Photo: Michael Long

Before I get too far into discussing the decision of WPS to cancel the 2012 season, let me say that my initial reaction when the news first broke was that I was simply gutted. Gutted for every fantastic person I've met covering the Independence and women's soccer in general.

2011 – A Thank You

It's been a drunken busy Christmas and New Year period and I haven't got round to summarising 2011 on the site. I wanted to take the chance to belatedly amend that now.

2011 was the first full year GhostGoal has been in operation and it's been great that it's developed as it has.

Not many of us will have experienced anything like it. There are 100,000 people in the stadium urging you on while tens of millions round the country will have their fists clenched on the edge of their seats in homes and warungs. Despite everyone being behind you it must be the loneliest walks ever.

One of the charities I'm hoping to benefit from next weekend's blogathon is Alzheimer Scotland.
There are a number of reasons for that choice but one of them is their excellent Football Reminiscence Project.
Simply it's a project that put volunteers in touch with football fans who suffer from dementia.

Love Han Berger - love his work and what he's doing for the game in Australia but there are a couple of areas where he and the FFA Technical Group need to improve and could improve our players, all our players more quickly.
The revolution is on - for some, but very slowly in some areas.
In Canberra for example in clubland we are a long long way behind what constitutes technical development.

This weekend the saga of Trust ownership at Wrexham extends. Plymouth Argyle struggle to find an ownership solution to coming out of administration. In the tales of duplicity and ineptness that abound behind these stories, the arguments in favour of the Supporters Trust movement are strengthened. Supporters' Direct have made clear and cogent arguments that substantiate these arguments in their recent briefing papers.

The story of how this evening's match between Ascot United and Wembley FC has come to be shown live via the medium of Facebook thanks to the tournament's sponsors, Budweiser, has, it could well be argued, had a positive effect for all concerned. The Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup and, in turn, the tournament itself has received a shot of publicity for a stage of the competition that usually receives next to none.

Edward (Etch) Andrajack is a friend to IMS. I've run several stories here about an organization he volunteers with called People to People Sports Ambassadors which has allowed Etch and many others to travel and coach in different counties around the world. Etch has made several trips to Brazil to work with youth.

A running joke among soccer league officers and volunteers is 'Offseason? What offseason?' Here in NC, we've already held tryouts (two weeks surrounding Memorial Day), formed teams, and are currently registering players and submitting Intent To Play forms for the Fall.

But beyond that, summer is a chance to improve things and try to make things better for the Fall.

Summer Slam Volunteers and Paid Workers Needed

View full sizeSean MoranThe Timbers Army relax after volunteering with the Friends of Trees. Last weekend, members of the Timbers Army joined 100 Friends of Trees volunteers to plant about 220 new street and yard trees in the northeast Portland...

Morocco's "architectural jewel" Stade de Marrakech

After competing against South Africa for the 3rd time in the last decade to host an international tournament, Morocco finally came out on top. The North African country, who competed against South Africa to host both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, was selected by the Confederation of African Football to host the 2015 edition of the African Cup of Nations.

It's not every day you get to learn from the 2010 MLS Coach of the Year. But today was my day. The one and only Schellas Hyndman took center stage this morning, and it was awesome.

4-4-2 in the Classroom

The day started in the classroom, where Schellas took us through a tactical breakdown of the 4-4-2 system of play, a shape he knows well as that's what he employs with FC Dallas.