The Soccer Jersey - A Matter Of Identity

                

 

Nothing identifies the game as much as the soccer jerseys. The jersey is probably the most important part of the uniform. It doesn?t matter if it's a club or national team; the soccer jersey is typical and unique of the game. One can tell if a person is using a soccer jersey from miles away, and it is used not only by soccer fans but also because a lot of the jerseys have nice designs and lines to them, which allows people to wear them in practically any occasion.

The soccer jersey has suffered a lot of changes over the years. In the beginning, the jerseys were made mostly out of cotton and were relatively thick in comparison to the modern ones. This was a disadvantage because when the players used to sweat the shirt would get heavier and stick to the body.

Old day soccer jerseys were quite simple as far as design goes, usually white or dark and had polo like collars to them with laces or buttons. Some people don?t know this, but the famous Brazilian yellow shirt we see today wasn?t always yellow. In fact, it was white with blue collars. This uniform was used until the famous defeat to Uruguay in 1950.

As the years went by, the soccer uniform developed together with the textile industry. Another reason is because the game became more and more popular and more and more competitive.

There was a point where the soccer jersey wasn't cotton anymore and started to be made with synthetic material. This made the jersey much lighter than the cotton ones and doesn't stick to the body as much as the cotton ones. Together with the material change, design changes were being made, especially the colors. Most jerseys still had polo like collars. The more modern soccer jerseys are made with special dry technology material that doesn?t get wet and doesn't stick to the player's body.

Nowadays, clubs and National teams use the soccer jersey for marketing strategies, with the name or logo of big companies on the shirt. Soccer fans in general buy a lot of soccer jerseys, especially the jersey with the club they support and their national team. Selling jerseys with the name of famous soccer players brings the sales up quite a lot, especially when these players are well wanted by the fans. It is very common to see jerseys with names like Ronaldinho, Beckham, Zidane, Ronaldo, Henry, Deco, Kak? and so many other famous players who are popular with the fans who support the teams they play for but also by soccer fans in general. The national soccer teams are also quite responsible for the selling of jerseys, especially the Brazilian, Argentine, German, Italian, English and French jerseys.

The soccer jersey manufacturers use a lot of marketing to sell their products and even come out with special edition jerseys and other marketing campaigns.

A soccer jersey isn't only a jersey, but it's an identity. It's the love of a fan towards the team he supports, it's like a second skin to some people.

Get all the latest in Soccer know how from the one and only true source at http://www.SoccerDetails.com. Be sure to check our soccer jersey pages.

How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Score Prediction Method

                

 

How To Improve Your Soccer Bets is a series of articles that describe some well known and well used statistical techniques that will help the soccer punter make more informed bets. Each of the techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages and using them in isolation will improve your chances of winning. However, together they will prove invaluable in your battle with the bookies. In each article we will describe in detail how a particular method works giving you enough information for you to go ahead and create your own forecasts. We will also give you information as to where you can already find websites that use this technique in comprising their weekly forecasts.

The statistical methods described in this set of articles will help you to arrive at a better decision about the match, or matches, that you are betting on.

In this article we will be describing the well known Score Prediction method. The Score Prediction method uses a teams goal performances over a specified period of time in order to predict the score of the game concerned.

Here are the basic rules?
As an example of the Score Prediction method this is how Footyforecast and 1X2Monster handle this method. This is an example of a match and each teams respective goal count for the last five games:

home team 3-3 1-0 4-1 0-2 2-1
away team 0-1 2-2 0-3 6-0 1-3

We can work out some figures from this as follows:

home teams goals scored for = HGF = 3 + 1 + 4 + 0 + 2 = 10
away teams goals scored for = AGF = 1 + 2 + 3 + 0 + 3 = 9
home teams goals against = HGA = 3 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 7
away teams goals against = AGA = 0 + 2 + 0 + 6 + 1 = 9

Now we can work out points for each team based on the goals they have scored and the goals they have had scored against them as follows:

home goal points = HGP = HGF + AGA = 10 + 9 = 19
away goals points = AGP = HGA + AGF = 7 + 9 = 16

And now we can get a difference:
goal points difference = GPD = HGP - AGP = 19 - 16 = 3

Now we could classify this as follows:
GPD => +2 then home win,
GPD =< -2 then away win
GPD -2 then draw.

These parameters are obviously fairly arbitrary but experience should allow you to tune them more carefully.

Now we must use the GPD and one of three tables.
Here are the tables...

Home WIn Score Prediction
HOME AWAY
HGSP GOALS AGSP >0 >11 >17 >26
>49.....6............0....1....2....3
>43.....5............0....1....2....3
>37.....4............0....1....2....3
>30.....3............0....1....2
>23.....2............0....1
>0.......1............0

Away WIn Score Prediction
AWAY HOME
AGSP GOALS HGSP >23 >18 >13 >0
>34.....5............3....2....1....0
>29.....4............3....2....1....0
>24.....3..................2....1....0
>18.....2..................2....1....0
>0.......1..................2....1....0

Draw Score Prediction
HOME + AWAY SCORE
....>44.........3-3
....>34.........2-2
....>24.........1-1
....>0...........0-0

Since our match has generated a home win prediction then we must use the HOME WIN SCORE PREDICTION table to obtain our score prediction. To do this we need to calculate another parameter, that of home goal score points as follows:

HGSP = HGP + all goals scored by home team of 3 or more in a match + all goals against the away side of 3 or more.

therefore HGSP = 19 + 7 + 6 = 32

Now do the same for the away team:

AGSP = AGP + all goals scored by away team of 3 or more in a match + all goals against the home side of 3 or more.

therefore AGSP = 16 + 6 + 3 = 25

So, in the home win score prediction table we go to HOME > 30 which gives us 3 goals for the home team and go to AWAY > 17 giving us two goals for the away team therefore the result is predicted as a 3-2 home win.

Now it?s your turn?

Of course you may choose to use different values to those shown above and by experimenting you may come up with better values to use.

If you have the necessary skills you could go away and build your own spreadsheet of data or even write a piece of software to take in results and fixtures and apply the Score Prediction method to your data. Or, if you?re lazy like me, you could grab some free software that already does this for you. If this last option is for you then visit 1X2Monster where you can download a FREE copy of the Footyforecast 2.0 software which utilises all of the statistical methods described in this series of articles. You will also be able to download FREE weekly database updates for your software, how cool is that?

Here is a list of all the articles in this series?

How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Rateform Method
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Footyforecast Method
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Win Draw Loss Method
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Simple Sequence Method
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Score Prediction Method
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Superiority Method

Malcolm Nossiter is the owner of 1x2monster.com and footyforecast.com. He has been providing hundreds of 1X2 tips every week since 1999. Please visit 1x2monster.com for a fountain of information on soccer betting.

How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Rateform Method

                

 

How To Improve Your Soccer Bets is a series of articles that describe some well known and well used statistical techniques that will help the soccer punter make more informed bets. Each of the techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages and using them in isolation will improve your chances of winning. However, together they will prove invaluable in your battle with the bookies. In each article we will describe in detail how a particular method works giving you enough information for you to go ahead and create your own forecasts. We will also give you information as to where you can already find websites that use this technique in comprising their weekly forecasts.

The statistical methods described in this set of articles will help you to arrive at a better decision about the match, or matches, that you are betting on.

In this article we will be describing the well known Rateform method. The Rateform method has its origins in The Rating Of Chessplayers by Professor Elo, and from the Punters Revenge by Tony Drapkin and Richard Forsyth. The basis of the Rateform method is that each of the two teams taking part in a match is given a point score that is based on their current form. Although this sounds very simplistic, and it is, its calculation is a little more involved.

Here are the basic rules?

1. Each team is given a point score representing their current form.

2. At the start of the season each team is given 1000 points.

3. When a match is played both teams contribute some of their points towards a kitty.

4. The home team supply more points into the kitty than the away team. This is done to reflect the home teams advantage of playing at home.

5. The winning team takes the kitty, unless the result is a draw in which case both sides share the points. In the case of a draw the away side gains points and the home side looses points.

Here is how a typical calculation is made?

home team points total = HTPOINTS
away team points total = ATPOINTS
home team contribution to kitty = HTKITTY = 7% of HTPOINTS
away team contribution to kitty = ATKITTY = 5% of ATPOINTS
the kitty therefore = KITTY = HTKITTY + ATKITTY

if the result is a HOME WIN then
home team receives KITTY points added to HTPOINTS
away team receives zero points added to ATPOINTS and looses its 5% contribution to the kitty

if result is an AWAY WIN then
home team receives zero points added to HTPOINTS and looses its 7% contribution to the kitty
away team receives KITTY points added to ATPOINTS

if the result is a DRAW then
home team receives KITTY / 2 points added to HTPOINTS
away team receives KITTY / 2 points added to ATPOINTS

Let?s look at a simple example of how you could apply this?

To calculate the possible outcome of a match based on rateform the away rateform is subtracted from the home rateform and the difference is compared against set values for home, away and draw possibilities.

For example we could make our set values as follows:

AWAY WIN ß -250 DRAW 150 à HOME WIN

RATEFORM DIFFERENCE = HOME TEAM RATEFORM ? AWAY TEAM RATEFORM

So, if the RATEFORM DIFFERENCE is less than -250 then the match is likely to be an away win, if the RATEFORM DIFFERENCE is greater than 150 then the match is likely to be a home win, and if the RATEFORM DIFFERENCE lies between then the outcome is most likely to be a draw.

Now it?s your turn?

Of course you may choose to use different values to those shown above and by experimenting you may come up with better values to use. You could also decide not to reset each teams points to 1000 at the start of the season but instead let them carry over into the next season. Another alternative would be to have a rolling calculation where you calculate the rateform for each team on say the last six months.

If you have the necessary skills you could go away and build your own spreadsheet of data or even write a piece of software to take in results and fixtures and apply the Rateform method to your data. Or, if you?re lazy like me, you could grab some free software that already does this for you. If this last option is for you then visit 1X2Monster where you can download a FREE copy of the Footyforecast 2.0 software which utilises all of the statistical methods described in this series of articles. You will also be able to download FREE weekly database updates for your software, how cool is that?

Here is a list of all the articles in this series?

How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Rateform Method.
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Footyforecast Method.
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Win Draw Loss Method.
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Simple Sequence Method.
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Score Prediction Method.
How To Improve Your Soccer Bets Using The Superiority Method.

Malcolm Nossiter is the owner of 1x2monster.com and footyforecast.com. He has been providing hundreds of 1X2 tips every week since 1999. Please visit 1x2monster.com for a fountain of information on soccer betting.

Soccer Posters, Collecting Soccer World Cup Team Posters

                

 

For every soccer enthusiast, the event of the year is the World Cup. The soccer fans throughout the world are the most dedicated and watch the games mesmerized, and they don't hide the fact.

The Souvenirs of the World Cup

Whenever an event like the World Cup soccer takes place, millions of souvenirs are made for fans to have a reminder of the event. Every conceivable type of keepsake including soccer posters for all the different teams are sold to the fans. Every year the most sought-after souvenirs are the soccer posters of different sizes, which the fans find to be the perfect remembrance of the event.

What is a Soccer Poster?

A soccer poster for each event represents part of the history of that country's team, the faces of the team members for that year will always be remembered by that poster. Each soccer fan wants a little part of that big event to be with him or her forever, and that is the reason why soccer posters are the most in demand item at an event as big as World Cup soccer.

The value of these posters that hold memories of history forever, were even bigger once upon a time, when television broadcasting hardly existed. Every image of the soccer event was treasured and none more than those on the soccer poster.

Of course the power of mind and what you have seen in person is probably the best memory of all, when an event is as big as the World Cup Soccer this is so true for the soccer fans. In years to come, with your children and their children, having these soccer poster souvenirs of such a great event as a Soccer World Cup, you will be a very special person to them for having been there or having collected such wonderful keepsakes.

Our passions define who we are, our minds register what we see. The pictures prove we have seen it and posters make the history come back to life. Collecting soccer posters will make our history book more colorful and vivid, our children and grandchildren whom, no doubt will be soccer fans too, will have many stories to tell about the fascinating, adventurous person you are.

Therefore, while many other souvenirs may or may not survive, the soccer poster will surely pass the time test and remain in the family history book for many generations to come. Images will always be a main form of remembrance. When you have a picture or poster that holds expressions beyond words such as a soccer poster of a winning World Cup soccer team, you certainly have something of great value.

Soccer Posters

Please visit our site PosterInfo-Online for great resources, information, hints and tips for all things posters and Find Your Favorite Posters

Why Should Children Be Encouraged To Play Soccer?

                

 

In today's media we are constantly being reminded of a health time bomb that is about to explode as children today are not active enough.

There are so many competing distractions for our children's attention, video games, endless channels to watch, these can all lead to sedentary lifestyle if they are not kept in check.

Soccer is the beautiful game, played by millions of young girls and boys (aged 6 to 18) across many continents, whether it's on the beaches of Rio, the back alleys of a major city nearby or the local park, you will find someone kicking a football around.

In today's society there has been a shift to more organised soccer practice for our youth players. Gone are the days of jumpers for goal posts, as streets are littered with cars and grass verges now have houses built on them.

Having a more structured approach is both a good and a bad thing; on one hand young players get structured development and education through willing volunteers who show them how everything from how to warm up correctly, develop their technical ability with the ball right through to skill development and organised small sided games to wrap everything up together to provide a total learning experience.

Today time is limited and therefore there may be only an hour or two devoted to structured soccer practice during the week, what happens when practice is over?

Getting your child to participate in an organised soccer school or club can bring tremendous benefits to you and your child.

Soccer can help increase your child's self esteem, which feeds their self talk which ultimately drives their performance. But soccer isn't the only winner, quite often it can be seen that academic performance can increases to!

Studies have shown that getting young children involved in soccer at an early stage promotes a real healthy attitude towards the game and this attitude continues with them into adult life.

The number one reason why children play soccer is to have fun; if soccer is fun and enjoyable then players will want to continue playing. This benefits their overall fitness and reduces their health risks considerably.

Soccer is made fun by coaches worldwide who willingly give up their time voluntarily to organise youth soccer practice and coach teams.

Gone are the days when soccer, for the really young players, was an 11 a side game with offside rules and no touches of the ball for massive periods of the game.

Youth soccer from the age of 6 to 11 is typically about having fun, playing small sided matches such as 4 v 4 with no goal keepers, promoting lots of touches of the ball and player interaction on the pitch.

Through playing soccer and encouraging children to take regular exercise many of the risk factors that are associated with heart disease such as obesity and diabetes can be reduced significantly. It is stated that childhood obesity has increased by more than 50% since 1976, which is a really scary fact.

Getting your child involved in soccer doesn't just improve their health. We've mentioned already the improvements at school.

Social benefits, such as mixing with others, having to work as a team, contributing through individual effort to a collective goal, experiencing the highs and lows, picking each other up, competition, striving to be the best, aiming to win and supporting and helping others are all by products of playing soccer.

Many of the life skills that the players learn through soccer are beneficial in later life, how to form and build relationships, developing a sense of co-operation, how to lead people, how to handle adversity, what commitment means and punctuality, are all key qualities that will benefit the players in adult life.

If your child is already playing soccer, great. But what can you do if you want to get your child involved in a local soccer team? Here are seven must ask questions that you and your child should consider when attempting to find a suitable club...

1) What level of commitment is required in terms of practice sessions and games at the weekend?

2) When are the training sessions? When are games played, what's the format and how much time will you need to devote?

3) How far are you willing to travel to training and to matches? Some clubs will operate travel teams where distances can be considerable, including overnight stops.

4) What are the costs involved? Some clubs adopt a pay when you play, others a more structured approach. The most expensive clubs are not always the best, ask yourself is what your paying in the equivalent to what your child is getting out?

5) What do you and your child want out of playing soccer? This needs to be aligned with the prospective clubs philosophy, is it about having fun or winning?

6) How best will your child learn, develop and stay interested? Are they happy just to be involved or would they thrive in a more competitive environment?

7)What is the clubs constitution and philosophy to soccer, how long have they been in existence, the experience of the coaches, location, facilities etc.

Once you have considered the above questions what are your next steps to finding a suitable club or soccer organisation for your child?

You can...

i) Get in touch with your local Soccer Association by searching the web or looking in yellow pages. They should be able to provide you with a list of clubs and organisations in your local area.

ii) Ask other parents/guardians about local junior and youth soccer teams. You'll be surprised at how many adults or their children are involved.

iii) Encourage you children to ask their school mates where they play their soccer. Knowing some of the team can be a real advantage as players integrate themselves into a team.

iv) Ask your child's form tutor or headmaster if they know of any clubs or organisations. Many clubs have formed good relationships with the schools over the years.

v) Read the local papers or local news websites you'll be amazed at how much coverage youth and junior soccer gets.

These five practical steps should enable you to find a club that meets yours and your child's soccer aspirations. However, if there still isn't a club near you that can satisfy a need why not look to set up your own team!

Claim your complimentary copy of the 'Soccer Coaching Guide' provided by Junior Soccer Coach and receive hints, tips and techniques to improve your team's performance AND your expertise as a coach. Grab your copy now, visit the website today... http://www.JuniorSoccerCoach.com/public/462.cfm

Oman's Chances at the Soccer Gulf Cup, Abu Dhabi

                

 

The much awaited soccer Gulf Cup in Abu Dhabi, UAE will commence on the 17th of January, 2007. The opening match will feature the biggest rivals in the region, the Sultanate of Oman and the host country, the United Arab Emirates.

The setting for this gulf cup has been pretty much identical to the 2004 one in Qatar in which 8 countries have been divided into 2 groups. Oman has been fixed in group A that also includes the UAE, Yemen and Kuwait.

At first glance, it looks like the Sultanate of Oman has finally managed to evade the group of death and has, this time around, fallen into the easier group out of the two. That being said, it is now faced with a very difficult task of battling it out with the host country in the opening match of the tournament.

In a recent survey on SoccerBlaze!, 66% of the participants voted that the Sultanate would acquire either third or fourth berth. 27% responded that Oman will exit from the group stages and 5% said that it will reach the final match, which will be a repeat of 2004. Let us have a closer look at group A and analyse our chances of success.

Sultanate of Oman's Preparations

Our preparation for the Gulf Cup started (or should have started) after the match against UAE in the Asian Cup qualifiers. We lost 0-3 to Jordan in Amman in the qualifiers and 2-0 to a youth Iraqi team and 1-0 in the Asian Games in Doha. I am sorry, I couldn't resist being sarcastic. Our beloved coach Milan Macala has set up a training camp in Qatar which, according to officials, includes a match against the Qatari national team.

United Arab Emirates soccer team

Just like Oman, UAE has never won the Gulf Cup. They however have the home advantage this time and an excellent coach, who also happens to be the one that performed wonders with Senegal leading them to the quarter finals of the 2002 World Cup, Bruno Metsu. With these factors in mind, the UAE seems to have a more than decent chance of qualification to the knockout stages of the competition.

Sultanate of Oman's last two encounters with the UAE were in the Asian Cup qualification rounds. Oman lost 1-0 away from home in UAE but then redeemed the loss with a 2-1 win in Muscat. It is worth mentioning that the UAE's performance has declined considerably since 2004. The Sultanate has a decent chance of beating the UAE but my vote unfortunately goes to the Emirates as I believe the opening match, home advantage and the crowd will all work in the favour of the UAE and prove to be too overwhelming for Oman.

Kuwait soccer team

On the 20th of January, Oman will meet Kuwait, in a repeat of the opening match of the Gulf Cup in Kuwait in 2003. Kuwait are the competition's record title winners with 9 titles in their pockets, winning 7 out of the first 10 Gulf Cups. Kuwait has however slipped out of contention in the last few years and most recently by failing to qualify to the Asian Cup in 2007, losing out to Australia and Bahrain. Football in Kuwait seems to be in its worse ever state and calling it a crisis would not be an exaggeration.

I believe Oman has the capacity to beat Kuwait and I hope that they do. I also believe that Kuwait will come into this match with 3 points already in hand following its match against Yemen. Therefore, anything but a win against Kuwait means the end of our venture in Abu Dhabi.

Yemen soccer team

Yemen is the weakest team in the region and have played only 2 Gulf Cup tournaments to date. Their best two results in the competition were a draw against Bahrain and a draw against, yes you guessed it right, the Sultanate of Oman. Throwing Yemen into the mix up does however cause one or two problems to the other teams in the group if it managed to pull out shocking results like the ones against Oman and Bahrain, respectively.

Summary

I am sorry but I just can't think of Oman as the winners of the Gulf Cup and I think you can excuse me for not comprehending this fact being an Omani that is used to the first place backwards. However, I believe Oman can make it to the knockout stages and ultimately to the third versus fourth match. Once again this is all dependant upon which Oman side shows up in Abu Dhabi, is it the side that were runner ups in Qatar in 2004? Or is it the side that was and easy prey for Jordan, Iraq and China in 2006?

Saied Mohammed is the owner and co-founder of SoccerBlaze.com, a privately owned Football/Soccer Blog with emphasis on football news, articles and discussions from the Sultanate of Oman.

We are constantly looking for more members and posters so please jump in, join us and share your views at the first Omani football / soccer blog

Soccer Betting Secrets No.1 - Never Bet When You Cannot Afford To Loose

                

 

This golden rule is the simplest rule to understand yet the hardest rule to stick by for most punters. Every gambler who has hit a winning streak or a losing streak has fallen into the trap and gambled away money they couldn't afford to lose. DON'T DO IT!! As simple as it may sound - You just can't do it. Stick to this first golden rule and drill it deep down inside your brain that this rule cannot be broken. Why I say this is because there's consequences if you break this rule.

It is very easy to fall into the trap that because you are winning, then bigger stakes won't hurt (after all - it's the bookies money right?) or if you are losing then you think that you put a little bit more on this 'certainty' you can get your money back. DON'T DO IT!! As simple as it may sound - You just can't do it.

It is the gambler's curse. Win or lose this time, it will lead to disaster in the long-term. Bigger stakes on a winning streak are a sure way of guaranteeing that the bookies get back every single cent you won off them - and a lot quicker than even they anticipated. DON'T DO IT!! As simple as it may sound - You just can't do it.

The safest way to get as much thrill and enjoyment out of the gambling experience is to work out how much money you can afford to lose before you start. Betting big when you are losing is a sure-fire way to lose your rent, food money for the week or maybe months or years. DON'T DO IT!! As simple as it may sound - You just can't do it.

Remember - before you place a bet - imagine how you'll feel if when the bet loses. If the thought of losing it makes you feel sick or feel like jumping off a 35 storey high building ... then don't ever break this GOLDEN RULE NO.1

Author is a full time soccer analyst who has been around for more than 12 years and internet marketers and loves to write. http://www.soccerbettingpro.com http://www.firsteasymoney.com http://www.zacksays.com http://www.worldaffiliatemarketing.com

The Coaching Ball Revolutionize the Way Kids Learn to Kick a Soccer Ball

                

 

Now there is a soccer ball that will guarantee that you will strike a soccer ball low and on target and that will show you where to kick a soccer ball to swerve it or loft it. The Coaching Ball IS soccer's new training revolution! The Coaching Ball is the soccer ball to improve YOUR technique. Youth Soccer will benefit from the strong training experience that the Coaching Ball provides.

The Coaching Ball guarantees to:

? Help soccer players improve their passing and shooting.
? Ideal for all ages.
? Helps improve accuracy.
? Simple to use.

Dual use as it can be used as a regular soccer ball as well.

The coaching ball is the latest and most effective training aid for soccer players of all ages. Prepare for the next tournament or season with the latest soccer training aid with the Coaching Ball. Developed by a fully qualified British coach, the Coaching Ball helps soccer players to visualize where to make contact with the ball. Used by professional coaches, PE teachers, grass roots soccer clubs, soccer academies and parents and grandparents across Europe, the simple patented design allows immediate results to be seen.

Improve Soccer Skills

Developed by a fully qualified British coach, the Coaching Ball helps soccer players to visualize where to make contact with the soccer ball. This simple but highly effective technique lays a solid foundation that gives all children an equal chance of realizing their soccer potential. The "Coaching Ball" has been developed to give budding soccer stars a head start. A unique product, the Coaching Ball enables young soccer players to sharpen their skills from the moment they can walk!

The Coaching Ball is made with a new 2 tone advanced hi-tech PU outer layer with a 4 layer backing (65% Polyester and 35% cotton). The bladder is made of latex with a butyl valve. It is hand sewn in a child labor free environment. The Coaching Ball has brightly colored patches (2 component durable ink printed) labeled with simple directions, such as "Strike", "Loft", and "Swerve". The ball is placed on the floor and the relevant panel kicked according to the shot you require.

The Designer explains

The colored patches allow learners to identify the exact area of the football to strike in order to make the desired pass and is ideal for even the very young beginner".

With pressure on parents to provide expensive training for their future soccer stars, the Coaching Ball is an inexpensive and effective tool to encourage children to develop their soccer ability. The Coaching Ball is proving successful with professional clubs, with Premiership clubs undertaking field trials of the ball.

Why wait? Give your young soccer player the competitive advantage he or she deserves. The Coaching ball is a perfect gift for soccer players of all ages!

How to use the Coaching Ball:

1. Place the ball onto the ground (valve at the top)

2. Ensure you can see all of the panels.

3. Kick the ball on the correct zone for the pass you wish to achieve.

4. It's as simple as that!

Applications

You don?t need to be a professional coach to achieve immediate results.

? Strike
-The Drilled Pass
- Direct passes
- Shooting

- Penalty kicks
- Swerve

( Can be used with the inside and outside of the foot)

- Passing Corners

- Free Kicks

- Passing around obstacles

* Loft

- Passing

- Goal Kicks

- Defensive clearances

- Chipping the ball

M. Burbank is the co-owner of www.thecoachingball.com and www.supergoalie.com. The coaching ball is a revolutionary new training aid for soccer players.

EPL Premiership Betting Soccer Picks

                

 

MORE PREMIERSHIP VALUE BY bet365 <div>?</div> <div>In the Premiership, Man United kept up the heat on Chelsea by Blackburn last week, and they're now odds 2.625 with bet365 for the title (Chelsea 1.67). That might be a price worth taking considering that they have an easier set of fixtures than the Blues in the coming weeks. After their impressive win over Liverpool, Arsenal (odds 9) are still in the hunt, but bet365 punters think they're more likely to finish third, backing them into 1.44 (from 1.67) in the betting 'Without Chelsea & Man United'.</div> <div>?</div> <div>This weekend, Arsenal (1.3) can grab another three points against Newcastle (odds 9), and punters should play up their winnings from last week (tipped up here at Evens (odds 2)!) by backing Wenger's boys to win to nil at 1.67. It's hard to see the Toon scoring right now, while they've also been making plenty of mistakes at the back.</div> <div>?</div> <div>In other games, both Reading and Portsmouth should do the business this weekend. The Royals have had a nasty run of fixtures, so they will be glad to be playing struggling Charlton (odds 3.4). They look a good bet at Evens (2.00) with bet365 to add to their morale-boosting win over Spurs, while Pompey (1.62) should be able to exploit Watford's (odds 5.00) current weaknesses.</div> <div>?</div> <div>You'd expect Chelsea (1.22) and Man United (1.36) to beat West Ham (odds at 11.0) and Sheffield United (odds 8.5) respectively, and the five-fold (including Arsenal, Reading and Pompey) pays out ?154 for a ?20 stake, which includes a bet365 bonus of 10%. Each week, bet365 pay out up to 60% more on winning accumulators involving teams from the top flight, and they bet all games to 107% which means better value prices all around.</div> <div>?</div> <div>Everton and Bolton are fancied to share the points - take the 11/5 with bet365 - when they meet at Goodison Park, while Aston Villa can also make a point (odds 3.10) when they take on Wigan. Man City are no world-beaters, but they have earned the right to be respected on home soil where they have already accounted for Arsenal this season. They were unlucky against Newcastle last week, and they should be backed at a tasty 2.20 odds with bet365 to gain compensation against Fulham (odds 3.4).</div> <div>?</div> <div>Middlesbrough are also a tempting bet at 3.20 to beat Liverpool (odds 2.1) considering the Reds' away record, but the best pre-match bet on the game could lie in opposing goals - 1.57 Under 2.5 goals with bet365. Goals could also be at a premium in the live game between Blackburn v Tottenham (live) when bet365 will be betting In-Play on up to 28 markets after kick off.</div> The Premiership Accumulator Bonus: ->Maximum bonus ?50,000 or currency equivalent.

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Brazilian Soccer

                

 

Brazilian Soccer.

The soccer madness that has never relaxed its hold on Brazil began at the turn of the century, caused the entire nation to plunge into depression in 1950, later lifted it to peaks of euphoria between 1958 and 1970, contributed to the malaise caused by the political, social, and economic difficulties afflicting the country in the 1980s, and in 1994 gave Brazil's collective self-esteem a badly needed boost.

Global and Brazilian Soccer 2006

Sport is almost a secular religion with its myths, rules and revered heroes, often competing with religion when games are played at the same time as church services, say two Brazilian researchers. "Football and politics, the construction of a national identity".

Their conclusion that soccer is like a secular religion is one of the findings in the book dealing with class, race and geography in sport.

As the soccer teams from around the world converged on Germany for the soccer World Cup ? there is no question that the game forged and reinforced national identity in Brazil where the love of soccer is palpable.

Brazil is the only nation that has participated in every World Cup since the inception of the tournament in 1930.

Bulletin:

2006:

The Brazilian soccer confederation has hired former captain Dunga as coach of the national team.

Dunga, who was the captain of Brazil's 1994 World Cup-winning team, replaces Carlos Alberto Parreira, who quit after Brazil was eliminated by France in the quarterfinals of this year's World Cup in Germany.

"The choice of Dunga will fully satisfy the desires of Brazilian fans who want an enthusiastic coach on the national team," CBF president Ricardo Teixeira said on the confederation's Web site.

Dunga will make his debut when Brazil faces Norway in an exhibition Aug. 16 in Oslo.

History of soccer in Brazil and around the world.

After Brazil became a republic in 1889, the sport was the first time that poor, black and mixed-race people were integrated in social institutions like clubs, street teams and schools, and even into a national team.

Maybe soccer has not won elections or helped overcome social injustice, still the game has been used in Brazil by the State in the pursuit of its own interests and to consolidate its support.

President Vargas used the soccer sport as a tool to build national identity in Brazil, much as was done in Germany in the 1930?s promoting national pride in physical education. The World Cup tournament can be seen as an example of the largest number of people on the planet paying attention to an event of global reach. Nowhere was the enthusiasm greater than in Brazil.

The soccer World Cup is an event where national identities are upheld, presented and celebrated.

The oft-used expression "Soccer Country" defines Brazil as accurately as the descriptive "Carnival Country."

Indeed, the game "Brazilian Soccer" has managed to captivate Brazilians in every comer of the land, from Amazonia to the deep south, with an equal measure of devotion; in fact, it has sustained a degree of popularity that even Carnival has never been able to match.

The sport "brazilian soccer" has played a major role in unifying both nation and community. In Brazilian Soccer everyone follows the national team and takes great pride in its successes. Newcomers, whether from abroad or from another part of the country, are able to integrate themselves into the social life of a city or town by becoming fans of a local Brazilian soccer team or by participating in the game themselves.

Ivaldo is a soccer enthusiast and he follows the Brazilian soccer team and Brazil in general. Hence a website born out of his passion. It offers enthusiastic information. Perhaps you have a passion or hobby you'd like to write about. Discover how to turn it into a website like Ivaldo has. Visit http://passion.sitesell.com/ivaldo.html to learn

Betting Highlights, soccer betting situation winner football picks

                

 

Betting Highlights on tricky bets of the day and the valuebets on Sunday 7 of May. Released by sportbetting guru ecobika.

Weekend soccer gambling bonanza part 3. Yesterday ecobika gave you winner football picks again! Especially -> Mainz's victory vs. Schalke was fine. Very simple betting situation in soccer Serie A Italy preultimo round. 2 rounds to go yet, including this one. Fiorentina (v Reggina), Roma (v Treviso), and Milan (in Parma) are in must win situations. Ecobika would suggest to play all these games in -> football accumulator, or combo if you like -> Fiorentina, Roma, Milan. Roma and Fiorentina are in fight for the 4th, yet Champions League spot. Most likely Juventus will win the Scudetto and hard to imagine that Palermo takes this game seriously, the players are on vacation, at least your heads and feets. (Last round: Palermo v Roma 4-4, what a funny result it was.) Only one more game is interesting: Internazionale v Siena. Siena need one point to survive for sure, keep an eye on upsetting ,,fall apart" Internazionale, whose 3rd spot is 99.9% sure. The rest: Messina should win, but then should win in the last round too and hope Siena not to make a point, therefore not adviced to bet Messina v Empoli.

Big excitement in the Premiership. Both the second and fourth places are not sure yet. West Ham v Tottenham, the Hammers made enough upset -> West Ham to win AH 0:0. This bet is winner, if West Ham wins, and loser, if Spurs wins, moneyback on draw. Certainly, the draw could mean that Tottenham losing the Champions League spot, because Arsenal in more than explosive form and Wigan will not play for anything (?). The candidates for the second place are MU and Liverpool. Manchester United has 1 point advantage. Ecobika thinking about NO UPSETs -> MU and Liverpool to win. The remaining matches will be played, you can count as many upsets, as you can.

Not easy to calculate the chances in Bundesliga2, where the preultimo round (round before the last round) is taking place. Crossing ways: Offenbach v Cottbus, the home side needs some points not to be relegated, the away side to be promoted. UPSETs -> Cottbus to win. If Cottbus not able to win, F?rth with a win v Rostock, could jump as close, as possible to Cottbus! Oddsmakers think about F?rth and Dynamo Dresden v Ahlen as sure home wins, but do not forget that -> Dresden should win both the remaining games to survive.

Also preultimo round in Primera Division. Barcelona already won the title, but the second place is open yet. Ecobika thinks that Real Madrid is hungry enough to win -> against very disappointed Villarreal.. Very hard to say anything about the relegation, the candidates are too close to call. -> Maybe Alaves makes upset in Zaragoza. In theory big matchup Racing Santander v Osasuna, the home side is fighting against relegation, meanwhile Osasuna can end 3rd, or, without luck, on the 5th spot! I think that Santander needs the points.

European Basketball betting. My friends, ecobika has bad news: on Thursday Bamberg was able to loose by 11 points after led by 15 in halftime. This means that my favorite league, Basketball Bundesliga is also about big bettingmoney...Certainly, now the top favorites play at home and will -> not play upsets, of course...But ecobika do not waste money on German Bundesliga playoff anymore. But matches across Europe, check gamebookers' odds, you'll find the correct odds.

Tennis betting, and as generally, ecobika's advice: do -> bet on the favorites.

The all time goldmine betting source, the AFL Australian Football League season in the 6th round already. gamebookers offer very good odds on Carlton v Collingwood -> Collingwood to win. Start: 06.10 CET! Also seems banker in AFL: Kangaroos.

The MLB baseball season started a few weeks ago and most of the MLB moneylines are good bets, if you play simple the favorites with gamebookers' odds!

However, the ball is round, good luck with your soccer picks. Bet with confidence, bet with gamebookers ecobika do the same. sportbetting guru

Betting Highlights on tricky bets of the day and the valuebets on Sunday 7 of May. Released by sportbetting guru ecobika.

Soccer betting - winner Football picks on Monday

                

 

Betting Highlights on tricky bets of the day and the valuebets on Monday, 27 of February.

Monday soccer picks

Pick: Atalanta looks tasty bet. This is a provincial matchup in Italy Serie B, but the quality is supporting Atalanta, which is second on the table and has the best chance to be promoted to Serie A. Meanwhile Albinoleffe has serious problems, and stands in the relegation zone. Albinoleffe's injuries would influence the permormance and the full time result. Live soccer betting available.

Also looks super soccerbet: Braga v Rio Ave should remain UNDER, Boavista conceded 1 goal per match away, Rio Ave scored 1.2 goals at home so far and also you can bet live soccer.

Tennis betting, but be careful with Dubai Tennis Tournament in the first rounds, best bet to avoid...

European Basketball betting: Austria ?BL league playoff continues, with a banker basketball bet, Allianz should win easily. Tomorrow (but if you read in Australia, today) in Australia, the Grand Final third match in National Basketball League, NBL. This is best-of-five serie, but hardly imagine that 3 matches will decide! Sydney Kings v Melbourne Tigers (beginning: 09.45CET), seems home win, but Tigers leads 2-0.

However, the ball is round, good luck with your soccer picks. Bet with confidence, bet with gamebookers ecobika do the same. live soccer betting

live soccer betting

Short Sided Round Robin Format for Basketball and Soccer

                

 

The computer age has bestowed some unforeseen blessings on the sports world. Math whizzes are now using the personal computer to track game results to a level never before possible, and sports are the better for it. The book "Moneyball" chronicled the way Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics used obscure statistical analyses to scout and deal for talent. Now, a variation of this method has spilt over into basketball with a number of NBA teams using statistics in a similar manner. These methods were described in a recent Sports Illustrated article titled "Measure of Success." Described as simply as possible, these statisticians track how well a team does when a player is on the floor, versus how well they do when they aren't.

These measures disregard a player's contribution as represented by their scoring, rebounding and assists totals, and simply asks, "Does the team do better or worse when this player is on the floor?" They also in many cases contradict the conventional wisdom concerning the relative worth of certain players. Jason Collins, a fifth-year center for the Nets of little renown gets ranked as the fourth best defensive center in the league. Conversely, high-scoring Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks is such a disaster on defense that his teams tend to lose with him on the floor, and win while he is on the bench.

While amateur coaches are sure to find these analyses interesting, is there any way in which they can employ these metrics for their own use? Amateur coaches might be able to get team assistants to gather the data needed to maintain these stats, but there is a much better way these concepts can be applied.

Virtually all teams rely heavily on scrimmage play as part of their practice routine. By adopting what I call a Roster Round Robin format during scrimmage play, coaches can get a much clearer picture of how and when individual players perform better than others. The format simply requires that sides be set to 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5, depending on available players. Players are issued reversible jerseys, and score is kept for each side. Stages are set to 3 or 4 minutes, and at the end of each stage, a team score is recorded, with each player earning points for themselves on the basis of their team result. Two players are then directed to exchange sides by flipping their reversible jersey, and a new stage is played. This pattern is continued until all possible roster combinations have been used.

For a 3v3 contest, this would equate to 10 possible combinations, thus requiring a 30 to 40 minute game. Each player earns a plus/minus score across all stages. As everyone plays under all roster combinations and points can only be earned on the basis of team results, an individual's result reflects their team contribution across all stages. In order to maintain game continuity and ensure rapid roster rotations, the roster rotations are predetermined and printed on a grid used for scoring.

Some may notice that the one thing seemingly not taken into account in this format is position play. A roster rotation schedule that disregards position play will likely result in some oddly balanced sides - think 5 guards versus 5 forwards and centers - that wouldn't reflect anything resembling a real-game matchup. This difficulty can, however, be overcome by taking positions into account when devising the roster rotations. For a 4v4 game, with players restricted to either a center/forward or guard position, there would be 9 different roster combinations required. For a full-sided game, a center position could be added, but 18 stages would be required. With three minute stages, this would be a 54 minute scrimmage game. Coaches may wish to split this size of scrimmage across multiple practices.

Would the results from any particular scrimmage mean much? For one game, probably not, as we all know the ball can bounce funny for a time. But if this format were used on a regular basis, the results should reveal which players are contributing the most to their team. These results will either confirm or deny a coach's sense of who his best players are, but there are two even bigger benefits that can come from the use of this format. First, as players come to understand this as the new measure of their play, they will be more receptive to a coach's instruction on team play. As well, players will intuitively respond to the demands of the game, and adjust their play accordingly. Simply put, the ability to measure team play translates to a better ability to teach and learn it.

The second benefit may be even more important. A system that clearly and demonstrably measures a player on the basis of their team contribution fosters team chemistry better than any other. The talented offensive player who lets down on defense can be brought to the table when the impact of his lackluster defense can be shown. Players who are frustrated because they think they should be playing more can either makes their case in the round robin practice, or be shown they're not there yet. Regardless of the case, team chemistry is advanced.

The only real barriers to this practice format are logistical. Running this practice format requires pre-numbered reversible jerseys, and scoring/rotation grid sheets. Both are available at Rejersey.com.

The format can also be adapted for tryouts and tournaments. If your team or league would like to use this format and would like help with logistics and obtaining reversible jerseys please contact customerservice@rejersey.com.

Tom Cobb is an avid soccer player and the owner of Rejersey.com. Rejersey.com is committed to providing the best jerseys for team sports while also supporting the sports that create the need for our products. Our jerseys are perfect for practice or pick-up, as well as team and tournament play. On top of this, we go a step further, and help those who are passionate about team sports with fund-raising, and organizing their teams, schedules and facilities.

2010 World cup soccer - A property marketing opportunity for South Africa

                

 

After the euphoria of winning the bid to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup, South Africans in all sectors must now work together to ensure that this opportunity is fully utilized for the long-term benefit of the entire country.

Hosting this major sporting event will be a massive boost to our economy and it is expected that almost R 30 billion will flow into South Africa, spurring economic growth to between 5 and 6 percent, while creating an estimated 150 000 jobs. The impact on the property market will be enormous.

South Africa is currently enjoying a strong position and consumer confidence is buoyant. International buyers, locals and expatriates are major buyers of South African properties.

The property market will do well to use the 2010 Soccer World Cup as a platform to aggressively market property in South Africa, which is still undervalued in global terms and offer exceptional value for money.

South African property is likely to receive a major boost from 2010 - if the World Cup is a success. Paris "France" property prices escalated by as much as 55% over a one year period before and after the 2002 Word Cup and property across the city made astronomical gains with the prices of apartments close to some of the stadiums rocketing by over 100% over the same period.

Some neglected neighborhoods in Paris were completely rejuvenated. The same will happen in South Africa, because although we have had a good run, in global terms our property is still undervalued and the macroeconomic outlook is very favorable.

Hosting an Olympic Games or World Cup encourages urban regeneration and is usually accompanied by an improvement in facilities, transport links and overall infrastructure. Yet, a closer look at the lessons of the Olympic Games hosted in Athens means a lot of work needs to be done - especially in marketing South Africa as a destination.

There is a lot to be learned from the Greek Olympic experience on how best to sell South Africa as a desirable country and etch ourselves into the minds of tourists and investors for a long time to come. Greece did not fully capitalize on the Olympics to promote itself and its property market to the extent that former Olympic host cities Barcelona and Sydney did - and lost out on some of the benefits of hosting a major international event.

Perhaps they were a bit complacent and thought just because they?d secure an event like the Olympics people would come running. The key learning is that Barcelona and Sydney went out of there way to make themselves outsider and investor friendly and strongly promote themselves through a fantastic marketing effort as a great place to buy a second home. And the Spanish in particular are probably the best in the world at selling their own property and the sensual and relaxed Spanish lifestyle. This has translated into massive job creation and social upliftment through increased tourism and a very favorable country perception. Around 60 000 UK citizens bought a home in Spain in 2003.

Just think if South Africa could increase its visitors by tens of millions a year to get close to the number of people who visit Span each year. We would have an incredible success story for job and wealth creation. When Sydney hosted the Olympic Games in 2000, they pushed not just Sydney as a city but the howl of Australia as a desirable place to tour, live and own property. There was a unified strategy between the government, the tourist board and the property industry.

In South Africa we can?t afford to just promote the cities that will host World Cup Soccer games. We also need to promote the true spirit of South Africa as a highly desirable investment friendly and stable country. Well planned government expenditure aimed at local regeneration will give impetus to host cities in creating a more suitable and attractive inner-city environment - that?s because public infrastructure that would otherwise have taken years to complete due to red tape will now be fast-tracked.

For example, the R 20-billion Gautrain high-speed service between Johannesburg and Pretoria will certainly be completed in time for the 2010 World Cup, creating a wealth corridor and increased property values across both cities.

Other projects that stand to benefit from the event include Coega?s giant "signature bridge", the Statue of freedom in Port Elizabeth and Durban?s new international airport at La Mercy, North of Durban. All of these will be fast-tracked into reality by 2010. In Cape Town , the N2 Gateway Project has been launched by the Housing Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, in an attempt to replace the tin and cardboard shacks along the highway to improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of locals and remove an embarrassing eyesore before the influx of millions of tourists into the Mother City for the World Cup Soccer finals in 2010.

2010 is also having an effect on building costs. Many building contractors are holding out for money spinning 2010 World Cup contracts, creating a shortage of builders. Stadiums must be build, renovated and expanded in time for this major event. Many stadiums are also being build especially for the event like Nelspruit?s Mbombela stadium scheduled for completion in 2007, at a cost of R 350 million.

However, most of the benefits from hosting this event come in the form of multiplier effects of each rand spent on all goods and services in the economy leading up to, during and after the event. The increased health of the economy will have the biggest overall effect on property prices.

International property investment specialist: Jannie Botha is an independent sales consultant (property broker) based in tropical Amanzimtoti, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.