Futebol de Praia

Having been a beach soccer coach for Clube de Regatas do FLAMENGO's Escolhina Fla at Copacabana Beach, Forte de Leme, Praia do Flamengo & Aterro do Flamengo, I recently demonstrated BEACH SOCCER in Los Angeles, California, July 24-August 6, 2006! We will return for the summer of 2007. Also, we offer a football training program here in Rio de Janeiro. Currently my program has 150 Brazilian players, ages 5 to 18. We provide a residential stay for foreign players at very reasonable cost.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Calendar Update as of August 4, 2006 (click to enlarge)

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Our summer camp in Los Angeles for 2006 is over, and we have returned to Rio de Janeiro. We wish to thank everyone who attended as well as the coaches and technical directors who lent their support. In particular, our thanks go out to Angel Cano, Dianna Castro, Rodrigo Castro, Luis Espeleta, Luizinho, Rildo Menezes, Jose Luis Palomares, and Mckinley Tennyson. Congratulations to coach Rodrigo Castro and the City Strikers BU15, who won the BU15 gold bracket of the Arsenal tournament, August 12-13, 2006; we are very proud of their accomplishment.

On Monday, July 31, we declared victory over the Heat Wave: It appears the heat wave is behind us; in fact, for us Brazilians, it is rather (almost too!) cool at the beach in the mornings. Officially it was 79 degrees at 10:30am per the LAX weather station on Wednesday, July 26, but here at Dockweiler Beach, a few miles further west, it felt cooler than that. On Thursday, July 27, it was officially 82 degrees at the worst part of the day, 2pm. That morning, as it was overcast and cool, we were able to increase the intensity of the practices for the club players who began at 9am and 10am. On July 28, at 9am the official temperature was 78 degrees. Nice. What do you guys think of Michael Carrick going to ManU?

On August 3, the boys were directed by Rod Castro on defense tactics. It seems to us that certain of the players who have been with us the past two weeks have markedly improved. It was also nice to see that some boys who perhaps did not "show well" with us at the beach were especially good on Thursday night. We discussed the team formation with Rod Castro for Saturday's game at 3pm, Culver City High School. We handed out the Barcelona v Chivas de Guadalajara tickets. Dinner was at Campagnola in Westwood, and we were pleased the owner stopped by our table. During the day we also met with a Brazilian from the 1969 national selection (unfortunately he di dnot go to Mexico 1970) who now lives in Los Angeles and wants to start a youth club with an offical affiliation with Santos FC.

On August 2, we had more of an emphasis on tactical work than the prior day. Afterwards we had a Mexican dinner at The Talpa on Pico Boulevard near Barrington, with Carrick Inzunza, who is moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts, this September. Tonight, August 3, we are moving the evening session to BLANCO PARK (Culver Blvd, near Sepulveda, just East of the Toys R US and Pier One). This session will be conducted with Rod Castro.

On August 1, we introduced more tactical training, Brazilian-style. The weather was nice and cool, and we were able to extend the intensity of the sessions. That evening we had garlic chicken at the Cuban restaurant, Versailles, in West L.A.

On July 31, we had our first evening practice with the Boys Under 15. Everyone came except Devin (who just arrived from vacation). We spent about half of the time on technique and fitness, and the other half in a game situation. Afterwards we ate dinner at The Shack in Playa del Rey. Rodrigo had both a double cheeseburger and a hot dog.

On July 26, we actually held two evening practices, for younger club players at Penmar Park in Mar Vista/Venice, and then in the late evening for a Girls Under 17 and a Boys Under 17 team at John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica. We ate a late pasta dinner at a restaurant frequented by Frederic Kanoute when he is in town, Vito, on Ocean Park Boulevard. Both waiters who served us are football fans, and the son of one waiter plays for a Boys Under 12 club team. On the evening of July 27, we went to Zabumba, 10717 Venice Boulevard, from 8:30pm to listen to a little music. On July 28, after a fairly intensive set of sessions (including two where two different groups of boys kept the ball in the air for 53 and 50 successive touches, respectively!), we had sushi (including very excellent hamachi and a big, spicy squid that our good friend Pikul Paksangkanay in Bangkok would really like!) at Hama Sushi on Windward Avenue and Main Street in Venice and then went samba dancing at Cafe Danssa, 11533 Pico Boulevard, in West L.A., from where we were pleased to call Malone and Pikul so they could listen to the bateria. At Danssa we also met a former Flamengo player, and he promised to visit one of our morning sessions next week. Many, many thanks also to Rinda for stopping by on the bicycle. On Saturday night we went to a neighborhood place in East Los Angeles; the citizens there are all fans of Chivas de Guadalajara and, we understand, the Oakland Raiders. On Sunday we will see the Fluminense x Botafogo derby on GloboTV.

Beginning July 25, we welcomed the City Strikers Boys Under 15 for a total of 36 hours of training across 12 days that we will conduct plus another six sessions that will be led by their coach, Rodrigo Castro, who comes from our neighbor, Chile, and played for the NCAA champions the University of Indiana. We will also attend the Barcelona-Chivas match with them on Sunday, August 6.

Please note that the middle of the day is being taken up by sessions with a professional player who is moving to Necaxa in the Mexican First Division. We believe it is only the second US citizen to ever play for Necaxa.



Any questions or comments call 626 376 2497 (Daniel, right at the beach); if he does not answer, call Fernando at 310 699 4745