“The system we had before wasnt perfect but it worked.” So says the president of London United Soccer Club in a recent London Free Press article discussing why the Henderson Memorial tournament – a youth soccer tournament that has taken place in London, Ontario over the Labour Day weekend for the past 36 years – is being scrapped. In the article, the president of London United blames the demise of his tournament on the Ontario Soccer Association and the Canadian Soccer Association for the implementation of Long-Term Player Development (LTPD), suggesting, amongst other things, that kids are leaving soccer because there is no trophy for them to win. He suggests that kids are saying, “Im not going out just to kick a ball around. I want to be somewhere where its competitive and at the end of the day have something to show for it.” Rather than take his word for what ‘the kids are saying, shouldnt we go directly to the kids to hear what they have to say for themselves? That is what the Ontario Soccer Association did recently, when it conducted a Grassroots Player Survey across the province. Bobby Lennox, the Manager of Grassroots Soccer Development, travelled the province to sit down with players and find out why they play the game, why its important to them and what role they want adults to play in their soccer experience. Here is what the kids had to say when asked what was important to them about soccer: Playing well, learning new skills, playing fairly, being with friends and having fun playing soccer all rank ahead of winning trophies. If the president of London United is to be believed, surely winning trophies should be the overwhelming response as to what is important to kids, shouldnt it? When asked what role adults should play in youth soccer, here is what the kids had to say: Again, note the heavy emphasis on having fun, learning skills and improving, as well as the aversion kids have to being told what to do and being yelled at during games. Far too often winning trophies is more important to the parents than it is to the kids. Inexplicably, many reasonable, intelligent, well-intentioned adults simply lose control of themselves when they get involved in youth soccer, compromising the experience for their children along the way. The president of London United is misguided and misinformed. Not only does he not understand that LTPD creates a better soccer experience for more young players by relieving the pressure to win on players below the age of 12, he also confuses the cost of LTPD with the cost of the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) – a high performance youth soccer league that was launched in 2014 for elite soccer players in Ontario. If the president of a soccer club cant be bothered to get his facts straight, what chance do the members of his club have of being well-informed? Canadian soccer needs sweeping change. Canadas mens national team currently ranks 118th in the FIFA world rankings - a shocking indictment on our collective ability to develop players over the years. Change needs to happen at many levels, but it starts by having intelligent, well-informed leaders in key positions, rather than people who want to bury their heads in the sand so they can maintain the status quo. Lamar Jackson Jersey . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives. Baltimore Ravens Jerseys .com) - The Hatch Attack is back in the Southern Conference. http://www.officialbaltimoreravenspro.com/Customized/.Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination. Joe Flacco Jersey . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery. Jonathan Ogden Jersey .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul.WASHINGTON -- Fabian Espindola scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season to lead D.C. United to a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Bill Hamid made five saves to preserve his third shutout and D.C.s fifth this season. Uniteds victory was their first over Sporting since a 2-1 win on May 5, 2010, with Kansas City winning six matches and drawing one since. Sporting (5-5-4) had its winless streak stretched to five matches as United (6-4-3) climbed past them into second place in the Eastern Conference. Already without American World Cup call-ups Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, Kansas City lost defender Aurelien Collin in the eighth minute with an apparent recurrence of a right hamstring injury. Collin previously missed two matches with the same injury earlier this month, and was replaced Saturday by 17-year-old Erik Palmer-Brown, the leagues youngest current player. United also lost defender Chris Korb to an apparent leg injury in the 34th minute. But forward EEddie Johnson was allowed to start after the league waived his red card from last weeks match at New England and the resulting suspension.dddddddddddd D.C. substitute Alex Caskey was sent off in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time for his late, dangerous challenge on Kansas Citys Kevin Ellis. Ellis was also involved in a post-match scrum, with Sporting coach Peter Vermes having to briefly restrain the defender. Espindola scored in the 28th minute on his long, left-footed strike from outside the penalty area that appeared to be a cross aimed at Johnson. Instead, it sailed beyond stranded Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg and into the net for Espindolas third goal in three matches. Kansas City had chances to tie after halftime. In the 63rd minute, Jacob Peterson reached Benny Feilhabers cross but headed it wide of Hamids right post. Then Hamid made a reaction save on his left post to turn away substitute Soony Saads whistling shot in the 78th minute. 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