In the wake of Canadas loss to Russia in the bronze medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship, there have been plenty of comments made about the state of hockey player development in Canada. Brent Sutter, head coach of the Canadian team, believes that there is a skill deficit in Canada. "Theres too much focus on winning and losing at such a young age and not enough about the skill part of it and the skating part of it, because thats truly where it starts ... Id, personally, like to see more skill, more creativity, because we had to play against it here and we got beat by it some nights." In March of last year, Sutter said that he believes that the shift to year-round hockey is stunting the development of young players in Canada. "You just dont have as many players today that are as good athletes as they used to be. Too much today, especially in young players, is focused on hockey 12 months a year. They dont play soccer, they dont play baseball or tennis or the other things that people used to do." Sutters comments, while being made about the development of young hockey players, are equally applicable to the development of young soccer players in Canada. Year-round participation is trending younger and younger in all sports, including soccer, with players as young as eight now routinely chasing a ball for 12 months of the year. Parents and coaches justify this decision by pointing to research such as the "10,000 hour rule" - put forward in Malcolm Gladwells 2008 bestseller, "Outliers" - which claims that it takes 10,000 hours of "deep practice" to become an expert in a sporting discipline. The rule has come under increasing criticism, as many have pointed out that factors like genetics also play a significant role in determining an athletes career trajectory. That criticism hasnt stopped some parents, though, as they feel the only way for their child to reach the elite level of their sport is to play as much of it as they can - and the earlier the better. While practice will most definitely lead to improvement, if you are a believer in the 10,000 hour rule, it is important to understand that practicing ones sport can take many forms. Growing up, I played multiple organized sports that all had an impact on my athletic development, which in turn helped my development as a soccer player. From the ages of 7-12, I played soccer in the spring/summer and hockey in the fall/winter. I didnt know it at the time, but I was building my aerobic endurance by playing soccer and my anaerobic endurance by playing hockey. Although I stopped playing hockey when I was 13 to focus my attention on soccer, when I started high school, I played as many varsity sports as I could cram into my schedule. Volleyball helped me develop my jumping ability - something that would prove to be a major asset for me as a central defender in soccer. The athletic movements involved in spiking a volleyball are very similar to those needed to win a header in soccer; two or three steps, a two-foot takeoff, swinging the arms to gain elevation, arching the back to generate power - all of these movements take place when spiking a volleyball or heading a soccer ball. While I was having fun playing high school volleyball, I was training to become a better soccer player - without even knowing it. Basketball helped me to develop my ability to read dangerous situations. Whether playing man-to-man defence or marking zonally, basketball trains your ability to use your peripheral vision to track not only the ball, but more importantly, the opponent. I played as a forward in basketball, and learning to box out players for rebounds taught me how to be ball-side, goal-side in soccer - always in a better position than the opponent to win the ball. Badminton and squash helped me to improve on and compensate for one of my major athletic flaws - quickness. Both sports are heavily dependent on quick reactions and the first two steps. I was never quick - despite my best efforts over the years to improve that facet of my game - but I learned to compensate for that by reading the game well and anticipating what was going to happen next. Again, these skills were not solely developed on a soccer field, but rather, on badminton and squash courts when I was a teenager. Squash became such a good training tool for me that I continued to play the game right up until the day I retired as a professional footballer. The Academy Director at Ipswich Town, Bryan Klug, is an excellent squash player, and our squash games would often be more demanding than the work we did on the football pitch! So, if you are a parent of an aspiring athlete, consider letting them play other sports. Encourage them to go outside and play games with their friends. This is often where creativity and improvisation are learned, far from the eyes of demanding coaches and parents. Wholesale Shoes Online . "We were left with the overall impression that the team wasnt trending toward being able to compete for a Stanley Cup," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a news conference at the clubs arena. "And that was just a clear signal and why it was time to make those changes. Cheap Shoes Online . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. 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The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver.ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - Two items on Robert Strebs bucket list are attending an Oklahoma-Texas football game and playing at Augusta National.He never could have guessed which would be the first one scratched off the list.Streb closed with a 7-under 63 on Sunday and won the McGladrey Classic with the most significant shot of his young career, an 8-iron to 4 feet for birdie on the second extra hole of a three-man playoff at Sea Island that helped secure a trip to the Masters next April.One is easier to get to. I just havent done it yet, Streb said with a smile. Definitely thought I would have made that game by now.Winning the McGladrey Classic for his first PGA Tour victory was no picnic.He opened the tournament with a duck-hook into a bush for double bogey and spent the next two days worried about making the cut. He began the final round Sunday five shots out of the lead and made bogey from a fairway bunker on the first hole. Right when he was making a run, he three-putted for bogey on the 13th hole to fall four shots behind with only five holes to play.The rest was a blur, and then a long wait.Streb ran off four straight bogeys to finish at 14-under 266. He waited 90 minutes to see if it would stand, and then faced Brendon de Jonge and Will MacKenzie in a playoff.MacKenzie was eliminated on the first playoff hole with a bogey from the bunker. On the par-3 17th, where two hours earlier Streb had rolled in a 30-foot putt to tie for the lead, he hit 8-iron that never left the flag until it plopped down right behind the hole.What can you do? He hit a great shot, said de Jonge, who closed with a 65. And as I said, its nice for him to have a birdie. Its a good way to win the tournament.Streb, who grew up at Oak Tree just north of Oklahoma City, never felt more pressure than over his final two putts. On the first playoff hole, he ran his 35-foot birdie putt about 4 feet by the hole and had to make that just to stay in the playoff. The next putt he had was for the win.I was pretty nervous over those short putts, but managed to work it out, and things went in my favour, Streb said.Very little has gone according to plan for Streb in his career.He wanted to be a Sooner, but the Oklahoma golf team had no scholarship to offer and Streb felt he was only good enough to be a walk-on at Oklahoma State.dddddddddddd So he took a scholarship to Kansas State, not exactly a golf mecca, and made sure he earned a degree in marketing in case golf didnt work out.It took three years to reach the PGA Tour. He had to earn his way back. Two months ago in his first FedEx Cup playoff experience, he thought he had advanced to the third playoff event until he was bumped out by two points when Jason Day made a birdie putt on the last hole.Youre obviously not going to achieve all your goals right from the get-go, Streb said. Well, at least I didnt.He has now. A PGA Tour winner. A trip to the Masters, along with Kapalua and the PGA Championship and other invitation-based events he has never played. His wife Maggie, whom he met at Kansas State, is expecting their first child in February.A long road to be sure, but it sure felt worth it on Sunday.De Jonge opened with three straight birdies to get in the hunt, and rolled in two more on the 10th and 12th holes. He missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the par-5 15th, and a 20-foot birdie chance on the final hole.I didnt birdie the par 5 in regulation. I had a very easy bunker shot, but other than that, I didnt leave much out there, de Jonge said.MacKenzie also failed to make birdie on No. 15, missing from about 10 feet. He bounced back from a three-putt bogey on the 16th by making a 5-foot birdie on the 17th, and then two-putting from 80 feet from short of the 18th green to shoot 68 and join the playoff.Andrew Svoboda, who started the final round tied for the lead with MacKenzie, twice had the outright lead with birdies on the front nine and he remained tied after 10 holes. He made back-to-back bogeys, and then dropped another shot on the 14th and never caught up. Svoboda closed with a 71 and tied for eighth.Defending champion Chris Kirk closed with a 67 and was in the group that finished two shots behind in a tie for fourth. Kevin Chappell went out in 30 to get within one shot of the lead, only to par every hole on the back nine for a 65 to finish three shots back. ' ' '