Remember the movie Monster’s Inc.? The Monsters generate their city’s power by scaring children, but in the end they find that children’s laughs provide 10x the power. Creativity is the same… it is powered by joy and passion. Scaring children as a means to get them to not make mistakes only kills the passion, enjoyment [...]

As a coach and a parent, I get constant feedback on what works with children when giving feedback to them for performance on the soccer field or their behavior at practices. Unfortunately, many coaches fail at their ability to properly motivate and balance their criticism. I’ve seen coaches who constantly criticize their players (U9s) to [...]

By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. Here’s a revelation: eat the least processed food you can find. Right, that’s not a revelation. You’ve heard it before but it’s not an easy thing to do when feeding the typical American teenage athlete. But it can be done, especially if you try to stick to the 80/20 rule [...]

Dan Coyle is the bestselling author of “The Talent Code” a book that discusses and highlights the learning recipe he’s found necessary to create talent. Those things are: Deep Learning (10,000 hours) Immediate feedback Repetition Coaching to oversee and direct the learned behavior   Here is a quick video of his presentation for U.S. Soccer. [...]

These five principles of defensive play are the key to good team and individual defending at all levels of the game. Pressure/delay – To prevent attackers from penetrating your defense, the first defender (the player nearest to the ball) should apply immediate pressure to the ball carrier. His objective is not to win the ball, [...]

I’ve been talking to parents recently, because tryouts are upon us, and I keep getting the “I thought competitive soccer’s goal is to win.” I love this because the point of playing any sport is to try to win, otherwise why bother playing a game. The difference is the perspective taken by the coaches and [...]

First, the majority of coaches are not charlatans and the charlatan title definitely doesn’t apply to those volunteer coaches out there doing their best. The charlatan tag has to do with coaches that are collecting a fee for their knowledge and expertise. Their hearts are usually in the right place, but they may not be [...]

MLS teams will play 34 games in 2011. They are still negotiating with Fox Soccer Channel (FSC), so those televised games are still to be determined. I’ve linked all of the teams at least once, only the Earthquakes get a link on every fixture date . ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN! WEEK 1 Tuesday, March 15 [...]

Paul Gardner, a Soccer America columnist, recently wrote an article where he said, “We can only base our judgments on what we see from the coach’s team in action,” — Actions speak louder than words, so stop listening and start watching. If the coach says something but keeps getting the same result on the field, [...]

I’ve been able to watch a U12 girls team go through the trials and tribulations of injuries this year, from stress fractures to pulled quadriceps muscles to sprained ankles, hamstring strains, sprained ankles, plantar fascitis and fluid in the knee – all by different players. Girls’ physical and hormones start to change drastically at age [...]