Ready to Go!

After a year of preparation, the team finally left Southern Maryland today, headed for the World Games! A large crowd of family and friends sent the team off with lots of loud cheering.

Leaving Home! Go Team USA!

The squad then arrived at the TEAM USA hotel, where they received yet another pair of shoes for the turf fields in Greece, thanks again in part to our friends at Rockville Soccer. Then the guys were greeted by the Baltimore Ravens cheerleaders, the Baltimore Orioles mascot, and well wishes from many of the pro golfers competing at the US Open in Washington this weekend! After a dinner for the whole American delegation (where the guys all had to wear the best-looking shorts we were given), the guys went back to their rooms for their last night's sleep in America!  

At the hotel...love the shorts, guys!

TEAM USA send-off dinner

For family and friends, here is the latest update on the team's schedule tomorrow:

8am Wake-up
8:30am Breakfast
10am Light training session
1pm Lunch
2pm Leave for airport
4pm Flight departs
9:30pm Land in Shannon, Ireland
12:30am Depart Shannon for Rhodes, Greece
5:00am (12 noon Greece time) Land in Rhodes

Final Preparations

The team's final week of practice prior to departure has been outstanding! But to get a full sense of the improvement, let's set the stage with a little background:

Last Wednesday, the team played a co-ed squad from Leonardtown High School's boys and girls teams. Playing in 95-degree heat, the team was slow to start, trailed 3-0 early on, and lost 7-1. As a result, this week's preparations have focused on staying positive and sticking with our game plan, regardless of the score. A team dinner on Monday night renewed the players' sense of opportunity, friendship, and excitement, and good practices focused on recovering to play strong defense whenever we lost the ball.

Yesterday, the team's final session in America was a rematch against Leonardtown. This time, it was team USA that caught Leonardtown taking it easy, and jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on two goals from Larry Mills and one from Terrell Nowlin, along with solid defense from everyone and the best game yet from goalkeeper Alan Hill. Leonardtown regrouped, but Team USA still won the first match 4-3. In the second match, Leonardtown came out strong and took a 3-0 lead, but this time Team USA continued to work hard, closing the score to 4-2 at halftime. The game was even closer, at 5-4, with just five minutes left, but Leonardtown caught Team USA on a counter-attack and scored, winning the second match 6-4, and winning the overall score 9-8.

Still, this was the team's best performance so far, and with key players Wes Thompson and Steven Summerfelt beginning to run around, dribble, and even kick the ball a bit, the team will leave America on Sunday confident in its chances at the World Games!

Please check in for daily updates starting this Saturday, June 18.

Greece Makes News In Other Ways

Greece made world news today, and it had nothing to do with the World Games, as central Athens erupted with demonstrations against the Government's cutbacks in spending. These demonstrations have been occurring every few months for the last two years, ever since the recession combined with Greece's national debt to make Greece's economy the worst in Europe. In addition to similar concerns about state spending that face almost every country in the world right now, Greece remained heavily in debt due to spending on facilities for the 2004 Olympics -- including the stadium that will host our soccer matches at the Special Olympics World Games. In return for a loan to keep the government running, Greece had to agree to immediately and severely cut back its state spending. The government promised to raise the retirement age and reduce pension payments for state workers, as well as reduce a variety of programs that assist the Greek population in general. All this is happening while Greece faces almost 15% unemployment (the United States is at 9%), so many Greeks are worried about whether they will be able to pay their rent, and many more are worried about how they will be able to plan for the future since they will not be able to expect the same state system their parents had. For more details on the demonstrations, see this story, and this one.

picture of a protest in Athens on June 15

The result of all this concern has been a series of demonstrations. However, it is important to note that the violence at these demonstrations has been minimal, no tourists or foreign visitors have been targeted, and the demonstrations have been focused around the Parliament building in central Athens, which is nowhere near our residence or our stadium. Some museums and bus lines have been closed temporarily, but there is no reason to expect that this disturbance will affect the team's experience in any important way. Greeks recognize that tourism is an important part of their economy and livelihood, and so we will receive the usual and famous Greek hospitality, even if the Greeks are arguing with each other while we are there.

UPDATE (6/18): The Greek Government has reached a deal with unions to prevent closings during the World Games. This agreement also reduces the likelihood of any disturbances during our stay. For more information, see the Team USA official announcement.

What a Stadium!

The basic schedule for the World Games is out. We don't yet know our exact opponents or match times, but we do know that we're playing between 9am and 1:30pm for seven days in a row...June 26-July 3. The first two days will be "divisioning" games. These are preliminary matches that will determine which of the eight or nine tournament levels we will play. The next five days are tournament matches. The best part is the venue: the Helliniko Field Hockey Stadium, built for the field hockey matches at the 2004 Olympics. Check it out:

 
Although the astroturf surface will make the ball roll out of bounds more often, our team is very good at set pieces, so this plays to our advantage. The stands will create a great atmosphere for players and fans, and the location along the Athens shore will provide fresh breezes (and maybe a trip to the beach after a game)!

Gear Arrives!

Last week, the team was excited to receive their full TEAM USA gear. As you can see in the picture below, it's basically a full wardrobe! Travel shirts of various kinds, a couple of T-shirts, several pairs of shorts, a full track suit, new tennis shoes, and three bags, all provided by Champion and all marked with the TEAM USA logo. We'll be hitting Greece in style...except for those crazy looking shorts on the left...the ones with the red and white stars. Yikes!

Along with the incredible support we've been given by Herb Gainey, the St. Mary's College of Maryland Women's Soccer Team, and Rockville Soccer, who supplied us with balls, shoes, and shinguards, the team is now well equipped for success in Athens. Thanks everyone!

Training Really Heats Up

Since practices went up to three times per week, the team has been improving rapidly. The proof is in the scores from scrimmages. The team lost to the St. Mary's College Women's Soccer team 8-2 on May 4, but then improved to a 6-3 defeat on May 11. On May 25, they played a local amateur team to a close 9-7 defeat. The next measurement comes on June 8, against members of the local Leonardtown High School team. Check out all the scores here. Notably, the squad has chosen not to scrimmage any Special Olympics teams in the run-up to the World Games, since they haven't lost to a Special Olympics team in eight years. But the competition in Greece will be at a whole new level, so the team is playing against very strong competition to prepare themselves.

The training schedule has been made even more difficult by soaring temperatures this week. However, Greek summers bring temperatures in the 90s as well, so every day of practice in that heat will prepare the team for playing games over there. In addition to heat, the team is also battling a couple of injuries. Wes Thompson's fracture of a small bone in his foot is progressing on schedule, and Steven Summerfelt's knee is also supposed to be ready for game action by the time the team lands in Greece on June 19. All systems go for Greece!

Rules and Regulations

For those of you interested in how the matches work at the Special Olympics World Games, here's a quick primer:

-games are 4v4 plus Goalkeepers, with 20 minute halves
-goals are a bit smaller than regulation indoor soccer goals
-fields are 50x35
-balls are restarted on the sideline with kick-ins (not throw-ins)
-balls are restarted on the endline with corner kicks or direct distribution from the goalkeeper's hands (no goal kicks)
-goalkeepers cannot distribute the ball past half-field

There is no qualifying for the Special Olympics World Games, but football (soccer) is the most popular team sport at the event. Over 100 teams will be present. As a result, we will spend the first several days of the tournament playing Preliminary Matches, sometimes more than two per day. Officials will watch every team and then categorize the teams into a number (up to eight or nine) of separate tournaments, each filled with teams of relatively equal ability. Each tournament has its own gold, silver, and bronze medals.

No American team has ever medaled, and very few have been legitimate contenders in their tournaments, but officials at our training camp in San Diego said this was the best American soccer team they had ever seen! We're definitely hoping to raise the standard!

For the truly interested, you can read the full rules and regulations here.

Training Schedule Intensifies

At the end of March, the team spent four days at San Diego State University (seen above and below), training twice each day as part of a weeklong camp for all of TEAM USA. The squad returned to Maryland just in time for April showers, and they had a number of practices canceled. So, to make up for lost time, training sessions have expanded from once to twice to now three times a week in the final run-up to departure. Constant practice, including winter sessions in a basketball gym, has greatly improved the team's skill and understanding of the game, and most of the current sessions involve a lot of scrimmage time... which is good, because they will play multiple games per day in Athens. Time to make sure we're in shape, guys!

Meet the Team

The 2011 Special Olympics Team USA Soccer squad comes from St. Mary's County, Maryland. The team has not lost to an American Special Olympics team in over eight years. In 2009, the squad won the Maryland State Championship in the Unified division (playing against teams mixed with Special Olympians and their partners).

Team members (as seen in the picture above):

Back Row (L-R): Head Coach John Toner, Manager Mary Lu Bucci, Brandon Chan, Avery Long, Wesley Thompson, Larry Mills, Steven Summerfelt, Assistant Coach Ken Cohen

Front Row (L-R): Thomas Smith, Shaun Ridley, Alan Hill, Terrell Nowlin, Sam Huffman

For more about the team, check out their individual profiles and their coverage in the local Maryland press. This blog will share news about the team's experiences leading up to and during the 2011 Special Olympics World Games in Athens, Greece, from June 25-July 4. For more on the World Games, click here.