Here’s an archive of Soccer America’s last 70-plus Q&As: Bob ContigugliaOn his faith in new president Carlos Cordeiro, why the othercandidates fell short, and Sunil Gulati’s legacy Joe MachnikHall of Famer Dr. Joe Machnik: On New York soccer in the 1960s, his move into refereeing and break into TV Brady ScottTo go pro or play […]
youth girls
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
A wonderful side of soccer — helping kids feel like they belong
Gerardo Mercado is a 19-year-old Salvadoran who arrived to the United States in 2013, just before the height of the United States’ unaccompanied minor crisis — when tens of thousands ofchildren and youth began crossing our southern border without papers or parents, looking, like Gerardo was, for safety and a chance to start anew. Soon […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Roster: U.S. U-17 girls to face Venezuela twice in Florida
The U.S. U-17 girls national team has convened in Florida for a 24-player training camp and games against Venezuela Jan. 15 and Jan. 18. U.S. coach Mark Carr is preparingthe team for the 2018 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship in Nicaragua (April 19-29), from which three teams will qualify for the 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup. […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
U.S. Club Soccer's Phil Wright on the big election, empowering clubs, and the quest for A+ players
Since 2003, Phil Wright has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of U.S. Club Soccer, which was founded in 2001 and is one of the four youth governing bodies under theU.S. Soccer Federation umbrella, along with U.S. Youth Soccer, AYSO and SAY Soccer. U.S. Club Soccer’s member leagues include the ECNL,ENPL, NPL, and […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
The Importance of Being an Assistant Referee
I started refereeing in New York in 1978. One of the things that was interesting about refereeing is it was very much an individual pursuit for me as nearly all games in New York in the 1970s and1980s, with the exception of semifinal and final games, plus a few other notable games, were officiated by […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
U.S. U-20 women prep for World Cup qualifying
U.S. coach Jitka Klimkovaheld a 30-player camp from which she’ll pick the 20 players for U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying. The USA faces Nicaragua (Jan. 19), Jamaica (Jan. 21)and Mexico (Jan. 23) in the first round at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Trinidad & Tobago from which three teams will advance to the […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
How to navigate your child's path
The choice of where to have your child play youth soccer can be very difficult. Multiple clubs, “select teams,” or leagues will tout their services or programs, oftenwith promises of glory down the road. There is no shortage of choices for where your child can spend the next year of development – and in the […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Lynn Berling-Manuel, United Soccer Coaches CEO: 'We need to start thinking about youth soccer in a different way'
Lynn Berling-Manuel is the Chief Executive Officer of United Soccer Coaches, which was founded in 1941 anduntil last year was known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Berling-Manuel had served as AYSO Chief Marketing Officer for eight years before becoming in May 2015 the CEOof United Soccer Coaches, the world’s largest soccer […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Honor the innate desire of children to learn through play
Sometimes as coaches we ignore universal truths. “I just think they should go to school,” remarked a friend of mine commenting on home-schooled children. “Why?” Iasked. “So that they learn something,” she replied. “And if they learn just as much by not going to school?” I responded. 1. Childrenlearn. They are wired for it and […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
UCLA's Amanda Cromwell on women in soccer, the new youth landscape, and role models Tony DiCicco and Lauren Gregg
Amanda Cromwell, a biology major who graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992, had aimed to go the medical school, and took her MCAT exam while playing for the USA during thequalifying tournament for the 1995 Women’s World Cup. But Cromwell ended up playing for the USA through 1998, and pro ball through 2003 […]