Category: Youth Soccer Reporter

Fifteen players from California teams head the U.S. under-15 boys national team roster for the camp that will take place Feb. 15-22 at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. For the complete 36-player roster …

Now is your chance to vote for the U.S. Youth Soccer Goal & Save of the Year. There are 10 nominees in each category. Goal of the Year nominees include Laura Heyboer, who went on to earn Soccer America All-Freshman honors at Michigan State. Like Heyboer on the girls side with Force FC, Brock Duckworth, nominated for the Save of the Year, won a U-19 national championship on the boys side with Solar. For all the nominees …

CASL Chelsea FC Academy continued to dominate in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s U-17/18 Age Group with a 4-1 win over Virginia Rush AS Monaco and 1-0 win over Bridge FA last weekend.

On the eve of the all-important qualifying for the 2009 Under-17 World Cup, three players have entered the U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla., including the first player to join from a foreign club, Cristian Flores of Mexico’s Monterrey. Also back in camp is star Carlos Martinez, three months after being dismissed from residency.

The U.S. under-17 national team kicked off play at the La Serena Cup in La Serena, Chile, with a 2-0 win over the host team on Sunday and a 1-0 win over Peru on Tuesday.

Four FC Dallas players — Josh Lambo, Brek Shea, Anthony Wallace and recent draft pick Peri Marosevic — were among 26 players named by Coach Thomas Rongen to attend the final camp in preparation for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, which will take place March 6-15 in Trinidad & Tobago.

Taylor Hafling had a strong showing in goal leading his under-17 club team, Javanon, to a second-place finish at Disney’s Soccer Showcase. He stopped three of the penalty kicks he faced in the tournament, including one in the final against Chelsea. His performance earned him a spot on the Disney’s all-stars that will travel to England for a two-week training opportunity in August. For more on this Rising Star, part of a deep junior class of top college prospects from Kentucky.

SPARQ testing is increasingly used as a tool to evaluate a player’s athleticism, in particular in soccer. Gavin Robertson of FC Milwaukee and George Fradenburg of Birmingham (Ala.) United) rated the highest in testing done at the Development Academy’s recent Winter Showcase. For the top 10 players in the U-17/18 and U-15/16 categories …

Cal South was the big winner at the Region IV ODP Championships in Phoenix, taking  six titles. Three of the Cal South ODP teams will now travel to Frisco, TX for the 2009 US Youth Soccer ODP Championships from March 19-22, 2009.

Boca Raton Wellington and Ft. Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, both South Florida schools, are No. 1  in the latest NSCAA/adidas winter rankings for boys and girls, respectively.

[BOYS TOP 30] For the first time since Soccer America began its annual rankings of the Best Boys Clubs in 2004, the Baltimore Bays are No. 1 in its annual rankings, edging last year’s top-ranked club, the Dallas Texans. For a look at Soccer America‘s Top 30 Boys Clubs …

[GIRLS TOP 30] A banner year propelled the Dallas Texans back into the top spot in Soccer America‘s Best Girls Club rankings. They moved ahead of their frequent opponent Eclipse Select on the national stage. For a look at Soccer America‘s Top 30 Girls Clubs …

The Baltimore Bays and Dallas Texans are No. 1 in Soccer America‘s annual rankings of the top boys and girls clubs, respectively. For the Top 30 rankings ..

Most folks associate Title IX issues with college athletics, but Title IX litigation or the threat of Title IX litigation is increasingly common in high school sports. In a case receiving national coverage, the New York City Department of Education agreed to move the girls soccer season from the spring to the fall (the same as for boys soccer) because the spring prep season conflicted with club soccer. The decision, which followed threats of litigation by the New York Civil Liberties Union, has not been universally praised.

Taylor Vancil played every game in goal for the United States at the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in November, helping guide the Yanks to a second-place finish. Taylor plays club ball with Illinois powerhouse Eclipse Select even though her family has moved to Colorado. In the fall, she will play at Louisville. Learn more about Taylor Vancil in our Rising Star profile.

Coming off a year in which the USA won the Under-20 Women’s World Cup and finished second at the inaugural Under-17 Women’s World Cup, the U.S. national youth team program for girls began a new cycle with 48-player megacamps for under-18 and under-20 players in Chula Vista, Calif., and for under-17 and under-15 players in Sunrise, Fla.

Chivas USA’s U-18 team went 1-2-1 in its first four games at the 24-team Copa Chivas Comex in Guadalajara, Mexico. With one game to play against Brazil’s under-17 national team, Chivas USA was fifth in its six-team group.

Izzy Hernandez, coach of the national powerhouse Broughton boys and girls programs, and Mike and Brendan Moylan, co-founders of Hillsborough-based Eurosport, the world’s largest soccer retailer, were inducted into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame at its annual banquet on Saturday in Greensboro.

U.S. under-15 girls national team coach Tad Bobak of the So Cal Blues girls program is among the regional winners of the U.S. Youth Soccer Competitive Coach of the Year award. The national winners will be announced at the U.S. Youth Soccer Awards Gala on March 6 as part of the US Youth Soccer adidas Workshop in San Jose, Calif.

MLS’s SuperDraft will be televised on Thursday. There’s FA Cup third-round replays on Tuesday and Wednesday, and midweek Copa del Rey (Spain) and Coppa Italia action. Various European leagues are in action during the weekend.

Over the weekend, Stoke tied Liverpool in the English Premier League, while in Spain Valencia tied Villarreal in La Liga. All four teams ended up with one point each. Statistical equality, then — but any similarity in these games starts and stops right there.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Landon Donovan saw his first game action for Bayern Munich in a 3-2 friendly win over Dubai’s Al Jazeera SC on Saturday. Donovan’s 90-minute performance drew positive reviews from the German press, including the headlines “Donovan Makes Klinsmann Happy” (Rheinische Post) and “Donovan Shoots Half-Goal in Debut” (Bild).

[ITALY] A day after Coach Carlo Ancelotti said he wouldn’t start, David Beckham made a surprise appearance in AC Milan’s starting lineup and played 89 minutes in its 2-2 tie at Roma.