Broken Wings » teams play at which competitive level? Does one make t

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Former Oakland Raiders first-round pick Rolando McClain is considering a return to the NFL. The 24-year-old McClain retired last year after signing a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens. Hes been taking classes at the University of Alabama, working out and spending time with his two young sons but isnt ruling out playing somewhere in 2014. "Im not going to wait for the door to be closed," McClain said Wednesday after attending the Crimson Tides pro day. "Right now, I think its still open. Ive still got some things to get in order before we make that decision." McClain said agent Pat Dye Jr. has spoken with the Ravens, but hes not sure if hed wind up in Baltimore or elsewhere. The Carroll County Times in Maryland cited an anonymous source Monday in reporting that McClain plans to return to football for the upcoming season. McClain said he needs only two courses over the summer to graduate from Alabama. "Right now, Im just focusing on finishing up my degree," he said. "Ive been working out to stay in shape, but Im only 24 so its hard to get out of shape. I dont know. Football is football. Right now, I dont have any plans." McClain said the factors in his decision are the same ones that led him to retire. "Just getting the personal life and everything else in order before you can even try to focus on football," he said. "I feel better as a person overall," he added. "My two little boys have been doing a great job. Theyre 2 so theyre wild, but they keep me busy." He had off-the-field issues during his three-year NFL stint, including an arrest in his Alabama hometown 10 days after signing with the Ravens on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He pleaded not guilty. It was the third time McClain was arrested in Decatur, Ala., since 2011. He was previously charged in a 2011 shooting, and police arrested him in January 2013 on charges of having his car windows tinted too darkly and trying to lie about his identity. McClain was sentenced to jail on an assault charge after the shooting, but prosecutors later dismissed the case. A city judge dismissed the January charge against McClain of trying to lie about his identity. He pleaded guilty to the window tint violation and paid a $182 fine. McClain had 274 tackles, 6-1/2 sacks and an interception in 41 games with Oakland over three seasons. He was the eighth overall pick in the 2010 draft after winning the Butkus Award as the nations top linebacker. These days he said his sons are his top priority and his daily routine consists of "class, workouts and being a parent." "Anybody, when you do have kids, youre forced to grow up even if youre not ready," McClain said. "Theyre just two good little boys." Steven Nzonzi France Jersey . Quarterback Drew Willy appeared to injure his throwing hand on the third last play of practice Thursday. Adil Rami Jersey . -- Officials have approved a deal to build a new $672 million stadium for the Atlanta Braves away from the downtown Atlanta area that has traditionally been its home. http://www.nationalfrancesoccer.com/corentin-tolisso-france-jersey/ .com) - The Calgary Flames were again involved in a game in which a team was held scoreless, only this time they came out on the winning side. Raphael Varane France Jersey . Both the top-seeded Djokovic and sixth-seeded Fish took relatively easy paths, with the Serb winning when opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired in the second set with a sore arm and Fish dominating Janko Tipsarevic in two quick sets. Ousmane Dembele Jersey . Manager Ryan Nelsen has confirmed Brazilian No. 1 Julio Cesar will be rested for Wednesdays first leg of the semifinal. That opens the door for Bendik, who started 33 games for Toronto last season.The Vancouver Whitecaps were denied a well-earned three points against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, after Gonzalo Pineda converted a controversial penalty kick to level the score at 2-2. Whitecaps skipper Jay DeMerit was judged to have fouled Sounders striker Cam Weaver, though the "foul" that DeMerit allegedly committed was a mystery to me. In the aftermath of the game, I tweeted this: If we start giving penalty kicks every time players make minimal contact heading crossed balls, well ruin the game. — Jason deVos (@jasondevos) May 25, 2014 To which I received this response: @jasondevos LOL -too late! You already ruined it with your stupid LTPD plan. #keepscore — Jon Empringham (@92jays93) May 25, 2014 While Mr. Empringhams tweet wasnt relative to the Vancouver Whitecaps game against the Seattle Sounders, it did highlight another important point: LTPD, the CSAs long-term player development program, is still very misunderstood. According to his twitter bio, Mr. Empringham is an elementary school teacher who coaches basketball, soccer and track. Given his occupation, he would appear to be the ideal proponent of the principles of LTPD. Yet he seems adamantly opposed to the removal of scores and standings for youth soccer players below the age of 13. While the removal of scores and standings is just one small component of the changes brought forward by LTPD, the concept still faces considerable pushback. I believe that much of that pushback comes from the general publics misunderstanding of the reason why scores and standings have been removed. Keeping scores and standings is not inherently bad for children. We havent been doing young players a disservice all of these years by tracking the results of their games, nor by adding up their wins and losses at the end of their seasons. What we have done, though, is compromise their development by linking their opportunities within the game – perceived or otherwise – to their results on the field. As it is my home province, I will use Ontario to explain. Until the introduction of LTPD, the "Pyramid for Play" (the name of the competitive structure for youth soccer in Ontario) was based on promotion and relegation between multiple tiers. The higher the tier, the more "competitive" the level of play. Tier 1, provincial "rep" soccer, was considered the highest level of play, while Tier 7, local "house league" soccer, was the introductory level. Teams who won their leagues (or finished in the top two or three, in some cases) were promoted to the next highest tier, while teams who finished bottom of their leagues (or finished in the bottom two or three, in some cases) were demoted to the next lowest tier. This movement of teams every year caused a major problem. Players as young as 9 were coming under immense pressure to win promotion - primarily from their coaches and parents. In some cases, failure to win promotion would lead to the break up of an entire team, as players would scatter over the off-season in order to tryout for teams that did win promotion. The concept of promotion and relegation created a false belief amongst coaches and parents that the key to success in the game - the way for kids to "make it" - was to play at the Tier 1 level, which began at the under-14 age category. The years leading up to under-14 were becoming a dogfight, as players jostled to be on a tteam that was poised to win promotion to Tier 1.dddddddddddd It didnt really matter how games were won, or what players were learning, so long as promotion was achieved. The competitive structure itself reinforced this "win at all costs" mentality, and youth soccer in Ontario found itself spiralling into a vicious cycle that was getting worse every year. In my time working as the Technical Director of the Oakville Soccer Club, I once had to gather the parents of an entire age groups competitive program after a fight had broken out amongst parents on the sidelines of an under-10 boys game. On another occasion, I had to intervene on the field of a house league game, as the coaches and parents were incensed by a call made by the referee – who was a 16-year-old girl – and were verbally abusing the young lady. Yet another incident saw a 14-year-old referee leave the field in tears after being verbally abused by spectators at a game. Over time, we have collectively lost sight of the fact that youth soccer is a game that is supposed to be enjoyed by its players, coaches and spectators. Young children shouldnt have to shoulder the burden of "needing to win this game" in order to win promotion or avoid relegation. That pressure is difficult enough for seasoned professional players to handle. Imagine if children had to finish in the top three in their class in order to graduate to the next grade each year? Our school system would devolve into chaos - wed have parents submitting homework and assignments on behalf of their children, as theyd be terrified that their kids would miss out on graduation! Critics have argued that over-competitiveness amongst parents is a societal issue, and that other sports suffer from the same problems. If that is the case though, then surely it is up to our governing bodies to try to better the environments in which our children experience the game of soccer? Surely they should do everything in their power to compensate for our societys failings? Critics have also suggested that, rather than removing scores and standings, we should just remove promotion and relegation from the system. But doing so is far more difficult than it sounds. For starters, how does one determine which teams play at which competitive level? Does one make that determination based on population, geographic location, club size or historical club "success" – all the while knowing that any "success" that was previously achieved was done in a flawed system that was systematically abused? Additionally, there are many people firmly entrenched within the clubs and districts who rule the game in Canada who dont think anything is wrong with how we develop soccer players. Some of those individuals believe this because they do not know what a genuine, player-centric development system should look like, while others believe this because they have a vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo. It is those individuals who will fight the hardest to maintain the previous competitive structure. The only way to combat this is through education – by shining a light on what our real problems are. Because the only way we are going to fix our problems is if we first acknowledge what they really are. It isnt about scores and standings being "bad" for kids. It is about the behaviour that keeping scores and standings brings out in adults. ' ' '