SOCCER

Rivaldo of Brazil in action for Barcelona.

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I will try to make this page a good resource for soccer links, and general discussion on the subject.   In between any real discussion and all the good links, you will have to put up with my useless writings.

MY HISTORY

    This has been my favorite sport since I started playing when I was about 10 years old.  I have played at several levels, and even played in college.  I played in Arizona for most of my life before moving away for college.  I still play today, though it is somewhat more difficult to find teams and leagues to play in (maybe I'm just getting old, and teams are no longer looking for me!).  I played for the Arizona state teams and several competitive teams in Phoenix (anybody reading this remember the Cisco Hellions?).  My group of high school friends (see my pictures page, Marty's wedding) were all involved in soccer, and some are still involved today.  Indeed, two of my best friends are still involved in coaching in Alabama (Gary) and Louisiana (Louie).  Both Louie and Gary played collegiately at Lander University.  Both were very successful there: Louie as a nude model for art classes, and Gary as captain of the cheese-eating team.  Check out Louie's club in New Orleans. Also check out the A-league team for which he is a player/coach. If Gary ever writes back to me, I will include a link to his club as well. My friend Jeff Evans also played at Lander.  I find that despite our distance from each other, soccer is the one thing that seems to always bring us all together.  We are rather simple that way.

AC Milan vs. Inter Milan 1999.

    I played soccer at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire between the years 1990-1992.  We played in NCAA division II.  During my time there, we had a couple of very successful seasons.  In the 1990-91season, we won the ECAC tournament (a more regional tournament alternative to the NCAAs).  In 1991-92, we made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.  That year we finished 18-4-1, and ranked 3rd in the country.  Quite a feat for a small school in New England!   That success is old news to those who know the head coach at Keene, Ron Butcher.  He has had a very nice soccer career at Keene, becoming one of the most successful coaches in college soccer.   Check out the athletics page on Keene State's page for a good bio on Coach Butcher (Butch, to those of us who know him).  Butch's current assistant, Rick Scott, is also a good friend of mine.   

    After finishing my college playing days, I continued to play for local teams both in Phoenix (briefly, for the now defunct Phoenix Hearts), and in New England.  I tried my hand at professional soccer, playing games with the Boston Bolts, Cape Cod Crusaders, and a Portuguese team in Massachusetts.  The Portuguese team (the Lowell Blues) is the only team I ever made any money from, albeit a very small amount!

    Following my dismal attempt to make professional soccer my career, I turned to coaching.  Though, to be honest, I had begun coaching only one year after graduating.  I spent three years as Ron Butcher's assistant at Keene.  I also coached several youth teams in the area, as well as spending many years coaching at Butch's Owl Soccer Camps during the summer months.  I could put an entire web site up devoted to the stories and exploits of those involved with that camp, though most would probably prefer that I exercise some discretion on that topic!  In 1997, I coached at Oakmont Regional High School in Massachusetts.  Though my time there was short-lived, it was one of the best experiences in coaching that I have had.  I hope to one day get back to that level of coaching.  In 1998, I coached the Keene Middle School boy's soccer team- another wonderful experience.  We finished the season with only one loss, but a very successful season nonetheless.

  So, that is a brief synopsis of my soccer career.  I hope I haven't bored you!  On to more general topics...

What do you think of the Men's National Team?  Women's National Team?  Mmmmm...Mia...

LINKS

Mia Hamm:  What do I have to say...?

Euro2000:  Lots of good info on one of the best tournaments... though none will match Euro1988!

A-League:  Info on a very good league

MLS:   The official site