The Weather Report

Sign our Guestbook!

Who Is Ed Branley and Why Does He Write this #$%@?

Even though I was never a soccer player, I've been a soccer fan. I'm second-generation Irish-American, and my dad worked in England before he got married, so my family wasn't soccer-unfriendly. New Orleans only had the Saints (NFL) as far as sports teams back when I was a kid, so we had a tendency to adopt teams in all other sports. Soccer caught my eye because of the NASL and NPSL. There were also the shows "Soccer Made in Germany" and "Soccer Made in England" highlight shows on public TV.

I began to actually watch soccer matches in person when I began teaching high school. The school where I taught had a pretty diverse group of young players who were fun to watch, win or lose. I got involved in youth soccer about five years ago when my son Justin started playing in our local USYSA-affiliated league. I coached his team when he was in U-8, and now I am a USSF Referee (Grade 8).

We sent Justin to soccer camp for a week last summer. As a bonus, the Storm gave each kid tickets to the match that weekend. We got immediately hooked--Justin on being a ball manager and me on the level of play and the amount of fun that could be had watching A-League soccer. I wanted to play around a little bit with Microsoft's FrontPage product, so I decided to start a fan website for the team. Over the last year, the site has developed into what you see here.

So, when you read my opinions, they're coming from the perspective of a former youth coach who is now a very active referee. I'm a strong partisan fan of the Storm, as well as a member of Leicester City's Blue Army. My Irish roots leave a warm place in my heart for Glasgow Celtic as well. I don't consider my opinions to be expert or even right, and you're always more than welcome to take issue with them over a virtual beer (or other beverage of your choice).