Coester’s will be closed for the holiday so no viewing action there tomorrow I’m sorry to say but how about next Thursday, July 10th when they take on Red Bull NY! There will be a double-header that evening, with KC vs Red Bull at 7:00 pm followed by LA Galaxy vs Chivas US at 10:00 pm. Both games should offer wide open play and I’m working on getting some specials set up, as well as some give aways. Add it to your calendar!

Continuing with the update:
The Kansas City Wizards have announced that forward Josh Wolff has rejoined the club, signing a 4-year contract. Wolff, 31, played 80 games with the Wizards from 2003-2006, scoring 27 goals (T5th in Wizards history) and tallying 20 assists (7th in Wizards history).

Wolff played most recently in 34 games over the last two seasons (2 goals) with 1860 Munich in the German Second Bundesliga and currently has 52 caps and 9 goals for the U.S. National Team.

They need the reinforcements, with a new game on the schedule:
The Kansas City Wizards rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Carolina RailHawks of USL-1 4-2 Tuesday in extra time. Kansas City advances to the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against the Seattle Sounders (USL-1). Kansas City will travel to Seattle next Tuesday for a match at Qwest Field, time still TBA. Forwards Ivan Trujillo and Claudio Lopez starred Saturday’s victory after coming on in the second half.

What about Jack Jewsbury you ask? Well, he’s been moved back to right back, from his holding midfield position, to solidify the defense. Must be working, with the 3 game unbeaten streak the Wizards are touting. Jack’s started all 13 games played this year, and he has a pair of goals and a pair of assists. I’m thinking rather than signing Wolff, they should have considered moving him up top and getting another defender. But I’m a mere scribe, although Ives appears to agree they could have chosen a different path. BTW, if you follow the link to Jack’s roster sheet, you’ll be able to see video of both of his goals and below that, a “promo video” that is all Jackie.

In the meantime, enjoy this selection of photos presented by Canon and Agence France-Press (AFP) along with this selection from the Canon Professional Network - Favorite Photos part 1 and Favorite Photos part 2

Part 2 of the interview

Andrew Weibe, a KU student and contributor to American Soccer Daily, hooked up with Jimmy Conrad and Jack Jewsbury to cover a wide range of topics. Hat tip to Hillcrest Road.

After enjoying this, consider downloading SGFsoccer.com The Magazine which features Jack on the cover and my interview and background feature with him.

The boys are in Toronto for a game tonight that is being broadcast on Direct Kick.

Lot’s to enjoy as I offer a single resource for all the ’soccer junkies’ in the region to ensure you can get your fix this summer. The Southwest Soccer All-Stars play June 19th, the European Championships kick off June 7th, at the Beijing Olympics soccer kicks off August 6th.

Local Club tryout information and schedules are available, the first day is June 15th. Regional Camps start as early as June 2nd and run until early August, you should be able to find one to meet your child’s needs easily.

Jack Jewsbury continues his development and increases his role on the KC Wizards. You can find the complete Wizards schedule on page 29. The Springfield Demize have six more home games, have you made it out yet? Springfield SC U23 are offering a competitive club program for our young men now as well.

I’ll be holding watch parties throughout the summer at Coester’s, including give aways courtesy of the KC Wizards, as we take in some fantastic international soccer and Major League Soccer. How about a road trip to Kansas City? I’m thinking KC Wizards vs NY Red Bull on July 10th!

The Kansas City Wizards announced the tryout times for the five KCW Juniors teams. The KCW Juniors will have teams in the U-13, U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-18 age groups for the 2008-2009 season and designate six Technical Staff members to those teams. The Wizards will also form a U-19 squad for players returning from college to have a place to train and a way to stay connected to the organization. The U-19 team will begin training this week.

Tryouts will be held June 14-15 for the U-13 team and June 16-18 for the U-15 through U-18 age groups. All tryouts will be held at the Wizards Swope Park Training Center. To register for tryouts, visit kcwizards.com.

“We are very pleased to add two age groups to our program this year and build upon the success experienced in year one of the KCW Juniors program,” Technical Director Peter Vermes said. “We have assembled a great staff of coaches and have a beautiful facility for these young soccer players to utilize. With these resources, we look forward to developing the next generation of Kansas City Wizards players.”

The 2008-2009 season will be important for the KCW Juniors program as members of the U-15, U-16 and U-17 teams will be eligible to compete in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy beginning in 2009-2010. Next season, the KCW Juniors U-16 and U-18 teams will compete against the best youth clubs from around the country under U.S. Soccer’s umbrella. Beginning in 2009, both the U-16 and U-18 KCW Juniors teams will be fully funded.

“The members of our U-15, U-16 and U-17 teams will train this season with an eye toward joining the Development Academy next year,” KCW Juniors DOC Jon Parry said. “U.S. Soccer has put together a great program that will help develop the elite player in this country, and we look forward to joining in 2009. Our goal is to have one of the strongest clubs in the country beginning with our first season in the Development Academy.”

Six members of Kansas City’s world-class Technical Staff will focus on the KCW Juniors, including Vermes, KCW Juniors Director of Coaching Jon Parry and Paul Rideout, who served as the head coach for all three KCW Juniors teams during the 2007-2008 season. Rideout is a former English Premier League player who scored a game-winning goal for Everton in the 1995 FA Cup final.

In addition, former MLS player Daouda Kante (U-13), Kansas City native Randall Porter (U-15, U-16) and Trinidad and Tobago native Romothy Quashie (goalkeepers) will be added to the staff in 2008-2009. As an added benefit due to his vision for the future of the Kansas City Wizards First Team, Vermes will use a hands-on approach in conjunction with Jon Parry for the KCW Juniors program in talent identification and training/development strategies. This will allow the Wizards training philosophies to remain consistent throughout the organization from the First Team’s starting 11 to the members of the KCW Juniors U-13 team.

“We have put together an excellent group of soccer minds that have vast playing and coaching experience,” Parry said. “Our coaches have been through the rigors of playing highly competitive soccer and will be able to help our KCW Juniors players prepare themselves for the highest levels of competition.”

Each KCW Juniors team will practice a minimum of three times per week at the Wizards Swope Park Training Center. Speed, strength, agility and conditioning will be major focuses of KCW Juniors training. Kansas City Wizards Fitness Coach Dave Tenney and Scott Moody, founder and CEO of Center for Athletic Performance (CAP), will oversee training regiments for all Juniors teams. Juniors goalkeepers will also receive goalkeeper-specific training twice per week from Quashie.

“We are proud that the technology and know-how from which our Major League Soccer players benefit will be available to our youth players as well,” Vermes said. “We strive to make every aspect of our organization world class from top to bottom. This is another example of that commitment.”

2008-2009 KCW Juniors Teams and Coaches

KCW Juniors DOC - Jon Parry
U-13 Boys - Daouda Kante / Paul Rideout / Randall Porter
U-15 Boys - Jon Parry / Randall Porter
U-16 Boys - Paul Rideout / Jon Parry / Randall Porter
U-17 Boys - Paul Rideout / Jon Parry
U-18 Boys - Paul Rideout / Jon Parry
U-19 Boys - Jon Parry / Peter Vermes
Goalkeepers - Romothy Quashie

Date / Time - KCW Juniors Team

Saturday, June 14
11:00am-1:00pm U-13
Sunday, June 15
5:00pm-7:00pm U-13
Monday, June 16
1:00pm-2:45pm U-18
3:00pm-5:00pm U-17
5:15pm-7:15pm U-15
7:30pm-9:30pm U-16
Tuesday, June 17
1:00pm-2:45pm U-18
3:00pm-5:00pm U-17
5:15pm-7:15pm U-15
7:30pm-9:30pm U-16
Wednesday, June 18
1:00pm-2:45pm U-18
3:00pm-5:00pm U-17
5:15pm-7:15pm U-15
7:30pm-9:30pm U-16

Kansas City Wizards Swope Park Training Center
6310 Lewis Road
Kansas City, MO 64132

UPDATE - Mike from Down The Byline picks Jack Jewsbury as his second choice for Player of the Month.

By the way, did you catch the review of Coester’s in the News-Leader this week?

At least 30 girls had signed up to express an interest in the program, and most appeared to be on hand at the board meeting. “We support the proposal to add girls soccer,” he said. “Kids do better in school when they’re involved in activities. They do better in their studies and attendance, and they’re more likely to graduate.”

Reed after the meeting said that Carthage has had a boys soccer program since 1989. He said a first-year budget for the program will be between $20,000 and $25,000, a higher total the first year because of uniform purchases.

UPDATE - the Carthage Press chimes in with this additional tidbit

Carthage is entering the Central Ozark Conference (COC) next year and all but one school will have girls soccer – Webb City doesn’t have the sport and Republic will introduce it in the 2009-2010 school year.

In addition to soccer, the Ozark Tigers are out working to support hungry kids in Haiti.

Ozark Lady Tiger soccer players donated their time and energy on Thursday to help the Springfield organization Kids Against Hunger package food for children who are currently starving in the island nation of Haiti. The organization’s current goal is to package and send 100,000 meals to the children of Haiti.

Skyler Russell (pictured - Kickapoo Chiefs) has been playing for the Scott Gallagher U16 US Academy team and they just returned from a Florida tournament where they faced off against the US U16 National Team, losing 1-0. The Academy is the highest level of play in the country, designed to provide a model similar to the International Clubs that develop youth players for their adult teams. It has also been designated as the way USSF will identify future National Team players.

Just down the road in Joplin, Max Duncan (Joplin) has been traveling North to play for the KC Wizards Juniors who have just been accepted into the USSF Academy program beginning next year. Max’s U16 squad currently plays in the Midwest Regional League, in the First Division that includes the Springfield SC squad.

As the title notes, there are only three weeks of High School play remaining before Districts. The compact nature of the Spring season is something that is always on the Coaches minds and the rain hasn’t helped matters. I’m writing an article for Big O Sports with a deadline today for their May/June issue. We’ll all find out how good I am at forecasting as Districts roll around. So what games this week might play a roll in the outcome? How about
* Monday - Ozark visits Glendale tonight, at Cooper
* Monday - Catholic and Greenwood want private school respect, also at Cooper (5:00 pm V only)
* Tuesday - Parkview host Camdenton while Rolla hosts Lebanon
* Wednesday - Glendale at Catholic, 4:30 pm Varsity starting time
* Thursday - Parkview hosts Kickapoo and Camdenton hosts Lebanon
* Friday - Ozark hosts Parkview, a key District 12 seeding game
I’ll look at this weekends Tournament activity in another post.

The Champions League returns for the first leg of the semifinals, Liverpool fans grieve and fret and it’s because of some profit-mongering Americans. That’s a nice prelude to watching the game on Tuesday - Liverpool vs Chelsea begins at 1:30 pm. On Wednesday it’s Barcelona vs Manchester United. As has been the case this Spring, you can find me at Coester’s for both games. Come join us!

The Missouri State Bears will host the Missouri Southern Lions on Thursday evening at Plaster, start time is 6:30 pm.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this weekend will see the beginning of the Missouri State Cup. Yeah, the U13-U17 Boys teams from Springfield SC will begin competition in St Louis in the early rounds. The defending champs, the U17 boys, have a bye on Saturday but everyone plays this weekend. UPDATE - the Total SC U16 boys are also entered, with a 1st round bye this weekend. More later.

He’s been identified as the fellow who’s salary is the median for the league (50% make more, 50% make less). And if you search for him on Google, I’m responsible for 3 of the first 5 links

For some highlights, hit the KC Wizards website, on his bio page you can get caught up on his two game-winning assists and his goal. The photo is from April 2006 when the KC Wizards played the Missouri State Bears.

Joplin McAuley Warriors opens their season tonight, hosting District foe Greenwood Blue Jays.
Catholic and Willard renew rivalries on Tuesday, following the District Final last year.
Greenwood also visits Willard, on Wednesday. These teams last met in the District semifinals last year, with Willard winning in stoppage time on a goal by current senior Patsy Middleton to advance to their first ever District Final. Varsity only, 5:00 pm start.
It’s also time for the first derby between Glendale and Kickapoo on Wednesday. Cooper Soccer Complex is the site for the game and both teams are hungry for wins. Should be fun!

April 11- 12 the Kickapoo Chiefs host the annual Kickapoo Shootout. Traditionally the best local High School soccer tournament, new coach Phil Hodge has expanded the size and quality this year.

The field includes 8 state-ranked teams plus Rogers AR, a perennial 7A power in AR. It includes St Teresa’s (#2 from KC), Liberty (#6, KC) Lafayette (#7, STL), Jeff City (#12), Jackson (#13, Cape ), and Oakville (#14 STL) along with Class 1 powers Springfield Catholic (#6) and Notre Dame (#7, STL). Glendale is also participating.

The Christian County Tournament is also scheduled for this weekend, hosted by Ozark Tigers and Nixa Eagles. The final schedule is still be determined and should be posted on the Tigers website in a day or two.

Saturday, the Missouri State Bears will play the Missouri Science & Technology Miners at Plaster in a Spring exhibition game. Start time is 6:00 pm and I hope to catch up with new Miner signee, Zack Hay for a recruiting story.

Plenty of good soccer to see at Coester’s this week as well. The Champions League continues on Tuesday and Wednesday, 1:30 pm start times for the 2nd leg of the Quarterfinal games. And on Wednesday evening the NE Revolution visit the KC Wizards. 7:00 pm start time on that one.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t point to tonights NCAA Basketball Final. It’s one sporting event outside of soccer that I really enjoy, having attended the Final 4 as well as a dozens of Regional games in the past 20 years. And with all of the Coaching stories we’ve had recently, here’s another lesson

“Coach Brown was really good at making the game easy for the players,” said Self.

In a profession known for exorbitant salaries and overcoaching, Calipari and Self are much more inclined to let their guys, well, just play — to the point where after his team rolled to a 40-12 lead over North Carolina on Saturday, Self proclaimed, “There were times when I didn’t have much control over what was going on out there.”

“You recruit players and the challenge is to get them to play together,” Calipari said. “You want to put your players in position to have success.”

Hat tip to The Daily Fix

It’s hard to tell from this video but rest assured, that is Jackie Jewsbury getting his second straight game-winning assist. The video does a much better job of showing the celebration in The Cauldron. This one came in the 87th minute while the first one came in the 47th minute of the 2-0 win over DC United.

You can get higher quality video on the Wizards site. And if you’re planning on attending the Glendale Falcons vs Kickapoo Chiefs derby on Wednesday evening, don’t forget to set your recorder for the Wizards third straight home game, at 7:00 pm against defending champion New England Revolution, available on DirectKick. Or see it live at Coester’s.

Update - Ives, of Soccer by Ives, hearts the KC Wizards. Twice! ranking them #1 in the MLS in his second week rankings.

Did I mention at least one national correspondent is picking them to finish in the Top 4?