Bulldogs eyeing strong finish

Sports can be cruel, especially soccer with its low scores, which keep matches tense and tight. One unfair bounce of the ball or defensive mishap can undo so much good and so many minutes of strong play in an instant.

The Alhambra High School girls soccer team has experienced this suddenness—when an apparent victory is snatched away and becomes a crushing loss or frustrating and empty tie.

Leading 2-0 at Dougherty Valley on Jan. 16, the Bulldogs allowed two goals—on a corner and a free kick—and walked off the field with a tie. The scenario is a microcosm of Alhambra's season to date and the reason behind its current plight.

"We've had a lot of success early on," said first-year head coach John Badger. "But, we haven't had as much success in league away from home."

Without favorable road outcomes, combined with a few games that could have gone either way, but went the wrong way have put the team in an unfavorable position.

Manchester United Soccer Schools Gear Up for Busiest Year to Date

Manchester United Soccer Schools (MUSS) in partnership with Dubai Sports City, is set for a busy 2009 with the launch of new 10-week programs based on the skills of Manchester United's First Team players, and the move to its permanent facility at Dubai Sports City later in the year.

The three 10-week programs were introduced to tie into the term-based school time tables, basing each module on a different Manchester United First team player.

The MUSS program will move to its permanent facility at the Dubai Sports City Football Academy upon its completion in the first half of 2009, increasing its capacity to host more participants aged 6-18 looking to join the course.

The Dubai Sports City Football Academy provides the Middle East's most comprehensive football experience by offering in-depth coaching and training for aspiring players, delivering unique sports learning and a development pathway.

Badgers soccer opens NSL season

Yosemite High School varsity boys soccer pre-season schedule has been completed and the team has enjoyed success heading into its league season.

This is a young Badger squad with good leadership from the four returning seniors and solid contributions from the underclassmen that have been called up to play.

The Badgers boys varsity opened the season at a soccer tournament hosted at Sierra High School. With a 2-0 win over the Clovis West Junior Varsity and a close 1-0 loss to the Roosevelt Junior Varsity Yosemite found itself in the Silver flight of the tournament.

With second day victories over Orange Cove and Mendota High Schools varsity squads, the Badgers brought home the first place trophy for the Silver Division of the tournament.

The next several games were well played matches against Central Valley teams.

Boys soccer roundup: Tigers prevail again

Conroe High collected its fourth shutout of the season Saturday with a 1-0 triumph over El Paso Franklin at the Governor’s Cup in Georgetown.The Tigers (5-0-1) won all three of their matches in the tournament. They have surrendered just three goals so far this season."Our defense has been extremely solid," Conroe High coach Joe Rodriguez said. "It’s been a good start to the season."The back line of Erik Perales, Cornelio Cardona and Christian Varela made keeper Nicho Carona’s work easier as he dealt with only two shots on goal. Franklin reached the Region I-5A quarterfinals last season."Beating a playoff team is bound to give us a boost in our confidence," Rodriguez said.Forward Willie Martinez provided the winning goal in the 25th minute of play. Norman Platero set up the shot with the assist.The Tigers return home to host Alief Taylor at 7:30 p.m.

Adler resigns as Craig boys soccer coach

Adler also coached Janesville Parker's boys soccer team from 1998 through 2002.

“I enjoyed coaching the kids and the support of the parents," Adler said Sunday night. “Monte Phillips (Craig athletic director) was great, and Dr. (Mike) Kuehn (Craig principal) gave great support.''

While Adler thanked the Craig administration for its support, he added he was frustrated by the lack of a paid assistant coach.

“It's tough," Adler said. “I'm raising two girls, and to me it's not worth it (to coach) when you are dealing with things you can't control.''

Adler relied on the retired Damron as an unpaid assistant coach.

“One coach can't be expected to run a Division 1 varsity soccer program on their own," Adler wrote in an e-mail explaining his resignation to Craig players and parents.

Plan to raise SA soccer levels

Scores of South Africa's soccer greats have joined forces in a bold initiative to raise the country's abysmal soccer standards. The plan, endorsed by President Kgalema Motlanthe, is being pioneered in Gauteng as a pilot project which will see the sports heroes travelling to schools across the province, scouting for talent needed to make the country a soccer powerhouse. In a briefing in Pretoria on Saturday, Motlanthe met dozens of soccer heroes such as Trot Moloto, former Zulu Royals and Moroka Swallows midfielders Cedric "Sugar Ray" Xulu and Brian Tlale, United Wanderers' Zacharia Mosehle, Soweto's Blackpool FC's Ghandi Adams and Phillip Dexter. .

Africa prepares soccer fiesta

African football rarely attracts a lot of interest because of lack of television coverage, compared to Europe, but this year the rest of the world must surely stand up and take a look.
Of course, the big gem is the African World Cup to be staged in June next year by South Africa — the richest economy on the continent.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) released a calendar of its major events recently and action kicked off with the Africa Youth Championships in the Rwanda capital of Kigali.
Zimbabwe did not qualify for the Under-20 championships after being knocked out by South Africa, but the Warriors, the Under-17 national team, Monomotapa and CAPS united will represent the nation in four countries.

The Warriors qualified for the inaugural edition of the Africa Nations Championships (CHAN), which will take place in Ivory Coast from 22 February to 8 March.