Following football on Twitter

Not familiar with Twitter? Watch this 2:23 minute Commoncraft video for a quick introduction: Twitter in Plain English.

Twitter asks people to answer the question “what are you doing?” in 140 characters or less – and surprisingly people do just that. It's a bit like sending a text message to anyone and everyone who's paying attention. “I am eating toast.” “I am going somewhere or other.” To some, this shared minutiae is fascinating.

While being told in 140 characters or less that someone is “eating toast” can seem a bit like social media overkill, Twitter also acts as a sort of news and links portal. This makes Twitter really useful from a different perspective; it makes it an ideal tool for following football.

Anyway, some months ago I set up a Twitter account for our local soccer club and quickly discovered that it was incredibly easy to embed the resultant Tweets (yes, that is what those little micro posts are called) onto the club's home page. This seemed like an easy way to add fresh content to the page on a regular basis and a great way to instantly publish our teams' latest results. Or so I thought. Unfortunately the idea didn't really pan out as expected; without willing volunteers to keep me informed of the match results, it was often a couple of days before the results could be found online, and in the case of junior teams not even then. Not so instant afterall...

The real value in using Twitter though has been the ability to “Follow” and share (ie “Retweet”) the posts of others - and in the Twitterverse there are a lot of people tweeting (yes, that's what it's called) about the World Game.

Once I had the club's account up and running I ran a couple of searches on the terms, “soccer” and “football” which returned enough results to start following the football tweets of several other twitter users. I started by following: FOXSoccerNews, goal_intl, Soccernet, Socceroos and TheWorldGame because these were the first football Tweeters I found. Each of these in turn followed a whole bunch of other football enthused tweeters, and these were duly followed too, providing new fodder for our club's Twitter-mill (okay, I made that one up).

Want to know more about Twitter?

Check out Rafe Needleman's Newbie's guide to Twitter or Arun Basil Lal's Twitter Quick Start Guide

Over the past few months the list of people our club “follows” has grown to 318, meaning that whenever I log in there are oodles and oodles of new posts: match results for games all around the world, comments from players, links to match reports, transfer rumours, match commentary and other football related news.

The “Retweet” function makes it simple to share any of these posts with people who are following us on Twitter, and because of the Twitterfeed embedded in our home page, these new and retweeted posts are visible there, for a short time too.

So Twitter is a pretty useful tool for staying up-to-date with what's going on in the footballing world, I have found it useful for quickly and easily sharing results, links and brief messages. I love that it can be embedded into the club's home page and I am impressed by the fact that Google's RSS Reader can send interesting links to Twitter too, but that's another story...

Brainstorming

The new WSC committee had their first management meeting a month or so ago and have a fundraising brainstorming session scheduled for this weekend, followed by a general committee meeting the next Saturday. The fundraising sub-committee have had their thinking caps on and will head up to the meeting room at West Winds on Saturday to throw their ideas around and hopefully come up with some sound proposals to put before the rest of the committee.

I decided to look into what's involved in conducting a brainstorming session. The rules seem to be quite simple. At the start of the session, the issue being addressed should be defined as a simple problem, in our case it will probably be something along the lines of “How can we raise money?” Once the “problem” has been defined, a time limit should be set on the actual brainstorming process, 20 -30 minutes is suggested by Jeffrey Baumgartner in his article titled: The Step by Step Guide to Brainstorming

During this time participants should call out ideas, which are faithfully recorded on a whiteboard, a big sheet of paper or some-such – and idea-wise anything goes! The aim is to stimulate creativity, so no idea should be rejected at this stage, in fact the more 'out there' ideas can often act as a catalyst leading towards previously un-thought of and creative solutions.

Once the time limit has passed the group should agree on the top five ideas and create a series of criteria (around five) by which to judge them, for example: the idea should be financially viable, the idea should be legal and so on and so forth. Each idea is then assessed against these criteria and the idea that best addresses these is adopted as the solution.

Sounds like fun!

ALT-TAB-check-tweet-sorry

I should begin this post with an apology and perhaps an explanation.

So, firstly sorry for going AWOL and neglecting to add to this blog over the past couple of weeks. My wordy absence may have inadvertently made it seem like the whole football thing had stopped happening, but the truth of the matter is that there is so much happening that it's very distracting and it gets in the way of actually putting fingertips to keyboard to tell you about it.

Add to that, that sometimes the very idea of sending words out into the Blogosphere is a bit intimidating: Blogger's Block; worse than Writer's Block by a whole roll of toilet paper!

I will have to tell you about Twitter sometime too, as it is one of the prime offenders when it comes to addictive distractions – but not here, not now. Suffice it to say that in the few minutes it took me to type these words there have been 37 new tweets on the club's twitter page from various football tweeters that we are “following”. Reading them (and occasionally retweeting for our own followers) cost me a few minutes too, in which time there were 11 more new tweets.

On the bright side I do know that Manchester United just put in a goal against Bursaspor in their Group C EUFA Champions League Clash. I know that the Liverpool reserves beat Sunderland 2 – 1, and that Tottenham Hotspurs. just seconds ago, increased their lead to 2 – 0 against Inter Milan, in their Champions League game. Another quick check tells me that Man U have just blasted in 2 more goals and that Inter Milan have clawed a goal back against the Spurs... but wait, with only minutes to spare Tottenham makes it 3 – 1!

See what I mean? It's addictive!

While I am typing this post, I can see, at the bottom of my computer screen that there are new tweets waiting, but I'll be strong; I'll fight the urge to ALT-TAB-check them and instead get back to what I was originally saying. Which was..... can anyone remember?

Something for the juniors...

Uni SC are at it again; in addition to conducting the Twilight Cup competition for interested youth and senior players, they have added a spring/summer program for junior players aged 8 to 11 (under 9 to under 12 players). The sessions are scheduled to take place at Olinda Grove, Mount Nelson on Thursday afternoons from 5:00 to 6:30 pm and will run from 28th October through to 9th December.

While the focus will be on skill development, the sessions will also include small-sided games, where participants will divided into teams based on age, ability and gender in order to play mini games that consist of two twenty minutes halves.

From a developmental perspective, the opportunity for our junior players to participate in post season training sessions is valuable one. Not only is their season effectively extended, allowing them more time to hone their skills, it also provides the opportunity for them to learn from highly qualified coaches whilst playing the game they enjoy.

The cost for the program is set at $55 per player, which works out at just under $8.00 per session, or around $5.00 per hour. It sounds like good value for junior players who are already missing their soccer. It is also a great opportunity for them to meet players from other clubs, and since each training session finishes just before the Mixed Social Twilight games start, there is also the option to stick around and watch the game being played by senior mixed teams.

Even better, Olinda Grove is only around 25 minutes from Woodbridge, there are three well-maintained ovals plus change rooms and clubrooms – it’s a great venue for football and it’s not too far away.


As there are limited places available due to space restrictions and coach availability, those interested in taking part in the program are urged to enrol online
Anyone wanting more information should contact John Parry on: 0412 07 05 39 or email him at: J.S.Parry@tassie.net.au

Toe the Line

Thankfully, the Dr reckons that Mr Y's toe is not broken; it's still bruised, and possibly has a little tendon damage but nothing too serious.

So we have spent a small fortune on sport bandaging and will tape the offending digit to offer it some protection, because of course, Mr Y has no intention of letting something like an unbroken toe stop him from playing.

After all: “It doesn't hurt when I'm playing, it only hurts when I stop!”

Futsal grading games

Futsal grading games took place on the weekend, and I began to wonder if nominating a team was such a good idea. All of our lads, bar one of them, are recovering from various injuries (two badly sprained ankles, a possible broken toe, a hamstring injury and a twisted knee). According to his dad, our sixth player hasn't kicked a ball since this time last year – not that you could tell when he blasted a beautiful long ball from half way down the pitch into the back of the opponent's net early in the game. It wasn't enough mind you, the injuries certainly seemed to take their toll in the second half; and the lads ultimately went down 7 – 2. Not a shining start to the competition, but given the quality of the opposition and the match fitness of our players, perhaps not a surprising one.

Knowing their various ills, I had nominated the team for the social division, thinking this would be the best level for them to compete at, at least until they are all recovered. The opponents for the grading game, however seemed a far cry from a social team. Ultimately this supports my theory that our boys are not yet recovered enough to compete at a higher level, however much they may want to.

Time now to take the injured toe, and the boy attached to it, to the doctor's...

What's she rabbiting on about?

I have just vicariously lived through the excitement of the National Schools Futsal Titles, where several local youth players, including Mr Y, competed. Even though that competition is over and the prodigal son returned, only slightly damaged, to the nest, the football excitement doesn't look like stopping any time soon. Around this joint Mr O (O for oldest) is looking forward to the Twilight Cup; and all three lads are gearing up to play their first futsal game of the summer roster.

So even though our local club has handed the clubrooms back to the Cricket Club, football is not really over. There's plenty of action awaiting those who don't want to stop playing. The aforementioned Twilight Cup and futsal games will take us all the way through to December – a break for Christmas, and then before you know it there's all the exhilaration of the Summer Cup which ends smack-bang before the 2011 football season starts.

Even those football fans who are having a well-earned break from playing have plenty to keep them occupied. There's the A-League, the W-League, the National Youth League, the Socceroos, the Matildas and the Fusalroos and that's just in Australia! In Europe the major competitions are under-way: English Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and the Champions League just to name a few of the more prominent ones.

For organisers of the sport there's analysis, planning and preparation; off-season is the ideal time for the new committee to look back to see what worked and what went wrong during the 2010 season. They'll be making decisions and trying to make sure that they are well prepared for the season ahead.

Anyway, back to the point, my personal mission with this blog is to provide football related, and possibly even interesting, content during the off-season – aimed at, but not exclusive to, WSC members. I also plan to share some of my experiences with the various web tools that I have been trialling throughout the 2010 season. Beyond the World Game itself, I'm hoping to include some sources of useful information for those volunteers who may find themselves in unfamiliar territory and in need of a road map.

If it all sounds like a rather confusing excuse to inflict my self-indulgent ramblings on an unsuspecting cyberspace, well there is that too..........

From the horse's mouth

The Vikings National Schools Futsal Tournament 2010:

The actual (but still unofficial) Tas South 15 y.o. Boys' results

Tas South 3 - Victoria 3
Tas South 2 - NSW City 6
Tas South 6 – North Queensland 2
Tas South 0 – South Queensland Vikings 10 (apparently a very strong team, they went on to win the overall age-group)
Tas South 7 – Central Queensland 0

As tentatively predicted in a previous post, the Southern Tasmanian team ended up third on their pool's ladder.

A very positive result for the team who seem to have had a great time, except, apparently, at dinner time when the catered food failed to live up to expectations. Much money was subsequently spent at a nearby bakery.

The tournament winners can be found on the Tasfutsal website

WSC boys finish on a high

The Vikings National Schools Tournament was wrapped up yesterday, but online result reporting is still a little sketchy.

While the official results for the 15 year old boys are only known by a handful of people – who aren't telling – I can tell you that the Tas South team (my personal favourite) finished their campaign in pool B on a high, defeating Central Queensland 7 – 0. All up that means the boys had two wins, a draw and two losses; so out of the 6 teams in the pool, they probably ended up in 3rd or 4th spot on the ladder. Not enough to see them progress to the semi-finals, as only the top two teams in each pool got through, but a respectable showing never-the-less.

At a glance it seems that of the Tasmanian teams, the Girls had the most success. The 12 year old Tas South Green team ended second on their ladder and made it through to the semi finals, where they were defeated 1 – 0 by the South Queensland Raiders – the eventual winners. There were three Tasmanian teams in the 13 year old pool; of the three, Tas South Green ended in second place on their ladder, won their semi final against the South Queensland Viking 4 – 3 and progressed to the final, but the result of that game (against a worryingly impressive NSW team) has yet to be published.

The Tasmanian 19 year old girls' team also looked to be progressing okay from the results posted for day 1 and day 2: with two wins and a draw they were sitting at second spot on the ladder with a game yet to be played. Depending on the results of round three the girls probably progressed to the quarter finals, if not further.

Most of the other Tassie teams ended the tournament sitting around the middle of their respective ladders, not bad for teams hastily thrown together over the last couple of months.

Murphy's still at it

At dawn on day three of the National Schools Futsal Titles, we Channel dwellers have awoken to a rather bracing 2.1 degrees and snow down to around the 300 metre level while our futsal representatives in Brisbane are wallowing in a rather toasty 18.4 degrees. Here down south we can expect a top temperature today of around 10 degrees, Brisbane is heading for a tropical and possibly stormy 28. Luckily we had popped our boys on a plane before this latest cold snap descended, so the climatic shock has probably been less extreme than it could have been.

On another note, there's still no sign of the official results for the 15 year old boys teams, however a small electronic device informed me last night that the 15 y.o. South Tassie team had secured a win in Tuesday's first fixture against North Queensland and lost their second to the South Queensland Vikings.

The lads have one last game at 10:10 this morning. I gather that even a win here will not garner them enough points overall to secure a berth in the finals – so no silverware will be making the return trip with them on Thursday. Never-the-less the team has done pretty well given that they were drawn in a rather tough group to begin with.

Murphy's Law

A loss and a draw

Over in Brisbane, the Vikings National Schools Futsal titles are into their second day of competition; for most of the age groups, the results for the first day's competition can be viewed on the Sportsvault results page Murphy's Law of course dictates that the 15 year old boys competition – where our WSC players are competing in pool B - is the one age-group whose results have yet to be posted. A brief text message at dinner time yesterday, however, informed me that of their two games they had drawn one and lost one.

This year's competition is trialling the live streaming of a select few matches, unfortunately we wont get the opportunity to see our lads in action as none of their games have been selected for the trial. Several Tasmanian teams, however did make the cut:

From 12:20 pm today (that's right now!) you can watch the 14 year old Girls Tasmania South Red team take on New Zealand. Then at 3:10 the Tasmanian Boys 10 year old team will be streamed playing against South Queensland Vikings 11 year old boys.

To watch the live streamed matches go to: http://www.futsaltv.org/livecast.php

National Schools Futsal Tournament - kick off?

Our futsal boys arrived in Brisbane somewhat later than scheduled yesterday after being delayed in Melbourne for several hours. It seems Virgin Blue, the airline they were travelling with, was experiencing some major difficulties due to the meltdown of their new electronic system. Sydney Morning Herald's “Traveller” page reported, in the wee hours of this morning, that flights across the country were delayed due to the carrier's "stricken computerised reservations and check-in systems."

Mr Y sent me a text at around 3pm yesterday to confirm his team's arrival at their accommodation, so perhaps they were lucky to be on the red eye flight. Perhaps the early morning departure - okay 7am isn't that early but we had to be at the airport by 5:30, which practically meant getting up before even going to bed to drive there from the Channel. Anyway the team's arrival at Tullamarine at 8:15am meant that, even though delayed for a few hours, they were on their way, winging it towards Brisbane, before the airports became too backed up.

The National Schools Futsal titles, which are to kick off in Brisbane today, are described in the Courier as “one of the largest futsal tournaments of its kind in the world, 140 teams and more than 1000 players” from all around Australian plus teams from New Zealand. The question is, with a significant number of them flying into Brisbane on Virgin Blue flights, will they all get there in time for kick off?

National Schools Futsal Tournament

Mister Y (Y for youngest) is busy psyching himself up for the upcoming National Schools Futsal Tournament that is taking place in Brisbane next week. He's not the only WSC player to have been selected to represent southern Tasmania in this annual futsal competition. Several other WSC youth players were also invited to take part, and all up three of them will be participating in the event.

So this seems like as good a time as any to provide a quick introduction to the game of Futsal. Firstly the name futsal originates from the Portuguese term Futbol de sala, which translates as indoor football. Recognised as a sport in its own right, Futsal is the official FIFA endorsed form of 5-a-side indoor soccer and was first developed in Uruguay in 1930. Nowadays it is played extensively throughout the world and is extremely popular in European and South American countries, where it is credited with producing world-class football players such as Pele and Ronaldinho.

The game is played with a slightly smaller and heavier “low bounce” ball than those used for soccer, which, according to the Vikings Futsal Association “makes it easier for young or inexperienced players to master their ball control skills and assists with development” (2010). Unlike other forms of indoor soccer, pitches are delineated – there is no bouncing the ball off walls and players are forced to try and keep the ball within the bounds of the pitch.

Teams consist of 5 players, one of whom is a goalkeeper, and the games generally consist of two 20 minute halves. Futsal is an intense, exciting game to play, and it is also ideal for spectators with a short attention span - “watching it is a bit like watching the soccer highlights on SBS. It’s great, there are goals galore, gutsy goalkeeping and probably other things beginning with a 'G' too” (“Futsal?” 2008).

Wish the boys luck, maybe they will come home with some silverware.

References: 

Futsal? (2008, 10 July). Woodbridge Soccer Club Newsletter, p.1.


Futsal4All (n.d.) What is Futsal? Retrieved September 2010 from: http://futsal4all.com/what-is-futsal/


Vikings Futsal Tasmania (2010) Futsal Tasmania: The 'REAL' Small Sided Game [Flyer]. Moonah, Tasmania: Author.

Boudica's Paperclips

Until my sons started playing for our local soccer club, I had not spent much time thinking about the World Game. Even as I happily told myself that the boys would learn vital teamwork skills and develop self-control whilst expending some of their boundless energy, something stirred in the depths of my psyche. Deep down in my ancestral past great, great, great (recurring) Auntie Boudica placed a not-so-dainty blue foot on a severed Roman head and declared 'game on'.

Soccer Mom? Try Soccer Mother!

This was something I obviously needed to put a lid on, and not being a player myself I lacked the benefit of the rules of the game, which teach players how to control themselves. I needed something to keep my mind off the battlefields of yore; so I turned to many-a-girl's first love: stationery. Oh, how we love our colour coordinated staplers and sticky-tape dispensers; not to mention those ingenious devices designed to hold our paperclips.

Anyway, one thing led to another, which is a convenient way for things to happen; my pen and spiral-bound notebook were traded-in for a computer (great swap hey?) I kept the paperclips though, because you never know when you'll need something to count. Suddenly I was geared up to do something useful...

At this point I discovered yet another great love: mucking about with words and pictures on a computer, and just as I was in danger of getting rather side-tracked I was approached and asked to help the local soccer club with some secretarial details. The rest, as they say, is history – a statement that could have landed us back at the whole Boudica scenario, had I not finally learned some self-control - paperclip counting therapy works a treat!

So anyway, while billions of people around the globe play and/or follow football with a singular passion, I have found myself behind the scenes playing with my computer, messing about with words and pictures; helping those dedicated individuals who make football possible for our local youngsters.

In Tasmania the season proper may be over, but in Cyberspace (and elsewhere) the football never stops. Somewhere out there, an entertaining battle for mastery is taking place; which reminds me of the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword”. How awesome then, to be armed with a whole computer!

Boudica would be jealous.

Is she singing yet?

So, you thought the soccer season was over?

The official rostered games have all been played, the winners have basked in glory for a short space, cricket clubs around the state are gearing up and die hard soccer players are turning their attention elsewhere. Just as my family's thoughts are turning to the indoor version of the game – because yes, they are futsal freaks too - an interesting flyer crossed my virtual desk space.

University Soccer Club has organised a social Twilight tournament to be played at Olinda Grove from October 5th until December 1st. Two separate competitions are being organised. On Tuesday nights a social men's competition will be played, and on Wednesday evenings a mixed competition will take place, with mixed teams fielding no more than five male players at a time and the balance of the eleven-a-side team being female players.

Woodbridge Soccer Club is planning on entering a mixed team in Wednesday night's competition, interested players are urged to contact Dalles to express their interest in taking part. The cost per player should be just under $50 and will cover the $600 team nomination fee.

For more information see the news item on Club's web page, where you can download the flyer.

Dalles can be reached via email at:
dallesh@yahoo.com.au
or by phone at either: 6267 4810 or 0427 043 566

The Mini World Cup

The youth and junior season was wrapped up in a traditionally fun way on Saturday with a bunch of players, parents and anyone who happened to be passing by, forming teams to compete in the Mini World Cup. I love the sense of community that happens at this annual event; the competitiveness of the season proper goes out the window as teams are formed that comprise of players from our under 6 team all the way through to senior players.

This year there were four teams competing: Australia, Brazil, Ghana and Spain. With the adults and older teens restricted to 3 touches and no strikes at goal, some of the club's younger members got a chance to shine.

After a close competition it was ultimately Brazil who came out on top, due in no small part to the wonderful passing and team work that was happening between a handful of our Under 13 players. After a tough season of playing up an age-group, and the culture shock of moving from junior to the more competitive youth competition, these lads demonstrated how much they have improved.

The day had started with the election of the new committee for 2011, player trophies had been awarded while a BBQ sizzled away in the background; it ended with some of our older players escaping the restrictions imposed by the Mini World Cup and playing a game that, from the comfort of the deck, seemed to have to rules at all. But at least they were having fun...

to coin a phrase "Come Play"

As Woodbridge Soccer Club turns 10 years old in 2011, I can look back and see that one or more of my own children have been playing for the club since it's inception as Woodbridge Whalers SC, way back in 2001. Once upon a time, as a parent of junior players, I was hesitant to help; not because I am inherently lazy (although there is that :)), but because I didn't know what was involved – didn't think I had the necessary skills and I didn't really know enough about the game; of course all that changed - starting back in 2004.

...I became involved quite by accident.

In 2004 as a volunteer at our local Online Access Centre I was assisting the then President with some secretarial detail or another. Next thing I know I'm Club Secretary, then the Secretary/Newsletter Producer, then Newsletter Producer/Web Assistant then Web Master/Social media director (well at least that's what I'm calling myself). Throw into the mix: accidental registrations officer, youth liason, 'taxi' driver, raucous supporter, match reporter and graphic designer and you have an idea of my experience with various incarnations of the WSC management committee and club in general

Overall it has been educational and fun; I have learned a lot, gained experience in various areas, met new people and generally had a good time (I've made mistakes along the way too, but that's all part of the learning process).

Why am I telling you all this?

Well it's simple – I want you to get involved. Come along to the AGM (11am Sat 11th September) and put your hand up to help. If you are a junior parent who can't see the point in facilitating senior football, put your hand up to be liason to Central Region Junior Soccer Association, or a junior coach, manager, match reporter or the junior registration officer or some-such.

Likewise if you are a senior player, but aren't that interested in junior soccer, offer to help with the mountainous amounts of administration that Football Federation of Tasmania requires for youth and senior teams.

If you feel you know too little about the sport, but you know how to throw a party, how about forming a sub-committee to organise the Club's 10th birthday bash? Know how to liaise with businesses? How about co-ordinating some sponsorships and other fundraising? Love photography? Is writing your passion? Draw awesome pictures? Have a knack for numbers? Have Internet skills? Love public speaking? Are great at organising and co-ordinating people? Enjoy problem solving?

Whatever you like doing, whatever you are interested in learning, I'm sure there is something you can do to help our club, our kids, our youth, our community and yourself in 2011.

Come along to the AGM on Saturday the 11th September, put your hand up, get involved - you will be surprised at how much fun it can be...

Alio