Just For Kicks
PHIL Neddo left Atlanta last year to become the paid director of coaching for the Honolulu Bulls Soccer Club. Bulls get Atlanta coach
The Bulls S.C. is one of the larger youth soccer clubs in Hawaii with nine girls and 18 boys teams in age groups from under 8 to under 19.
Neddo had served in the same capacity with the Atlanta Lightning. He also was a staff coach for Region 3 (Southeast) with the Olympic Development Program for 13 years.
Recently he was named to the Region 4 (West) ODP staff that conducts camps each summer in an effort to identify players with the potential to make national teams.
Neddo cited the U.S. Men's Under 17 team as an example.
"All those players were selected through ODP," he said. "Being on the region staff helps me keep up with the latest trends at the highest levels.
"It's a great privilege to be involved in the process of pushing players to be better. I represent, in a lot of ways, a lot of Hawaii coaches and it's an opportunity to put Hawaii soccer out there.
"I think there are coaches in the islands that should be considered for the region staff."
Not only does Neddo work at developing the Bulls players, he has a commitment to helping as many as possible obtain college scholarships.
"Some of my college coaching contacts tell me Hawaii kids tend to get homesick," Neddo said. "Well, I felt a little bit out of place when I first came here and now I can understand how the kids might feel. But, my job is to find a way to make them see the bigger goal."
Neddo would love to see the day when a player from Hawaii is on a U.S. national team.
"If we keep pushing everyone to strive for the highest level, even if they fall short, they will end up better than expected," Neddo said.
The United States Men's Under 17 National Team has increased its unbeaten streak to 23 matches (18-0-5) during pool play at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand.
The U.S. tied Poland, 1-1, and beat Uruguay, 1-0, to win its pool. The team plays Mexico Saturday.
Western Athletic Conference champion Southern Methodist advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament by defeating host and 13th ranked Southern California, 1-0, in double overtime last Sunday.
The 19th ranked Lady Mustangs (17-5-1) play at No. 6 Penn State (19-3-1) Sunday.
No. 8 Stanford (15-4-1), who played the Hawaii Wahine this season, ousted Cal Poly, 3-1, and plays a third-round match at No. 5 Notre Dame (19-3-0) tomorrow.
Major League Soccer has killed the shootout. Commissioner Don Garber made the announcement yesterday.
Regular-season ties will progress to a 10-minute sudden-death overtime. The point system will be 3-1-0 (win-tie-loss), as in the rest of the world.
Garber also announced the game clock will count up to 45 minutes instead of down.
The referee will control the clock and signal the amount of injury time, in accordance with FIFA regulations.
The United States women's soccer team is 2-4 on its 12-match tour against the women's world all-star team.
"It's a celebration. We're doing this to thank the fans," the U.S.'s Julie Foudy said. "It's a good show and enables us to get close to the fans. It's positive."
The largest crowd so far has been 14,525 at East Rutherford, N.J., last Sunday.
