Bradford Jamieson IV living the Dream
Sitting on the bench at StubHub Center, Bradford Jamieson IV had a flashback to when he was a kid, perched in the stands at a Galaxy game. As the confetti of a Galaxy victory fell, he stood trying to snag the falling pieces of paper, like a dog trying to catch snowflakes. He told himself […]
How Germany Became the 2014 World Cup Champs
In June of 2000 Germany finished dead last in its group at the European Championship. They scored one goal in three games, losing to Portugal 3-0 in their final match. “At the turn of the millennium German football stared disaster in the face – it completely lacked a professional foundation,” the writers of a 2011 report from […]
Hanson Boakai youngest player to play a NASL game
EDMONTON – When FC Edmonton’s Hanson Boakai began his month-long stint with a professional soccer team in Germany, his training debut felt more like a cringe-worthy first day of high school. He wasn’t sure where to go when he first walked into the change room at Fortuna Duesseldorf, a second division team. “I was so […]
The Problem of Soccer in the US
Lackeys of Youth Soccer, That ‘Arrogant’ Sport By SHARON VAN EPPS The edict from my daughter’s soccer team manager arrived Monday morning: A state cup match had been rescheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday in Vancouver, Wash., a two-and-a-half hour drive from our home in Seattle. Families were expected to travel and check into a hotel Saturday […]
Pele talks about US youth soccer
Pele is widely recognized as the greatest soccer player of all time. He developed his unparalleled skills playing against other shoeless kids on the dirt streets of Brazil with a ball made from old socks and newspapers. But now Pele says the best grass-roots soccer programs in the world are not in Brazil, but in the […]
Jacobson Discusses HIgh School vs. Academies
Martin Jacobson is likely the most renowned high school soccer coach in the USA as his success with inner-city New York kids, at a school dubbed “Horror High” by the tabloids, has been well-documented by media outlets, including CBS’s “60 Minutes.” At the West Side school that has no soccer field of its own, Jacobson guided […]
How a Soccer Star Is Made
The youth academy of the famed dutch soccer club Ajax is grandiosely called De Toekomst — The Future. Set down beside a highway in an unprepossessing district of Amsterdam, it consists of eight well-kept playing fields and a two-story building that houses locker rooms, classrooms, workout facilities and offices for coaches and sports scientists. In an airy […]
Does hosting sporting events promote social and economic development?
In Rio de Janeiro, a fierce debate over preparations for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics is under way. Brazilians are proud to have been chosen to host these important sporting events and to have the world’s attention. But they reasonably worry that both competitions may end up being a bonanza for […]
Cosmos mount expensive challenge to M.L.S.
For the New York Cosmos, whose rebirth on the field begins this August, the path to relevance is a completely uncharted one. For now, they won’t be playing in Major League Soccer, the nation’s top league, but in second-division North American Soccer League. Opponents won’t be domestically known commodities like the New York Red Bulls […]
The U.S. Needs More Futsal
This isn’t new news as we see from this good article from 2008. But what will it take for the U.S. to get with the program……………. Several weeks ago, Tom Dunmore of Pitch Invasion wrote about his trip to a Major Indoor Soccer League game in this piece for Chicago Sports Weekly, highlighting the curious combination of the world’s […]