The youth coach faces many formidable tasks. Carrying a net full of soccer balls, a big duffle bag, the fold-out bench and pop-up goals from the parking lot to the field - that's no mean feat.

When Soccer America profiles the nation's top young players, we ask them to reflect on their early youth soccer years and share their outstanding memories. Here are some of our favorites:

It seems to be conventional wisdom that scrimmaging - letting children actually play soccer - is something that should happen only at the end of practice.