On The Pitch

Thoughts on Youth Soccer from a Soccer Dad, Fan, Coach and Administrator

Entries for September, 2006

QOTW: Core Competencies

Tweet I’m still polishing the QOTW post I intended to publish last week, however this recently came up in discussion among our coaches so I figured I’d leap frog it. As I’ve touched on before, our league is fielding Challenge level travel teams for the first time this season. One of the hardest things for […]

US Youth Soccer Show on FSC

Tweet Sorry for the lack of posts – been up to my eyeballs in practices, matches, league registration, etc. Things are calming down a bit so I hope to polish off a few posts I’ve been working on and get back into the swing of things. Until then, a public service announcement: The US Youth […]

They’ve GOT To Be Joking!

Tweet I thought April Fools was, you know, in April. Are they KIDDING? United States Soccer Federation officials have spoken to Sven-Goran Eriksson as part of their search for a new manager for the men’s national team, replacing Bruce Arena, according to a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing […]

Soccer Mom and Dad On The Road

Tweet So our eldest had his first Challenge match this weekend, in Greensboro. Of course, because we like chaos (and probably deep down crave a stay in a padded room), our day did not consist of us relaxing at home preparing for this afternoon away match. No no. That would have been the smart thing […]

Looking Further At Coaching Coed

Tweet When I posed a Question of the Week about when youth soccer teams should be segregated, I knew from my own experience as a Coed team coach that there were a lot of other issues bubbling just below the surface there. There was a good debate in the comment thread with many topics raised […]

Relax, It’s Just A Game

Tweet Parents behaving badly – it’s not just something soccer leagues have to deal with. All youth sports have them. Well, the folks at Hockey Canada, the national amatuer hockey association up north, have produced a number of promotional ads designed to get parents to think about how they behave at hockey matches. They are […]

The Soccer Moms Are Getting Restless

Tweet I’m a bit late posting about this due to our season starting up, but I had to post. Just. Had. To. Do you know what YOUR Soccer Moms are doing during practice? TRENTON, Ohio – It’s not how you would picture your typical soccer moms — unless, of course, you’re picturing a scene from […]

Parent Concerns Can Be Really Interesting

Tweet As anyone involved in a soccer league knows, parents can come up with some really interesting concerns. I laughed when reading an email from another local league that said something along the lines of "we could write a book about some of the parental concerns we’ve received over the years" That is very true. […]

QOTW: What Confuses Your Parents The Most?

Tweet I held off the Question of the Week for a day so I could get my previous post up first – The Soccer Rule Primer for Parents. So the Question of the Week: What confuses your new parents the most about soccer? Most people probably would say ‘offsides’, but not always, especially at the […]

Soccer Rule Primer for Parents – Fall 2006

Tweet Each season we send out an email to our parents highlighting common misconceptions about the game of soccer that come up again and again in our league. Looking back, the vast majority of parent complaints and controversy end up coming from a misunderstanding of the laws of the game. It is fairly long, but […]

The Mebane Striker(s)

Tweet Have you ever wondered how a youth soccer league is formed? While many clubs have been around for decades in larger cities, leagues in smaller towns are often much younger – if they even have one. But if they do, you might not realize what went into the formation of the league or why […]

Referral and Sponsor Shout Out for August 2006

Tweet As we do every month at On The Pitch, here’s a shout out to some of the sites that linked here and sent traffic our way this month. Be sure to pay them a visit and return the favor! Here are the Top 5 referrers for August 2006: Triangle Soccer Fanatics The DCenters Soccerblogs.net […]