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Passion for game is growing at college, youth levels

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Cesar Markovic, one of the fairy tale stories of Div. I college soccer, was the first to share his knowledge as he joined us for a bite to eat. His college, Saint Peter’s, went to the second round of the NCAA tournament, the first time ever for the program to reach such heights. “The highlight of the year was beating Brown in the first round,” said coach Markovic. “Winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was also very exciting,” added his assistant coach Jack Stefanowski. At the dinner table, NYC’s head women’s coach, Amanda Vandervort, listened attentively and remarked afterward: “I was impressed with Cesar’s professionalism and the support he has around him.”
Markovic is becoming a sought-after coach as he climbs the NCAA ladder. His humble beginnings at schoolboy level with Blau Weiss Gottschee to becoming a Div. I coach is a dream come through for the son of Queens, N.Y. “It is so important to me as a coach to learn first before I can teach the game,” he said.
From Gottschee he moved on to Div. 3 Hunter College where it became obvious that a top coach was in the making after he qualified for the NCAA tournament. Now after four seasons with St. Peter’s College, Markovic may be unable to turn down any offers from bigger schools with bigger soccer programs. Assistant men’s soccer coach of NYU Tomasz Stefenowski said, “He was my coach for Under-19 Select and to this day 10 years later he has never stopped motivating me on and off the field.”
The next morning Freddy Adu kicked off the day at the MLS SuperDraft held in conjunction with the convention. He was the No. 1 choice. Like a true humble superstar, the 14-year-old footballer was stuck for words upon his DC United selection. “I am in awe,” he said. The footage of Adu dancing around defenders and slotting finishes home with ease was the perfect start to the draft. Adu concluded he was “blessed” to be given such an opportunity.
The convention then took on the gamut of soccer in America. We ran into Div. III Emory University Coach Mike Rubbish, who informed us of the new spring season rule beginning in 2005. Now college teams can only practice for four weeks and are allowed only one competition. “It’s ridiculous,” remarked Rubbish. “How do we develop our players? If players really want to improve, they will have to play club. It’s crazy, but we must continue to make it work.”
Off we sped to America Scores, a tool for youth development in urban communities. The after-school program grows nationwide as far as Los Angeles which is their newest challenge. The program was founded on a teacher’s idea to play soccer and write. Now the program is full of poetry in motion. It is very important to the youth program that the emphasis is on not winning but rather sportsmanship, respect, commitment, leadership and all that good stuff. The stuff that can be carried back into the class for the young players to develop basically as human beings.
Mike Dickinson echoed the same principles at the session for the English Premier League Academy System. Everton FC is where Dickinson took the convention coaches. Education and welfare for the young Evertonians is what their academy is all about, with Wayne Rooney the pride and joy of the club. Dickinson opened up his session with introducing the importance of when a team is having success to keep building on that. “Liverpool did it,” he announced. “They were winning everything in sight and then they go and buy more quality. We couldn’t believe it at Everton. What are they doing, we asked? Here they were cleaning up and they go and buy the man at the back wall here in this room, Mr. John Barnes.” All heads turned and, sure enough, there he was, John Barnes, hanging out at the NSCAA convention.
“I gave a talk at a meeting for black coaches in the U.S.,” said a delighted Barnes. “I am really enjoying myself here. What has impressed me the most, though, is the emphasis on the women’s game and how good that is. It’s the best in the world. Also, what’s very impressive is the attention given to the amateur level here in the United States. It’s very interesting and it’s the right way to go. In England we think we own the sport. We are geared toward the professional game. We should take a look at how America puts emphasis on women, amateur and youth soccer. After all, these are the places where it all begins.”
Then Dubliner Sean Kenny of FC Westchester appeared on the scene, closely watching the Everton drills in the exhibit hall. “My boss just left and I better take some notes to at least pretend I’m working,” said a smiling Kenny. “We are here to do some work with Adidas and Nike and then we are off to the Y League meeting. We attended the Coco Beach tournament over the holidays and we had a great time. FCW are now looking to get involved in hosting tournaments. It’s the way to go for us. It’s also the way to go in connecting youth soccer to college ball. I am very excited about my under-15’s. I think they can go all the way,” Kenny said. We couldn’t resist asking the ex-Shamrock Rovers player about Eircom’s soccer in the sun. “I think it was great,” he said. “The players will take a while to get used to it, I just hope Rovers don’t fold.”
Next up was the Special Olympics session. The passion shown by the athletes and assistant coaches was second to none at the convention. It was fitting that Gino Pariani and Frank Borghi were introduced to the Special Olympic participants after an exciting PK shoot out than ended in a tie. The legendary players who were part of the U.S. team that beat England in the famous 1950 victory signed autographs. The veteran internationals reminded us that soccer has been around a long time in the U.S. and the passion is growing. The 2004 convention was proof of such growth.

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