet the day before, yelled to me to hurry and throw my boots on! I ran to the locker room, laced up and sprinted to the practice field to jump in with the 1st team for the last half hour.  They had layed out my practice gear early so I was able to get out there quick! I played with the 1st team for 30 minutes, scored a couple goals in 4v4 (teams of 8 with alternating sides when you get scored on) and met the team.  If I had to say how I fit in Id say for it being the first time I played with them I was fitting in well.  The pace was quick but I found myself getting a lot of people in on goal and scoring more than most.  After meeting the team the coach told me to come to 1st team practice tomorrow!

I then went back to the locker room, changed shirts and went out with the reserves.  We did 3 different drills in all, each for 30 minutes.  The first was half field keep away with a target area in each corners that you could score in...you had to either pass it in or dribble it into the target area and connect with a new player.  The second drill was the same as the last one the first team did, 4v4 with alternating shifts every 2 minutes...my team won all 3 games to 5 and I scored the majority or our goals.  This is when my last first of the day comes into play.

After training, the Reserve Trainer came to me and asked "I thought you said you played central midfield, do you want to play striker in our reserve match?" I was shocked and wasn't sure if I wanted to say 'I was just feeling it today, I wouldnt do that if I were you' or 'Yes, I'll score a hat trick for you!'  Either way I haven't played striker for 90 minutes since I was 11 or 12 so if I do play up top this week, they may be a bit disappointed.

I'll be taking pictures on my phone before training tomorrow of the stadium, practice facility and locker room!

Joga Bonito

Jake

Oslo to Aarhus Denmark

Today is day 1 in Aarhus.  It is mid day here and I don’t train until 6pm this evening, so I’ll take this opportunity to write an update for the last few days.

While in Oslo, the city felt very different. Yet my Norwegian friends told me that Oslo is very similar to Minneapolis, probably as close as you can get to a “Minneapolis feel” in Scandinavia.  It was interesting being in an 'old’ city, where the buildings are built right up to the edge of the street. I seemed odd that with plenty of room for two way traffic and parking along the streets, everything was still packed so tightly. I suppose it seemed like a ‘typical’ euro city, but I haven’t been to many yet. 

Oslo is very young and urban. Lots of people in their 20s.  The clothing style is REALLY different, especially the men. More feminine style than I expected. I guess my euro friends at the U, really toned things down when they came to the states!  Deep V-Necks are huge and lots of very colorful shorts rolled up with your typical converse All-Stars.  Soccer is on all the time in pubs and restaurants, even with the number of European leagues winding down. Awesome!

Saturday evening I took a ferry from Oslo to Frederikshavn, Denmark. I wasn’t really sure what type of boat I was to being riding,  except the fact that it was going to take about 12 hours.  The boat was essentially a cruise ship, 3 floors were reserved for passengers cabin while the rest were restaurants, spas, clubs and a casino.  I wish I had more energy to check them out but the only places I went were the buffet at 6:30am when I woke up, and I also checked out the top deck to view the city coming into port.  The cabin was pretty cool though, 2 beds (I was nervous to be sharing it with someone and that could have been awkward) but luckily it was all mine so I slept like a baby.  After docking I walked to the train station and took a 3 hr ride to Aarhus where I was picked up by a club associate and taken to the house I am staying.

I had my first taste of Danish soccer that afternoon during a short kick about.  I trained with the reserves and all we did was a warm up with 5v2 keep away, then some passing followed by a finishing drill. So far, training both here and in Oslo, teams seem to have adopted the 'Ajax' blueprint for training. A lot of possession and touching of the ball followed by game like drills.  There isn’t much pointless time wasting during training.  Today marks the first real day of training. From now until Saturday is my opportunity to show what I can do in training, and also a couple of reserve matches.  Obtaining a VISA over the summer is the goal, which would require signing by a top division team. I will have to play some unreal soccer for sure. I learned that it will be difficult to get a work permit in Denmark, unless I make a top division club. 

I’m still hoping to upload some photographs, but I am still phone/data plan challenged. More later.

Joga Bonito

Jake