Warren County United GU16 Soccer Tryouts

Opportunities are available for girls in the Cincinnati and Dayton area.  WCG98 Elite plays in the Midwest Regional League Premier I division (top division).  In addition, we play in top showcases around the country.  Head Coach Bob Downs is committed to promoting player development and focuses on the college-coach friendly possession soccer game.

Tryout are held at McClure Fields, Lebanon.  Dates for U16 are:

Tuesday, May 27th 6pm - 7pm
Saturday, May 31st 11an - 12:15am

If you are interested in playing soccer at the highest level, you can contact Bob Downs at  robertdowns@fuse.net to let him know your interest in trying out.

Please register for tryouts at the Warren County Soccer Club website.

MRL GIRLS U15 PREMIER I STANDINGS

	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	Diff
KHA RED (KY)	5	0	1	16	13	2	11
WC United G98 Elite (OHS)	3	0	2	11	10	4	6
CUP Gold 98/99 (OHS)	2	0	2	8	5	3	2
Cleveland FC (OHN)	2	1	1	7	4	2	2
Javanon 99 Girls (KY)	2	3	1	7	7	9	-2
Tennessee SC17 (TN)	2	3	0	6	7	8	-1
Dakota REV Riptide (MN)	1	5	2	5	8	14	-6
FC Pride 99 Elite (IN)	1	0	0	3	1	0	1
Classics Eagles Red 98/99 (OHS)	0	1	3	3	3	5	-2
MPB Rush Premier (MN)	0	5	0	0	4	15	-11

Disney

Direct Free Kicks. Always Take Your Best Shot.

The ball was carefully placed just right of the centre of the pitch and almost 38 yards from goal. An apprehensive wall was assembled 10 yards outside of the penalty area and Barthez barked out his instructions as Roberto Carlos prepared his run up that had stretched to beyond the arc of the centre circle. Seconds later the most iconic free kick of all time had been scored in an inconsequential friendly tournament in France. Ferociously struck with the outside of his left boot, the ball swerved from a trajectory 5 yards wide of Barthez's left hand post, dipped, before slamming against the inside of the upright and burying itself in the net.

A brilliant, majestic free kick that is unlikely to be repeated, certainly Roberto Carlos never came close to emulating his own feat, often struggling to even trouble the keeper despite constant repeated efforts. And there lies the paradox surrounding direct free kicks, as Roberto Carlos demonstrated in Le Tournoi and subsequently, they provide unforgettable moments, but they much more frequently fail to produce goals.

Goal attempts from direct free kicks are relatively rare beasts. The permanent members of the EPL since 2008-09 have averaged just under 20 such events per season and those teams average just over a goal and a half a season from direct free kicks. Below I've listed the each team's scoring record in such situations since 2008, the raw figures are taken from the EPLIndex website.


Conversion Rates For Direct Free Kicks For EPL Teams, 2008-2012.

Team.	Direct Free Kicks.	Goals Scored from Kick.	Conversion Rate %.	Regressed Rate %.
Arsenal.	86	5	5.8	7.2
Aston Villa.	66	4	6.0	7.3
Blackburn.	76	5	6.6	7.4
Bolton.	84	6	7.1	7.6
Chelsea.	130	7	5.4	6.8
Everton.	71	9	12.7	9.1
Fulham.	69	6	8.7	8.0
Hull.	46	5	10.9	8.4
Liverpool.	67	5	7.5	7.7
Man City.	70	8	11.4	8.8
Man Utd.	91	10	11.0	8.8
Newcastle.	56	3	5.4	7.2
Stoke.	44	2	4.5	7.2
Sunderland.	61	8	13.1	9.1
Tottenham.	88	3	3.4	6.4
WBA.	49	6	12.2	8.7
WHU.	63	2	3.2	6.6
Wigan.	92	10	10.9	8.8
Wolves.	39	1	2.6	6.9

Before we can begin to quantify the value of direct free kicks, we need to take each team's actual performance record and use it to estimate the spread of talent with the group. Wolves have the lowest conversion rate at 2.6% and Sunderland the highest at 13.1%, but these percentages could fluctuate wildly with the addition or subtraction of one or two goals, such is the paucity of scores from relatively few attempts. The average conversion rate for all teams is just under 8% and such is the spread of conversion rates for all teams we can conclude scoring from a direct free kick is a talent, but the spread of talent is quite narrow. It's likely that the teams who have played in the EPL since 2008 would need to take upwards of 200 direct free kicks before we can begin see a separation of talent with the best having highest actual conversion rates. That's around ten seasons worth of shots.

Therefore we should be very wary about taking any of the conversion rates posted by teams at face value, even over four seasons the actual results posted by each team will be very heavily influenced by random chance. Roberto Carlos was obviously an extremely talented striker of a football, but the combination of biomechanics needed while completing the shot, the alignment of the defensive wall, the angle at which the ball struck the post and Barthez's (non) reaction time are each variables that can align or combine to produce a goal or just a marvelous failure. His Le Tournoi goal was certainly the product of skill, but randomness also played a significant role in that one attempt.

We must accept that even four years of direct free kick trials will be predominately the product of luck and will not come near to representing the true qualities of each team. Sunderland are way ahead of Wolves in recorded performance, but the true gap between their respective shooting abilities will certainly be much narrower. To get our best estimate of each side's true ability we need to add a large amount of league average conversion rates to each side's actual records.

I've done this in the final column of the table and my best estimate of the true conversion rates for EPL sides is much tighter than the actual record each has shown over the last four years. The worst sides are likely to convert direct kicks at around 7%, while the best are only a few ticks higher at 9%. We can now use these more representative figures to continue to evaluate direct free kicks.

Average conversion rates for all shots attempted in open play are well into double figures, so direct free kicks are inferior by comparison. However, once we start to compare open play shots taken from similar distance to typical direct free kicks, the picture changes. Direct free kicks must be taken from at least 18 yards from the goal line and on average they appear to originate from well into the mid twenties. Open play shots from similar areas of the field are only converted around 4% of the time. So even the poorest of EPL free kick takers will outshoot an average open play attempt from the same position. It appears that allowing a player to compose himself and a team to present their best striker of a ball as the taker more than compensates for the presence of a defensive wall.

For a team to profitably spurn the opportunity to shoot directly from a free kick they must instead be able to manufacture an open play attempt with similar chances of success. Shots taken in an arc approximately 16 yards from goal during open play have predicted conversion rates of around 7%, so a team will have to be capable of creating such a chance on average from every direct free kick they spurn to gain comparable value. In reality this won't be possible, nor would the chance be equivalent to a normal open play shot because the penalty area will be much more populated with defensive players.

Direct free kicks may be rare events where goals are infrequently scored, but given the choices, a shot is always the best course of action.

Alex Morgan's Advice For Aspiring Players

SOCCER AMERICA: When you were a kid, did you dream about becoming a pro soccer player and celebrity?

ALEX MORGAN: [Laughs] Celebrity, no. Professional soccer player, definitely. I didn’t know there were a lot of other responsibilities that come along with being a professional soccer player, but when I was 7 or 8 years old I remember writing a note to my mom that when I grow up I want to become a professional soccer player. That was my dream and I stuck to it.

SA: What helped inspire that dream?

ALEX MORGAN: When I was 9 the Women’s World Cup was going on. … Kristine Lilly is a big reason I wear No. 13 today. Mia Hamm was obviously one of the most popular players. … But I just loved the game of soccer. I played all sorts of sports growing up but soccer I was just drawn to immediately. That was the sport I had the most fun with.

SA: Is there any particular style of soccer you like watching?

ALEX MORGAN: I like Barcelona because they’re one of the most technical teams I’ve ever seen. I love the way they play one-, two-touch and they’re supporting each other so much. When they lose the ball, they really work hard to win the ball back in the first five seconds. I enjoy their style of play. It’s fun to watch them.

SA: Is there anything you remember about the coaching you got during your youth days that you think was especially important to your success?

ALEX MORGAN: I was pretty much with the same club team [Cypress FC Elite] from age 14 through when I went to college and I still keep in close contact with those coaches, because they really helped me become the player I am. Not only during practice, but they worked with me before and after training, whenever I wanted extra shooting or speed and agility work.

Not only with them, but with my dad as well. My dad bought one of the full-size nets you can build on your own, because there weren’t full-size goals for kids to shoot on where I grew up. My dad would set up the goal three times a week and I’d shoot on him for about an hour three times a week.

SA: Besides practicing your shooting so much, what else do you think contributed to you becoming such a high scorer?

ALEX MORGAN: Making the drills realistic. To play a lot. To play games. To get competition. That’s why I’m promoting the Copa Coca-Cola -- a nationwide youth tournament that gives an opportunity to teenagers play games, and registration is free.

SA: What about the pressure of being a goalscorer? Even if you have a good game, you’re mostly going to be judged on whether you scored or not.

ALEX MORGAN: Our job as forwards is to score. When you don’t for a couple games, people notice because they expect you to score. So I put a lot of pressure on myself. As a forward you take on that pressure and enjoy it or else you wouldn’t last as a forward.

SA: What advice do you have for young players striving to succeed at the higher levels?

ALEX MORGAN: I want young girls and boys to enjoy playing the game. Build friendships. Soccer really helped build my character on and off the field. Whenever I can promote playing soccer and getting out in the community and living an active lifestyle I’m for that.

SA: At this point in your career, do you still think about improving parts of your game? Do you analyze your own play?

ALEX MORGAN: I set goals for myself every month, specific things I want to work on each month. I go out by myself, or with teammates after training and do specific shooting drills, long balls, one-v-one -- whatever it is I need to work on. As a soccer player I’m always developing and continuing to improve myself. I definitely don’t think I’ve reached my potential.

Soccer America on Twitter: Follow Soccer America | Mike Woitalla