Searching for talent and advising elite American youth clubs on player development.
Tag: youth boys
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: It’s Wonderful To Win, But …
There’s universal agreement that a results-driven approach to youth soccer is a detriment to player development. And although ignoring the scoreline is easier said than done – it’s worth the effort.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Being Different in an Ocean of Great Players
Every young player knows the feeling. You’re playing in a big game and there are college coaches on the sidelines. Every time you do something good, they seem to be looking the other way. Every time you mess up, they’re looking right at you.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Going Abroad, Risks and Rewards
Talented young Americans often face the choice of moving abroad to pursue their dreams. For Jose Francisco Torres, it seemed like the only option.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Pro Role Models Return for U.S. Girls Along with Top Level Soccer
What a busy time it has been for us the past six months at the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league office: new faces in the front office, teams drafting their first players for the 2009 season, the announcement of our national television partner – Fox Soccer Channel – and the addition of the San Francisco Bay Area as the league’s seventh franchise for 2009.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Backline: Kaz Tambi guides top U.S. girls
Former New York Cosmos defender coaches USA in first U-17 Girls World Cup.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Has Development Academy shifted the focus?
The U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s launch in 2007 promised to improve youth soccer for elite boys. We checked in with clubs that participated in the Academy’s first season to see if the program met expectations.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Nationals: Texans Make History
The Dallas Texans didn’t have to travel far to clean up. They made history when they won four titles at the 2008 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in North Little Rock, Ark. Add to that a rare double by Andromeda and Solar’s McGuire Cup title, and North Texas teams finished with a record seven championships.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Refs’ Difficult Job Made Harder
As U.S. Soccer works on improving the nation’s refs, their job isn’t made any easier by coaches, parents and TV commentators.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
How should young players warm-up?
For those of us who grew up as teenage athletes in the 1970s (or earlier), we are familiar with the old “stretching” routine: we typically began a training or pregame session with a series of somewhat contorted movements such as the hurdler’s stretch for the hamstrings, an Achilles stretch, butterfly, and a quadriceps stretch usually done with a partner.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Selling shirts or star searching?
Foreign clubs are getting involved in American youth soccer, which makes one question what they’re after and whether we want what they’re offering.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Tips for the Camp Counselor
In this day and age, soccer camps come in all sorts of shapes and sizes: skills camps, indoor camps, fun camps, and team camps. And for better or worse, I’ve worked at all of them.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Will MLS Youth Investment Pay Off?
MLS clubs are buying into the notion that they can produce homegrown stars.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Be a Great Team Manager
You’re organized. You’re a good communicator. You’ve run your school auction and served on a plethora of committees. Which is why your child’s new coach has asked you to be the team’s manager for the upcoming fall soccer season. “What do I need to do?” you ask.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Finding the Right Place to Play
Imagine this scenario: You’re sitting in a cafe in Switzerland watching Euro 2008. You don’t speak any French, German or Italian, but you are handed the thickest menu you have ever seen. This thing is like 50 pages long. You open it and start flipping through. You have no idea what you’re looking at. To boot, you’re a picky eater. The waiter comes and you point to a random item and hope …
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: How the screaming hurts
What makes the epidemic of sideline shouting particularly egregious is that the instructions are usually misguided.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Coping with Mistakes: Teaching Tolerance
Tolerance is important not only between and among teammates but also for individual players personally. Ideally, this tolerance starts at the top with the coach.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. Soccer Development Academy Results
The New York Red Bulls and U.S. youth national team, the only unbeaten teams in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s U-17/18 Group, went 1-0-1 in weekend action. Carmel United Soccer Club, which entered the weekend with the best winning percentage of any team in the U-15/16 Group, fell to Vardar, 4-1, and was held to a 1-1 tie by the Michigan Wolves on its trip to the Detroit area. For all the weekend results and goal scorers …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. under-14 boys national team camp roster
[YOUTH] The U.S. under-14 boys national team is taking part in an eight-day camp at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., under the supervision of Coach Manny Schellscheidt. For the complete roster …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
New England Revs name Director of Youth Development
[YOUTH]The New England Revolution, which will field U-16 and U-18 teams in U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy in the 2008-09, has hired Portugal native Mario Prata as its new Director of Youth Development.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bob Jenkins leaves U.S. Soccer for Virginia youth club
[YOUTH] Bob Jenkins, who since 2005 has been U.S. Soccer’s Director of Coaching Education and Youth Development, is leaving the Federation to become director of coaching of the Richmond Strikers. Jenkins, who during his tenure reevaluated and revised the Federation’s coaching school curriculum and the overall approach to coaching education, also served a key role in the creation of U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy.
“I’m looking forward to spending more time on the field,” said Jenkins, who was American University’s head coach in 1992-99 before becoming a U.S. Soccer national teams staff coach.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: U.S. mix better than ever
Soccer shed its reputation as a foreign sport thanks to the youth participation boom that started in the 1970s, but new waves of immigrants continue to enrich the game.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Significant expansion for U.S. Soccer Academy
[YOUTH] Clubs from youth soccer hotbed Texas balked at joining the U.S. Soccer Development Academy league in its first year, but eight of them – including the Dallas Texans, ranked the No. 1 boys club in the nation by Soccer America – are coming aboard for the 2008-09 season. Also joining for Year 2 are three more MLS clubs and two Northern California clubs, bringing the membership to 74 clubs plus the U-17 U.S. national team program. For a list of the Academy’s new members …
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Is coach doing a good job?
Proper player development leads to good match performance, which often leads to wins. But there are shortcuts to winning, particularly with players younger than high-school age. Just get the biggest, fastest kids around — then outrun and outmuscle the opposition.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. Soccer Development Academy Results
Met Oval, whose head coach is MLS star Giovanni Savarese, stayed on top of U-15/16 Northeast Conference with two wins, against Westchester and Albertson SC. “Our strength is definitely our team unity, and today we had a couple of lapses in concentration but the team came together and found a way to pull out a victory,” said Savarese after the Westchester win. For all the weekend U.S. Soccer Development Academy results and goalscorers …