A year ago, Jason O'Keefe was living a soccer coach's dream. In four years at Appalachian State, he'd brought the Mountaineers back to their glory days.

Since Djorn Buchholz became the National Soccer Hall of Fame's executive director, the NSHOF moved into FC Dallas' stadium and revamped its selection process.

Ali Krieger famously said the USA has "the best team in the world and the second-best team in the world."

Like millions of soccer-playing kids, I dreamed of becoming a pro. Not just any old professional, but the best one in the world, and in my backyard I scored the winning goal for Scotland in the World Cup final almost every day.

The starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team that won the first-ever Women's World Cup in 1991, Mary Harvey continues to impact sports worldwide.

The USA's 6-0 win over El Salvador in December inspired U.S. Hall of Famer to return to his native country and take charges of its U-23.

Check any soccer club's website at the United Soccer Coaches convention, and you'll see a nifty "pathway" graphic.

I was very saddened to hear that former Arsenal and Minnesota Kicks goalkeeper (and later coach) Geoff Barnett passed away last week, age 74.

The United Soccer Coaches convention is always a beehive of activity, with coaches, club execs, journalists and vendors.

The potential for schools to play a larger and more significant role in American youth soccer has been on my mind for some time now.

The MLSPA's Bob Foose described players as "very frustrated, they're certainly angry" that they've been asked to return to the bargaining table.

"Youth is full of sport, age's breath is short/Youth is nimble, age is lame," William Shakespeare wrote some time ago. He would doubtless have been thrilled by Matthew Hoppe.

Ralph Perez has worked alongside a Who's Who of American soccer coaches -- plus a few international legends -- in a 46-year coaching career.

The importance of Greg Vanney's return to Southern California, where he played college soccer, started and closed his professional career, and took his first steps as a MLS coach, cannot be understated.

The 80th Convention of United Soccer Coaches (previously known as the NSCAA), originally planned for Anaheim, California, has been forced to go digital by COVID and takes place Jan. 11-15.