Youth Soccer

The way Dan Wolin sees it, Cape Soccer will move forward by going back to the basics. The commissioner of Cape St. Claire Recreation Council Soccer is preparing to hire more experienced soccer instructors to show the young players the fundamentals of the game - and the coaches new ways to teach them. "I want the kids who play to have better skills than they currently have," Wolin said. "We've gotten a lot of good feedback from the coaches on this; they want to have it." Wolin wants to add a mandatory skills session each week starting in the spring, where experienced coaches work with the players and coaches.

Cycling All riders tested pass for Tour de France All 189 riders who underwent blood tests ahead of the start of tomorrow's Tour de France showed negative results, the International Cycling Union said. The UCI carried out the tests across the 21 teams early yesterday morning. The race, which will finish July 29, will start with a 4.9-mile prologue in London, then move to Canterbury on Sunday before heading into Belgium and France. The announcement comes on the heels of Germany making it a criminal offense to possess and deal in performance-enhancing drugs.

Can professional outdoor soccer thrive in Maryland?The newly formed Baltimore Bays will find out beginning in May, when they kick off their outdoor season in the 40-team U.S. Interregional Soccer League.The Bays will play a 16-game schedule in the USISL's nine-team Atlantic Division. The team's eight home games will be played on weekend nights at UMBC Stadium.The Bays also will play an indoor schedule from November through February at the Du Burns Arena in Canton."We want soccer to survive in Baltimore on a long-term basis in a league that's realistic," said Bays vice president and general manager Ben Neil.

WASHINGTON -- For more than a decade. Bill Stara has been one of the most successful high school and youth soccer coaches in Maryland history. Last night, he was recognized by his peers, named the United States Youth Soccer boys Coach of the Year at the 48th Annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America Convention at the Sheraton Washington Hotel.Voting was done by the NSCAA membership."It's extremely flattering," said Stara, the Centennial coach since 1982. "There's a lot of people [his assistant coaches, players and their families]

Et cetera U.S. routs France, 92-65, to win 1st FIBA U-17 tourney Rolling undefeated through the inaugural FIBA Under-17 world championship, the U.S. girls (8-0) capped their impressive performance with a 92-62 win Sunday over host France (5-3) in the gold-medal game of the tournament, which is run by the international governing body of basketball. For a fifth time in the eight-game tournament, all 12 U.S. players scored, led by 20 points and six assists from Ariel Massengale . USA Basketball Showcase: Kevin Durant scored a game-high 28 points to lead the White squad past the Blue 114-96 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

IF YOU have a travel soccer player under your roof or nearby, this may be a big, busy weekend for the household. It's Snickers Maryland State Cup time, a spring ritual that means competition distinct from league play. For some age groups, it's a rite that by midsummer can yield a national title, because the competition is going on across the country. Three county clubs - the Soccer Association of Columbia/Howard County, the Columbia Soccer Club, and the western county's Thunder Soccer Club - have teams entered.

BILL STARA, honored last month for the second time by his peers as a national coach of the year, has resigned as coaching director of the 6,000-player Soccer Association of Columbia-Howard County. Stara, 47, a teacher at River Hill High School and coach of the school's dominant boys soccer team, said he wanted to extend the paid, part-time SAC-HC job into a full-time position but that he and the youth club could not agree on terms. "Sometime in the future, I'd like to be a full-time director of a club that wants to do all the right things to teach the sport, as well as compete at a high level, and I was hoping that SAC was the right fit," said Stara, a one-time pro indoor goalkeeper.

Adam Shavitz AtholtonClass: JuniorGPA: 3.92, SAT: 1,140Sports: Soccer, indoor track, lacrosseOther activities: Lorien Nursing Home volunteer, Student Government Association class representative, National Honor Society, Special Olympics, prom committee, youth soccer referee.Profile: He has achieved honor roll status every quarter of his high school career while taking many gifted and talented courses. He captained the soccer team to the regional finals last season. And he finds time to volunteer at a nursing home, work with Special Olympians and referee youth soccer.

Name: Louise Waxler Job description: 13th year as director of the Columbia Invitational Soccer Tournament, conducted each Memorial Day weekend by the Soccer Association of Columbia/Howard County. Coordinates services, fields in county and at Fort Meade for nearly 300 youth teams -- about 4,800 players -- from mid-Atlantic states and elsewhere. Budget about $300,000. Staff of 100-plus volunteers. Negotiates with vendors, obtains sponsorships. Age: 51 Residence: Hickory Ridge village, Columbia Personal: Born in Pittsburgh, health/physical education major at Slippery Rock State University.