By Mike Woitalla How did 17-year-old American Josh Sargent become one of the soccer world’s most exciting young prospects? He joined the ScottGallagher Soccer Club at age 8, but before its technical director, Kevin Kalish, cites how the club helped Sargent flourish, he talks about Sargent’s character — and the soccerculture of St. Louis. “First […]
Youth Soccer Insider
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U.S. Soccer names Girls DA Technical Advisors
By Charley Nordin The U.S. Soccer Girls Development Academy, which kicks off its first season in September, has named its first five Technical Advisors, who are charged withdeveloping scouting networks and evaluating and aiding DA clubs in their region. All five of the women appointed hold a U.S. Soccer ‘A’ or UEFA ‘A’ license “This […]
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An imperfect but promising start by USA at U-20 World Cup
By Mike Woitalla Hosted by South Korea, the U-20 World Cup games air in the USA in the middle of the night or very early in the morning. Based on the USA’s thrilling opener,fans should find it worth sacrificing sleep — or at least making sure the DVR is programmed — to follow the quest […]
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Venerable Queens club BW Gottschee going strong thanks to Ben Boehm
By Mike Woitalla It’s a Sunday morning in Queens and Ben Boehm is smiling like a man about to spend a day doing what he really enjoys. For Boehm,that’s being at the soccer field. When he was a boy, to play pickup games at Highland Park, he would walk a mile and half to save […]
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What's the yardstick for World Cup-bound U.S. U-20s?
By Mike Woitalla It’s difficult to predict how youth World Cups will unfold, because the history of the tournament is not a reliable indicator. Serbia beatBrazil, 2-1, in the final of the 2015 U-20 World Cup. But neither team qualified for the 2017 U-20 World Cup, which kicks off on Saturday. In 2015, USA fell […]
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American teens fall short in U-19 Bundesliga title quest
By Mike Woitalla Schalke 04, with its trio of U.S. teens Haji Wright, Nick Taitague and Weston McKennie, looked well poised toreach the U-19 Bundesliga final after winning the first leg of its semifinal series with Bayern Munich, 3-1, in Munich. But on Tuesday, Bayern rebounded with a 4-2 second-leg win, sending the game toa […]
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The road to recovery: How to overcome the fear of re-injury
By Dev Mishra, M.D. As a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, one of my primary tasks with an athlete recovering from surgery or injury is to make sure the patient gets the bestpossible outcome. Traditionally, from the orthopedic surgeon’s viewpoint that means achieving things like full range of motion, normal strength, and joint stability. But from […]
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Tab Ramos looks for improved offense at U-20 World Cup
By Mike Woitalla For the first time in history, the USA will arrive at the U-20 World Cup as Concacaf champion, having beaten defending champ Mexico, 1-0, en route to the regionalfinal, in which it prevailed over Honduras in PKs after a scoreless tie. But at the World Cup in South Korea, where the USA […]
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The Rise of Georgia — young Atlanta United players making international impact
By Mike Woitalla In the months before helping the USA qualify for the 2017 U-17 World Cup, striker Andrew Carleton and Christopher Goslin playedtheir soccer with men. Both had signed Homegrown contracts with MLS’s Atlanta United last year and left the U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida, to train under Coach TataMartino. “They’re playing against […]
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Two big tests await U.S. U-17 boys
By Mike Woitalla A strong case can be made that the USA’s qualifying campaign for the 2017 U-17 World Cup was its most impressive appearance ever of the 18 Concacaf U-17Championships it’s played in. The only blemish for Coach John Hackworth’s team, after five straight wins, was the penalty-kick shootout loss to Mexico in the […]