Live The Pitch

Let’s tackle the issues you will have with the parents as a coach.  Parents at the youth level are very competitive because soccer is not a very well known sport to the average person.  Most parents will think they know more than you, can do a better job than you and will criticize your every move.  You cannot let this happen.

Coaches need to keep parents involved as much as possible so they see how much you are putting into the team.  Whether it is a weekly e-mail or a short meeting after matches,  parents need to hear from you.  This will give parents the feeling that they are involved in some way.

Let the parents ask you questions, give you advice and make sure they are comfortable approaching you to speak their mind.  Happy parents will translate into happy players.

The biggest issue Parents will complain about will be playing time for their child.  Playing time can be tough to manage depending on the size of the roster you are working with.  At the youth level all players should have equal playing time.

There will be instances where a few players will play more than others, but this issue needs to be spread around the season so when the season is complete everyone has had the same opportunities on the pitch.  A good way to keep track of this is the weekly e-mail or meeting.

As the recreational fall soccer season approaches, coaches both new and experienced will face tough challenges ahead.  Here we are going to give you advice on how to overcome situations that may arise as you go through the season.  There are ways to treat players to get the respect you deserve for your time that you give to develop our youth. Both on and off the pitch.

For new coaches coaching youth soccer can be a terrifying experience.  Usually players under the age of 10 play in local recreational leagues across the country.  Most coaches in these age groups are voluntary positions usually held by a parent of a child on the team.

At first it may seem like an easy task to handle.  Most parents take this responsibly with absolutely no idea of what’s ahead.  The main thing to coaching at this level is that you treat all players and parents equally.

The issue that coaches at this level fall into is that they will rely heavily on one or two “star” players to lead the team to glory.  Parent coaches will get too worried about results and not the development of players and teamwork.  All players should receive the same amount of playing time and the same amount of attention as all other players.  If you stray from this motto, big problems are right around the corner.

Even at a young age if you treat your best player like they are better than everyone else it could stick with them for the rest of their lives.  I have personally witnessed this with numerous players who would dominate at the younger age groups, but never actually learned the team aspect of the game.  The team aspect is the most important thing to teach at this age.  A good theory to live by is, “we win as a team, we lose as a team.”

The U.S. Under 20 Men defeated hosts Northern Ireland 3-0 in the final of the 2010 Milk Cup. The Milk Cup is widely regarded as the top youth tournament in the world. This is a great accomplishment for the boys as they went 3-0 and played a great style of soccer.

Head coach Thomas Rongen put together a great group of players that look to have a great future as this is only the 2nd time they have won this tournament. The last in 2005, was led by Charlie Davies and Dax McCarty. Gale Agbossoumonde, Juan Agudelo, and Adrian Ruelas each scored brilliant goals to lead the U.S. to the championship.

After nine months of hard work, Vardar and Chicago Magic have been crowned U.S. Development Academy National Champions. This is the greatest accomplishment for a youth program in the U.S. Livethepitch would like to congratulate  both teams and also  all teams who participated in finals week.

In the U-17/18 division Vardar defeated Crossfire Premier 3-1 in the championship match. Kelyn Rowe found the back of the net for Crossfire to grab the early lead, but Vardar was not going down without a fight.

Vardar would score three unanswered goals to win the title. Peter Jacobson was able to knock in a rebound off the crossbar to even the match and Derek Schrauben would score two goals to lead Vardar to victory.
Final U-17/18 Standings

1. Vardar
2. Crossfire Premier
3. Real SoCal
4. CASL Chelsea Acadamy
5. Baltimore Bays
6. FC Dallas
7. Concorde Fire
8. Derby County Wolves

In the U-15/16 division Chicago Magic defeated Cal Odyssey in penalty kicks to win the championship. The fire took the early lead with a goal from Luis Medina in the 20th minute. Cal Odyssey were the runner up in this event last year and would not go down quietly with Gregory Antongnoli getting the equalizer ten minutes into the second half.

The match stayed tied throughout the rest of regulation and both overtime periods forcing a shootout. Chicago would make all five shots in the shootout winning 5-4 after goalkeeper Sam Euler saved the 2nd shot from Cal Odyssey.

Final U-15/16 Standings

1. Cicago Fire
2. Cal Odyssey
3. Baltimore Bays
4. De Anza Force
5. Internationals
6. Sockers
7. CASL Chelsea Academy
8. DC United

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The 2009-2010 USSF Academy season comes to a close this week as the top 16 youth teams in the country battle for the right to be named national champions.  Finals week will run from July 10-17 and be held at the beautiful Home Depot Center complex.

Teams qualified throughout the year and advanced to this prestigious event by winning their group at the USSF Youth Academy Playoffs which were held last week at Bryan Park in Greensboro.  Here are the results from Greensboro: U-15/16 and U-17/18

Teams will play each team in their respective group with the top team from each group facing off for the the championship at the end of the week.  Each team will get to play 4 games as the 2nd place teams will play,3rd place, and 4th place teams all get to face off in consolation matches.  We will keep updating throughout the finals week.  Good Luck to all players competing in this great event.

U-15/16

Group A

1.Chicago Fire Academy

2.De Anza Force

3.Sockers FC

4.D.C. United Academy

Group B

1.Baltimore Bays Chelsea

2.CASL Chelsea FC Academy

3.Internationals

4.Cal Odyssey

U-15/16 Finals Week Schedule

U-17/18

Group A

1.Derby County Wolves

2.Crossfire Premier

3.FC Dallas

4.CASL Chelsea Academy

Group B

1.Concorde Fire

2.Real So Cal

3.Vardar

4.Baltimore Bays Chelsea

U-17/18 Finals Week Schedule