2010070804

Triangle RailHawks Coach Weighs In On World Cup’s Soccer Ball Problems

By Diana Holoman, The Raleigh Telegram

Saturday, July 10, 2010

RALEIGH - Unfortunately the weeks of gathering around in a crowded city pub, sipping beer and eating wings while cheering for your country has been put on a four year hold for the United States.

After losing in extra time versus Ghana, the United States was eliminated from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and soccer enthusiasts around the country were sent home with the heads hanging low and their spirits even lower.

What if the United States was able to come out strong enough to avoid their opponents goal’s that happened minutes into almost every game they played?

What if the United States would have been credited for the goals that replays prove should have been given to them? What if’s have haunted this World Cup for the United States, but what about the biggest criticism of this World Cup - the soccer ball?

In a sport where there are only a few shots on goal, and even fewer actual goals, what happens when the players and coaches are complaining about the ball itself?

What does a company, such as Adidas, do when their product isn’t pleasing the athletes who count on the ball to be their main tool for success? Well, surprisingly, not much.

The Adidas Jabulani is the official match ball for this years world cup. The ball was created by Adidas and the world “Jabulani” means “rejoice” or “bring joy and happiness” in Zulu.

Zulu is a language used in a particular part of South Africa, where the ball was unveiled.

Criticism has followed the ball from the time the athletes took their first kick and has continue through recent games.

Brazil’s goalkeeper, Julio Cesar has compared the Jabulani to a “supermarket” ball that favored strikes and worked against all goal keepers. The fact of the matter, however, was that not just goalkeepers were complaining.

The ball seemed to be unpredictable in its direction when traveling through the air which is a problem for all players, regardless of position.

Brazilian striker Róbson de Souza has told the media, “For sure the guy who designed this ball never played football.”

Despite pre-season criticism, the cup continued with plans to use the ball in this years cup.

American Clint Dempsey chose to be a little bit more optimistic in describing the ball.

“If you just hit it solid, you can get a good knuckle on the ball,” Dempsey has said publicly, “You’ve just got ot pay a little bit more, you know, attention when you the ball sometimes.”

Adidas, from the start of the critism, was quick to strike back at the ball’s critics.

“We started using it in December in a wide variety of leagues.” Adidas spokesman Thoms van Schaik told the Associated Press. “All the response we have had has been positive.”

Adidas also said that the ball was distributed to all finalists so that they could get used to the ball.

“Apparently they have not taken advantage of that if we are only hearing this criticism now. I am quite surprised in these circumstances,” said van Schaik.

Local Reaction

What does local soccer coach Martin Rennie of the Carolina RailHawks think of this ball? Having spent time playing with the Jubalani, and getting used to it, Rennie seems to agree with the critics.

“This ball has no consistency,” Rennie told The Raleigh Telegram.

“People think this will be good because it will be hard for the goal keeper but really it is hard for every player even when simply passing the ball,” he added.

In an interview with News14 about the ball, he also said that be believed that the ball’s problems were not related to altitude, as he has played with the ball at lower elevations.

The new ball, produced by Adidas, was not the result of the World Cup needing an improved ball, and Rennie asked that if it wasn’t broken then why fix it?

“The thing about the Jubalani is that it is not liked by so many players, and it was brought to the World Cup not because there weren’t any good soccer balls out there,” Rennie said.

“That is the frustrating thing --after years and years of playing with great soccer balls, the World Cup was given an official ball that a lot of players did not enjoy playing with.”

Despite criticism of the officiating and the soccer ball in this year’s cup by many soccer fans, Rennie said he has seen a increase in the popularity of the Carolina RailHawks team because of all the attention the media is giving soccer this summer.

“I have seen a lot of people come to games that maybe would not have if they had not seen soccer on television,” Rennie said. “I also have seen an increase in people signing their children up for the many soccer games that we are featuring this summer.”

In addition to their professional games during the regular season, the RailHawks feature many camps for children of all ages. There are also team camps available for high school soccer teams. The camps are a great chance to get one on one lessons with some of the best soccer players in the country. The coaches, players, and Rail Hawk staff provide great instruction as well as giving your children a fun way to stay active this summer.

Rennie, a native of Thurso, Scotland, holds UEFA ‘A’ and Youth coaching licenses, one of only a handful of coaches in the world to hold both.

In all, he has attained 12 coaching credentials from UEFA or the Scottish Football Association.

The RailHawks are on the road for the next four weeks, but return home to face Rochester on July 27.

“We love seeing new faces in the crowd, and hope to see an increase in attendance at our next home game due to all of the soccer that has been in the media lately,” he said.

The World Cup may be out of reach for the United States this time around, but don’t forget that there are many soccer stars at the Carolina RailHawks games that if you look close enough, might be on your television screen in four years representing their country in the 2014 world cup.

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