PPHILADELPHIAHILADELPHIA FFALCONSALCONS NNewsletterewsletter 0099 PHILADELPHIA FALCONS SOCCER CLUB | 2009 NEWSLETTER | VOLUME 2 MAY | JUNE | 09 .LBC 2009 by Jonathan Newman “In Europe, it's different - you eat soccer, you breathe soccer, you drink soccer. Everything is about soccer.” ~ Thomas Dooley Time and Again, Soccer Once, around eighteen years ago, my parents cycled me through several sports, the usual fair for a male growing to adulthood. Basketball, baseball, gymnastics, hockey and soccer- each perceptually experienced, marked on some checklisted calendar of boyhood criteria, and conceptually given up after a time. I sometimes wonder whether I would have expressed Staying with a hobby or a vocation implies growth and love, or at interest, ever, in these sports, or if involvement of any child in any activity is least toleration. Is it the hyper-masculinity of our culture that turns sports a complete cultural construct. It wasn't that I wasn't competitive, or even into shouting fights and brawling circuses where people get hurt? That uncoordinated. There was definitely a certain skill level present for me to be transforms a friendly high school varsity team- or even, God help us, a Little at least decent. (Well, maybe a notch below decent.) A certain level of League- into a vicious political machine where parents vie and maneuver for confidence, too, from exercise enjoyed at school recess, the love of their children's chances, sometimes even breaking each others' arms on movement, of exercise, of the intrepid encounter. Playing tag. You're it. fields? Where does bitter rivalry trump love of sport? And how does one That sort of thing. reverse this? Where do love and toleration and striving end, and resentment begin? Can we say this is only an American phenomenon? But after a time, I eventually moved on, as interest waned and curiosity moved to other experiences. Doubts crept in; ultra- At first, no. You look elsewhere, and Europe- there, too, sports are competitiveness (not only in soccer, but also in gymnastics) parlayed into crazed. But it seems a different craze- an energy born of true enjoyment and frustration- enjoyment wrestled expectations, ending in a standstill. presence. Whereas (here, perhaps) sometimes you might experience the Playing at the Liberty Bell Classic this past weekend, there was a distinct game for winning's sake, it seems to me, from what I observe in Europe- affection for soccer in the faces and banter of each person, a love apart from there you experience the game for the game's sake. It is a matter of life. competition. Perhaps even a love of competition, and of its players, not just Playing with Falcons Soccer is like returning to place within my own identity of winning. Had I grown up in an environment like this- whether it was my where I did always enjoy team sports, wherein I did want to compete with family or my high school- where soccer (or any sport) was praised as fitness friends. Where winning was not everything, though surely something, and and an accepted social outlet- not just as a route to an Ivy League where how you played the game and why was much more important than scholarship- maybe I might have stuck with it. the end result. Thank you. .IGLFA 2009 by Alex Morales The weeklong tournament kicked off on Monday, June 15th , with two 70-minute games that day and two 70-minute games the following day setting the stage for the quarterfinals to follow. Unfortunately, an ankle injury and a marked lack of subs proved insurmountable handicaps, and although Philly held its own in hard-fought matches with not one but three different sets of Titans (two British, one Canadian), a nail-biter of a game with the MiniDubs (a heavily-accented Minneapolis/Dublin hybrid) resulted in our Falcons being shut out of the quarterfinals and denied the opportunity to bring home a medal, as they did in IGLFA 2007 and the 2009 NYC Rambler's Indoor Classic. But with several nights of good times ahead and a friendly May and June were very busy months for Philadelphia's birds of Thursday game with Seattle Special Effect to look forward to, the Falcons play. In preparation for the International Gay and Lesbian Futbol Association were short on long faces and eager to show DC some brotherly love. (IGLFA) World Championship 2009 (held from June 14th to the 21 st in our Between casual get-togethers in Coach Schmidt and Walter Beck's hotel nation's capital), our boys took to the field three times a week to hone their rooms and raucous nights out at gay destinations like Nellie's and Town, the skills and get a feel for playing together as a team. And speaking of teams, good times kept on rolling even when the balls weren't in play. And as for the what a roster we had this year! Experienced Falcons Walter Beck and Lee friendly game with Seattle Special Effect, Philadelphia handily rolled over Laroco joined forces to keep the defensive line strong on the pitch, while them 5-0, without the aid of CGI. Add to that the arrival and subsequent veteran player Mike Schmidt donned the “Coach” hat once again to oversee victories of the Falcon women's teams and you've got a week of strategy and training from the sidelines. With the help of these seasoned camaraderie and soccer unparalleled… until the next tourney. See you in futbolistas, team captain/club VP Brian Rash and the rest the Falcons crew Rehoboth? headed to Washington DC with high hopes for some good clean fun -- and some soccer too. .IGLFA Women by Monika Kruemmling This June, the Falcon's sent two women's teams to the IGLFA tournament in Washington, DC. The women's side of the tourney was organized a little differently than the men's and was formatted as a 7v7 weekend of games. Falcons Blue and Falcons Orange went and represented against the two home DC squads. Day 1 of play was Friday the 19th -- which dawned sunny, but DC had gotten a lot of rain and there was some question as to whether the women's field, just up the hill from and affording a very nice view of the Champions of IGLFA Women Tournament men's field, would be playable. With standing water in one goal crease, the conditions didn't look good, but we were all there to play and soon everyone lunch, went shopping, snagged little naps, whatever we felt like doing in decided that we'd simply move the goals and use cones instead of lines DC. It's great when a tournament affords you a little time to appreciate the where necessary. Let the mudball begin. city around you. Now I don't know about you, but I love a good game of mudball soccer. All four teams stepped out into the sunny but soggy field and played Saturday night the women got together for a big group dinner at a their Philadelphia and DC hearts out. By the last game of day 1 both Federal local gay sportsbar called Nellie's and then headed over to the awards triangle teams had fallen to both Falcons teams despite some energetic, ceremony at Town Danceboutique. We went about the business of getting good games, and Falcons Blue and Falcons Orange faced each other in the our cute medals and then tearing up the dance floor. I dare say a fairly wild last, hot and humid game of the day. True to form, both Philadelphia played night was had by all. fiercely good games and the skill sets on the field were wide and impressive. It's safe to say that both Falcons teams made Philly proud. By Special shout outs to Colleen Lally of DC who organized the refs the close of day 1, Orange had won the day and we all headed to hotels and and refereed both the Falcons-on-Falcons games with great skill, and also dorms to get showered and ready for the next aspect of tournament life: the to Melanie Lilliston and Sami Holtz who organized the women's portion of food and the partying. the tournament. Thanks to Soheila Nikpour and Manuela Tripepi for organizing our women for this tournament; it was a very strong showing by Friday night found groups checking out interesting restaurants in Philadelphia. And congratulations to DC, and then converging on Cobalt where all the soccer boys and soccer our own Manuela for winning the grrls chatted and danced the night away. DC did a fine job of hosting us. Golden Boot for the women. Saturday morning started out rainy and we were on a different set In followup news, this week of fields, this one wet, but sans puddles and at least not torn up by our cleats we received an email from Colleen yet. Becuase the weather was calling for thunderstorms, the organizers Lally inviting us to join together with opted to play the tournament-deciding game first, so the Falcons began the DC women to play in a tournament their day as we had ended the one before, facing off against our clubmates hosted by the WPS team, the for yet another competitive, well-played game. Early in the game the rain Washington Freedom. There are women's open, rec, and over-30 divisions, stopped, but the air was so humid, it probably would have been better if it as well as coed open and rec divisions. If you're interested in playing in this had just kept raining.