How much do you know?

· Soccer originated generally in its present form in Britain.

· The world's oldest club formed in 1857 is Sheffield FC

· Soccer is the most played and most watched sport on Earth

· Soccer is called football in practically every country except America, who call 'Grid Iron' football and football soccer.

· The largest attendance for a soccer match ever was 199,854 people - Brazil v. Uruguay in the World Cup at the Maracana Municipal Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, July 1950.

· In the largest soccer tournament ever, no less than 5,098 teams competed in 1999 for the second Bangkok League Seven-a-Side Competition. Over 35,000 players involved!

· The most goals scored by one player in a single soccer match was 16
- Stephan Stanis (France) playing for Racing Club de Lens in December 1942.

· Based on video evidence, one of the fastest ever scored was in 2.8 seconds by Ricardo Olivera (Uruguay) in December 1998.

· The international governing body of soccer is the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), based in Zurich, Switzerland.

· Diego Maradona was only 16 when he made his soccer debut for Argentina.

· Soccer goalies didn't have to wear different coloured shirts from their teammates until 1913.

· Chris Woods once went 1196 minutes without conceding a goal while at Rangers, from between November 26 1986 and January 31 1987.

· Ryan Giggs' dad was a professional Rugby League player.

· In 1973, the entire Galilee team spent the night in jail for kicking their opponents during an Israeli League game.

*Information provided by http://ezinearticles.com/?Soccer-Trivia-and-Facts&id=200678

LA SCORES well represented in Inaugural WPS championship match

On behalf of LA SCORES, we would like to congratulate board member Heather O' Reilly for leading the New Jersey Sky Blue to victory in the inaugural WPS Championship Game! Her goal in the 16th minute held on to be the lone tally in a hard fought game against our very own LA SOL. Heather played a great game on both sides of the pitch and her efforts were dutifully rewarded as she selected the MVP of the Championship game. Congratulations Heather and the Sky Blue on a great season!

We would also like to say CONGRATULATIONS to the LA SOL for a great inaugural season in the WPS! The SOL clinched the regular season title and won an automatic bid to host the Championship game. It was a great achievement and a sign that continued success is on their horizon! We want to thank them for everything they did for us this year and we can't wait till next season!

We hope to see Heather and many members of the Sol representing their team in the inaugural WPS All Star game this Sunday, August 30 against Swedish Club, Umea IK.

Once again, congratulations to everyone in the WPS for a great first year! And to Heather and the Sky Blue, enjoy the victory now because LA is coming for you next year!

LA SCORES in Jordan! Pt. Wahid (1)

About a month ago LA SCORES Program Director Amy Fleischauer and AmeriCorps Vista Dre De La Peza took part in a sports and culture exchange with Relief International to Amman, Jordan. The exchange allowed five American coaches to participate in visiting Jordan and organizing and running sports camps and trainings for both youth and adults. The exchange lasted for about two and half weeks and took the coaches all over Jordan, visiting local community centers, living with host families, meeting and building relationships with local youth and dedicated adults and sharing values, ideals, personalities and experiences through sport. It was the back end of an exchange that had started months ago when five coaches from Jordan came to LA and visited local programs, including LA SCORES.

The group that went consisted of five coaches, Amy and Dre, John-a past LA SCORES volunteer and soccer player, Sarah-a volleyball coach working with Special Olympics in Maryland and Gil-a coach/teacher/writer from Wildwood School in LA. The entire exchange was run, organized and basically held together by our fearless leader and guide Emily Carwell. With the five coaches working as the legs of the exchange, running trainings and camps on the ground, Emily was the hands who put it all together and Ahmed--our translator--was the head, piecing all our experiences together, putting them into context and enlightening us with his wealth of knowledge.

During the exchange we ran full days of coach clinics-- focusing on soccer, athletics and volleyball-- during which we taught basic skills, rules, techniques and games they can implement with their own teams. We also ran day camps with kids from local community centers and took part in an all girls summer camp at the King's Academy school in Amman. We visited local NGO's --Relief International and Right to Play-- met their staff and spoke about how they function. We also had a chance to visit different areas of Jordan including refugee camps, historical ruins and sites and local neighborhoods.

By the time our few weeks were over it was hard to take in everything that had happened. We had established bonds and friendships with each other, the children we coached and played with, the coaches we taught and worked beside and the families who took us in. Beyond this, a light had been shown upon a country in an area of the world, that in the US, is shrouded in darkness, mystery and fear. We had met the people, traveled the country and, for a short time, adopted the culture. The exchange made powerfully clear the insight an open mind and experience can bring you and the power of sport to connect people around the world.

The bridge between cultures will not be built with iron and steel. It will be built on thousands of fields, with hundreds of teams, communicating through sports.

Please read on in the next few weeks as we detail more of our trip and experiences!