HOWARD ULMAN, Associated Press
The Columbian
09-25-2001
BOSTON -- Cal Ripken stared at the framed black-and-white photo showing Ted Williams practicing his batting stance in Boston's clubhouse.
Later this week Ripken can check out the monuments to Yankee greats in the House That Ruth Built.
The end of Ripken's long road passes through two of baseball's most historic fields, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium, for the last seven games away from home of his 20-year career.
'There's a presence on those ballfields and it's a really cool experience,' said Ripken, who announced June 19 he would retire at the end of the season. 'It couldn't get any better than going to Fenway Park and going to Yankee Stadium.'
The Baltimore Orioles opened a four-game series Monday night by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-1. They play three games at Yankee Stadium starting Friday night that would have been the end of Ripken's career.
But because of the terrorist attacks that caused six days of postponements, the games the Orioles missed three against Toronto and four against Boston will be made up next week in Baltimore.
'I didn't look at the end of the schedule when I made my decision to retire. It's a very personal decision,' Ripken said at a news conference before Monday's game with an American flag behind him and the Williams photo hanging from the same wall.
So Ripken, who said he had no regrets about his decision to retire, embarked on his last road trip after Sunday's four-hour, 14-minute loss to the New York Yankees.
On Monday, he went 0 for 5 with an RBI without hitting the ball out of the infield but started two double plays and made a diving stop for another out. Then he stayed on the field for 36 minutes after the game to sign autographs.
'As a defense mechanism for my feelings and my emotions, I've been pushing off the inevitable of the last anything,' Ripken said. 'But when the calendar changed from August to September, that last month kind of came in there and I started to get different feelings. I started becoming a little bit more emotional.
'If you simplify things, it's one more road trip, one more homestand and then I'm finished playing.'
He'll be finished after achieving some remarkable milestones a major league record 2,632 consecutive games played, more than 3,100 hits, 430 homers and 5,100 total bases. And, if he plays 12 of Baltimore's remaining 13 games, he'll finish with an even 3,000. $00:0100218870: $199:A0100218870 $01:Copyright 2001 The Columbian Publishing Co. $02:$?
The Columbian $20:September 25, 2001, Tuesday $30:Sports; Pg. b6 $60:YOUTH SOCCER BY THE LETTERS
MANY GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS COME TOGETHER SO KIDS CAN PLAY $90:PAUL DANZER, Columbian staff writer $100:community sports $120:
In the 1970s, an old game began to change the weekend habits of thousands of American families. Parents who grew up with stickball, basketball and touch football were confronted with a foreign game. Before long, the throw-in, the wall pass, the slide tackle, even the dreaded offside trap were familiar terms for soccer dads and moms.
Many of today's soccer moms and dads grew up playing the game.
But even for the soccer savvy, the organizations that run the games that more than 100,000 Washington youths play during fall weekends are largely a mystery.
'Most of the people involved with club teams probably don't have a clue (about the structure) beyond their club teams,' said Randy Mawhirter, the commissioner for Washington State Youth Soccer Association District 5.
It is a structure of many levels.
At its foundations are the local clubs, formed in school districts and neighborhoods, that organize the teams and schedule the games for the local recreational teams.
At its pinnacle is FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, which stages the World Cup every four years and oversees international competition.
Between the two are organizations that administer and govern the game at every level. Local examples include the CYSF, the ECYSF, Columbia Premier Soccer and F.C. Vancouver.
'I bet if you asked people out at the fields, they wouldn't know what CYSF is,' said Joan Houser, the organization's vice president of competition.
Understanding the web that is youth soccer takes a knowledge of letters. Here's some help:
Who's who
* CYSF: The Columbia Youth Soccer Federation consists of eight local clubs, divided by school boundaries, within Clark County: Battle Ground, Central Vancouver, Eisenhower, Evergreen, Lewis River, Prairie, Salmon Creek and Columbia Premier. There are more than 1,000 players in the CYSF recreational leagues this fall.
* ECYSA: The other youth soccer league in Clark County is the East County Youth Soccer Association. It's member clubs are Orchards, Camas-Washougal and F.C. Vancouver.
* District 5: One of seven districts in Washington, District 5 oversees all clubs south of Kelso-Longview from the coast to the Columbia River Gorge. It is governed by a board of six volunteers, each elected to two-year terms. District wide policies and procedures are determined during an annual meeting where representatives from each club within the district have a vote. There are more than 10,000 players in District 5 this fall.
'I'm just kind of a big sounding board for the associations,' Mawhirter said. As the district commissioner, he acts as a liaison both between clubs within the district and between the clubs and the WSYSA.
* WSYSA: The Washington State Youth Soccer Association is the governing body for youth soccer in this state. More than 124,000 players participated in WSYSA sanctioned recreation and advanced leagues last year.
Beyond recreation
Most children are introduced to soccer at the recreational level, playing in weekend games for players as young as 5. In the CYSF, for example, players 8 and younger play on smaller teams within their own club. From the U9 level (younger than 9 on Aug. 31) through U19, CYSF teams play 10 league games.
Beyond the recreation level, there are a world of opportunities:
* Select teams: These teams, formed through a tryout process, compete in the District Five Select League against similar teams from around southwest Washington. After the fall league season, there are WSYSA tournaments that lead to crowning a state champion.
* Premier teams: For those who desire even more soccer, there is the statewide premier program for the U13 through U19 age groups. Premier teams, formed locally by the CYSF's Columbia Premier Soccer Club and F.C. Vancouver in East County, play against teams from around the state in the Washington State Youth League. The Washington State Youth League consists of three divisions at each age level, with teams placed in divisions based on results of preseason qualifying tournaments.
Teams that don't qualify to play in the WSYL can play in the Inter-District Developmental League (IDDL).
* Olympic Development Program (ODP): This is the path to the U.S. national team. It starts at the district level with the U14 age level. This year, each district in Washington may send boys and girls teams (two at U14, one at U15) to the state ODP camp for an intensive week of training and competition in the spring during which the state ODP players are selected.
The ODP state teams participate in regional tournaments and camps, from which players are selected for the national youth teams.
Registered players in any District 5 club may try out for the Olympic Development Program.
The challenges
The wide range of opportunities available to young soccer players mean challenges for the adults who make it happen.
Among the issues challenging the 11 volunteer members of the CYSF executive board are finding and training volunteers, the field space squeeze, and ensuring fair competition among member clubs.
Recruiting players for specific recreation teams is a problem the board is constantly on the watch for, according to Houser. To discourage an emphasis on winning, the CYSF no longer awards division championships. Instead, it shuffles divisions five games into the 10-week season so that teams are competing against opponents of similar ability.
'You get kids involved and hope they enjoy the game,' Houser said, explaining why she devotes many hours each fall to scheduling games for 350 teams on 60 or so fields.
'As long as the kids get to play on Saturday, that's what matters,' she said.
YOUTH SOCCER GLANCE
* SEASON: Recreation leagues play from early September through October. Advanced competition teams play year-round.
* COST: Participation fees vary from club to club, but most range from $30-$70 per player. Family discounts and scholarships are usually available.
* COACHES: Volunteers at the recreation level. Some advanced competition programs (Columbia Premier Soccer Club, for example) pay coaches.
* CONTACTS: Washington State Youth Soccer Association: 253-476-2237, wsysa.com.
District 5 commissioner Randy Mawhirter: yds5commwsysa.com.
Columbia Premier Soccer Club: cpscsoccer.org.
The WSYSA and CPSC Web sites have links to many other soccer organizations. Columbia Youth Soccer Federation is building a Web site at www.cysfsoccer.org.
HOWARD ULMAN, Associated Press writer
Copyright 2001 The Columbian Publishing Co.
The Columbian
09-25-2001
BOSTON -- Cal Ripken stared at the framed black-and-white photo showing Ted Williams practicing his batting stance in Boston's clubhouse.
Later this week Ripken can check out the monuments to Yankee greats in the House That Ruth Built.
The end of Ripken's long road passes through two of baseball's most historic fields, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium, for the last seven games away from home of his 20-year career.
'There's a presence on those ballfields and it's a really cool experience,' said Ripken, who announced June 19 he would retire at the end of the season. 'It couldn't get any better than going to Fenway Park and going to Yankee Stadium.'
The Baltimore Orioles opened a four-game series Monday night by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-1. They play three games at Yankee Stadium starting Friday night that would have been the end of Ripken's career.
But because of the terrorist attacks that caused six days of postponements, the games the Orioles missed three against Toronto and four against Boston will be made up next week in Baltimore.
'I didn't look at the end of the schedule when I made my decision to retire. It's a very personal decision,' Ripken said at a news conference before Monday's game with an American flag behind him and the Williams photo hanging from the same wall.
So Ripken, who said he had no regrets about his decision to retire, embarked on his last road trip after Sunday's four-hour, 14-minute loss to the New York Yankees.
On Monday, he went 0 for 5 with an RBI without hitting the ball out of the infield but started two double plays and made a diving stop for another out. Then he stayed on the field for 36 minutes after the game to sign autographs.
'As a defense mechanism for my feelings and my emotions, I've been pushing off the inevitable of the last anything,' Ripken said. 'But when the calendar changed from August to September, that last month kind of came in there and I started to get different feelings. I started becoming a little bit more emotional.
'If you simplify things, it's one more road trip, one more homestand and then I'm finished playing.'
He'll be finished after achieving some remarkable milestones a major league record 2,632 consecutive games played, more than 3,100 hits, 430 homers and 5,100 total bases. And, if he plays 12 of Baltimore's remaining 13 games, he'll finish with an even 3,000. $00:0100218870: $199:A0100218870 $01:Copyright 2001 The Columbian Publishing Co. $02:$?
The Columbian $20:September 25, 2001, Tuesday $30:Sports; Pg. b6 $60:YOUTH SOCCER BY THE LETTERS
MANY GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS COME TOGETHER SO KIDS CAN PLAY $90:PAUL DANZER, Columbian staff writer $100:community sports $120:
In the 1970s, an old game began to change the weekend habits of thousands of American families. Parents who grew up with stickball, basketball and touch football were confronted with a foreign game. Before long, the throw-in, the wall pass, the slide tackle, even the dreaded offside trap were familiar terms for soccer dads and moms.
Many of today's soccer moms and dads grew up playing the game.
But even for the soccer savvy, the organizations that run the games that more than 100,000 Washington youths play during fall weekends are largely a mystery.
'Most of the people involved with club teams probably don't have a clue (about the structure) beyond their club teams,' said Randy Mawhirter, the commissioner for Washington State Youth Soccer Association District 5.
It is a structure of many levels.
At its foundations are the local clubs, formed in school districts and neighborhoods, that organize the teams and schedule the games for the local recreational teams.
At its pinnacle is FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, which stages the World Cup every four years and oversees international competition.
Between the two are organizations that administer and govern the game at every level. Local examples include the CYSF, the ECYSF, Columbia Premier Soccer and F.C. Vancouver.
'I bet if you asked people out at the fields, they wouldn't know what CYSF is,' said Joan Houser, the organization's vice president of competition.
Understanding the web that is youth soccer takes a knowledge of letters. Here's some help:
Who's who
* CYSF: The Columbia Youth Soccer Federation consists of eight local clubs, divided by school boundaries, within Clark County: Battle Ground, Central Vancouver, Eisenhower, Evergreen, Lewis River, Prairie, Salmon Creek and Columbia Premier. There are more than 1,000 players in the CYSF recreational leagues this fall.
* ECYSA: The other youth soccer league in Clark County is the East County Youth Soccer Association. It's member clubs are Orchards, Camas-Washougal and F.C. Vancouver.
* District 5: One of seven districts in Washington, District 5 oversees all clubs south of Kelso-Longview from the coast to the Columbia River Gorge. It is governed by a board of six volunteers, each elected to two-year terms. District wide policies and procedures are determined during an annual meeting where representatives from each club within the district have a vote. There are more than 10,000 players in District 5 this fall.
'I'm just kind of a big sounding board for the associations,' Mawhirter said. As the district commissioner, he acts as a liaison both between clubs within the district and between the clubs and the WSYSA.
* WSYSA: The Washington State Youth Soccer Association is the governing body for youth soccer in this state. More than 124,000 players participated in WSYSA sanctioned recreation and advanced leagues last year.
Beyond recreation
Most children are introduced to soccer at the recreational level, playing in weekend games for players as young as 5. In the CYSF, for example, players 8 and younger play on smaller teams within their own club. From the U9 level (younger than 9 on Aug. 31) through U19, CYSF teams play 10 league games.
Beyond the recreation level, there are a world of opportunities:
* Select teams: These teams, formed through a tryout process, compete in the District Five Select League against similar teams from around southwest Washington. After the fall league season, there are WSYSA tournaments that lead to crowning a state champion.
* Premier teams: For those who desire even more soccer, there is the statewide premier program for the U13 through U19 age groups. Premier teams, formed locally by the CYSF's Columbia Premier Soccer Club and F.C. Vancouver in East County, play against teams from around the state in the Washington State Youth League. The Washington State Youth League consists of three divisions at each age level, with teams placed in divisions based on results of preseason qualifying tournaments.
Teams that don't qualify to play in the WSYL can play in the Inter-District Developmental League (IDDL).
* Olympic Development Program (ODP): This is the path to the U.S. national team. It starts at the district level with the U14 age level. This year, each district in Washington may send boys and girls teams (two at U14, one at U15) to the state ODP camp for an intensive week of training and competition in the spring during which the state ODP players are selected.
The ODP state teams participate in regional tournaments and camps, from which players are selected for the national youth teams.
Registered players in any District 5 club may try out for the Olympic Development Program.
The challenges
The wide range of opportunities available to young soccer players mean challenges for the adults who make it happen.
Among the issues challenging the 11 volunteer members of the CYSF executive board are finding and training volunteers, the field space squeeze, and ensuring fair competition among member clubs.
Recruiting players for specific recreation teams is a problem the board is constantly on the watch for, according to Houser. To discourage an emphasis on winning, the CYSF no longer awards division championships. Instead, it shuffles divisions five games into the 10-week season so that teams are competing against opponents of similar ability.
'You get kids involved and hope they enjoy the game,' Houser said, explaining why she devotes many hours each fall to scheduling games for 350 teams on 60 or so fields.
'As long as the kids get to play on Saturday, that's what matters,' she said.
YOUTH SOCCER GLANCE
* SEASON: Recreation leagues play from early September through October. Advanced competition teams play year-round.
* COST: Participation fees vary from club to club, but most range from $30-$70 per player. Family discounts and scholarships are usually available.
* COACHES: Volunteers at the recreation level. Some advanced competition programs (Columbia Premier Soccer Club, for example) pay coaches.
* CONTACTS: Washington State Youth Soccer Association: 253-476-2237, wsysa.com.
District 5 commissioner Randy Mawhirter: yds5commwsysa.com.
Columbia Premier Soccer Club: cpscsoccer.org.
The WSYSA and CPSC Web sites have links to many other soccer organizations. Columbia Youth Soccer Federation is building a Web site at www.cysfsoccer.org.
HOWARD ULMAN, Associated Press writer
Copyright 2001 The Columbian Publishing Co.
