what is galindo's golazo all about?

When I started writing little articles and compilations of soccer news, I was already managing a boys’ academy web site for our U9 and U10’s at Gwinnett Soccer Association.  Though I was plenty busy with all the administrative tasks that go into being team manager for 37 boys, two age groups, and up to 12 or 13 matches for just a regular season Saturday-Sunday, and more on tournament weekends, I wanted to do more than just dot the I’s and cross the t’s.

Working with our coaches and directors, I had been steadily ramping up the content on our team web site to try to capture the passion of the soccer world and make it available to our boys.  I started by providing links to pro leagues and sites for National teams.  I also started providing news about teams, players, nutrition, articles by our coaches, and then added video clips of great plays by guys like Messi and C. Ronaldo.  A simple, “thanks, we enjoyed that article” from a parent while picking up my son from practice, or a comment from one of our directors like, “you are raising the bar for what all our teams need to be doing” encouraged me to keep dedicating the time and energy to connect with players and parents and share my passion for the sport.

So, having a business background and some sense of marketing, I thought, “if I become a regular blogger, what’s my niche?  There are lots of soccer blogs, am I offering a new or better ‘product’?”  And it hit me:  talk about what I’m most passionate about, youth soccer, and my experience as a very involved soccer Dad!

My son is now 11 and I started coaching his rec teams when he was five.  I always put a lot of energy and passion in trying to connect with each kid on the team.  My greatest coaching victories were when a parent told me that their son who didn’t want to play at the start of the season, just signed up for the next season.  Or a kid I coached two years ago sees me on the pitch and comes up and says “hey, coach!”  And the best is one 9 year old who was really down on himself, second season playing, and he makes a great tackle and passes the ball upfield to spark a scoring play, and his face lights up.  That is lightning in a bottle, and we adults need to help kids capture it.

These experiences brought back memories of my own ups and downs, victories and defeats from when I played youth select soccer, and other sports for that matter.  So that is what I am writing about – the youth soccer experience, with posts oriented more toward kids in a language they will enjoy reading, and posts oriented more towards soccer moms and dads like me.  We lose a lot of kids from soccer programs from the U10 to U14 range, and adults need to share responsibility for that.  Kids can be thinking about quitting, unhappy with something but not having said anything for a long time before we know about it, and then it may be too late.

As my son gets more into the competitive levels of soccer, of course I am interested in excellence and seeing them win, but there is a bigger mission to keep in mind.  Even competitive players reach a stage when they are no longer competitive.  For any player, competitive or not, do you love the game for the game itself, for the exercise, for the sense of community on the field?  If you do, you can always find a game somewhere. There is an excitement I feel in just driving past a nicely groomed pitch and imagining playing a match on it. This blog is about serving that kool-aid up for others to enjoy.

p.s. - Galindo is my middle name, Colombian heritage from my mom's side of the family, and a Golazo - well, that's just an amazing, spectacular goal.