By Greg Winkler High school is a microcosm of society; the actions we see today by professional and college athletes always find a way onto our playing fields and our practices.The current protests by our professional athletes will and may already have found their way to your schools. At a recent Rotary meeting in the […]
youth boys
Posted inStory
A coach's life: Benjamin Ziemer combines backyard brotherhood experience with worldwide lessons
By Mike Woitalla Benjamin Ziemer, one of four brothers of the renowned Northern California Ziemer soccer family, serves as the Sacramento Republic’s boys Development Academy U-19 head coach and U-17 assistant, and is a founder and the president of NorCal Premier Soccer. Ziemer, who served as assistant to Hugo Perez on the U-14 and U-15 […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Soccer's Only Complicated Rule: Offside
By Randy Vogt I was an assistant referee and yellow was up 1-0 in the closing seconds of a Boys High School Summer League semifinal game. A maroon attacker was at the top of thepenalty arc and he played the ball to a teammate a half-yard offside on my near side of the field, inside […]
Posted inStory
Werder Bremen 'delighted' to land 17-year-old Sargent
Josh Sargent, the 17-year-old St. Louis product who played in the U-20 World Cup earlier this year and is heading to the U-17 World Cup next month, will sign a pro contract withBundesliga club Werder Bremen when he turns 18 on Feb. 20. “It’s been very fun, travelingaround the world, looking at different clubs and […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Long-serving Tab Ramos renews with U.S. Soccer
By Mike Woitalla Hall of Famer Tab Ramos, who was one of the USA’s longest-serving players, is becoming one of the national team’slongest-serving coaches. Ramos has agreed to continue as U-20 men’s national coach, a position he’s held since November 2013, and as U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director, which he becamein October 2011. Ramos, who emigrated […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
U.S. U-19 women sweep in China; U-16 girls split with Germany; U-17 boys get final pre-World Cup look
By Mike Woitalla A tournament win in China for the U.S. U-19 national included the second meeting in history between female national teams of Iran and the USA. The first came whenthe U.S. U-16 girls beat Iran, 6-0, at the Torneo Delle Nazioni in Italy in April of 2016. … The U.S. U-16 girls beat […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
England youth on the rise: The FA's Matt Crocker on how it happened and hopes for the future
By Mike Woitalla England may be home to the world’s richest league, but that hasn’t translated into national team success. It has not won a major title since its onlyWorld Cup win, on home soil in 1966, and has gotten past the quarterfinals only once, in 1990. But this year, the England’s youth national teams […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
How youth soccer has changed in the past four decades
By Randy Vogt Having officiated my 10,000th game on August 8gave me a chance to reflect on the many changes that have occurred on the American youth soccer landscape since I took up the whistle in 1978 and was a youth player in the 1970s. Here are some ofthem: The Girls. Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
A new era for girls soccer: Development Academy kicks off in competition with ECNL.
By Mike WoitallaThe U.S. Soccer Girls Development Academy — with 69 clubs, 276 teams and more than 6,000 players — kicks off this weekend, a decadeafter U.S. Soccer launched the Boys Development Academy. The Boys DA kicks off its 11th season with 165 clubs, 614 teams and about 11,000 players. It launched in 2007 with […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
U.S. U-17 boys suffer rare loss, beaten 4-0 by Japan
By Mike Woitalla A 4-0 loss to Japan at 2017 Vaclav Jezek Tournament in the Czech Republic marked the U.S. U-17 boys national team’s worst loss since falling, 4-0, to Mexicoin a friendly in Panama in February of 2013. The USA, which opened the Jezek Tournament with wins over Hungary (4-1) and Russia (3-1), beat […]