Playing Soccer in Brazil

Posted on January 18, 2012 by

There are a lot of new travel agencies offer Soccer Programs for Brazil. I starting sorting through the brochures I recently got from my agent. A lot of them look really attractive with a 7 day package for Rio. Some of these package rage from $1300 to $1500 including a 4 day training in Brazil’s International Training Centre.

The International Training Centre in Brazil which is basically a short football clinic. Depending on your skill level each player is designation a trainer to teach you some football skills unique to Brazil.

My travel agent did warn me to be careful choosing right package since some of the football packages did not have good trainers. Its important to get the details on the training you will get but like most leisure travel don’t expect the real training unless you enrolled on a real football clinic.

Enrolling on a real football clinic is still a challenge in Brazil but with the coming World Cup in 2014, the government has made a lot of effort to teach their trainers English. But according to some recent comments that came from Rio the good trainers are so busy they usually are usually booked for the entire season.

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Shortage of Football Coaches in America

Posted on January 15, 2012 by

According to recent reports from various educational institutions there is still a shortage of soccer coaches in the country. Apparently American coaches with the right credentials is still hard to find and even more for institutions looking for female coaches.

The reason for the shortage was mainly due to the lack of coaching opportunities in the country during the last decade forcing most coaches to look for experience and employment outside North America. The recent boom in Asian schools has also fueled the shortage of coaches with the experience and skills.

But things are starting to change with the constantly growing interest in soccer in the country has had an increase in funding for the sport. The down economy in Europe also has attracted a lot of coaches from England and all over EU to seek out employment in the country.

As more schools start to adopt a stronger soccer program, new facilities are being built to accommodate bigger tournaments making 2012 a bigger year for soccer in North America. The coming 2014 world cup in Brazil has also brought huge exposure and even stronger growth for soccer in the continent.

Although currently a lots of schools are still currently looking for female coaches and has resorted in creating a strong recruitment drive in Europe. The demand for soccer as schools report is stronger on the female population compared to the male population that stick to the more common sports available. An all female college for example was able to recruit coaches from Spain and offer them housing and transfer allowance. Such programs have been necessary to get a professional start and guidance to schools starting out with their soccer programs.

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Starplayer Boardgame

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

I have always have a fascination for board games and its no surprise the most famous board game Monopoly is on the list of the most popular toys in the world. Starplayer is board game I saw in the near the end of my favorite magazine. Ordering the game was fast and can be done online visiting their website.

The game play is simple enough and can be understood by a 7 year old. You are owner of a club and you go against other players. There are 2 versions of the game depending on how long you want to play. I like the 45 minute version since my kids can’t really sit in one place for a long time.

The quality of board game is actually fine for the price. Don’t compare the cards to Upper Deck since these are are standard board game cards. But the cards and the playing board is really good, comparable to the expensive monopoly game I bought for my kids.

There was some reluctance in my kids to play Starplayer since they are so used to console gaming. But as soon as their imagination takes over and they get the hang of the game play they will love playing this board game.

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Adidas MiCoach Speed Cell Tracker

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

The recently released Adidas F50 Football shoes has finally hit the streets. It supposed to be the first football shoe with a slot to accommodate a memory and wireless transmitter. Its similar to Nike plus but is more advance since it captures more data and has more selections for the particular sport your doing.

I’m not sure if the data collected is accurate or is even relevant to most athletes but for professional athletes who need to push themselves in training the MiCoach will come handy to see if your goals have been met.

The construction of the MiCoach look strong enough but time will tell if it can survive all the the punishment from being located bellow the sole. Mud and rain will surely test the MiCoach Speed Cell, but not to worry if you intend to buy one since Adidas guarantees all the MiCoach products since they have design from the start to take all the punishment.

adidas micoach
Using the MiCoach application for the iOS you will notice the graphs and the type of metrics to choose will really keep you busy for hours. But after softing through all the menus you will notice its really in the end easy and you can choose to display the data that really matters to you.

The Adidas MiCoach is intended to be compatible with future products so you don’t have to get a new one if your shose needs replacement or you want the latest design. There’s a lot of reviews of the MiCoach and some of them were negative due to the high starting price but in my opinion the price itself is due to the technology behind it and because of the label.

The Adidas MiCoach really work and works very well. If you want to track speed which is crucial in any football game this piece of technology sets the bar high for wearable technology.

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