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DiCicco plans to keep SoccerPlus relevant
By: Matt Straub ,
Assistant sports editor - New Britain Herald
“As
President and GM of the
Breakers, we are delighted to
have Tony DiCicco as Head Coach. We are
also equally excited to create a special
relationship between the Boston Breakers
and FSASoccerPlus FC. The Boston
Breakers want to create an open door
policy with our partner clubs such as
FSASoccerPlus so that their players,
families and coaches benefit from the
Boston Breakers organization.”
- Joe Cummings
Tony DiCicco could never be called lazy. He gets
involved in many things, and when he does, it's with
a passion and full commitment. That's why he won't
settle for anything less than a first-rate, well-run
women's professional soccer league in the United
States. That's why he was so eager to get involved
when presented with an opportunity to be a part of
something he thinks meets that criteria.
And that's why he won't let anything else he has
going, especially his beloved SoccerPlus camps and
all the other arms associated with the organization,
suffer because of anything else he has in the fire.
DiCicco's latest venture is a new women's league set
to open in April 2009. The former U.S. national team
coach, whose squad is as responsible for the growth
of the sport to the point where a professional
league can be reborn as anyone else, will head up
the Boston Breakers in the new league. As usual,
DiCicco is diving into his latest venture with both
feet. Since the league is still more than a year
away from getting going, DiCicco has time to not
only work on getting his team going and helping the
new league get publicity, but to sort everything out
back in Farmington.
"I'm very excited about it. It's a great
opportunity. It gives me some time," he said. "It's
(a 2009) start, so we're going to try and do
everything the right way. We want to do something
with the team this spring or summer to let people
know the league is back." Part of the reason DiCicco
feels so strongly about this league is his team's
owner, Joe Cummings. A two-time Executive of the
Year in the WUSA, DiCicco knows his team is in good
hands. With the new league having individual
ownership groups instead of being run as a single
entity, it was especially important for DiCicco to
link up with the right group if he was going to put
his precious and scarce time into the Breakers.
That's where everything begins to tie together. The
Reds, this year's U23 Open Cup champions, will stay
in place, possibly as a feeder system for bigger
things.
"I'm certainly not going to abandon the Reds. I care
very much about that team, and I want it to continue
to succeed," DiCicco said. "These are all parts of
it. Those things will be enhanced by me getting
involved with the breakers. That was one of the key
things I wanted to make sure of when I took this
job. We're going to establish a partnership going
forward, that was important to me that we started
building that partnership."
DiCicco has built the SoccerPlus organization over
the years. The SoccerPlus camps are
nationally-renowned, the SoccerPlus youth club
continues to grow, and the SoccerPlus Education
Center has begun a series of lectures on leadership
(the next being Wednesday in Farmington with Heather
Mitts speaking about battling through injuries and
mental toughness.)
"There's a lot of little tentacles to SoccerPlus,"
he said. "The foundation is the camp that's been
around 20 years. Our youth club is in its fifth
year. I'm very proud of all the things we've been
doing with all the different aspects of SoccerPlus."
As for the Education Center, DiCicco made his
feelings about that known at the first event in the
lecture series, when former U.S. captain Julie Foudy
came to Central Connecticut's Torpe Theater to talk
to everyone from dozens of kids wearing the red and
black FSA SoccerPlus coats to the Blue Devils
themselves.
After Foudy's speech, DiCicco talked about the
importance of keeping events like this going,
because he wanted "to not only make (kids) better
players, but to help them become better people."
One other thing DiCicco is passionate about is
children and their development on and off the field.
As much as DiCicco loves the idea of making women's
professional soccer stick in the U.S., he's grown
quite fond of what he's doing in Farmington by
helping kids get involved in the sport.
"It's a much different form of satisfaction," he
said. "One of the great things with working with the
young players is you see them improve so much.
Obviously working with the national team is
different. They improve, but not in the same way
that young players do. That's the best part, seeing
them grow and improve."
The Wethersfield native has made a career of helping
making soccer grow and improve. That's why you can
expect that, as long as he stays associated with the
organization, SoccerPlus will continue to prosper.
And if he has his way, the girls he helps as
youngsters will have a league to play in someday. No
matter what happens in the future, you can be sure
that Tony DiCicco will be involved in many things in
the soccer world, and that he'll be fully engaged in
all of them.
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Kostelis Inducted Into Univ. Of Hartford Hall Of
Fame
Was A Three-Time
All-League Goalkeeper For Hawks
May 15, 2007
 NEW
HAVEN, Conn. - George Kostelis, who has been an
assistant coach at Yale for the last six years, was
inducted into the University of Hartford Alumni
Athletic Hall of Fame over the weekend. Kostelis and
the five other inductees are the 17th class to be
inducted and join 88 student-athletes, coaches and
administrators previously elected.
Kostelis, a 1994 Hartford graduate, was a three-time
All-North Atlantic Conference goalkeeper for the
Hawks. He earned All-New England honors in 1992 and
is second in school history in career goals against
average (1.05), fourth in shutouts (17.4) and fourth
in minutes played (6,216).
He helped lead the Hawks to their first two Division
I NCAA Tournament appearances in 1991 and 1992.
Against Virginia in a four overtime loss in the
second round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament, he made 13
saves.
Kostelis served as a co-captain of the 1992 team and
was selected to play in the Collegiate Soccer Senior
Bowl that year. He also was named the North Atlantic
Conference Tournament MVP in 1992 and was an
all-tournament selection three times. In addition,
he was named to North Atlantic Conference Academic
Honor Roll as a junior and senior.
At Yale, Kostelis works primarily with the
goalkeepers. He has helped Head Coach Brian Tompkins
establish the Bulldogs as one of the most respected
programs in the Northeast. In 2005, Yale won its
first Ivy League title since 1991. The Bulldogs
finished with a 10-4-4 overall record, were 5-1-1 in
Ivy play and advanced to the NCAA College Cup for
the sixth time in school history.
Kostelis, a United States Soccer Federation "A"
Licensed Coach and a National Soccer Coaches
Association of America Premier Diploma recipient,
has a wealth of coaching experience. He spent two
years as an assistant women's coach at Connecticut,
where he helped guide the Huskies to the NCAA
quarterfinals. He also was the goalkeeper coach at
Hartford in 1995.
In addition to his duties at Yale, Kostelis is the
national director for the SoccerPlus Goalkeeper
School. He also is the goalkeeper coach in the
Connecticut Olympic Development program and the
FSASoccerPlus Football Club.
Following graduation from Hartford, Kostelis went on
to play professionally in Greece for Aiolikos FC
from 1993-95.
>LIST
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FSASOCCERPLUS Coach Louis Hernandez Jr.
joins the ownership group of the new Boston Breakers
WSII
From Cindy Flack
April 18, 2007
Visit the Breakers Web
Site...CLICK
Relaunch of Women’s Professional Soccer League
Clears Key Milestone
New Jersey/New York, Boston groups commit to league,
bringing total charter
markets to eight
April 18th, 2007 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA) – Owners from
two East Coast markets, New York/New Jersey and
Boston, have joined with six other groups to
relaunch women’s professional soccer in the United
States.
The relaunch effort is led by the Women’s Soccer
Initiative, Inc. (WSII). With New Jersey/New York
and Boston now confirmed, the WSII has met its
initial goal to have eight teams signed before the
league’s planned launch in Spring, 2008.
“The signing of these two new markets is an
important milestone,” WSII CEO Tonya Antonucci said.
“It’s a critical step in making our dream of
relaunching the WUSA a reality. There’s a lot of
hard work ahead, but we’re excited to move forward.”
US National Team member Abby Wambach said she is
glad to see the new league moving forward. “The
growth of women’s soccer across the country is such
a huge plus for both players and fans,” she said.
“People will get to experience first-hand what this
sport is about, and what it can bring to their
lives.”
Boston – Boston Women’s Soccer LLC –
www.bostonbreakers.com
“Boston is one of the country’s best sports cities,”
said Michael Stoller, Managing Partner of Boston
ownership group Boston Women’s Soccer LLC. “And the
Boston Breakers were the most successful franchise
in the former WUSA, so the relaunch is a natural fit
for us.”
Boston Women’s Soccer LLC includes:
• Gary Loveman, Chairman and CEO, Harrah’s
Entertainment
• Michael Stoller, Managing Partner of the group and
former owner of Senior Living LLC. Stoller is the VP
of Newton Girls Soccer, one of the largest all-girls
soccer clubs in the country
• Alex Zecca, a VP with Tudor Investments
• Louis Hernandez, Chairman and CEO of Open
Solutions and an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the
Year
• Lyman Bullard, a partner at Choate, Hall and
Stewart LLP and owner of an AHL Franchise
• Bill Helman, a partner with Greylock, a venture
capital firm with over $2 billion under management
Joe Cummings will serve as president of the new
organization. Cummings was president and General
Manager of the WUSA’s Boston Breakers from May 2000
until 2003, the final year of play in the league.
The new organization will also use the Boston
Breakers name.
“Each of our investors has a great love of soccer,”
Cummings said. “Almost all have daughters who play
or played at a high level, and they saw a void in
sports without women’s pro soccer. They want to give
everyone the opportunity to see the best players
play this sport.”
“Moving forward”
“These markets are vibrant media and cultural
centers, and it’s great to have them on board,”
Antonucci said. “We now have a strong East Coast
presence and an important base for fan development
as we pursue sponsorship and partnership
opportunities.”
Antonucci explained that these partnerships at the
foundation of the league will separate it from the
previous incarnation of the WUSA. In particular, the
new league aims to have its teams play in venues
designed for the sport, referred to as
soccer-specific stadiums.
“We’re working hard to make this league an authentic
soccer experience for our fans,” Antonucci
explained. “Our objective is to showcase teams in
small-to mid sized soccer specific stadiums. We’ll
bring fans closer to the action, the field and the
players,” she said.
Wambach said being “closer” to the fans means being
good role models. “This is an opportunity for women
to have a strong voice, a positive national
presence,” she said. “We’re going to have a product
anyone, especially young girls, can look up to.
That’s a really rewarding aspect of this
opportunity.”
The league plans a launch in April 2008. “The
momentum is really starting to build throughout the
country,” Antonucci said. “And this is just the
beginning. We’ve reached our initial goal of eight
markets, but we’d be thrilled to have up to two more
franchise groups join the league at launch. We’re
very open to the right opportunities.”
About the WSII
The WSII (www.wsii.org) is a non-profit organization
backed by grants from the U.S. Soccer Federation and
U.S. Soccer Foundation. The organization was founded
to build a new business plan to relaunch women’s
professional soccer in the United States. Eight
ownership groups have signed letters of intent to
launch teams in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., St.
Louis, Dallas, Chicago, New Jersey/New York, Boston
and a market to be named later. Tonya Antonucci is
the CEO of WSII. On the web at
www.wsii.org.
Visit the Breakers Web Site...CLICK
>LIST
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FSASoccerPlus
FC Players and Coaches find Success in Fall
Tournaments
November,
2005
Ryan Levesque
(coach), Greg D'Aleo (U17 Boys), Suffield Boys
New England Class B Champions —
"This feels great," Suffield coach Ryan Levesque said. "I am very, very proud of this group. They have a passion and love for the game and each other."
Second-seeded Suffield (13-2-3) won its first New England crown in boys soccer since 1989. "We went 10-0-1 since mid-October and we had allowed only four goals leading up to today," Levesque said.
Four different players scored for Suffield, which led 2-0 and 3-1 before icing it with a goal during the final minute.
"Our attacking style is to be very aggressive in the attacking third of the field, and we did that today," Levesque said.
Claire Galiette
(U17 Girls) and Cara Cavallari (U15 Girls), Loomis
Chaffee Girls New England Class A Champions — Loomis
Chaffee finished the season 20-0 winning the Class A
Championship 3-0 over Brooks. Loomis Chaffee girls
have won 4 of the last 6 New England Championships.
Pam Newell (U17 Girls), Kristin Piorun (U14
Girls), Simsbury Girls Connecticut Class LL
Co-Champions; Sally Leahy (U15 Girls), Lisa
Tartaglia (U16 Girls), Cheshire Girls
Connecticut Class LL Co-Champions.
Chris (#2
in photo below) and
Brian Guerrini (U17 Boys), Glastonbury Boys
Connecticut Class LL Champions. The victory completed a tournament run by Glastonbury (17-3-1) that included beating five league champions, two that were unbeaten.
"Most of the play was in our side," Brian Guerrini said. "But our defense played great and we held on. They did a great job clearing balls through the air."
Jules Robinson (U15 Girls), Ashley Cheesman (U15
Girls), Shannon Carli (U15 Girls), Farmington
Girls Connecticut Class L Champions.
Additionally, Coaches Jen Tietjen-Prozzo and
Shawn Kelly, assistants at Central Connecticut
State University, celebrated their fourth
consecutive NEC title this year.
SAUNDERS SELECTED TO BIG
12 SOCCER 10th ANNIVERSARY TEAM
BIG 12 Conference
10/2005
DALLAS, Texas — Courtney Saunders, a forward for
Baylor’s soccer team from 1996-99, has been selected
to the Big 12 Conference Soccer 10th-Anniversary
Team the league office announced Wednesday. Saunders
was one of three forwards selected to the squad
voted on by the league’s current head coaches.
Saunders, who owns 14 single-game, season and career
records while playing for Baylor, helped lead the
Bears soccer team to the 1998 Big 12 Conference
title and appearances in the 1998 and 1999 NCAA
Soccer Championships. Saunders owns Baylor’s career
records in points (172), goals (69) and assists (34)
and was a three-time all-conference selection.
In order to be eligible for consideration, athletes
must have been named first-team all-Big 12
Conference at least once in their careers.
Anniversary teams will be chosen for each conference
sport during 2005-06 academic year in celebration of
the Big 12 Conference's 10th anniversary season.
>LIST
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Louis Hernandez Jr.
named Business Person of the Year!
The Hartford Business
Journal
By Laurie Ledgard
10/2005
Louis Hernandez Jr. has the kind of problems a
lot of corporate leaders only wish they had.
His software company, Open Solutions Inc., where he
is chairman and CEO, recently moved in to 90,000
square feet of new offices in Glastonbury, but
already, it’s not enough space.
Despite having more than 1,100 employees, Open
Solutions has a backlog of orders and needs to hire
and train more workers to get orders fulfilled.
Hernandez’ research and development budget, which
rose 40 percent in 2005, will likely double in the
next year. The company has done so many
acquisitions, he couldn’t recall them all.
“I think it was eight or nine,” he says, pausing to
count. (Actually, it was 11 as of Oct.17.)
Even though Open Solutions has more then 3,500
clients nationwide, Hernandez eyes the remaining
20,000-plus financial institutions in the U.S. that
are not using his software. He also wants a piece of
China’s banking market — where some 35,000
institutions want to modernize their core systems —
so he has already met with the head of China’s
banking regulatory agency.
In the wake of the great technology bubble that
burst roughly five years ago, Hernandez led Open
Solutions through a successful initial public
offering in November 2003 and has watched revenues
double and triple over the past several years. He
could have moved Open Solutions to any technology
center in the country — and has had plenty of offers
to do so — but chose to stay in central Connecticut
because he benefits from both the quality of the
work force and the quality of life the state offers.
Hernandez wants to see Connecticut’s business sector
grow as much as Open Solutions has, and serves on a
variety of state boards and commissions, where he
has the ears of legislators, economic officials and
the governor. His community work ranges from the
boards of the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
to the Connecticut Center for Science & Exploration,
to local school boards and his daughters’ soccer
teams.
For this stunning growth and his leadership,
innovation, vision and commitment to his community
and the state of Connecticut, Louis Hernandez Jr. is
the Hartford Business Journal’s 2005 Business Person
of the Year.
James Abromaitis, commissioner of the Department of
Economic and Community Development, calls Hernandez
“a classic entrepreneurial manager” who gets other
people to think in the same vein as he does.
“It’s very important for me to get people to believe
in what is possible. The first barrier to success
sometimes is, people aren’t willing to admit what
they want,” Hernandez says. “And those who are
willing to say what they want aren’t willing to work
for it.”
“When Louis speaks, he’s speaking from experience
and knowledge, and what he has to say is certainly
worth listening to. He’s done a lot for this state,”
Abromaitis says. “He’s incredibly energetic and he’s
the kind of guy I’m sure a lot of people would like
to work for.”
Hernandez recently sat down for an interview in his
light-filled corner office. Groups of clear Lucite
awards cover the shelves of a curio cabinet and
shine like the facets of a diamond. There is sports
memorabilia — signed University of Connecticut
basketballs and footballs sit in clear boxes — and
at least half a dozen family photographs: of wife
Wendy, daughters Carly Jennifer (9), Katie Nicole
(8) and Kelsy Lynn (5), and their latest arrival,
baby Louis Alexander III.
Hernandez’ life seems like an extraordinary
balancing act. At one point during the interview,
Hernandez advises his assistant that he’ll be late
for soccer that night. He coaches two soccer teams
for his daughters and plays on a local Glastonbury
adult team.
Some nights, he leaves the office to go home and
spend time with his children (just a few miles
away), then returns for several more hours of work.
Every Friday is “date night” with Wendy, the girl
who lived around the corner in Clairmont, Calif.,
and first caught his eye in the 7th grade. High
school and college sweethearts, Hernandez calls his
18-year marriage “the best accomplishment that I
have.”
And in his spare time, the guy who just turned 39 is
learning Chinese.
“It’s a personality thing. I feel like it’s my
responsibility in some ways to be active,” Hernandez
says when asked to explain how he does it all. “And
you meet a more diverse set of people... . The more
you understand human nature and understand other
people’s perspectives and what they want, the easier
it is — for me, anyway — to lead and inspire people.
That’s a huge benefit.”
Hernandez arrived in Connecticut in 1999, when
everything was still “very Internet,” from RoweCom,
a Boston technology company where he was executive
vice president. He previously held senior management
positions at U.S. Medical Instruments Inc. and Price
Waterhouse LLP. He holds both an MBA and an
undergraduate business degree from San Diego State
University.
“Coming to an enterprises software company for banks
was not seen as the smartest thing to do at the
time,” he says, especially because the sector is
highly regulated, considered “slow-growth,” and
unrelated to the Internet.
Open Solutions doesn’t have the kind of applications
that ordinary retail consumers would look at and
say, “That’s really cool.”
“Most people wouldn’t understand what we do,”
Hernandez says.
It’s easy to say that Open Solutions creates core
software systems that help behind the scenes to make
banks, thrifts and credit unions run. But there’s
more to it than that. Hernandez will tell you that
Open Solutions applications make the human
interactions with banking “more meaningful” for each
banking transaction.
A customer walks into his or her bank to make a
deposit. Each of this bank’s customers has an
identifying number which, when fed into an Open
Solutions system, enables the program (or suite of
programs) to see what services or products a
customer qualifies for each time they interact with
the bank, whether it’s online, on the phone or at
the teller window. “This happens immediately, from
the same system that processes your simple loans and
deposits,” Hernandez explains.
Open Solutions’ competitors each do similar work
with their software. But, according to Hernandez,
his products fit into any system, can be used on any
hardware or any operating system, and offer
financial institutions a universality and tremendous
levels of flexibility to hit all consumer touch
points.
Look at it this way: Pretend that Open Solutions has
invented the zipper. The zipper fits into your
dress, your coat, your pants, the pants they make in
China, the pants they make in India, the shoes they
make in Italy, even the sofa cushions they make in
North Carolina. If that was your company, wouldn’t
that zipper make you a lot of money?
Of course, all of those manufacturers of the
dresses, the coats, the pants, the shoes and the
sofa cushions have to want to use your zipper, don’t
they? This is one of the challenges Hernandez has
with Open Solutions software, what he calls “the
hardier problem.”
Banking is entrenched in doing what works. The
industry has technology that’s 20, 30 or even 40
years old. If it works, bank presidents say, why
should we go to all the trouble and expense of going
through a full core installation of Open Solutions
software?
“People haven’t wanted to take the risk on
switching,” Hernandez says. “The competitive
landscape has intensified to the point where bank
CEOs are willing to think differently.”
The Graham-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 opened up banks’
abilities to offer customers a broader range of
financial products and services — insurance, for
example — while creating similar opportunities for
other financial entities, like insurance companies,
thrifts and credit unions.
Little banks had to diversify their own revenue
streams while not spending too much money, and
launch new products and provide more services
profitably. This created opportunity for Open
Solutions, Hernandez insists, because his software
offers better tools, flexibility, and more powerful
human interaction with customers.
One client, he says, eliminated 20 different
databases when it converted to the Open Solutions
system. Boeing Credit Union started using Open
Solutions products and grew $1.8 billion in assets,
added 30 branches and 29 new product categories, and
eliminated 70 percent of its IT staff.
What Open Solutions will offer in the future is
being worked on today in Glastonbury. “We’re always
coming up with new ideas,” Hernandez says, while
keeping those ideas close to the vest. “My R&D went
up 40 percent this year; it will probably double
next year.”
And his offices are considered the knowledge center.
“This facility here in Connecticut is going to be
the global knowledge center for the most advanced
financial technology research in the world,”
Hernandez declares with confidence and assurance.
It is an attitude he seems to bring to the more
public side of his work with the state of
Connecticut and other groups in the Greater Hartford
area.
Hernandez was appointed by the governor to be vice
chairman of the Governor’s Council on Economic
Competitiveness and Technology. He chairs the
Technology Transfer Advisory Board, he’s the past
chairman of the Connecticut Technology Council, and
he recently completed a three-year appointment to
the Commission for Educational Technology.
He is a board member of the Connecticut Children’s
Medical Center, is a corporator of the Eastern
Connecticut Health Network, and sits on the board of
trustees of the Connecticut Center for Science &
Exploration.
“He’s blazing pretty new trails,” says Theodore S.
Sergi, the science center’s executive director, who
broke ground for the new museum last week and calls
Hernandez “thoughtful and helpful.”
“Louis’ experience here in Connecticut and his
company is an example of the type of innovation we
want young people in Connecticut to see and consider
as they think about their future,” Sergi says.
“I think [the science center] will be the
centerpiece for downtown revitalization, it will be
the most dramatic piece on the river and it will
compete with Boston’s science center,” says
Hernandez, who likes “anything” that shows kids the
connection between hard sciences and innovation
careers.
DECD’s Commissioner Abromaitis says that as chairman
of the Technology Transfer Advisory Board, which
works to find ways to get research work from
colleges and universities to the business world,
Hernandez “keeps everyone focused on the issues.”
That means getting better coordination between all
of the constituents involved in research and
business. Hernandez says that for such a small
state, Connecticut’s universities and business
sectors could be communicating better. But he sees a
lack of encouragement to create companies,
especially in the area of government funding.
“We need to have a way to get funding sources in
earlier, and get universities involved earlier,” he
says.
What he’s really talking about is updating the old
New England traditions, and bringing the icon of Ye
Olde Yankee Tinkerer into the 21st century.
“We want to establish a culture of innovation and
creativity,” he says.
>LIST
OF ARTICLES
The Biggest Game of My Life
By Brandi Chastain
Although our team approached the gold medal game, on July 10, as we would any other, things started earlier than usual. Breakfast was at 8 a.m. Some of the girls weren't happy about getting up so early, but I was psyched. Sleeping is overrated, especially when I'd spent most of the previous nights tossing and turning, playing the game in my dreams.
I was feeling calm and relaxed until I heard someone reading this: "Janet and I just want to drop a short note to tell you how great you have played and how much you have done to inspire young girls. It has been done with a great deal of class. Good luck in the final." It was signed "Wayne Gretzky." Suddenly I realized the magnitude of this event -- the Great One had sent us a fax!
My excitement continued to build when our coach, Tony DiCicco, read the starting lineup. I knew I would start, but I'm always relieved to hear my name. I picked up my uniform from Dainis Kalninis, the best equipment guy ever, who gave each of us three roses -- red, white and blue. Then I showered, packed my bag and piled onto the bus. It wouldn't be a final if someone didn't forget something, and this time it was me -- I had to run back to my room to get the socks I wear under my game socks.
Entering the Rose Bowl, we saw cars stretching in every direction. I knew more than 90,000 tickets had been sold, but I was blown away to see 90,000 fans in one place. Getting off the bus, we waved to them and took pictures of everyone decked out in red, white and blue.
In the locker room, we went over our game plan, then listened to Tony's motivational speech. Because the third-place game was going on, we couldn't warm up on the field. That was a little frustrating, but we improvised, running and kicking balls in the tunnels under the stadium.
After the national anthem -- "and the home of the brave" always gets to me -- my heart was racing, I wanted to get it on! The whistle blew, and 90 minutes later it blew again. The game was over in a flash, although I felt as if I had played two. My body ached, the sun was baking the field, and I felt like I was on fire. And the score was still 0-0: overtime.
Before the overtime period began, I took off my drenched jersey to air it out. After a cool towel, a quick massage and gulps of water, we were ready to go again. After the first overtime, the score remained 0-0, so we repeated the relax-and-recharge drill. During the second overtime, I kept talking to myself -- out loud, so loud I thought the crowd could hear. I told myself not to let up, to stay focused, because one mistake could mean the game. I don't remember looking at the clock. I just knew that I had to last through the whistle. There were some amazing moments in those 30 minutes, including Kristine Lilly's header to clear an almost-goal by China, but finally the game came down to penalty kicks. Five per side, more if necessary to break a tie. The Chinese kicked first, then our captain, Carla Overbeck, tied the score 1-1. Joy Fawcett evened us 2-2. Then Briana Scurry, our goalie, came up huge by deflecting a Chinese kick. Tears came to my eyes; I knew we'd won even though it wasn't over. Kristine put us up 3-2; Mia Hamm, 4-3. Then it was my turn.
I felt a great calm as I walked up to my kick. There was no crowd noise. I didn't look at Gao Hong, the goalie, who had psyched me out before in this very situation, in March at the Algarve Cup in Portugal. I wasn't going to let her do it again. I put the ball down, listened for the whistle and hit the shot heard round the world. The crowd erupted. So did I! In front of 90,185 people in the stadium and 40 million TV viewers, I ripped off my shirt. As I lifted it off, I lifted all the expectations and pressure of winning. My teammates hit me like a huge wave, crushing me in the greatest hug of my life. I could have stayed there forever. Who was exhausted? It didn't matter anymore.
What matters is what we accomplished. Not only are we the world champions, but we also built and polished the game of women's soccer and presented an awesome final product. Our motto for the Women's World Cup was right on: THIS IS MY GAME. THIS IS MY FUTURE. WATCH ME PLAY.
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The Coaching Philosophy, Part 1
by Tony DiCicco
FSASoccerPlus FC
SoccerPlus Camps
“Character Development in players, is the number one objective of youth sport and youth coaches…winning isn’t even a close second!”
Tony DiCicco
…Excerpts from Catch Them Being Good, a book written by Tony DiCicco and Dr. Colleen Hacker
Before even stepping out on the field for tryouts or the first day of the season, a coach has to know how he or she is going to approach the game. Think of it as a game plan on a larger scale, or a blueprint for the kind of coach you want to be, what you want to teach your players on the field and how you want to impact their lives off the field. Over the years, I’ve been asked many times what my coaching philosophy is and so I’ve tried to sum it up as succinctly as possible, breaking it down into simple principles. In Part 1 of this article, we will address some of those principles. Taken together, these principles show how I approach teaching and coaching.
Play Hard, Play Fair, Play To Win, HAVE FUN!
You must play hard, no matter who your opponent is, because you’re setting your own standards, playing toward a goal you want to achieve within yourself and within the team. The best respect you can give an opponent is to go out and play to win, show them your best, but never run-up the score. With the WNT, we never tried to embarrass our opponent even when we were playing weak team. I had a rule, we never scored more than 9 goals in any one game even when goal difference was a tie-breaking factor. This is also my coaches’ philosophy with our FSASoccerPlus teams. This same principle should apply to youth sports at all levels, running up a score against an opponent doesn’t serve either team well. As a coach you have the responsibility to set an example and show that kind of leadership to your players.
When I look back one of the things I’m proudest of is not the record of my national team—103 wins, 8 losses and 8 ties over a 5 year period—but rather how my team game together to achieve special goals. Or the culture we created within the team. This culture held all of us to high standards of self-discipline; self-responsibility and team objectives. Our culture included…no whining (don’t bring other players down) train with intensity; come to training camp fit; eat right; never show a lack of respect or underestimate an opponent; never take yourself to seriously, smile a lot and have fun. This was the culture for the team that won Olympic and World Cup Gold…sounds like pretty good advice for any youth team also.
Playing to win doesn’t mean that winning is the end-all, but when you’re playing for a national team, when you’re playing professionally, or even if you’re playing on an amateur level, it’s an important component of success. And yet, the game is still just that, a game. It’s important to keep things in perspective. We’re not performing open-heart surgery or flying a plane with only one engine or performing heroic acts the way firefighters, policemen, and our military do every day. Yet, in the heat of the moment of the big game, winning is certainly one of the most important things in your lifetime. And, one can learn a lot about themselves on how they respond in a physical game, when the referee makes a bad call, when a teammate makes a key mistake or an infinite number of other possibilities. If you’re playing in an Olympic Gold Medal game, it’s one of the most important things that you’ll ever do, but it’s still a game, and no one’s going to live or die because of it. All too often I’ve seen the fun taken out of the game and the real important lessons of the game lost. When you take the fun out of game, you might as well have your team play with a weight on one foot, because you’re just making it that much harder to achieve success.
Remember, most of the players you’re coaching are not going to go onto the highest level of competition. They may not even go on to the collegiate level. If you’re creating a fun environment where they appreciate physical activity, and learn from teamwork, imagine how much that’s going to help them in later life. They can understand discipline and team chemistry, personal hygiene, and building confidence. There are so many positives to team sports, competition and soccer, that it’s a remarkable opportunity for coaches and parents to build character in their players or children. How does a player respond when they win? When they lose? If they don’t start? If they have to play out of position? If they don’t make a team? Is it really political or does your child have to improve? Clearly the messages are very different. One message helps set goals for the young athlete, the other allows them to pass on responsibility. The lessons go on and on. As coaches, we have the responsibility to build character, to create a safe and fun environment void of intimidation, to build confidence and impact lives positively. Think of your own youth sports experience, probably, there is a coach that made a positive difference in your life. What goal or objective can be better or more important than that?
Tony DiCicco is also President of SoccerPlus Camps and Technical Director of FSASoccerPlus Football Club.
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U.S.A.
Soccer women, gold medal winners in Athens, owe debt
of attitude to Tony DiCicco
By:Don Rully
, Assistant Sports Editor - 09/09/2004
TAKEN FROM www.ctvalleynews.com
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