By Randy Vogt Not every game that a referee is assigned will be for teams whose ability is comparable to Barcelona or Manchester United. Over the course of a refereecareer, an official will be assigned games where the teams struggle to put three passes together. Many times, I have spoken to my officiating colleagues at […]
Youth Soccer Insider
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Bobby Howe: 'Don't make it a mystery' (Part 2)
Interview by Mike Woitalla Bobby Howe played top tier pro ball and coached youth soccer in England before arriving in the USA in 1977. As a U.S. youthnational team coach in 1986-93, his players included Claudio Reyna, currently U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director. In Part 2 of our interview, we asked Howe, who has been […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Bobby Howe: 'Drills are for the army' (Q&A Part 1)
Interview by Mike Woitalla Bobby Howe, during his playing career, lined up with England greats Bobby Moore, GeoffHurst and Jimmy Greaves at West Ham United. Howe came to the USA in 1977 to play for and coach the NASL’s Seattle Sounders, and since the 1980s has been deeply involvedin American youth soccer. He was U.S. […]
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Messi's Dad: 'Lionel always played for fun'
Interview by Bruno Pisano Lionel Messi is one of 55 soccer superstars featured in Bruno Pisano‘s book, “My Son The Soccer Player: The Secrets of the World’s Greatest Players as Told by Their Parents.” In this excerpt, Pisano spoke with Jorge Messi about hisson’s early years. BRUNO PISANO: At what age did Lionel start to […]
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Keys to keeper confidence
By Tim Mulqueen It’s perfectly normal to feel nervous before a game, but keepers need to clear their head of negative thoughts. How they go about doing this depends onthe individual. A good goalkeeper coach learns to read his players well enough to know whether to step in — and to know what to say. […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Proud parents of great players offer insight
By Mike Woitalla “The worst thing for a kid is to be on the field and hear his father screaming from the sidelines, and the kid has to look over and seethat.” That’s from Pablo Forlan, the father of 2010 World Cup Golden Ball (MVP) winner Diego Forlan, one of 55 soccer superstars featured in […]
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Playing in 'small spaces' and speaking of Barcelona
By Mike Woitalla “I think we really need to get better in small spaces,” said Claudio Reyna, U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director,in the wake of the U.S. men’s failure to qualify for the Olympics. In an interview with Jimmy Conrad on “ To Arch Bell of ESPN.com, Reyna said, “I think the winning aspect is […]
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Mia Hamm's advice for girls, parents and coaches
Interview by Mike Woitalla American sports icon Mia Hamm debuted for the U.S. national team at age 15 in 1987. She helped the USA to two World Cup andtwo Olympic titles. The 158 national team goals she scored before retiring in 2004 remain a world record. We asked Hamm to reflect on her early years […]
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How refs can deal with spectator abuse
By Randy Vogt Abuse from the sideline is a very sad component of some youth soccer games. Many soccer refs quit during their first two years of officiating with verbalabuse from the touchline being the No. 1 reason for quitting. If all of us understood that referees are human beings who make mistakes and have […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
What's the future for the multi-sport athlete?
By Dev K. Mishra Specialization is common and accepted in most professions. At some point in time Albert Einstein probably decided to focus ontheoretical physics, Tom Brady focused on football rather than baseball, and Yo-Yo Ma chose the cello over the double-bass. The world is better for theirdecision. When is the right time in a […]