Tag: youth boys

During a girls game in Norway, a mother stormed the field, attacked a 13-year-old player, pushing her to the ground. She swore at several other players and put the referee into a stranglehold before being restrained, reports the Aftenposten. “The referee was completely shaken and the players were crying,” said Tor Eriksen of the Bardufoss regional sports association.

The USA leads the world in registered youth soccer players, according to a FIFA’s Big Count survey. The USA has 3.9 million registered youth players (2.34 million boys and 1.56 million girls). Brazil (2.1 million) and Germany (1.3 million) rank second and third, followed by South Africa (1.3 million), France (1 million) and England (820,000).

[REGION II YOUTH CHAMPIONS] Teams from the Michigan Hawks-Wolves club won four titles on Wednesday on the final day of the US Youth Soccer Region II Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Two boys (Wolves) and two girls (Hawks) teams won championship matches. In the U-15 boys final, Sonny Saad scored four goals to lead the Wolves past the archrival Vardarstars. Another team from Michigan, the Bloomfield Force, will send its U-18 girls team to US Youth Soccer National Championships to be played July 24-29 in Frisco, Texas. Carmel United of Indiana won two girls titles. The NFC Bluejays defeated Ohio’s Internationals, 3-0, in the U-18 boys final to become only the second team from Nebraska to advance to the national championships.

[REGION II SEMIFINAL RESULTS] Only four defending champions advanced to Wednesday’s finals at the US Youth Soccer Region II Championships, and they are all on the boys’ side: U-15 Michigan Wolves, U-16 and U-18 Chicago Magic and U-17 FC Milwaukee. Eclipse Select of Illinois sent four teams to last year’s US Youth Soccer National Championships and looked to do the same this year, all four teams advancing to the semifinals lost. Michigan’s Bloomfield Force picked up the biggest win with a 4-0 victory over FC Milwaukee on a pair of goals each by Laura Heyboer and Amanda Bowery. For complete Region II semifinal results …

With more than a month to go before the deadline to apply to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, 21 clubs have already been accepted to field boys U-16 and U-18 teams in the program that launches next fall. The Academy, an extension of the U.S. national team program, was unveiled June 4. On Tuesday, U.S. Soccer named 10 clubs that are joining the 11 clubs that were accepted June 15. So far, clubs from 12 states are represented. The 10 newest clubs are Chicago Magic & Chicago Sockers (Ill.), IMG Soccer Academy, Kendall Soccer Coalition (Florida) & Clearwater Chargers (Fla.), Crossfire Premier (Wash.), Greensboro Youth SC (N.C.), Mustang FC (Calif.), Oakwood (Conn.) and Vardar (Michigan). U.S. Soccer coaches will select qualified applicants on a rolling basis until Aug. 1.

[CLUB PROFILE]. Nomads SC of Southern California, a pioneer in American youth soccer, was one of the first clubs accepted by the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. In the first of a Soccer America series profiling the clubs that will field teams, we look at Nomads, which were founded in 1976 and by the mid-1980s became of the one of the first fully staffed, multi-team elite youth clubs that soon proliferated throughout the nation.

[REGION II YOUTH SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS] FC Milwaukee led all clubs with seven teams advancing to the semifinals of the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Championships on Monday in Des Moines, Iowa. Six teams from the Michigan Wolves-Hawks and four from Eclipse Select — including the defending national champion girls teams in the U-16 and U-16 divisions — also reached the final four. Cedar Rapids Soccer Association’s U-18 boys, winners of all three group games, represent the host state of Iowa. For the complete semifinal pairings to take place Tuesday at James W. Cownie Soccer Park …

[REGION IV YOUTH CHAMPIONS] Arsenal FC, winner of three straight national championships in its age group, won its fourth straight US Youth Soccer Region IV Championship by beating Colorado Rush Nike, 2-0, in Sunday’s U-18 boys final. Two other former national champions will return to the US Youth Soccer National Championships July 24-29 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas: U-16 boys Real So Cal and the U-17 girls Eagles. Cal South won 10 titles. FC Slammers won two girls titles and lost to the Eagles on penalties in the U-17 girls division. Arizona power Sereno White won one boys and one girls title. A new addition to the US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships is the first girls team from Nevada to ever win a regional championship, the U-12 Neusport FC Green. For results and goalscorers of the Region IV finals …

[REGION IV QUARTERFINALS] Cal South led all state associations with 27 teams represented in the quarterfinals of the US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships that will be played Friday in Las Vegas. The boys teams include the U-18 Arsenal FC, U-16 Real So Cal and U-15 Valley United Blast, all defending national champions in their age groups. Arizona and Colorado are next with 14 teams apiece in the quarterfinals. Arizona’s Sereno White and Real Colorado National have eight and seven teams, respectively, in the final eight of the 16 boys and girls divisions. For complete quarterfinal pairings …

[REGION IV SCORES] The Valley United Blast, the defending national champion in its age group, moved into the quarterfinals of the U-15 boys division with a 3-0 win over the Honolulu SC Bulls on Wednesday at the the US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships in Las Vegas. Valley United, HSC and LV Premier all finished with 2-1 records, but Valley United and LV Premier advanced to the quarterfinals on the tiebreaker. Laramie Blizzard will be the sole team representing its home state of Wyoming in the quarterfinals after advancing in the U-14 boys division with a 2-1 win over Helena Arsenal. For complete Region IV Day 3 scores and Friday’s quarterfinals pairings …

[U.S. CLUB REGIONAL CHAMPIONS] Three clubs won a pair of titles at US Club Soccer’s National Cup VI Region H championships in Modesto, Calif. Mustang claimed the Super Group Girls U17 and Premier Boys U14 championships, while California Rush Nike triumphed in the Super Group Girls U16 and Premier Boys U16 divisions and Portuguese Athletic Club was victorious in the Super Group Boys U12 and Premier Girls U12 brackets. Four teams repeated as regional champions: Santa Rosa United’s U15 Super Group Boys, Mount Hamilton Lobitos’ U17 Super Group Boys, San Juan Spirits’ U13 Super Group Girls and USA 17 Academy’s U14 Super Group Girls. Winners from each of the eight regionals advance to the 2007 National Cup VI Finals later this summer in Greensboro, N.C., and Burlington, N.C. For complete list of regional champions …

[REGION IV SCORES] Three-time defending national champion Arsenal FC was one of five teams to win their first two games in the under-18 boys division at the US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships at the Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex and the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex in Las Vegas, Nev. Arsenal FC, based in Alta Loma, Calif., beat Washington champion Emerald City FC Green, 3-0, thanks to goals by former U.S. U-17 resident Ryan Peterman, Cal recruit Davis Paul and an Emerald own goal. Also 2-0 were hometown favorite LV Premier, Real of Hawaii, San Diego Surf White and Colorado Nike Rush. For Region Day II scores …

[REGION IV SCORES] Arsenal FC of Southern California continued its quest for a fourth straight national title in its age group with an 8-0 win over Utah’s Impact Black in the U-18 boys division on the opening day of play at the US Youth Soccer Region IV (West) Championships at the Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex and the Kellogg Zaher Sport Complex in Las Vegas, Nev. In one of the first upsets of the competition, local club LV Premier beat Cal South’s Valley United Blast, 2-0, in the U-15 boys division. The Blast has won the Region IV championships the past three years and won the national championship last year. For Region IV scores from Day 1 games .

The first group of clubs that will field U-16 and U-18 in the inaugural season of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy , which kicks off this fall, have been chosen. The first 11 are: Atlanta Fire United Soccer Association (Georgia), B/W Gottschee (New York), Capitol Area Soccer League (North Carolina), De Anza Force Soccer Club (Northern California), FC DELCO (Pennsylvania), FC Greater Boston Bolts (Massachusetts), Michigan Wolves (Michigan), Nomads Soccer Club (Southern California), Players Development Academy (New Jersey), Seacoast United (New Hampshire) and FC Westchester (New York).

Greenville (S.C.) High School and Waubonsie Valley High School of Aurora, Ill., finished as the top-ranked teams in the final NSCAA/adidas National High School Rankings for boys and girls, respectively. For the final Boys and Girls Top 20 spring rankings …

The U.S. Soccer Federation is launching the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, which promises to dramatically decrease the men’s national team program’s dependence on the Olympic Development Program to identify players. The Federation has started accepting applications from the nation’s elite youth clubs to run academy teams for U-16 and U-18 boys to compete in the academy’s regional leagues. Up to 80 clubs will be chosen by U.S. Soccer’s national team coaches to run academy teams. Players in the academy program will not take part in ODP. To counter the “growing trend of clubs playing an excessive quantity of games in lieu of consistent training patterns,” academy teams will not play in any other leagues, tournaments or State Cup competitions. Players will only be allowed to compete on their designated academy team (with exceptions for high school soccer and national team duty). The Federation says ODP, which is run by U.S. Youth Soccer and state associations, will continue “unimpeded” because the spots opened up academy players who won’t take part will be filled by additional players.
The Federation released several documents pertaining to the new program that will provide opportunities for more than 2,000 players:
Academy Overview, On the Field Details, Academy Presentation, Membership Application for clubs.

Shortly after being elected U.S. Soccer President in March of 2006, Sunil Gulati launched a complete review of all the Federation’s technical areas. The Technical Committee, headed by Kevin Payne, concluded that on the youth player development front, at ages 13 to 17, elite players needed an increase in the quality and quantity of training; an increase in the number of quality games, but a reduction in the overall amount of games. Between the myriad state, regional and national competitions, showcase tournaments and ODP events, a typical young American elite player was “stretched too thin.” Said U.S. U-15 boys national team coach Jim Barlow, “It was never more clear to me that things in our youth soccer structure needed to change than at our first U-15 camp last summer when about half of the players, on the very first day of national team camp, told their coaches that they were tired of soccer. Too many games, too many leagues, too many tournaments and camps, too much structured soccer had already taken its toll on this group of talented young players.” And thus came the launch of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

[U.S. CLUB SOCCER CHAMPIONS] Regional champions were crowned in U.S. Club Soccer’s boys and girls U-12-U-17 age groups on Memorial Day in LaGrangeville, N.Y. and Jacksonville, Fla., respectively. For a complete list of the winners …