Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, the team physician for U.S. Soccer national teams, has been a pioneer in researching ACL injury trends among female athletes and creating injury prevention methods for soccer players. We talked to him about what youth coaches can do to decrease the chances of injuries and the FIFA 11+ warmup procedure that he's promoting through the Sports Injury Prevention Program.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

For insight into coaching boys* when they hit puberty and how to challenge early-bloomers, we spoke to U.S. Hall of Fame coach Manfred "Manny" Schellscheidt, who had been the technical director of U.S. Soccer's U-14 boys National Identification Program since 1998 and is one of the nation's most experienced youth coaches.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (From Soccer America's YouthSoccerInsider)

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

Dr. Dev K. Mishra, who has served as team doctor at the professional, national team, college and high school level, is the founder of SidelineSportsDoc.com. We asked Dr. Mishra about injury trends he has observed in youth soccer; whether there are different injury patterns between boys and girls; and what coaches can do to help keep their players healthy ...

One of the toughest decisions in youth soccer is determining when a player who has suffered an injury is ready to return to action. Dr. Dev K. Mishra, who has served as team doctor at the professional, national team, college and high school level, is the founder of SidelineSportsDoc.com. We asked Dr. Mishra for advice on making the return-to-play decision.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

To coach young children where I live, I had to get licenses from a couple of coaching courses that totaled five days of instruction. We were taught all sorts of drills -- a few of which resembled soccer-playing -- and were given some useful tips. Like keeping plastic bags in your coaching bag in case you need to pick up dog poo before practice.

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

By Mike Woitalla (from PLAYSOCCER Magazine)

I thought it must have been some kind of mistake. E-mails were being sent out to the wrong address list or something. There's just no way that 7-year-olds were being invited to soccer tryouts, I figured.
But it was true.

Concussion is a controversial and tricky medical topic, but any coach or parent who works with soccer players needs to know what to do if you are faced with a situation in which you suspect a player has had a concussion.

By Dr. Dev Mishra (From Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

Since when did the postgame (or, in some cases, pregame and halftime, too) snack become the focal point of youth recreational soccer games? And when did it become the latest installment of "Keeping up with the Joneses"?

By Emily Cohen (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider, June 19)

In Soccer America's "Youth Insider" Dr. Dev Mishra provides a detailed guidefor finding the right cleats.

Click HERE to read "Buying the Right Cleat for Your Foot."

Howard Liebeskind, podiatrist for the U.S. national teams, the L.A. Galaxy and CD Chivas USA, provides all the info you need on soccer cleats in his piece for Soccer America's Youth Insider.

Click HERE to read, "General Principles in Cleat Selection."

Writing for Soccer America's "Youth Insider," Dr. Dev Mishra looks at the rise of overuse injuries and the perils of year-round single-sport training.

Click HERE for the article, "How Much Soccer is Too Much Soccer?"

A torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) may be a soccer player's most feared injury. Writing for Soccer America's "Youth Insider," Dr. Dev Mishra looks at training methods designed to prevent ACL injuries.

Click HERE for the article, "How To Save Your ACL":