There are many pitfalls in youth soccer in our country. Over-invested parents; the pressure to win at too young an age; high-pressure coaches who focus on winning instead of on development; and increased dropout rates because of these and other factors are just some of story lines that we see repeated over and over. Much of this negativity comes because of our collective mindset that the only way for us to measure our childrens progress in soccer is through the scores of their games. How many points their team gets and how many goals our children score have, for too many years, been the metrics by which we gauge their progress. But what if there was a different way to develop soccer players in Canada? What if we could simply teach kids to play better? That is the goal of Willie Cromack, founder of Play Better, an innovative plan to improve sport culture in Canada. The program attempts to shift the mindset of players and parents alike, away from scoreboard success and towards empowering children to discover their potential - both as soccer players and as human beings. Play Better is a grassroots soccer program designed to provide clubs, coaches, parents and players with a clear and accountable pathway through soccer. This includes an LTPD-compliant curriculum, lesson plans complete with desired outcomes, video training sessions, as well as tools for gathering metrics beyond simply the number of goals scored. The reason behind the gathering of those metrics is where the genius lies. Play Better aims to marry a holistic charitable program with the training and development of young soccer players. The program does through by asking teams to do the following: • Choose a cause or charity. For example; the SPCA, the Canadian Cancer Society or your local childrens hospital. • Choose a baseline metric. For example; a recreational team can choose 100 completed passes per game. A more competitive team can choose a larger number, such as 200 completed passes. This is called the team goal or team win. • Have a pre-season meeting with parents to explain your objective; for every game in which your team achieves its team win, ask parents (or friends, family members or sponsors) to donate a pre-determined dollar amount to the team cause/charity. The monetary amount is not important - it can be as little as a loonie per parent/family. • Create a team website, where the kids can tell their story. It gives them a chance to explain, in their own words, how achieving their objective every game will not only help them become better soccer players, but also make a difference in the world. It also allows them to track and promote how much money they have raised for their chosen cause/charity. Team Falcons is a U11 boys gold soccer team in North Vancouver. Click here to see how they have committed to Play Better. I am often asked how we can shift away from the win-at-all-costs mentality that has infected youth soccer in our country. As I have written many times before, it is one of the biggest hurdles we must overcome if we are to create an effective youth development system in Canada. It isnt the players that we need to convince; it is the parents. A program like Play Better might just be the bridge we need to achieve this. As the members of Team Falcons can attest, players participating in Play Better quickly realize that their sporting endeavours have a bigger meaning. It isnt just about winning and losing anymore - it is about helping others. This teaches players to work on their fundamental skills (to complete 100 or 200 passes per games, players have to focus on what they learn in training), but more importantly, it teaches them about helping others, about community investment and about personal growth. What parent doesnt want their child to learn those lessons? If these lessons can be tied into the technical development of young soccer players, then Canadian soccer could be onto something big. *If you or your team is interested in Play Better, you can read more about the program here, or contact Willie Cromack at willie@championsinsport.com Custom Rams Jerseys . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. Wholesale Los Angeles Rams Jerseys .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No. http://www.ramscheap.com/. Bjoergen pulled away from Swedens Charlotte Kalla on the final straight to win in 38 minutes, 33.6 seconds and defend her title from the 2010 Vancouver Games. Kalla was 1.8 seconds back. Heidi Weng of Norway took bronze. Los Angeles Rams Jerseys China . Jim Leyland, in his eighth playoffs, has never had a starting rotation he trusts as much as the grouping of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister. Authentic Los Angeles Rams Jerseys . Not sure yet. #livetweetingthegreatuntangle — Strombone (@strombone1) April 17, 2014 Stage three, coping: I feel like I could use a cigarette or something.LATROBE, Pa. - LeVeon Bell kept watching the tape over and over, equal parts pleased and puzzled by what he saw. There were times during his rookie season when the Pittsburgh Steelers running back would place his hand on an offensive linemans back and wait patiently for the hole to open. Sometimes, one would appear. Sometimes it wouldnt, mainly because whatever sliver of daylight existed had already been swallowed by darkness while Bell was still trying to read the blocks in front of him. Guess which plays kept eating away at him during the off-season? Not the ones that turned into one of his eight rushing touchdowns during a record-breaking year he grudgingly gives a "C-plus." "At the time, I thought I was doing pretty good," Bell said. "Then when I started breaking it down, I realized I wasnt doing what I thought I could." So Bell spent the spring focusing on his footwork to avoid the mincing steps that hes certain cost him valuable yardage a year ago. His Instagram feed is peppered with video of the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Bell doing his best "Dancing With the Stars" impersonation. During one he jabs his way through four octagons, does a pair of 360-degree spins around yellow cones then nimbly races over rope placed about 6 inches off the ground. The goal is to avoid outstretched hands from fallen defenders while also developing a more aggressive style. "Its definitely going to help me with my burst and my explosion coming out of cuts," Blount said. It might be the one thing that was missing during an otherwise productive 2013 in which his 1,259 all-purpose yards broke the club rookie record set by Hall of Famer Franco Harris more than 40 years ago. Bell proved to be a workhorse after missing the first three weeks with a foot injury, averaging more than 22 touches in 13 games. Problem is, too often those touches didnt go anywhere. His 3.5 yards per carry ranked 38th in the league. Part of the blame goes to an injury-ravaged offensive line that didnt really find its footing until late in the season. Yet Bell alllows he also missed plenty of opportunities to make something happen because he waited too long to get going.dddddddddddd "If I could have got my feet down quicker, I could have gotten a lot more yards," he said. "When its third-and-1, youve got to go get it. If its a first-and-10 run, take your time run, let the play develop and get what you can. " The Steelers will be asking for more from Bell in 2014 in hopes of taking some of the pressure off quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh hasnt had a 1,000-yard rusher since Rashard Mendenhall ran for 1,273 yards in 2010 while helping the franchise to its eighth Super Bowl. The past three seasons have seen a steady decline in production on the ground. The Steelers finished tied for 27th in yards rushing last year, a number they believe needs to go up. Though Roethlisberger expects to be more effective while expanding the shotgun-heavy no huddle offence that worked so well during a 6-2 finish to 2013, Bell knows some of that production needs to come when the quarterback takes the snap, turns to Bell and gets out of the way. "I think this year is going to be more open," Bell said. "Guys are going to be doing more different things. I cant wait to see what this offence can do." Even if he finds himself watching from the sideline. Bell became firmly entrenched as the starter a year ago as Jonathan Dwyer, Isaac Redman and Felix Jones struggled to stay healthy or productive. Hes still atop the depth chart, but hell be pushed by free agent signee LeGarrette Blount. The Steelers signed the burly Blount to a one-year contract during the spring after Blount ran for 772 yards (and a whopping 5.0 average) for the Patriots last year. Bell insists hes not looking over his shoulder. "I love coming in and competing, getting my work in," he said. "Last year for the Patriots I felt like (Blount) was the best runner over there watching on film. Im glad we got him, Im not arguing over it ... hes a guy that is going to help us win." 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