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Soccer is leadership,
belonging, organization, ownership, respect, sacrifice and challenge put together with the glue of discipline. |
Your Letters & Pictures
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Your Thanks after my last news letter. March 26th 2008
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From the President of Children International Jim Cook. COACH!!!! ….Tell me it ain't so!!!!! But, alas, I'm sure it is. And I understand it completely…I think (that may be presumptuous on my part, however!). I've always been amazed at the length, quality and frequency of your newsletter…I can imagine it was a challenge to keep mentally fresh about it. I do hope you continue, on an intermittent basis, to enliven and enrich your readership with your observations, intellect and enthusiasm! Thank you once again for all you have done and continue to do for the children of the world we are able to touch together!!! Take care, Signore!!! Jim Cook __________________________________________________ Dear Coach Gianni, I am truly sorry to read that this was your last newsletter! Your newsletters have always been interesting and inspiring, and I will miss getting one in my Inbox every so often. Thank you, however, for your continuous and faithful support of Children International, and for putting in another good word for our work in this last newsletter. If you ever decide to start sending the newsletter again, please put me on your mailing list. Best regards, Kevin Kevin L. Nix Executive Assistant Children International ___________________________________________ Dear Gianni, I've enjoyed your newsletter, and marveled at your ability to be consistent in volume and quality. Good stuff!! Thank you for your time over the past years. Paul Paul Sheirich Dir Marketing & Sales San Francisco Seals (PDL) ________________________________________________ Hi Gianni, A Sad day indeed, I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING `MY BROTHER `G`, Again sooner rather than later, Thanks for every newsletter, I Have them all saved, Ciao dear friend Brother `P`. ___________________________________________________ Coach Gianni, thank you for your insights, your letters will be missed. For the love of the game! Todd Kimble ___________________________________________ Coach Gianni, I have enjoyed receiving your letters since last year. I had the pleasure to meet you this January at the CYSA AGM in Oakland. I was the Instructor doing the Secrets of the Brasilan Soccer. Hope you're not retiring, the beautiful game needs more Educators like yourself. God bless Richard T Mendoza USSF Licensed CYSA Staff Instructor Bfut Level 2 & Educator ____________________________________________________ Dear Coach Gianni, I wanted to say thank you for your time and passion. You are not only a great player, coach, but also a great man. Your consistent commentary not only on the technical skills of the game, but potentially more importantly the spirit and teamwork (community) of the game. Although I am now in Ohio it was a pleasure to play with and be coached by you, and I look forward to continuing in your soccer community. James _______________________________________________ Hi Coach Gianni, will miss your emails. Thank you very much and good luck. Cary Jones ___________________________________ Dear Coach Gianni Wow- Sorry to hear this coach! I pass this on to league members to give them perspective in how individuals from Futbol developed nations (outside the USA ) see the development of American Futbol, and player development issues. I get emails back agreeing wholeheartedly, and sometimes in complete disagreement, but you always gave us something to think about- and the topic is our favorite anyway. Cheers to you and thanks! Ed San Juan – President Los Gatos United Soccer League _________________________________________________ Dear Coach Gianni: As a parent of 5 high school soccer players (2 are still playing) I will miss your newsletter. At last a common sense approach to the game. Your article on goalkeeping in this last newsletter has voiced what many goalkeeping parents have been concerned about for years, safety. With my youngest daughter, a high school junior, being a full time keeper for high school and competitive, injuries, even with competent coaching are an everpresent threat. I've seen teams take obvious delight in striking keepers as they have their hands on the ball, in the air or on the ground, with their coaches and parents applauding loudly, all done without penalities from the referrees, who obviously are not concerned for the safety of the any of the players involved. While I have seen them penalize players who slide tackle and hit the opposing player instead of the ball on the field, I watch with my heart in my throat as they come full speed to collide with the keeper. We are fortunate to have a coach who insists a field player not collide with ANY keeper and that defense mustl work to protect the safety of their keeper, but accidents do and will continue to happen unless the actions and changes you describe in your newsletter occur. Thank you for your efforts to improve American soccer and the informative newsletters. I am keeping them for our family's next generation of soccer players, the first who will be here in about 7 weeks! Regards, Toni Moore __________________________________________________ Very Dear Coach Gianni, As a 52 year old soccer fanatic, former player, and current youth coach of the MCFC Firebirds, I’m very sorry to hear you say good bye. I’ve enjoyed every weekly newsletter that you’ve sent me and have forwarded many to my players and their parents. Surprisingly, I’ve never disagreed with your stated opinions and have embrassed your call for sportsmanship and respect of the game, the referees, and the opposition. I always tell my players your story about never getting a caution during your professional career. That’s an amazing achievement for any player, let alone for one who played in one of the very top teams in the world. The only “disagreement” I have had with you was when you promoted AC Milan. You see, I’m a lifelong fan of Liverpool FC. But, I quickly recognize your greatness because you’ve always shown how much a fan and promoter of the game you are by giving YouTube links of the Liverpool supporters singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Like you, LFC fans are trying to teach that love of the game is more important that love of the club. I’ll miss you and your enlightening newsletter. I just hope that you’ll reconsider and maybe write newsletters every now-and-then (maybe once every couple of months) to help instill the true values of football, calcio, soccer, etc. and guide the newest fans of the game in this part of the world. You’ll Never Walk Alone! Hacene Bouzar _____________________________________________ Hi Gianni, Sad to see this go. Thank you!!! And, yes we can and yes WE WILL. Ciao, Lionel _______________________________________________ Dear Coach, I am sorry to read that this is your last newsletter. I have enjoyed reading them since the day we first met and I was fortunate to exchange emails with you, and get on the list. The newsletters always gave me good information, made me think, helped me evaluate the way I do things, and also brought a smile to my face with your touches of humor. I will miss them, but I will always stay in touch. I thank you for all the writings you have done, they really helped me, and I saved them so I can always go back and remind myself of something you talked on. Hope to see you soon, lets stay in touch, and thank you for all the wisdom you have shared with us. It has meant so much for so many. Regards Coach Mike _______________________________________________________ Dear Coach Gianni, Just want to thank you for your roll in "transmitting the inheritance". Your columns were always insightful and frequently challenged us to think above and beyond the "rectangle of grass". I was successful at brainwashing my son during his first three years on the planet but unfortunately could never quite provide sufficient skills for him to emulate. However, he has become a keen player and a good student of the game. I'm sure he will continue the lineage by passing on his love and respect for the game. And the world will be a better place for it. Good luck my friend...will miss the content but hope to see you on the fields. And thank you for the final hurrah. Bruce _____________________________________________________ Hi Coach Gianni, that is to bad. I love these newsletters and have found them very helpful. Stephen ______________________________________________________ Even though my boys don't play soccer (they are avid lacrosse players), I have always looked forward to getting your informative and thoughtful newsletters. I will miss getting them. Thank you. Wishing you all the best, Anne __________________________________________________ I'll miss the newsletter, Gianni, and our occasional conversations. See you on the field some day! Ref. Charles Little ______________________________________________________ Coach Gianni, My son and I will truly miss your weekly wisdom. Thank you so very much for all your time in putting together the beautiful game in your view. Your weekly points will be greatly missed. But I truly now understand that after reading all 156 we have enough knowledge to walk out on the field and truly understand the game.Thanks again! P.S. Many before you have tried to stop what they love doing and can't. So I will think that you will be back because you can't help but not. Dan..... _____________________________________________________ Hello Coach Gianni, Just wanted to say thank you for some very good insight and reinforcement. I had been an AYSO coach for 5 seasons, coaching my daughter and loving every minute of it. I started playing soccer at the relatively old age of 14. AYSO had not reached Hawaii until a year or so before I started. I had always loved sports, PE, playing outside: tackle football, shooting baskets, baseball in the cul de sac. But I had never played an organized sport until soccer. I fell in love with the sport IMMEDIATELY. There was so much satisfaction in being part of a team and being able to measure my improvement. I had relatively inexperienced coaches: a husband/wife coaching team, the husband being a former American football player turned soccer player, and the wife playing women's soccer for a few years. Neither had been coached in soccer. But they were extremely influential in my life, not only for my soccer growth, but as life mentors and positive role models. They taught me about working very hard for the things you want in life. They taught me not to give up. They helped me achieve major improvement in my attitude as well as my grades. I had not expected to pursue a bachelor's degree, but got recruited (no scholarship) to play at San Francisco State University. Back to coaching...so I had hoped that whatever soccer experience I had gathered could help my daughter learn to play. She has played soccer now for 7 years, and is a decent player. I wouldn't say great, but good. She is a 'stopper' on our CY team and reads the play fairly well. I started reading your newsletter maybe a year or so ago and found a lot of what you were saying relevant and refreshing. The AYSO mentality (everybody plays, everything is fair and even etc.) is so prevalent in youth sports, and it was refreshing for instance, reading your opinion about team captain. I agree with you—the captain should show leadership, should support the coach, and should carry themselves with restraint, maturity, and class. We had been choosing any two kids per game to go to the center and flip the coin. That just perpetuates the ideas that life is always even and fair. I agree that there should be one captain for the season or for as long as is appropriate. I got caught up in the mentality of trying not to have 'favorites' etc. I understand that choosing a captain is not playing favorites. Thank you for your insight and resources. I am grateful for what I have learned from your newsletters. Thank you, Jennie __________________________________________ Gianni, I loved your newsletters. I am thankful for them, at first they led me to you......a 'real' soccer teacher...and a genuine person. They were educational on many levels...soccer and life. Perhaps your soccer thoughts were hard for people to digest because in reality they require a radical change in consicousness. And a radical change is threatening. Thank you Thank you Thank you.............. Alex ___________________________________________________ |