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!

GiveZooks!

As more LA SCORES students enter high school we continue to try to provide new resources and expanded programming for those who want to stay involved. We have established a high school camp during the summer, organized trips to soccer games and planned events geared for our alumni. We are also in the process of providing SAT prep classes for our 11th graders and organizing a weekly indoor soccer league. All of our efforts, in turn, have been received by the unmatched reciprocity of our alumni students. They continually volunteer at game days, summer camps, tutoring sessions and other special events. Their passion for our program is what motivates us to keep striving to provide them with whatever we can and remain involved in their lives as they mature as athletes, students and young men and women.

But our abilities can only take us so far. This is why we have started a donation campaign with GiveZooks online giving to raise money to support our Alumni Program. We are trying to raise money to provide scholarships for our students to attend SAT classes with Revolution Prep and pay for gym reservations and transportation costs of starting up the indoor soccer league. The thermometer on the right will show the progress we are making and the "Learn More" button will take you to our campaign page where you can read about what we are hoping to achieve. We hope you will take a minute to look at our page and support our alumni.

On behalf of the LA SCORES staff and students, Thank You.

8 foods you should eat everyday!

Here are some foods you should try to fit into your diet on a daily basis to help keep your body and mind healthy.

SPINACH: Helps muscle growth, is good for the heart, strengthens bones and enhances eye sight. Plus it makes a great salad.

YOGURT: Helps fight cancer, strengthens bones and boosts the body's immunity. This means plain yogurt, not the sweetened kinds we tend to lean to. But mixed with some berries and you have a delicious snack or breakfast.

TOMATOES: Fights cancer, keeps a healthy heart and also boosts immunity. A glass of tomato juice or 8 red cherry tomatoes should do the trick.

CARROTS: Fights cancer, enhances eyesight and boosts the body's immunity. Go to town on those baby carrots!

BLUEBERRIES: Stimulates the brain, fights off cancer, helps the heart and boots immunity. C'mon their delicious!

BLACK BEANS: Helps build muscle, stimulates the brain and keeps a healthy heart. You can use them in a burrito or in a chili.

WALNUTS: Help build muscle, stimulate the brain, fight cancer, good for the heart and boosts immunity. Add to salads or in pancakes for some extra pizazz.

OATS: Helps build muscle, stimulates the brain and keeps a healthy heart. Eat granolas and cereals to get lots of fiber.


*Information provided from www.bestlifeonline.com and Men's Health Magazine

Feelin' like a million bucks...a healthy perspective to finess

In today's world the idea of fitness has become synonymous with gym routines and work out regiments; and people believe that in order to be fit they have to lift weights and run for miles. While all these things have their value and benefit to the body it is also important to understand that fitness is not confined to the two hours you spend in the gym. It encompasses a healthy lifestyle of activity and an awareness of personal habits and choices. To understand more about what this means and how we can have a healthy perspective on fitness click the image above. You will be redirected to a personal fitness blog, written by Mint Condition Personal Training, that provides weekly health and work out tips. Read the post on "Fitness in Motion" and for a more serious workout continue on to the "Core Training" posts.

Enjoy and, in the words of a good friend of mine, Happy Fitness!

Follow Mint Condition on Facebook here

Can you put it all together?

Click the link below to put together a puzzle of a mystery LA SCORES photo! Test your wits and see if you can complete the picture!

Puzzle Time!

--click the link and scroll down on the page it re-directs you to. The puzzle will show up on the bottom half of the page. You can also use the website to create your puzzle of a picture you have.--