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The women's professional game has a new name
and logo. After many years of planning since the 2003 shutdown of the first
professional league, WUSA, a new league is born.
The Women's Professional Soccer ("WPS") League and its new logo, a silhouette
of Mia Hamm, will begin in Spring 2009 with
eight (8) teams.
Fort Lauderdale's history is rich with some
of the best soccer (football, futbol, futsal, futebol) ever played in
the United States. Between 1977-1983 the
Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL stormed onto the scene playing at
Lockhart Stadium in front of jubilant crowds. The teams were
coached by Ron Newman (77-79), Cor Van der Hart ('80), Eckhard Krautzun
('81-82) and Dave Chadwick ('83).
There are two levels of
youth soccer: recreational and competitive - select (aka "travel").
Recreational soccer
is where all youth begin playing. This is traditionally a Fall season
sport in Florida. These are programs offered through your city,
school or community programs such as the YMCA. Players learn soccer
from volunteer parents or community coaches, with "equal" playing time for
all.
After a few years of playing at the recreational level, as a parent you
will know whether advancing to a higher level is right for your child
and your family. If not, there is plenty of excitement found in
playing recreational soccer.
Some city recreational programs often are affiliated with organized
national soccer associations such as US Youth Soccer Association (USYSA),
American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), etc.. where there is an agreed
upon practice of equal playing time for youth recreational participants.
This is necessary for player development and the pure joy of playing.
Most city programs are not members of these association and you will
find most of the volunteer coaches and administrators lacking knowledge
of accepted practices, which they can only learn about through these
types of national associations. It is unfortunate, but there is
little that can be done unless you are willing to volunteer your time to
reshape and educate those involved in your particular community or
school program. Middle School soccer teams are considered
recreational as well. Fall recreational soccer is the most popular season in
Florida; however, some cities and schools offer Winter seasons as well.
An advantage of a city program being affiliated with one of the national organizations is that they offer a national championship
series. AYSO for instance has several regions in Florida where the
various city leagues send a champion to compete. The winners of these
regions are invited to play for the AYSO national championship held each
summer. It is a great event with some of the best recreational
soccer being played. The USYSA through their state affiliates,
FYSA in Florida; offers Region Cup (March) competition for
recreational teams.
Competitive soccer is the next level of youth
soccer. This includes both High School and what is commonly
referred to as "travel" soccer leagues. The main season
is Fall, Oct -
February. The quality of play is strongest in the
travel leagues. High School soccer in many areas of the country is
a mix of recreational and competitive players. Equal playing time
is usually not a consideration for most coaches, teams and clubs in
competitive soccer, hence the term "competitive". You compete for
both a spot on the team and playing time.
High School soccer in Florida is sanctioned through the FHSAA. This is
officially a Winter season for all schools beginning in 2008. All
schools with Fall seasons must migrate to Winter. The season runs from
October through the middle of February. High School teams compete first within with local school conference and
within their districts (local). At the end of the season they compete to
determine a district champion. The winner advances to a state
region competition and the winners advance to the state
championship competition. Throughout the course of the season,
some high schools travel nationally to face the best competition. This is becoming more of an accepted practice amongst the best
high school teams. There is no National Championship for high
schools at this time. In Florida, the championship series
consisting of district, regional and state competition is referred to as
the FHSAA state championship series.
Outside of Florida many state high school associations offer Fall soccer
only.
The other area of competitive soccer is known as "travel" soccer
leagues for players between the ages 7-18. The main organization, but not
the only one, is USYSA. Every state has an affiliate of
USYSA. In Florida that affiliate is FYSA (Florida Youth Soccer
Association). FYSA sanctions or approves leagues throughout
the state for both boys and girls. In order to play in any FYSA
sanctioned league, you have to sign up with a club approved to play in
the league.
In South Florida the girls
league is called FLUGSA and the boys
league is SFU. A list of the
member clubs is found on every FYSA approved league web site. Each
club offers as many teams, both boys and girls, as they can find
competitive players in different age groups. Each
year, around the first or second week in June there is open competition
for the teams within these clubs. After this two week tryout
periods ends, rosters are usually determined for the majority of teams.
It is imperative that you attend during the "open" tryout periods before
the rosters are determined. It is possible to find a team after
that but the choices narrow quickly. Your best bet in your first
year is to find a local club with a team in your child's age group.
A local club offering both girls and boys travel soccer is
Fort Lauderdale
Select FC.
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