New Season, New Field at HMHS

It was a postcard-perfect early fall day yesterday as the Haddonfield girls played their first weekend game in the newly-carpeted high school stadium.  There was a lot of agitation by some in town over the decision to replace the rutted football field and adjacent practice field with artificial turf, but walking on the field before the game and watching from the pressbox, it sure seemed like a good investment in our school's athletic program.  (Full disclosure: Debbie and I contributed to the turf field campaign.)

There is now a level, smooth and well-marked playing surface.  Although there are different color lines for Football (white), soccer (yellow), field hockey (orange) and lacrosse (red), the players and officials seemed to have no difficulty discerning the correct markings.  The advantage of turf will hit home when the rains come and the field is still playable.

This was technically not the home opener but as noted the first weekend game on the new field.  Because weekday games are played here as well, the scoreboard is now operated from the scorer's table and that and the benches have been moved form the far side to the side in front of the stands.  Having the clock operated by the scorer is one less thing for me to do during the game, although running a clock in soccer is way easier than football or basketball.

Yesterday we had a nice crowd, great weather, two undefeated teams and a well-played game well-called (in my opinion) by two veteran officials.  Before the game Allen Stout and I reminisced about some of the games he had refereed for my Medford Strikers teams over the years.

Generally stadium operation went well but I did not have time to test the CD player before the game so did not risk trying to play the National Anthem.  Then the microphone stopped working at the very end.  Add to that a few errors in the program, and there are some things to improve on for the Kingsway game on October 5.

All that aside, the game itself was typical Haddonfield-West Deptford: fast, close, exciting.  There were only a few real scoring chances but Haddonfield's Kylie Kirk gave the Bulldawgs all the scoring they need with a goal with just 8:49 remaining.  Haddonfield is now 8-0 on the season with Overbrook and Paulsboro coming up this week.

Action from Haddonfield girls' 1-0 win over West Deptford in the stadium.

High School Team or Academy? This Hawk Chooses High School

Over the years club soccer coaches always grumbled about conflicts with high school soccer.  The problem was especially acute on the girls side where the WAGS (Washington Area Girls Soccer) Tournament was the king of the hill among college showcase tournaments but was played over Columbus Day weekend and inevitably caused at least indirect conflicts with high school games or practices. 

Lately the upper echelon club teams, the so-called academies, have subtly or not so subtly demanded its players forgo high school teams to be on their rosters.  Chris Melchiorre has a story in today's Inquirer about one top college prospect who is going against the flow and will play for his Haddon Township High School team in his senior year this fall, rather than for the Philadelphia Union U18 Academy team. 

I wish him luck and will be interested to see how things turn out for him.

There's a Moon Out Tonight

   Police and reporters will tell you they always know when it's a full moon because that's when all the crazies come out.  Tonight's spectacular full moon in South Jersey may well bring out some strange people, but it also reminded me of the great song by the Capris and a great soccer story from my brother, Gary.

  When he's had time from his full-time job teaching religion at a New England prep school, Gary has coached soccer and ice hockey on and off over the years at the school.  A number of seasons back he was coaching a girls team when one of the deans stopped by practice to briefly discuss an academic matter.  Apparently the dean had done something to antagonize the students and as she walked away from the field, one of Gary's players mooned her.

   Gary happened to catch a glimpse of the moon and asked the girl, "Did I see what I thought I just saw?"

   "Just adjusting my equipment, Coach," replied the player.

Bundesliga Kicks Off 2nd Half Century

The German Bundesliga begins its 51st season tomorrow when Borussia Mönchengladbach visits defending champion Bayern München.  Bayern is coming off a "triple" in '12-'13: winners of the Bundesliga, the DFB (German Football Federation) Cup and the European Champions League title.

At the other end of the table are Eintracht Braunschweig, returning to the First Division after a 28 year absence, and Hertha Berlin, back after a brief period of relegation to the Second Bundesliga.  Eintracht has special meaning as the site of the first European game I ever saw in person.  My high school had an affiliation with a school in Braunschweig, an old Hanseatic city between Hannover and the Harz Mountains.  My family hosted the first exchange student from the school and after college I visited his family in 1968 and saw Eintracht play.  When my son and daughter lived in Berlin in 2001 we saw Hertha play Bayern in the Olympic Stadium on a cold December night in a fast-paced, exciting match that ended in a 2-1 Hertha victory and 50,000 fans singing Nur Nach Hause (gehen wir nicht).

I'm hardly an expert on European soccer and the differing styles of play but have always enjoyed the Bundesliga's all-out, up the middle go for the goal play.  Here's to the next 50 years.

By The Numbers: Soccer Stats

  As the lead in this article by Jack Bell in last Friday's New York Times notes, "Soccer is not a sport seduced by numbers, unless that number is three — as in the points awarded for a win."

  However, there is a constant effort to quantify the sport along the lines of football and baseball.  Even when I played in college more than 45 years ago, the school's sports information director had to mention how many saves a goalie had in a match or how many shots were taken.  (In our case, our goalies had plenty of saves because the other teams took most of the shots.)  Watch a pro game now and you'll see information on time of possession, number of touches,  percent of bad passes, and more. 

  Now, those who want to dissect every last movement on the field, there is a book: “The Numbers Game,” subtitled “Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong.” According to the Times, it will be available this week, so I'll have to read it and let you know what I think.

Phil Woosnam, Long-Time NASL Commissioner, Dies

Phil Woosnam, the Welsh professional player who came to the United States and served as commissioner of the North American Soccer League for 15 seasons, died Friday in Georgia, as reported by the New York Times.

After playing more than 300 matches for Leyton Orient, Aston Villa and West Ham United, and earning 17 caps for Wales, Woosnam came to the United States in 1966 and played for the NASL Atlanta Chiefs beginning in '67 and became coach of the team in '68.  The following year he became coach of the U.S. National Team.  A year later he became commissioner of the NASL, a post he held for 15 seasons.

I had occasion to get to know Phil a bit when I worked for an upstart soccer publication called Soccer Weekly, that lasted just one year.  He was a nice enough guy and as I recall reasonably accessible, but we always had the impression that he felt the league didn't need us.  We were hoping for some contacts with sponsors as potential advertisers but never got it.

Afterall, the NASL was on an upswing, growing from nine teams and average attendance of 5,954 (usually in large stadiums) in 1973 to a high point of 24 teams and average attendance and average crowds of 14,440 in 1980.  But it wasn't part of the sporting fabric of the country.  It wasn't regularly on television or in Sports Illustrated, or talked about at the local bars.  And that's where Phil and the other powers of the league missed out: by not helping the grass roots local media.  Maybe the league would have ultimately failed anyway, given the over-expansion, the tanking of the economy in the '80s, and the over-spending on player salaries, all of which contributed to the demise shortly before the 1985 season.  But the free publicity of lot os small media outlets around the country couldn't have hurt.

Phil Woosnam went from his commissioner's post to the marketing arm of U.S. Soccer and is given some credit for getting the men's World Cup for the United States in 1994.  In 1997 he was elected to the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame, a well-deserved accolade.

First Trip to PPL Park

   Finally made it to PPL Park Saturday night to see the Union play for the first time since their inaugural match back on April 10, 2010 at the Linc.  Despite the oppressive humidity and the electrical storm that delayed the second half and caused us to leave before the half began, it was a fun time as the Union played to a scoreless tie with the Portland Timbers.

   Just as the teams left the field for intermission, the lightning bolts from the dark storm clouds across the Delaware River coupled with a downpour forced an extended halftime of nearly 40 minutes,  Between the humidity, the later hour and the prospect of wet seats and possibly more rain, Debbie and I left just as play resumed.

   The 45 minutes we watched were entertaining, albeit somewhat slow-paced, but the it was about 90 degrees at the opening whistle.  Although the Inquirer reported a sell-out of 18,740, we saw quite a few empty seats at the opening whistle.  I thought the Timbers generally had the better of the play in the first half, although the Union certainly had some chances.  But according to the Inquirer, the home team stepped it up in the second half and Portland needed some great saves from Donovan Ricketts to salvage the draw.

   We sat on the southwest corner, 19 rows from the field, inside the 18-yard line, and not far from the boisterous Sons of Ben fan club's area on the south end.  It was very cool when the Sons unfurled a large American flag as the crowd joined in to sing the Star Spangled Banner.  The Sons kept up the noise level, and drum beats, throughout the half.  There was a lame attempt by the team to have everyone sing I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover at the 20:10 mark of the game to commemorate the team's founding in 2010.  I get the 20:10 but no one explained the significance of the song and it doesn't matter because very few sang it.

   The stadium itself is everything positive I'd read about it: clean, soccer-specific, good seating, plenty or rest rooms and uncrowded (but typically over-priced) concessions stands.  Definitely a good place to watch a game, and far more convenient to South Jersey fans than Villanova Stadium where the Philadelphia Charge (R.I.P.) of the W.U.S.A. played.  The parking is likewise overpriced at $20, but the lots are well lit and managed by the team,  They could use some numbering of areas to make it easier to find your car afterwards, and the signage leading out of Lot C where we parked is confusing or non-existent, as are the signs directing traffic to and from the Commodore Barry Bridge.