Recently in Youth Soccer Category

I've been accused of lots of things during my two decades as a reporter and soccer columnist.

Democrats have accused me of being Republican. Republicans have accused me of being a liberal. Galaxy fans have accused me of being pro-Chivas USA. Chivas USA fans have accused me of being, well, you get the idea.

But this accusation was a new one on me after I wrote this story last weekend recounting how the city of Torrance wanted to turn a little-used sump into youth soccer fields:

"First, Nick Green should be removed from reporting this issue. He covers occer (sic) and AYSO clearly making him biased and thus compromising journalistic ethics. Shame on the Daily Breeze editors!"

Drat!

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone discovered I'm part of vast soccer-loving conspiracy hoping to leave every spare plot of land in this nation littered with lush, green sports fields the youth of America can run around on, stay healthy and enjoy the great outdoors.

Actually, I couldn't care less what they do or do not do with the site since I don't live in West Torrance where the sump is, don't have kids and will likely never step foot on the tract whether it becomes soccer fields or not.

But I do care I will have to miss the finals of InterLiga tonight at Home Depot Center to listen to a sump "debate" that judging by the above comment may struggle to rise above the level of a Steven Colbert interview.

The implications of tonight's two InterLiga games are succinctly summed up here, BTW.

And if you do head out to Carson, dress warmly.

Lastly, Galaxy playmaker Landon Donovan is saying all the right things about his likely home debut this weekend at Everton's Goodison Park.

Incidentally, I'd like to thank U.S. Soccer Players for linking to my Tuesday column on the Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez in their (usually) excellent daily e-mail today.

However, they attributed the story to a "Nick Garcia" for some reason that escapes me.

Hey, if you're going to give me a random Latino surname that's "Verde" not "Garcia."

Just don't let folks in Torrance know. Because we all know how those Latinos just love futbol.

This is a stunning venue, BTW.

There's nothing else like it in Southern California.

Photo by Scott Varley

Check it out.

First things first: the Galaxy's Alecko Eskandarian is on Drew Carey's "The Price is Right at 10 a.m. on CBS (sorry for the late notice).

In other momentous MLS Cup related news:

*Seattle introduces - the Galaxy dog.

*Former Galaxy midfielder Ned Grabavoy is a hero in Salt Lake City after scoring the PK that put them through to the final - but may not play Sunday against his former team.

*David Beckham hasn't trained fully with the team all week and may take pain killers to get through Sunday's game. (And be sure and check out Beckham's hairstyles through the years at the pic just to the right of the story on that Web page).

*Former Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas (and current ESPN soccer analyst) talks to Daily News sports media columnist Tom Hoffarth here.

*The Seattle Times is going all out with its on-line MLS Cup coverage.

And because we can't have enough pictures of the Galaxy logo atop Seattle's Space Needle: (MLS Photo)

In other soccer news:

*Some residents of a West Torrance neighborhood equate AYSO with prostitution (seriously).

*The CSUDH women's team plays its biggest game of the year tonight without its biggest offensive threat.

Jones is described as an owner, advisor and promoter in the company by Socal Soccer City Holdings President Kevin Gilmore, a partner in the proposed indoor Futsal facility on Maple Avenue that will occupy a former shipping facility.

Jones, now an assistant coach with the Galaxy after a glittering 12-season career with the MLS club, grew up in Westlake Village.

"Cobi brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and passion, not only to the game itself, but also how it relates to the Southern California youth players as they develop into future generations of professional players," said Paul Higgins, president of South Coast Soccer City, the first in what's envisioned as a chain of similar state of the art indoor soccer facilities in the region. "His passion for the game is unparalleled and his excitement for our concept was evident the first time we walked him through the building and described our plans. Cobi made it clear from the start that he had no interest in being a passive investor - he wanted to be actively involved in not only this first location, but also the growth of Soccer City in California and beyond.

Jones will host camps and clinics at the facility and help develop the programming and curriculum for youth programs.

"Futsal allows young players to learn soccer skills that include finesse, creativity, ball control and so much more - all elements of the game that would greatly impact their success in the outdoor game," Jones said. "I strongly believe that developing a network of facilities that promote small five-a-side soccer will revolutionize the way young soccer players develop in the U.S."

Soccer City expects to open in December.

To learn more, check out previous posts about South Coast Soccer City by clicking here.

Sent by a soccer mom:

Subject: Change to End of Game Ceremony

To the players, parents, and volunteers of AYSO Region 17,

One of the most basic and vital components to the AYSO sportsmanship program is the end of game hand-shake/high five line for the opposing teams and the referees. The Board of Directors of Region 17 also considers the health and safety of all our players and volunteers. We find ourselves now trying to balance these two facets.

The cold and flu season is now upon us. To reduce physical contact, Region 17 will now through the end of the Fall Season change the end of game ceremony to lining up at midfield at the end of the match and clapping for the opposing team and saying "thank you" to the referees.

What if players touch during the game? Quarantine?

The backers of Torrance's planned state of the art Futsal facility in a former warehouse on Maple Avenue have signed a lease for the 73,000-square-foot building and are projecting a December opening.

Dubbed South Coast Soccer City, the refurbished building will accommodate five Futsal fields with modular flooring and two artificial turf fields, a 4,000-square-foot training center, four party rooms, a homework room, cafe/lounge and store selling Futsal equipment.

Paul Higgins, president of South Coast Soccer City, said it will be the largest facility in the U.S. dedicated to the fast-growing sport.

"Soccer City will not only help address the lack of fields and playing opportunities for players of all ages in the region, but will help redefine the way young players develop their soccer skills by introducing them to a version of the game that emphasizes creativity, skills and ball control," he said.

Full eight-week leagues should begin Jan. 3, 2010.

"We can provide playing and training time for not only young players and adults, but also create innovative toddler programs, Mommy and me programs and other programs that enhance the soccer experience," said Kevin Gilmore, president of parent company Socal Soccer City Holdings, which eventually hopes to open additional locations in the region. "The fact that we found a location in Torrance is an added bonus given the city's strong soccer tradition and high youth participation levels."

Torrance is the birthplace of AYSO.

For updates on Soccer City, check out their Twitter feed.

And if you haven't experienced Futsal before, take a look at this video:

Still friends, even after the game

Lakers player Jett Hays, 7, left, and buddy Timmy Kacius, 7, of the Green Angels leave the Hull at Levy Field in Torrance Saturday on the second weekend of American Youth Soccer Organization play in AYSO Region 15. The Lakers won 3-2 with Jett scoring two goals. (Photo by Tim Kacius).

Photo courtesy German Alegria/Los Angeles Galaxy

Hans Stierle, a former Torrance resident regarded as the driving force behind the creation of the American Youth Soccer Association and the now national organization's first president, was honored before Saturday's Galaxy game. Stierle, who now lives in the Pacific Northwest, was presented with a Galaxy jersey by Tom Payne, president of business operations for the team.

You could argue (and I essentially do, in a story that originally ran in 2003 and is reprinted below) that without the formation of AYSO and the interest in soccer it caused there would be no MLS.

AYSO marks its 45th anniversary this year.

Stierle will also be recognized at 7 p.m. Tuesday by the Torrance City Council and a field at Jefferson Middle School will be named after him at a 12:30 p.m. Wednesday ceremony. The recognition events were organized by Torrance's Del Amo Rotary Club.

Stierle was a neighbor of the school that became the home field for the first four AYSO teams, one of which counted a young German immigrant named Sigi Schmid as a player. Stierle and a group of other parents organized AYSO in a garage.

"Hans happened to be the catalyst," said Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto, a long-time AYSO coach and league official who will present the man he called "a soccer idol for me" with the council resolution. "To this day I'm in amazement he started this here at Jefferson and it's really kind of cool to think that right now there's over 600,000 players across America practicing this week for their first games Saturday."

BTW, below is a feature story I wrote back in 2003 2001 profiling the organization, followed by another history piece that ran in the Daily Breeze the weekend before the Galaxy played their first game in Carson in 2003 that traces the history of soccer in the South Bay.

Move over boys of summer, it's time for the lads and lasses of fall.

Even as the baseball season slides into its late innings, on Saturday more than 18,000 children throughout the South Bay and Harbor Area ranging in age from 5 to 19 engaged in an alternate September ritual -- opening day of the American Youth Soccer Organization.

In Hawthorne, more than 1,400 boys and girls -- many wearing fashionably fluorescent pink or purple uniforms -- paraded before proud parents as local politicians took advantage of the gathering of soccer moms (and dads) to stump for this fall's city elections.

In Palos Verdes Estates, about 2,700 youngsters posed for team pictures between stints of bouncing on inflatable playground equipment provided by the South Bay-bound Los Angeles Galaxy, while their parents renewed acquaintances with friends they may not have seen since last season.

"It's a community within a community," said Rancho Palos Verdes resident John Abelson, a coach and league commissioner with three children aged between 6 and 11 that all play soccer. "We've made a lot of friends . . . through (our children) playing together."

Professional soccer may remain largely a niche sport, but the same cannot be said for a game at the grass-roots level that boasts such broad family appeal -- it's no coincidence the phrase "soccer mom" has become an established part of the political lexicon.

Indeed, this weekend heralds the beginning of a frenetic four months for thousands of local parents.

Offspring and their teammates must be shuttled to weeknight practices and Saturday games.

Dads with a decidedly limited knowledge of the game will suddenly find themselves taking a crash course in officiating or coaching a pack of 7-year-olds who will have insisted upon christening their team The Loony Bears.

Moms will prowl sidelines on game days keeping children -- and husbands -- in line, while spending weeknights telephoning fellow parents to press-gang them into assuming the multitude of soccer-related responsibilities necessary to keep the less-than- finely-honed organization running somewhat smoothly.

"They have no idea how hard they'll be working," said a clipboard-toting Darlene Haezaert of Del Aire, a mother of two soccer veterans aged 10 and 14, as she watched parents escort tiny tykes with colorful jerseys hanging almost to their cleats past an applauding crowd in Hawthorne.

"They'll be living here," she added, suppressing a mischievous smile.

Moms, such as 37-year-old Janice Cooper know only too well what catching the soccer bug means.

All three of her children, aged 12, 10 and 4, play in Hawthorne leagues, which translates into devoting at least three days a week to soccer games and practices.

Moreover, Cooper became so enamored with the game that four years ago she began lacing up the cleats with a women's team, despite never having kicked a ball in her life.

Her husband? Well, every soccer family needs an "assistant driver," Cooper said with a laugh.

"We're working on him," she added.

AYSO, with a participatory philosophy that mandates all children play at least half the game and its emphasis on sportsmanship over winning, is credited by its fans for playing a crucial role in the game's rising popularity.

Founded in Torrance in 1964 with a mere 125 players, the Hawthorne-based group has grown to become the nation's second-largest youth soccer organization with more than 650,000 participants.

Here's the 1966-1967 Torrance Mustangs (notice the footwear) at the old Continental Soccer Field, where Alpine Village now stands. (Photo courtesy John Sloway, who is the kid in the glasses).

But in a development that's enough to make the jingoistic choke on their apple pie, soccer's growth has come at the expense of such traditional American sports as baseball.

"I play baseball, but it's too slow," said Angel Andrade, 14, of Hawthorne, echoing similar comments made by soccer players and parents alike on Saturday. "(Soccer) is a moving sport."

Indeed, baseball participation among American youths is in "serious decline," according to a study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, with the number of players plunging 40 percent from its peak year in 1993.

In contrast, one-third of all children in the United States between the ages of 6 and 11 have played soccer at least once.

AYSO spokesman David Brown said total youth soccer registration in the United States has doubled to 4 million in the past decade.

That translates into participation levels locally that amaze even die-hard soccer fans.

Daniel Juarez, director of the area that includes the beach cities and Hawthorne, quoted El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon as saying during a recent council meeting that of the approximately 2,700 students in the city school district, about 950 play AYSO soccer.

On the Palos Verdes Peninsula, AYSO participation has leaped by 400 children in just the past two years.

"It's the single largest team sport for youth we have on The Hill," said Jim Sala, a Rolling Hills Estates resident and board member with the local AYSO league. "We really saw the numbers jump when the (U.S.) women won the (1999) World Cup . . . It became a cool thing to do."

Growing popularity has meant growing pains.

Soccer fields are in short supply in many areas.

For instance, the loss of just one Hawthorne field due to construction at a school forced Juarez to lop an hour off the time teams are allowed to practice each week.

On Saturdays, the first games begin at 9 a.m. and the last match at 6:30 p.m. is often finished under the lights. Some games are even played Friday nights.

"It's a fever," Juarez said. "There's just not enough fields for all the kids who are playing."

Another new initiative this year is the designation of fields where games are being played as a "Kids Zone" by posting behavior standards on signs or badges worn by supporters at games.

The idea: to ensure the disturbing trend of parents becoming abusive or violent toward coaches, officials or other parents doesn't infiltrate the AYSO ranks. The problem was highlighted in Torrance last fall when a parent assaulted a high school football coach over his son's lack of playing time. "We offer more than just a place to play soccer," said Nick Lincir, 68, a San Pedro resident and AYSO volunteer for 26 years who is now director of the area that includes Torrance, the Harbor Area and the Peninsula.

"We offer something I think is sorely needed: integrity and good sportsmanship and the kind of stuff our society is in dire need of. We build character through our program."

And here's that history of soccer in the South Bay story:

When the Los Angeles Galaxy kicks off its home season Saturday in its new, soccer-specific stadium at Carson's $150 million Home Depot Center, it won't be the first professional soccer team to have been based in the South Bay.

Or the second. Or even the third.

The names Aztecs, Lazers and Sunshine - and there are others, too, even more obscure - probably mean little to all but the most devoted local soccer fans.

Yet they were among the franchises that had short and not particularly glorious existences locally.

In fact, professional soccer in the South Bay can probably trace its roots to the 1964 formation of the American Youth Soccer Association in a Torrance garage.

The initial four-team league has today grown to become a Hawthorne-based organization that involves about 900,000 players and volunteers nationwide.

Soccer interest in the South Bay grew along with it, recalled Marine Cano, a Bishop Montgomery High School graduate who is the women's soccer coach at the University of California, Irvine and is known locally as director of the long-running Mr. Soccer Camps.

By the 1970s thousands of people were showing up for high school and even high-profile AYSO games, Cano said.

Bumper stickers were common in Torrance that proclaimed the community Soccer City-USA, as boosters cultivated its image as the nation's capital of the sport.

Local players, including Cano, embarked on professional careers, and entrepreneurs began capitalizing on that grass-roots support in a soccer hotbed.

First up - and most memorably - were the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League.

The Aztecs played two seasons in the South Bay in 1975 and 1976, with offices in Redondo Beach, a training ground at Inglewood's Hollywood Park and a home field at El Camino College's modest Murdock Stadium near Torrance.

They drew respectable crowds, averaging 6,000-7,000 spectators.

Incongruously, many of what were then some of the top soccer stars in the world played in the rather inauspicious environment, thanks to the NASL's reputation of paying salaries that were far too generous.

Among the big names was Pele, who in 1975 attracted a record Aztecs South Bay crowd of 12,176 to Murdock Stadium when the New York Cosmos visited.

Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid, a longtime South Bay resident who along with Cano was on one of those first AYSO teams in 1964, remembers taking the club team he coached to watch the Aztecs.

"What I remember most about El Camino is that you were on top of the action," he recalled. "It was a (soccer) education, but it was also something for (young players) to look up to."

Prominent Aztecs of the era included Irish star George Best, a ball wizard who has been compared to Pele and was such a celebrity in England in the late 1960s when he played for famed Manchester United that he was known as "The Fifth Beatle."

Despite playing 23 times and scoring 15 goals for the Aztecs in 1975, by then Best, who has since had a liver transplant, was more interested in booze than soccer balls. It's no coincidence a Hermosa Beach bar still bears his surname.

Encouraged by the South Bay support and in search of more money, in 1977 the Aztecs were sold to a group of investors that included Alan Rothenberg, who later became president of the U.S. Soccer Federation and an investor in Major League Soccer, and relocated to the Rose Bowl.

The group boasted in a November 1977 Daily Breeze article that they would transform a "second-class operation" into a first-class one. But as the Galaxy learned, fans wouldn't commit to buying tickets in a large stadium if they were always guaranteed a seat.

"If they would have stayed and made it the hottest ticket in town they would have been the hottest team in the old NASL," Cano said. "They made a crucial mistake."

The Aztecs folded in 1981.

Next up locally were the Los Angeles Lazers in 1978. They also played at El Camino in the second-tier American Soccer League. The league disbanded the team at season's end.

That year actually saw no fewer than three professional franchises locally. Two teams called South Bay United and the Southern California Cougars played Sunday doubleheaders at Redondo Beach's now-defunct Aviation High School in something called the Western Soccer League.

Among the players on the United roster was Schmid.

Players received $75 to $300 a game he recalled, although that didn't guarantee they would show up as scheduled.

During one road trip to Palm Springs a player shortage literally forced the coach to offer a game to a young Latino man walking down the street, said Schmid. He made the starting 11.

Not surprisingly, that league was short-lived, too.

The ASL returned in 1979 with a team called the California Sunshine. Cano, who played for the team, remembers them drawing average gates of 1,300 at games at Torrance's West High School and at El Camino College.

In 1982 Torrance was awarded a franchise in what was dubbed the Southern California Professional League, another entity that no longer exists.

Finally, from 1986 to 1988 the Los Angeles Heat, based at El Camino College and West High, participated in the Western Soccer Alliance, a precursor to today's A-League.

The roster included Cano, by then coach at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Beginning next weekend, the newest and already most successful chapter in South Bay professional soccer history unfolds with the opening of the stadium, which fans are calling "Victoria Street."

Considering the South Bay's soccer history, the region deserves it, said Torrance resident Nick Geber, co-host of "The Galaxy Soccer Report," which airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on KMPC 1540-AM.

"It's sort of coming full circle," he said. "Youth soccer was born here and the (nation's) premier soccer facility is going to be housed here. I couldn't think of anything more appropriate."

Briefly:
*Cal State Fullerton Titans (1-1), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers (1-2) and the Fairleigh-Dickinson Knights (2-0) visit the Matadors (1-1) this weekend.

Schedule: 1:30 p.m. Friday Titans-Panthers and 4:30 p.m. Matadors-Knights; 11 a.m. Sunday Titans-Knights and 1:30 p.m. Matadors-Panthers.

The men are picked to finish fourth in the Big West preseason coaches poll.

*The U.S. Soccer U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton has released its fall semester roster. Southern Californians attending include defender Emilio Orozco (Rampage FC; Oxnard) ; midfielders Eric Gonzalez (LA Galaxy; Corona), Carlos Martinez (Wilmington Jr.; San Pedro), Alejandro Guido (Aztecs Premier; Chula Vista), Sebastian Velasquez (Arsenal FC; Los Angeles); and forward Victor Chavez (Real So Cal; Fontana) and Mario Rodriguez (Central Aztecs; North Hollywood).

Key stats: Of the 200 players who have been through the residency program, more than 80 have played in MLS and 17 appeared for the USMNT.

Playing a little catch-up -
*The 2018/2022 USA Bid Committee has received its largest donation so far - $100,000 - from Cal South.

From the press release:

Cal South teams have captured 28 youth soccer national championships this decade. The high level of play throughout their leagues has produced more than 30 percent of U.S. Men's and Women's National Team members. Cal South's State and National Cup are the two largest and most prestigious youth soccer tournaments in Southern California featuring more than 2,000 teams. Off the field, Cal South is engaged in several urban outreach initiatives throughout Los Angeles and runs the annual Soccer Nation Expo, the largest free soccer family expo in the United States, held each year at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

*The WPS All-Star game partners - with the U.S. Coast Guard? The Coast Guard will also present the Coast Guard Goalkeeper of the Year Award next year.

*Preseason poll: Cal State Dominguez Hills men to win, women finish second in the CCAA South.

*Pepperdine plays at Cal State Fullerton at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Briefly:
*New York Red Bulls-Galaxy is at 5 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel. Game preview.

*Those who prefer youth soccer can check these games out on ESPN Classic live from Home Depot Center.

*Continuing with the theme of televised soccer, FSC has announced it will show live three Liverpool preseason games.

*While we're at it, here's more on these lucrative overseas tours by EPL teams.

*Finally, Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc has been called up by Canada for the two upcoming friendlies against the U.S.. UCLA and Pali Blues midfielder Kara Lang was called up.

By NANCY ARMOUR
AP National Writer

Charlize Theron has big plans for the World Cup.

The Academy Award winner's Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project is teaming up with LAFC Chelsea Soccer Club in Los Angeles to build community soccer programs for underprivileged children in South Africa. In addition to soccer fields, uniforms and equipment, kids involved in the program will receive health education and services.

The project will serve schools in South Africa's Umkhanyakude District, an area plagued by ahigh rate of HIV infection. She hopes to have the first fields built by the time the World Cup begins June 11.

"The World Cup is a huge, huge thing for South Africans and for Africa. The pride Africans have of hosting this is tremendous," Theron told The Associated Press. "The question is, how do we generate that into other areas and have more of an impact?"

Theron and LAFC are kicking off their collaboration with Tuesday's exhibition game between England's Chelsea and Italy's Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl. Net proceeds from the match will benefit the program.

Business mogul Don Sheppard started the Los Angeles Futbol Club four years ago after growing concerned that the cost of playing organized soccer was shutting talented kids out of the game. Kids at LAFC Chelsea play regardless of their financial means. The club provides coaching and help with schoolwork.

As LAFC grew, Sheppard began looking for ways he expand the effort overseas. An orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, now has a soccer field. He sent soccer balls to kids in Rwanda.

"The issue isn't the game, but what comes with it. It's called discipline, hard work,
commitment, values, access to education, access to the right messages, access to role models," Sheppard said.

Theron's Africa Outreach Project, meanwhile, has helped bring mobile health units to rural Umkhanyakude, about 200 miles northeast of Durban.

Children in the district have an almost 50 percent chance of being infected with HIV in their lifetime and health services are limited, at best. With the mobile clinics, high schoolers have monthly access to nurses and counselors, education classes designed to prevent HIV and programs that teach basic computer skills. There are now three mobile clinics in the district, serving 10,000 students.

"When you give just a few of these normal things we have at our beck and call every day to a community, they want to take that knowledge and make it their own," said Theron, a native of South Africa who won an Oscar for her role in "Monster".

Sheppard and Lorrie Fair, a member of the U.S. women's team that won the 1999 World Cup, will travel to Africa next month to meet with local leaders and scout out possible locations for the field.

"The World Cup is literally just a start," Sheppard said. In five years, "what I'm hoping is
there will be a sustainable program run by locals that will just keep building on itself."

If approved, financed and built it will be called South Coast Soccer City.

I'm told it will look very similar to the picture that accompanies the story.

The usual crew of anonymous bigots has hijacked the comment section at the bottom of the story, so allow me to clarify one thing: no taxpayer money is involved.

This is an ambitious venture and some folks I've talked to worry those involved may be reaching a little too far. Nevertheless, given the demand for fields in the greater L.A. region, there should be plenty of interest from varying demographic groups (and yes, to answer another question I received via e-mail, there will be adult leagues for men).

Frankly, I've barely played soccer since moving to Torrance from Ventura, so I'm looking forward to this, too, assuming it gets off the ground (the backers declined to tell me how much they're spending on this and I have the impression they still may be looking for investors).

The backers understand the risks involved, BTW. Kevin Gilmore observed that because this is the first purpose-built facility of its type they know of "therein lies the challenge and the opportunity."

BTW, I was told it will cost about $550 per team for an eight-week season, which isn't bad split up between 8-10 people. And no, you can't sign up yet.

The proposal calls for seven fields: three 49 feet by 90 feet fields, one 60 feet by 120 feet, one 60 feet by 120 feet field (the size required for international play) and two 40 feet by 90 feet field turf arenas.

A few futsal facts (culled from the project's overview):

*Futsal is not played with walls like traditional indoor soccer in the U.S. and therefore is considered the best way outdoor soccer players can train indoors "to refine and maintain their control, skill and touch."

*Futsal is considered one of the fastest growing indoor sports in the world and is played by 12 million people worldwide, including 70,000 in the U.S.

*"In futsal you need to think quick and play quick so it's easier for you when you move to normal football," said Pele.

Updated: It was approved by the Planning Commission.

I'm preparing for my first two-week vacation in three years, so there's no column today.

I'll return next Tuesday with a review of the forthcoming Spanish-language futbol movie "Rudo Y Cursi," which opens May 8 in L.A., and a look at soccer movies in general.

A couple of items of note to pass along:

*CONCACAF this morning announced it was postponing indefinitely the region's Beach Soccer Championship scheduled to begin Wednesday in Puerto Vallarta due to the spread of swine flu in Mexico. CONCACAF on Monday canceled the remainder of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship and postponed the second-leg of the Champions League final until May 12 to "safeguard the health and safety of players, officials and fans."

*The Galaxy and Chivas USA youth teams split a pair of games on the weekend, the Galaxy U-16's beating Chivas USA 4-0 at Home Depot Center, while the Chivas USA U-18's prevailed 3-1 over the Galaxy.

A few items to get caught up on today:

*Midfielder Carlos Martinez (Wilmington Jr.; San Pedro) was today named to the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team that will compete in the 2009 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship that begins Tuesday in Tijuana.

The U.S. opens against Cuba Tuesday, plays Canada on April 23 and Honduras April 25.

The tournament's semifinalists qualify for the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup this fall in Nigeria.

All 20 players on the roster attend U.S. Soccer's Under-17 Residency Program in Florida. Also named: Emilio Orozco (Rampage FC; Oxnard) and Luis Gil (Pateadores; Garden Grove).

*Chivas USA's Under-18, Under-16, and Under-14 youth teams will hold an open tryout April 24 in Santa Ana. Cost is $30. A registration form and full info is at the club's Web site on the right hand side of this blog.

Among those slated to watch: José Luis Real, the Youth Development Director for Chivas de Guadalajara.

*Tickets for the Gold Cup go on sale Friday including the Friday, July 3 doubleheader in Carson that sees Canada playing Jamaica and Costa Rica verses El Salvador.

*The Los Angeles Sol of Women's Professional Soccer formally announced the signing of defender Martina Franko that readers of this blog learned about last Saturday. Franko, who has 54 Canadian caps, is the Sol's seventh international.

"Martina is an experienced leader who will bring a veteran presence to our young and diverse team," said Coach Abner Rogers.

The Sol host Brandi Chastain of F.C. Gold Pride Sunday at Home Depot Center in their second home game of the season.