Landon Donovan, the greatest player the USA has ever produced, recently appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" and was asked about heading in youth soccer.

The U.S. U-17 boys national team beat host France, 3-2, to win 44th International Montaigu Tournament. George Acosta, who scored twice in final, also scored twice in the USA's 4-0 win over Russia and in its 2-2 tie with England.

Tony DiCicco, who coached the U.S. women to the 1996 Olympic gold medal, the 1999 Women's World Cup title and the 2008 U-20 Women's World Cup crown, spoke with us about the changing landscape of girls soccer in the USA. The U.S. Soccer Federation is launching a Girls Development Academy in 2017.

With summer coming soon -- the good news, students and student-athletes will be going on vacation getting a much needed break from school and other activities. Others will spend the summer working, and some will be attending summer school or taking online-college courses to stay on track or get ahead.

I was assigned as an assistant referee for a boys U-13, Division 5E game that Sunday morning before the boys U-16, Division 2 game that I would ref on another field that afternoon. I e-mailed the ref to confirm the field and kickoff time and he responded, "That's what Arbiter (the assigning website) says. I will see you Sunday."

Three American teams, including the U.S. U-20 men's national team, are competing in the Dallas Cup Super Group, which has been won only once by a U.S. team since its inception in 1990.

Coach April Kater has gathered 48 players for the first U.S. U-14 girls national team training camp of the year, March 19-26 at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson, California. Most the players called up were born in 2002. Fourteen are 2003-born.

We're in the midst of confounding times for women's and girls soccer in the USA. We checked in with Anson Dorrance to get his perspective as a college coach who has for more than three decades been recruiting top youth talent to the University of North Carolina, and who led the USA to victory at the inaugural Women's World Cup in 1991. Dorrance has guided UNC to 21 NCAA Division I titles.

Of course, a soccer crazy boy like Matthew Olosunde played ball in the house, and broke stuff. Even living-room windows. But he didn't get in trouble.

The USA, which two years ago failed to qualify for the U-17 Women's World Cup, stormed through this year's qualifying tournament with five wins, including a 5-0 win over Canada in the semifinal to clinch the berth and a 2-1 victory over Mexico in final of the U-17 Concacaf Championship in Grenada.

U.S. Soccer has recommended to its youth members to eliminate the skill of heading the ball in training sessions and games for children 10 years old and younger. Children 11 to 13 years old may head the ball in games, but are limited in how often the skill can be practiced in a training session.

Three nations -- the USA, Mexico and Brazil -- that are aiming to qualify for the 2016 U-17 Women's World Cup have players from the Southern California Blues.

Connecting with the right college can seem daunting and intimidating. With 5,800 universities and thousands collegiate soccer programs, selecting the one that's right for you can be like hunting for a needle in a haystack.

The USA, aiming to return to the U-17 Women's World Cup after failing to qualify two years ago, clinched first place in Group B of the Concacaf Championship with a 2-0 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday following wins over Mexico (1-0) and Jamaica (8-1).

I got a few things wrong when in a 2007 article I predicted what American youth soccer would look like by now.