By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. I was recently with a friend watching his daughter in a NorCal Premier State Cup soccer game on a beautiful spring afternoon. The girls were skilled playersand the game was played at a high level. The players were fit and athletic, and yet I was reminded that female athletes in […]
Youth Soccer Insider
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Ref Watch: Players Taking Dives
By Randy Vogt I started refereeing in 1978 and for every game that I officiated in the United States for my first decade or so of refereeing — nearly 2,000 games — I did not seeone player take a dive. Certainly, my ability to detect simulation was not as good as it is today as […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Christian Pulisic near another milestone
By Mike Woitalla Christian Pulisic, the 17-year-old Pennsylvania kid who has already played nine Bundesliga games, is one game away from winning his second Germanyouth national championship. It’s been a tremendous 2016already for the midfielder who in 2015 played for the USA at the U-17 World Cup and helped Borussia Dortmund win the 2014-15 U-17 […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
U.S. Soccer goes all out to prep youth teams
By Mike Woitalla This month’s U.S. youth national trips include the U-17 boys going to India while the U-20 women are headed to Papua New Guinea. The U-17 boys, whothis year have already played in tournaments hosted by France and Turkey, are competing at the AIFF (All India Football Federation) Youth Cup, a dress rehearsal […]
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Parental influence done right — supportive but not overbearing
By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. This is purely my opinion, with some observations on parental influence in teenage athletics: Toward the end of the school year, we gather with theathletic trainers and coaching staff to see what worked and what didn’t in terms of the health and performance of our high school athletes. We do […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Portuguese connection inspires national boys player of the year Mendes
By Mike Woitalla Lucas Mendes stands 5-foot-5 — and is one of the top 18-year-old players in the USA. Playing with adults as a young child probably hassomething to do with his ability to outwit his bigger foes. “When I was 7 or 8 I started to go and play pickup with the men at […]
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Galaxy provides school in quest to produce an American Messi
By Mike Woitalla “This could change how we develop players in this country. And the hope is a Lionel Messi or a Cristiano Ronaldo will comefrom the United States.” — Los Angeles Galaxy president Chris Klein on the Galaxy providing high school studies with its youth program. The quote comesfrom Kevin Baxter of the Los […]
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The young athlete is not a small professional
By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. It’s totally understandable to want your injured son or daughter to be healed and back playing sports as soon as possible after injury. And sincethe progress of the professional athlete after injury is chronicled in great detail through social media there’s pressure on the young athlete to get back to […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Jitka Klimkova: 'Let players find solutions by themselves'
By Mike Woitalla Jitka Klimkova grew up in a Czech village where girls weren’t allowed to play organized soccer. That didn’t stop her from realizing herdream of playing for the Czech national team. Now 41, Klimkova is a U.S. Soccer Development Coach, overseeing the West Coast Training Centers for girls 11 to 14 and head […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Friedel's revamped U.S. U-19 men lift Slovakia Cup
By Mike Woitalla The U.S. U-19 men’s national team, coached by Brad Friedel, beat Russia, 2-1, to win the Slovakia Cup after reaching the final thanks to group-stage wins over Georgia (5-1) and Ukraine (2-1). In thefinal, the USA came back after going down 1-0 in the 14th minute on goals by Nelson Hunsinger of […]