Commentary
TCM Survey: Youth soccer players who don’t practice at home are more likely to quit
Results from The Coaching Manual's survey.
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All Commentary Articles
Dure: Ditching high-school soccer is a questionable decision
Eyeing U.S. Soccer's latest repudiation of high-school soccer, Beau Dure asks: Is “development” so important that we have to take kids away from the camaraderie of high school and make their parents spend 10 months a year driving them somewhere else to play?
Dure: Is U.S. Soccer trying to fix what isn’t broken?
SoccerWire.com Featured Columnist Beau Dure says the laissez-faire, deregulated youth soccer model is in tatters, and applauds new involvement and leadership by the U.S. Soccer Federation. But he's also feels many of the issues the federation has chosen are curious, to put it mildly.
Test passed: Reborn USWNT show excellence in evolution as they solve rugged Canada
The new-look U.S. Women's National Team met the first real challenge of their new era on a cloudy Sunday afternoon in South Texas, and conquered it with class and sophistication. By facing, solving and then confidently vanquishing a spirited challenge from a motivated Canada side in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying final, a USWNT full of youth and savvy showed a refreshing new approach to the game.
USWNT: Cerebral youngsters Brian, Horan take control of world champions’ midfield on Olympic road to Rio
The likes of Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo and Alex Morgan continue to dominate the U.S. Women's National Team's promotional materials and media coverage – with ample justification. Yet in the meantime, head coach Jill Ellis has quietly entrusted two of her team's most pivotal roles to two of the youngest players on the roster. Charles Boehm investigates the rise of the Morgan Brian-Lindsey Horan partnership.
Dure: Why do kids play? Birth-year mandate heats up argument
Beau Dure explores the notions of "club-centric", "team-centric" and "player-centric" approaches to youth soccer, and how the new U.S. Soccer mandates will affect those prominent and conflicting philosophies.
Five ways to develop more creative players needed for future U.S. Men’s National Team success
Guest columnist and well respected coach John Dingle thinks the U.S. Men's National Team has made tremendous progress in recent decades, but says the current popular methods designed to teach the creativity needed to truly compete on a world class level are not working. In this column he details the five biggest problems - and proposes the solutions - to turn the tide.
Dure: No simple solution makes MLS perfect for Jordan Morris or fans
U.S. Men's National Team starlet and Hermann Trophy winner Jordan Morris is presently deciding whether to sign with German club Werder Bremen, or accept a Homegrown deal with the Seattle Sounders that represents the biggest such offer in MLS history. In many ways, his choice represents the one that faces the entire American soccer community, writes Beau Dure.
Bruce: Five calls to action for youth soccer
SoccerParenting.com founder Skye Eddy Bruce outlines her top five calls to action for youth soccer entering 2016.
