By Mike Woitalla@MikeWoitalla Missing from the U.S. team that reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 U-20 WorldCup were three American teens who were playing for Schalke 04 in its run to the U-19 Bundesliga semifinals: 19-year-old Haji Wright, and Weston McKennie, who turns 19in August, and Nick Taitague, who turned 18 last February. Weston McKennie […]
Youth Soccer Insider
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Drink up: Hydration tips for summer soccer
By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. In a previous Youth Soccer Insider we discussed recognizing signs of heat illness. Now we will discuss an even more important strategy — preventing dehydration and possible heat illness through a good hydration strategy. Hydration is a key element in proper sports safety, and a good hydration strategy will also […]
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Tab Ramos is bullish on USA after U-20 World Cup performance and DA progress
Interview by Mike Woitalla The USA won its group at the 2017 U-20 World Cup and advanced to the quarterfinals, where Coach Tab Ramos’ team fell, 2-1, inovertime to the surprise team of the tournament, Venezuela, which won its first four games with shutouts and faces England in the final on Sunday. The tournament in […]
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And the Refs Who Do Care
By Randy Vogt Recently, I wrote about the refs who don’t care. They arethe refs who do as little as humanly possible to survive on the soccer field that day. But I’m a positive person so I would also like to write about the many refs who do care. While Ican cite a few odious […]
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Heat Illness: How to recognize it in young athletes
By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. I am often asked this time of year about some strategies for coaches and parents to recognize heat illness, and for some strategies to manage theyoung athlete. With that in mind let’s review some basic principles. “Heat Illness” is a broad term used for a range of problems such as […]
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The Refs Who Don't Care
By Randy Vogt I was appalled as I saw my colleagues officiating. I was to ref the next game at the field and saw the ref, on a warm day on a turf field, wearing a short-sleevereferee shirt and black sweatpants. There was only one assistant referee and he was thankfully wearing black referee shorts […]
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USA has the momentum at Under-20 World Cup — but toughest foe awaits
By Mike Woitalla(@MikeWoitalla) The 17-year-old Josh Sargent has, for U-20 World Cupquarterfinalist USA, scored with his right foot, his head, his left foot — and in the 6-0 win over New Zealand, with his thigh. Even when he’s not finishing, Sargent does remarkablestuff on the ball. Like when he’s got his back to a defender […]
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U.S. U-20 star Tyler Adams has been playing up for a long time
By Mike Woitalla When Tyler Adams showed up for Red Bulls Academy U-13 tryouts, the coaches were quite sure he was ready to play above his age. But they eased himinto the older age group. “We knew he was pretty special,” says Red Bulls youth director Bob Montgomery. “We figured out quickly he didn’t belong […]
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U.S. U-20s enter 'best part of the tournament'
By Mike Woitalla and Charley Nordin At the last U-20 World Cup, in 2015, no collegians saw action for the USA. This time around, Coach Tab Ramos has been fieldingCal goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann, New Mexico defender Aaron Herrera and Maryland midfielder Eryk Williamson. Williamson started in theUSA’s 3-3 tie with Ecuador and in its 1-0 […]
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U.S. U-20s' foe: 'Hard-working' New Zealand team has five U.S. collegians
By Mike Woitalla The USA aims to reach the quarterfinals in consecutive U-20 World Cups for the first time in history when it faces New Zealand in the round of 16 on Thursdaymorning (7 a.m. ET FS1, Telemundo En Vivo). “We know they’re going to be a hard-working team, based on the last World Cup […]