Lionel Messi preferred to play with marbles and collect picture cards, seemingly uninterested in the soccer played by his two older brothers and his father on the street in front of their house. Then one day, at age 4, he went outside and asked to join them. They were delighted.

With the spring season kicking off, this is the perfect time to make sure you've got the first-aid kit in order.

During the 1990s, I worked as a Senior Art Director at Manhattan ad agency Lowe McAdams. One of my first assignments there was for a pro bono client, the Pharmaceutical Advertising Council. Pro bono (meaning "for the public good") work was done on a voluntary basis by Lowe McAdams and other agencies as we received no compensation.

"I got recruited to coach my kid's soccer team. Any advice?"

With MLS having just kicked off its 19th season, the Youth Soccer Insider's "When They Were Children" series is looking back at the formative years of some of the league's brightest stars, such as the boy from Gambia who moved to Texas to pursue his dream of becoming a pro soccer player.

With MLS's 19th season kicking off this weekend, the Youth Soccer Insider's "When They Were Children" series is looking back at the formative years of some of the league's brightest stars, such as the Seattle kid who now starts on the team for which he used to fetch balls.

With MLS's 19th season kicking off this weekend, the Youth Soccer Insider's "When They Were Children" series is looking back at the formative years of some of the league's brightest stars, starting with a teen sensation and last year's league MVP.

As his practice wound down and the FC Dallas U-13 boys sat in a circle stretching under the afternoon Texas sun, Chris Hayden took a minute to help his players put what they'd worked on that day in context.