Coach Jitka Klimkova is overseeing a 24-player U.S. U-19 women’s national team squad in a May 16-23 camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. All the playersare eligible for the team that will attempt to qualify for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Eighteen of the players were born in […]
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Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
How to Develop Refs
By Randy Vogt When teaching a person how to play golf, if you put the ball on the tee 300 yards from the hole and ask the newbie to swing, most likely he or she would becomefrustrated very quickly. Instead, you place the ball a yard from the hole. Once the new golfer can consistently […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
USA gets its Arsenal kid
By Mike Woitalla As U.S. coach Tab Ramos had hoped, FIFA cleared Arsenal’s German-born Gedion Zelalem to play for the USA in time to include the 18-year-old midfielder on the U.S. roster for the U-20World Cup that kicks off in New Zealand May 30. Born to Ethiopian parents in Berlin, Zelalem moved to Maryland at age […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Jack Harrison is Boys Soccer Player of the Year
Midfielder Jack Harrison of Berkshire School (Sheffield, Mass.) was named the 2014-15 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year — the 30th player to win the award whoseprevious winners included several future pro stars, such as Claudio Reyna, Lee Nguyen and Alecko Eskandarian. The award, in collaboration withUSA TODAY High School Sports, also takes […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Effective Goalkeeper Communication — Coaches Must Teach It
By Paul Grafer How goalkeepers communicate with their teammates is abig part of their development. Personally, I struggled with communication as a young goalkeeper, especially as it related to helping organize my teammates. I was frequently frustrated whencoaches would tell me, “Paul, you need to talk more!” I was at a loss as to how […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
When Christen Press went from daisy-picking to goal-scoring
By Mike Woitalla When you see World Cup-bound Christen Press play — like her golazo againstFrance — you’d imagine she was a child who embraced soccer and fell in love with the ball the first time she stepped on the field. The real story is an example of how children explore thegame on their own […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Tab Ramos wants more U-20 firepower
By Mike Woitalla The top American scorer in U-20 World Cup history? That would be Jozy Altidore, with five goals in 2007 when the USA beat Brazil and Uruguay enroute to a quarterfinal finish. The USA has not won a knockout stage game at the biennial world championship since. Coach Tab Ramos said — after […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Roster: U.S. U-17 girls head to Chula Vista
U.S. U-17 girls national team coach B.J. Snowhas named a 28-player roster for a May 9-16 camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. Snow is preparing forqualifying for the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup — for players born in 1999 or later. Six players in this squad were born in 2000, the […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
U.S. U-18 boys split in Bosnia
Coach Javier Perez‘s U.S. boys national team, captained by goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann, won 1-0 and lost 3-1 to Bosnia & Herzegovina U-19s during their Aprilcamp in Bosnia. Minnesota product, Mukwelle Akale, who plays for Spanish club Villarreal’s Juvenil A team, scored both U.S. goals. April 30 inCitluk, Bosnia. Bosnia & Herzegovina 0 USA 1. Goal: […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Roster: U.S. U-20 women convene in Carson
Coach Michelle French has named a 24-player roster for a May 9-18 camp in Carson, Calif. French, who’s preparing the USA for qualifying for the 2016 U-20 Women’s WorldCup — for players born in 1996 or later — is using the camp to make final roster selections for the U-20 Women’s NTC Invitational June 2-6 […]