What makes the epidemic of sideline shouting particularly egregious is that the instructions are usually misguided.

By Mike Woitalla (Soccer America Magazine, June 2008)

What better venue for an endless array of amusement and bemusement than the youth soccer field? Much is predictable, like the adult sideline behavior, but the unexpected never ceases.

By Claudio Reyna

A well-executed slide tackle robs the opponent of the ball. In the best-case scenario, the defending player ends up with the ball at his feet, jumps up, and launches a counterattack.

Clearly, coaching your son or daughter isn't easy. If you are able to find an appropriate balance between encouragement and pressure, however, it can be a wonderfully rewarding experience.

Tony DiCicco, who coached the U.S. women to the 1999 Women's World Cup title, has also coached his own children at the youth level. He addressed the challenges and provided advice in Soccer America's Youth Insider.

A replica of the French federation's youth development program may not be feasible in the USA, but some key aspects of the system are worth considering.

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer Magazine, February, 2008 issue).

When should coaches start assigning specific positions to young players?

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America Magazine, January 2008 issue)

We see it so often one wonders whether American youth coaches are getting their soccer advice from Garry Kasparov.

"Kids come up to the halfway line," says Sam Snow, U.S. Youth Soccer's Director of Coaching Education, "and actually balance themselves not to go past it, because they suddenly realize, 'Oh my god, there's the line that I'm not supposed to go past.' Their arms are swinging, it's almost like they're on a balance beam or something."

It's a prime example of overcoaching - prevalent even though it's generally agreed that pickup games or street soccer spawned the world's greatest players.

"At a youth soccer game you'll probably hear parents and coaches on the sidelines yelling, 'Pass the ball! Pass the ball!' ... When we continually tell our young players to pass the ball, we're not allowing them to develop their full potential, especially those who have the ability to take their opponents on and beat them one-on-one. As a result, we run the risk of diminishing a player's artistry and potential."

-- Tony DiCicco, who coached the U.S. women's national team to the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal and the 1999 Women's World Cup title. (from "Catch Them Being Good: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Coach Girls.")

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing youth soccer coaches is getting their players to play ball on their own.

For sure, the first step is making practices so much fun that players fall in love with the sport. But children today have such a vast variety of pastime options that even those who are passionate about their soccer may need prodding to get the soccer ball out.

Excerpted from "More Than Goals: The journey from backyard games to World Cup competition" By Claudio Reyna with Mike Woitalla.


A player can always improve his fitness by working out hard. He can comprehend certain tactics by studying the game. But how far he goes will be determined mainly by how well he has mastered ball skills. Those are acquired by playing, day after day, year after year.

A player who really wants to excel will spend as much time as possible playing small-sided games when he has playmates, and juggling and kicking against the wall when he's on his own.

I spent a lot of time hitting the ball against the side of the house when I was a growing up. If my mother complained about the noise, I'd hop down the retaining wall at the end of our property to the office-building parking lot.

I'd use that wall -- hitting the ball with both feet, seeing how long I could return the wall's passes without losing control. I found out later that so many pros spent lots of their childhood doing that.

In an episode from UEFA's "Training Ground" series, Brazilian playmaker Kaka, who plays his club ball for AC Milan, gives a lesson on the defense-splitting pass in a three-minute video you can see HERE.

Excerpted from "More Than Goals: The journey from backyard games to World Cup competition" By Claudio Reyna with Mike Woitalla.


The corner kick is an incredible opportunity to score, and it's something players can practice on their own, because unlike a cross that you're hitting during the run of play, the corner kick is always taken from the same distance, give or take the few yards by which the width of fields varies from stadium to stadium.

Excerpted from "More Than Goals: The journey from backyard games to World Cup competition" By Claudio Reyna with Mike Woitalla

One reason so many crosses don't end up producing a scoring chance is because players too often send them in blindly. They figure that if they're on the wing, just whip the ball into the middle.

Even in the pros, you see this time after time. A player moves down the wing and launches a cross even if there are no teammates in front of the goal. If you haven't got a forward waiting for the cross, then you've got to look for other options, like turning back and looking for a midfielder.

In other instances, when teammates are moving in for a cross, the crosser hammers a ball without aiming. A cross is still a pass, and the most dangerous ones are those that fly into the path of a teammate.

Excerpted from "More Than Goals: The journey from backyard games to World Cup competition" By Claudio Reyna with Mike Woitalla

Sometimes kids ask, "Why should I juggle? You never do it in a game."

Juggling trains you to become comfortable with the ball. To tap the ball in the air over and over means you're hitting the sweet spot. How can a player volley a ball that comes flying across the field if he can't connect well on a ball he's knocking a few feet or inches in the air?

Just as juggling with the foot helps a player acquire the skills for trapping and striking the ball, juggling off the thigh helps him become comfortable with bringing down the ball at that height. Remember - a player can't dictate how a ball is going to arrive during a game.

Besides training foot-eye coordination, juggling is a great way to work on balance. Standing on one foot and hitting the ball with the other. That's just what a player does when he shoots, passes, or traps the ball. And good overall balance is a key ingredient to being a superb athlete.

To this day, I love watching a videotape of Diego Maradona juggling the ball with every part of his body except his arms and hands. It's as if he has a spell over the ball.

One reason juggling is so much fun is that you improve so quickly. First, you try to keep the ball up a couple times. When you can do it 10 times, you try for 20. Then 50, and so on. Do it enough, and you can juggle the ball 100 or 1,000 times.

If you can juggle 20 times with your right foot, try 10 with your left foot. Alternating feet when you juggle is excellent practice. Juggling is the greatest thing players can do to work on their skills.

Being a good juggler doesn't necessarily make you a great player, but I've never seen a great player who's not a good juggler. I think that tells you something.

When children first become involved in organized soccer, the coach's job is simply to create an environment that gives the children a chance to enjoy the sport. It's such a wonderful sport that setting up goals and letting them play usually does the trick.

By Mike Woitalla
(From the October 2006 issue of Soccer America Magazine)

Claudio Reyna, the veteran of four World Cup teams played top-flight soccer in Europe longer than any American in history.

Born and raised in New Jersey, he was coached first by his father, Miguel, who played pro ball in Argentina.

''My father's coaching philosophy was, 'Learn to play first, learn to win later,''' says Reyna in his book, More Than Goals: The journey from backyard games to World Cup competition. ''He would rather us play well and lose than go out and play ugly and win.''

When he and his teammates were about 10, Claudio says his father encouraged them to string passes together and heaped praise upon them when they were able to keep possession. He didn't mind if they lost to teams that depended on booting the ball to a big boy up front.

''Playing possession soccer would pay off in the long run, even if it doesn't get results at the youth level,'' Reyna says. ''He knew that when players advanced to higher levels, the direct, long-ball approach would become ineffective, because it's a predictable strategy and it becomes especially futile when the team no longer has a size advantage.''

In the pros and for the USA, Reyna has played attacking and defensive midfielder, on both flanks, on the frontline, and as an outside back. That versatility started early.

''My dad had us switch positions all the time,'' Reyna says. ''A lot of star players are only used in the center during their youth career. When they join a team that already has players to fill that role, they can't adjust to another position, and their career comes to an early end.''

Taking the drilling and screaming out of youth soccer will make the game more enjoyable and create better players.

By Mike Woitalla, Soccer America Magazine

Let's take the approach so many adults bring to youth soccer to other children's activities.

Take a bunch of 6-year-olds to the playground, but don't let them scamper off to explore the different structures. Make them all line up and wait patiently to take turns on the monkey bars. If one of them wanders off toward the swings, scream at him.

Be sure to tell them exactly how they should climb. Yell at the slow ones to go faster. While they're hanging from a bar, shout at them to ''grab the next bar!''