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The fall season’s underway. Is your first-aid kit in order?
By Dev K. Mishra, M.D.
With the fall season underway, you’ve made sure your team’s first-aid kit is in order, right?
Every youth coach should have a very basic sideline …

11 Tips for Coaching the Little Ones
(With the fall season upon us, we reprint this article from 2014. Updated are the resource links at the end of the piece, including the online U.S. Soccer National F License course, for …

‘You can’t communicate too much with parents’ (Kim Calkins Q&A)
Interview by Olivia Ruiz
Kim Calkins was appointed Washington Youth Soccer’s State Technical Director in July. Calkins, who played collegiate ball at the University of Portland and professionally for the …

Is skipping high school soccer worth it?
Aspirations to play college soccer and hopes of a scholarship are apt to influence many decisions young players and their parents make. We’ve relayed some of the common questions we’ve heard from parents …

Julie Johnston: Top U.S. defender played all positions as a child
By Mike Woitalla
Perhaps the most impressive player so far during the USA’s run at the 2015 Women’s World Cup has been 24-year-old Julie Johnston.
The central defender …

The dumbest way to insult a referee
By Mike Woitalla
The ref calls a foul. The halfwit coach of the kid who committed it yells, “It’s OK, Timmy! You didn’t do anything wrong!” — believing he’s cleverly circumventing the dissent …

Effective Goalkeeper Communication — Coaches Must Teach It
By Paul Grafer
How goalkeepers communicate with their teammates is a big part of their development.
Personally, I struggled with communication as a young goalkeeper, especially as it related to helping organize …

Injured Player? Take Safe Steps in the Return-To-Play Decision
By Dev Mishra, M.D.
One of the toughest decisions in youth sports is determining when a player who has suffered an injury is ready to return to action. It’s very easy …

Screaming at Children — A Ref’s Eye View
By Mike Woitalla
It’s amazing that no matter how many games you ref, not matter how much you prepare for the all possible scenarios, you still get blindsided. I had a coach …

Ref Watch: Why three is so much better than one
By Randy Vogt
When I moved to Florida for business 27 years ago, I lived and worked in Orlando and also worked in the state capital of Tallahassee, 250 miles …