Welcome [LASTNAME] Family!   Problems viewing this newsletter? Go to www.cvusc.com and click on 'Member e-Newsletter' to find an browser version.   You can forward this email to a friend.   To change your email address or to unsubscribe click here.   If this is not your copy then you can subscribe at www.cvusc.com.     In This Fall 2009 Issue...   Message From the President   CVU and CPRD forge a new alliance   New at T.Oaks Park   Focus on Teams   Training Tips - Nutrition   ACL Injuries   Photo of the Month   Coming Soon     Message from the President As the days start to grow shorter, the lazy days of summer turn to the hectic days of autumn. School clothes and supplies are purchased, schedules are rearranged and soccer practice resumes on club soccer fields around Southern California. Tournaments are played to prepare the teams for the upcoming season.  This is always an exciting time for players and parents alike, filled with anxious anticipation. How will the team do? How will I/my child perform? Will we get promoted, relegated or finish in the middle of the pack?  Will it be fun? All these questions will be answered in the next few months but a word of caution may be in order. We want the teams at CVU to succeed on the field of play, so it is very important to make sure that the players are given the best opportunity to do so. In soccer, there are no right or wrong answers. The game presents the players with challenges that each player will try to solve to the best of his/her technical and tactical ability. Sometimes the solution is successful, sometimes not. For example, a player may choose to play the ball back to the keeper. The ball takes a bad bounce and ends up in their own net. Was the solution successful? Obviously not, but it may still have been a good choice! It is important that we, as parents and coaches, support our players whether they make the successful or unsuccessful decision. The important part is that they are allowed to grow, that they are pushed out of their comfort zone so they can truly progress as soccer players. It is when the players take ownership of the game and learn to differentiate between the multitude of options available to them to consistently make good decisions, that they become successful and confident soccer players. So don’t over analyze or micro-manage (how would you like if someone told you what to do every step of your life and then discussed it with three friends?).  Trust in your coach’s ability (I think we have assembled a really great staff) to teach them the right technical and tactical skills. Then sit back and enjoy the game! There are few things more enjoyable than watching your child mature and grow in confidence, knowledge and athleticism. Good Luck!  And a healthy, successful and fun season to all! Martin Belak-Berger, President Email: president@cvusc.com CVU and CRPD Forge a New Alliance It’s no secret that athletic fields are at a premium in the Conejo Valley, especially fields that are lighted. To that end, and after three months of negotiations, Conejo Valley United Soccer Club recently signed a ten year agreement with Conejo Recreation Park District. The agreement, which runs through June 24, 2019 and contains a five year option, strives to assure CVU players have a quality site to train and play games for years to come. Specifics of the agreement include: A $70,000 contribution by CVU over a seven year period to help pay for the approximate $280,000 upgrade to the existing lights at T.O. Community Park Priority use of T.O. Community Park during the fall CVU season Increased training space at T.O. Community Park Use of outfield space at T.O. Community Park for a third U10 and under game field on Saturdays and Sundays Priorities and guarantees of field space within the district February thru May Use of Conejo Creek South (AYSO fields) on Memorial weekend for the CVU Tournament of Champions Maintenance to be performed by CRPD An option to extend the agreement five years, to June of 2024, for an additional $30,000 contribution “to a mutually agreeable improvement at the T.O. Community fields” paid over a three year period Since its inception, Conejo Valley United Soccer Club has partnered with Conejo Recreation Park District to provide quality programs and facilities to the youth of the Conjeo Valley. This Memorandum of Understanding serves to solidify that long standing relationship. CVU looks forward to working with CRPD and contributing to the improvements planned for T.O. Community Park over the next few years. The first of those improvements, upgrading of the lights at the park has just been completed and will dramatically enhance the quality of the facility. CVU is proud to make this contribution, that will not only benefit our participants, but also the community as a whole. What's New at Thousand Oaks Park The CVU home field, Thousand Oaks Park reopened after refurbishment on September 11th, just in time for our first Coast Soccer League games!   When you visit the park you'll notice a few changes since last season... each field has a new set of goals and there are now 3 fields! The newest field is at the far west of the complex and is sized for U9 and U10 teams allowing our younger teams to play alongside every other CVU team. Our new goals have lightweight and sturdy aluminum frames and, best of all, they slide easily without damaging the grass.   You won't notice the biggest change until you visit the park after sunset. A key part of the agreement entered into by CVU and CRPD (see above) is the upgrade to the lighting system in the park. Now all areas in the park will be adequately lit with a brightness level far in excess of what we used to have. You will literally be dazzled! The new lighting system will make the park safer for our kids to practice in and also expands the lit practice space to include the outfields of the softball overlays. This means we can accomodate a few more teams and still keep the practice areas big enough for our oldest teams.   Thousand Oaks Park is a great community resource and affords CVU one of the best facilities in the area. When you visit the park on game day or at practice please help maintain this resource by picking up your trash. Focus on Teams - CVU Blue B94 As the old adage goes"hindsight is 20/20". It actually began about 10 years ago for the team formerly known as "Terminators" now known simply as CVU Blue 94. I had begun to walk almost every day with my brother-in-law at the TO park for some good old fashioned exercise. As usual during our many discussions during our "male bonding" walks, my brother-in law (a full on soccer loving 100% Italian guy) and I were lamenting the fact that the American approach to "futbol" was really creating a disadvantage to the players who were learning it under the tutelage of coaches from the States.   We were absent-mindedly looking at a group of young boys at Thousand Oaks Park, being trained by this guy who was doing drills that were reminiscent of my brother in law's days in training under the Tuscan sun. Without even realizing it, we had stopped walking and were beginning to pay more attention to this practice session this CVU coach was running. Well as we kept chatting about "futbol" we began to notice a certain style of play and touch on the ball that we had not seen after having coached our older boys for 4 years in AYSO. We started talking a lot less and looking a lot more at this CVU trainer with the quiet voice but very thick accent. There he was showing the boys how to touch the ball with laces and teaching them with his patient manner and velvet glove. I now know that that style of coaching is to create confidence in the youth that play soccer under his guidance. Needless to say, we were impressed and began to watch this CVU trainer from afar for the next 6 months. He never wavered and always kept on task with this group of talent challenged boys. They would make the wrong runs and misunderstand the instructions but the one thing we kept noticing was that the technique and ball handling skills of these boys was improving dramatically! Well after months of watching this exceptional trainer, we went up to him and chatted with him about soccer. Seydina as he introduced himself to us was thorougly enjoying these boys who clearly lacked many of the physical skills you would expect from a soccer player but they sure knew how to touch and pass the ball! From that moment on, a plan hatched in my head that my days as an AYSO soccer coach were numbered but that my boys would really learn from this guy called Seydina how to play the game. It took 3 years of coaching AYSO ALL-Stars on my part before I brought together a group of boys. 7 years after my brother-in-law and I had met Seydina. In 2005, I began a U11 team with Seydina straight out of All-Stars. We were a group of physically talented boys who really did not understand ball handling and movement without the ball. Most of that team came out of the Thousand Oaks All Star team and now consists of boys from as far as West Hills and Malibu. We had a stellar season in 2007 where we went 14-0-0. Since then, we have done well but need to realize that the game is not only played between the feet but between the ears! We have done well over the past few years and in late 2006, we combined the 2 CVU teams into 1 and became a very strong competitor with players from that team. One of the boys, Ryan Dominguez had been the player of the year at CVU 2 years prior. We also inherited a veritable gem in a kid named Bryan Dunn who sadly enough left our team this year because of his family relocating out of the area. Bryan- you will be sorely missed! We are challenged this year with the loss of key people due to injury and relocation. Yes it is true, it's hard to find good talent but we continue to work hard and are optimistic that we will compete well in a tough Silver bracket this year. Here's to a great year and thank you to the man known as Seydina who has the greatest patience I have ever seen in a human being!!!   Adrien Darbouze Editor's note: We plan to publish a bio of a different CVU team in each edition of the CVU newsletter. To have your team featured contact publicity@cvusc.com. Nutrition and Soccer Performance By Dr. Donald Kirkendall You wouldn’t put low octane gasoline in a racecar, would you? Yet, even today, with all the research on nutrition and athletic performance, athletes still fail to realize the connection between the food they eat and their ability to compete in sports. The time for a reminder is now. Proteins, fats and carbohydrates are the main components of your diet. Protein supplies amino acids for many processes in the body, but supllies little energy for exercise. Despite all the bad press, fat is a necessary ingredient. Fat insulates nerves, carries substances in the blood, packs organs and serves as a warehouse for energy, some of which is used to play soccer. Carbohydrate is the main source of quickly available energy in your diet. The amount of carbohydrate you eat will directly affect your ability to run and is the subject of this article.   Carbohydrate is found in many foods like vegetables, fruits, breads, grains, pasta, and dairy products. When eaten, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and stored in your liver and muscles as a string of glucose molecules called glycogen. If your ability to run far and fast is related to how much gas you have in your tank (glycogen in your muscles), then the more you have stored, the farther and faster you can run. In addition, if you eat properly after heavy training, you can actually store more glycogen than if you ate improperly (see recovery part 3). So you could cover even more distance at a fast pace. Is fat used for energy in soccer? Yes, during low intensity work like walking and slow jogging. You won’t run out of fat for fuel, but you can run out of glycogen. You need glycogen to go fast - remember, soccer is not played at a walk.   What is known about muscle glycogen and soccer? Plenty…   1. Most soccer players make poor food choices (too much protein and fat) so they enter games with less than a full tank of gas (less muscle glycogen than most athletes should have). Trained athletes who monitor their diet have much more glycogen than a non-athlete. Most studies show the glycogen levels of the professional soccer player is little different from the spectators. Not good.   2. Most of the glycogen in the muscles is used in the first half of a game. By the end of the game, glycogen levels are almost zero. Your sprints get shorter and less frequent as the game goes on.   3. The more glycogen, the further and faster players run. A research study showed that players who ate lots of carbohydrate ran the most and only walked about 25% of the total distance. Players who ate a “normal” meal covered about 25% less distance and covered most of it at a walk. Can you guess who won this game?   Any suggestions for soccer players when choosing foods to eat? Choose foods with the highest carbohydrate and lowest fat count. Carbohydrates should make up 55-65% of the diet. Choose, for example, bagels over sliced bread, baked potato over french fries, a high carbohydrate cereal over a low carbohydrate cereal (read those labels!). A teenage or adult athlete should eat 450-600 grams of carbohydrate a day (spread it out over 24 hours-think you can eat that amount of spaghetti in one sitting? That’s over 2 dry pounds of spaghetti!). Younger players would eat less because they are smaller. The rough formula is 7-10 grams/kg/day.   If you make poor food choices and train regularly, you can’t refill your glycogen levels before tomorrow’s practice. Thus, glycogen levels stair-step down as the week goes on. Ask any trainer of a team training daily - most injuries happen late in the week. Wonder why? It is important to eat plenty of carbohydrates during training, not just for matches. Your muscles are the most “thirsty” for glycogen right after exercise. So try to eat a good supply of carbohydrates within the first 2 hours after play. Don’t wait. Have carbohydrate rich foods available right after a game. This is especially important if you are playing in a tournament with many games in a short time. Give yourself every advantage and refuel for the next games. Pack food and stay away from the drive through window. Pack fruit juices, carbohydrate replacement drinks (see recovery-part 3 for suggestions), bagels and jam, fresh or dried fruit, PB&J sandwiches, pasta salads, uncooked “Chex Mix”. If candy is acceptable, choose “clear” candy like “gummi” candy, jelly beans, etc. (chocolate-based candy has too much fat and calories). Stay away from the chips, burgers, fries, nachos, etc.; too much fat and not enough carbohydrates. The smart athletes will try to give themselves every advantage to help their team to win. Knowing you are going into a game with a “full tank of gas” means you are ready for the highest demands of the game. Also, if you have eaten properly and are playing a team who played yesterday (who likely hasn’t eaten properly), you know you are at an advantage and will be fresher in the second half. ACL Injuries By Body Logic Sports Therapy ACL Injuries An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a common and devastating injury affecting the knee. Not all ACL injuries can be prevented though with knowledge and some training techniques you can lessen the risk of this injury. ACL Injury Prevention Most ACL injuries occur when you decelerate, come to a sudden stop or land with improper technique, placing too much stress on the knees. If you are an athlete, you should dominate with the hamstrings, hips and glutes during movement. The hips are often underused and under developed during sports competition and training. Training and educating the body to move biomechanically correct when decelerating, landing or squatting will reduce undue stress on the knees and reduce injuries. Research has shown that the hamstrings along with glute strength and recruitment patterns play an important role in stabilizing the knee and protecting the ACL during deceleration. Though females injure their ACLs at six times the rate of males, both genders should incorporate deceleration training and ACL injury prevention techniques as part of their overall conditioning program.   ACL Recovery Surgery will be necessary for a tear of the ACL. Usually, the tear is repaired by using a part of another healthy tendon to replace the damaged ACL. Rehabilitation for a torn knee ACL takes about 3-4 months and it takes another 6-8 months or more before an athlete can return to competition at full speed.   Your torn knee ACL injury rehab will start with you and a therapist. As soon as you are ready the therapist will incorporate your personal trainer into the program.   Rehabbing the injured knee incorporates the following: 1. Restore the range of motion. 2. Restore flexibility and strength of the injured area. 3. Regain balance lost because of the injury.   Restoring the range of motion is critical because it lays the groundwork for future training. Range of motion should be restored in all 3 planes. Once range of motion is restored, you can then begin to introduce light weight training and balance exercises along with stretching. Balance and proprioception (limb position sense in 3D space) must also be restored because when a part of the body is injured, the nerve cells in that area are also damaged. This affects your control and the stability of the joint structures. The rehab process should not be rushed. Recovery from an ACL injury is a long tough road, but with hard work you should be ready to play as well as ever!   ACL Screening Free screenings for proper deceleration techniques and functional movement patterns are available on a limited basis by calling our facility.   Body Logic Sports Therapy is located at: 4165 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. #150 Westlake Village, CA 91362 phone 805.371.9116   Photo of the Month CVU Crush show their game faces after winning at the CVU Tournament!   Oct 12th - CVU Board Meeting The October meeting of the CVU Board will be on Monday Oct 12th at 7:00pm at the Conejo Recration and Parks District offices (403 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360). A representative from each CVU team is required to attend. All CVU members are welcome to attend. Check the calendar at www.cvusc.com for more details. Feedback Please tell us what you'd like to see in upcoming editions of the CVU Newsletter. Send your ideas to publicity@cvusc.com.   Conejo Valley United Soccer Club Serving the Youth of the Conejo Valley since 1980