TopDrawerSoccer.com

When I signed up my son to try out for ODP, I was asked to donate $5 toward a scholarship fund to help needy players. I happily handed over the $5 because it seems to me that ODP especially has the responsibility to look out for good players who may not have the means or the where withal to play for a more expensive club.I was shocked when I looked at the application for the ODP scholarship for Eastern Pennsylvania. It looks as though it was written by an estate lawyer, with requiremen... Read more...

We all know soccer is an all weather sport. I’ll never forget playing games in Austin, Texas, in the 95-degree sun when only eight of our players showed up for an 11 v 11 game. And of course there are the memories of games played in mud, pouring rain, and even what felt like hail.But sometimes people realize that the game cannot go on. The Capital Fall Classic in Richmond, Va., was cancelled Thursday after the remains of Hurricane Ida drenched the area and rendered the fields ... Read more...

Lately I have been wondering if it is possible to over emphasize juggling. I know all the reasons why you should juggle: ball control, hand-eye coordination and touch. But lately it seems as though my kids are just juggling and juggling and … well maybe it’s just jealousy.For years I’ve tried to teach myself to juggle and it just isn’t happening. The NSCAA conference always ends with a small-sided tournament and a few years ago I was put on a team with young women who were all ... Read more...

What’s up with boys’ ODP?  ODP was supposed to be the be-all and end-all of American Youth Soccer.  It was the road to the national team AND to college scholarships – remember when you were nothing as a boys player if you didn’t have “ODP” on your resume? I think at the U13 and U14 age groups it’s still a path to get noticed, but I am finding that it is increasingly insignificant at the older age groups.  In the last four years, especially since the debut of the Develop... Read more...

During my over-30 recreational game yesterday, we had the ball in the green team’s end of the field. I was playing right forward and had the ball. In a burst of ambition, my right mid-fielder overlapped me, ran past the other team's defense, and got open outside the 18. I passed her the ball, not realizing that she was offsides, and broke for the goal. The green players hustled to mark me and pressure my midfielder. THEY DID NOT STAND THERE LIKE STATUES WITH THEIR ARMS UP! Needless to say, p... Read more...

Club soccer lately is reminding me of Garrison Keilor’s fictional hometown, Lake Wobegon, where: “The women are strong, the men are good looking and all the children are above average." My 14-year-old son is scheduled to play in a tournament next month where the lowest category is “premier.” Going up from “premier,” you have “superior,” then “elite,” and finally, the top bracket is called “championship.” I can laugh about this when I don’t think too hard about how em... Read more...

Soccer is supposed to be an inexpensive sport -- at least equipment-wise, right? Shin guards, cleats, and a uniform. We are not talking about the hundreds of dollars worth of equipment needed for hockey, lacrosse or, God forbid, riding horses.This morning’s newspaper showing snow on the baseball field in Colorado reminded me that cold temperatures will be here before we know it. My kids have already talked me into buying them the long-sleeved, synthetic shirts to go under their jerse... Read more...

It turns out Goal Scoring Mom and I were writing the same blog so I decided to incorporate hers into mine. We were both licking our wounds after watching the U20 Men's National Team lose in rather lopsided fashion at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Egypt today. Just as with their opening match against Germany, the U.S. team lose 3-0 today (against South Korea) and didn't look good in doing so. "A horror show from the Americans," the official FIFA Commentator said during today's telecast on ESPN2. ... Read more...

One definition of an addiction is that your obsession with a particular activity or substance begins to interfere with your work life.This past Saturday, the National Book Festival brought a fantastic array of authors and books to the nation’s capital, a mere two-hour drive from my house in Pennsylvania. I didn’t have a game I needed to coach. My kids were relaxing after a hard week of school soccer. As an author who needs to raise her profile and develop more professional contacts... Read more...

So I had this wild dream (It's OK parents, you don't need to cover your children's eyes) that I was watching TV over the weekend and there were four college soccer games on TV at one time.As it turns out, it wasn't a dream at all. I subscribe to Direct TV mainly for the soccer. This year along with old standbys Fox Soccer Channel and Gol TV, which bring me professional matches from England, Germany, Spain and Italy, they've added the rights to the UEFA Champions League and if m... Read more...

My son’s coach called me over to the bench during half-time at Monday’s 4 p.m. middle school soccer game. He had a cell phone to his ear. One of my son’s best friends on the team had been hit by a ball and gone out of the game with what I assumed was at worst, a sprained or bruised wrist. But the trainer was there splinting his arm, which had a bend it in where there should not have been a bend. “It’s badly dislocated,” she said. The child was looking very ill. “Can you take ... Read more...

Well (Tuesday, Sept. 15) was my first day back from a nine-week absence due to a broken wrist. In an important match, we played on the road against league leader FC Muhlhausen. We have had poor form recently, losing our last two matches and today was no exception. We lost 5-2 in a very physical game that dropped us to 2-3 on the season. Several defensive breakdowns had a lot to do with the outcome. We are looking forward to our next match (Tuesday, Sept. 22) when the two new American signi... Read more...

A few weeks ago I subbed in at right forward for my indoor team. I had only been on the field for about 30 seconds when our center midfielder over lapped me on the right and I slid into center, about eight yards from the goal. The keeper bobbled a clear right to my stomach. Even though the ball's collision with my not rock-hard abdomen was a little painful, when it bounced at my feet I managed to one-touch the ball just inside the upper right corner. Goooooaaaal!I felt like a million... Read more...

My 12-year-old seventh-grader is definitely not the next Pele. But he is fast and aggressive, and after spending the 2007-2008 school year in a small town in Colombia, his skills are pretty good. He was thrilled to be asked to practice with the Middle School A team, which is mostly eighth and ninth graders, during pre-season. And he came off the bench and played decently, I thought, during the A team’s first scrimmage last week.But this week, right before the team’s second scrimmag... Read more...

I'm very glad to see the U.S. edge El Salvador for a 2-1 victory Saturday night in World Cup Qualifying. The match in Salt Lake City didn't start and end so well, but the U.S. did enough in between to earn a vital three points in the CONCACAF table. This should go a long way toward ensuring our team plays in South Africa next year, but there could still be a few issues with finishing fourth based on other results, meaning our team could end up facing a playoff vs. a South American team. Forg... Read more...

I had looked forward to yesterday for a year. Some of the 12-year-old seventh-grade boys who took the field yesterday for their first middle school game were students of mine in a preschool soccer class I taught at the local recreation center eight years ago. Others I just began coaching when I started a U10 travel team three years ago. I had always thought, it will be great when they play school soccer and I can relax and sit back be proud of them. But it was not like that, of course.When... Read more...

When all our club coaches got together over for our pre-season meeting over pizza and soda last week, I walked away without the customary ball bag and first-aid kit. It was the first time I had done that in eight years and it felt very strange.For years I’ve spent way too many daylight hours planning and running practices and way too many sleepless nights thinking about kids and soccer and games that were lost or won. Now I consider the fall season before me and it boggles my mind that f... Read more...

It was a well spent Thursday night for me in my old stomping ground of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I watched a preseason men's soccer doubleheader at Hefner Stadium, part of the National Soccer Festival that brings a number of top programs to this soccer-mad community in northeastern Indiana. Credit must go to Terry Stefankiewicz and the area soccer community to do the financial, logistical and other volunteer work to make this event such a huge success. Thursday night's DI games saw Evansville and ... Read more...

Psst - it's not Rob Ziegler blogging - but a guest parent blogger. Read on. Injuries are tough.  As a parent, they make you wonder, “Is this all worth it?”  The amount of time and money I have spent in our local sports medicine practitioner’s office in the last year is remarkable – all due to soccer.   I have heard from doctors that they see more injuries from soccer than any other sports.  Probably due to the fact that it is an aggressive sport with almost no ... Read more...

I don't know if David Beckham broke a lot of stuff with a soccer ball as a child, but I think most soccer players can recall playing with a soccer ball where they weren’t supposed to and damaging somebody’s property.A few years ago my mother gave my family a lovely, framed collage of pictures of me, my late husband and our two sons. It was very nice and was hanging behind our dining table the other day when my 14-year-old decided to play soccer in our backyard.Suddenly I heard a... Read more...