U.S. Soccer quietly weighing youth development overhaul as USWNT eye future
Results of a four year study by U.S. Soccer reveal tentative plans that would dramatically change the landscape in girls soccer in the United States, all in hopes of rescuing a U.S. Women's National...
View ArticleDure: Is North American pro soccer headed toward Armageddon?
Labor strife. Competing visions of where pro soccer should go. We’ve seen this before in North America. And it hasn’t ended well, says Beau Dure, who looks at recent developments on the soccer...
View ArticleDure: Did U.S. soccer structure fail Freddy Adu?
The cynics would say Freddy Adu was never that good. He was just a product of a marketing machine desperate to have an American Pele. The cynics are wrong, says Beau Dure, who sees bigger issues than...
View ArticleDure: Time to make “travel” youth soccer a part-time thing for...
The nation's largest youth soccer organization explicitly recommends that players U-10 and younger not be involved in travel soccer or be labeled as "recreational" or "competitive," yet it's a regular...
View ArticleDure: U.S. youth soccer chaos requires smart choices
With its conflicting agendas and alphabet soup of leagues and competitions, U.S. youth soccer too big, too heterogeneous, and too stubborn to submit to central control like the one that runs Germany's...
View ArticleDure: Abby Wambach’s gambit is ill-timed, but reasonable
The timing of Wednesday’s announcement that Abby Wambach would skip the 2015 NWSL season was puzzling. The decision itself was not, says Beau Dure.
View ArticleDure: Will Twitter and TMZ swamp women’s soccer?
When the U.S. Women’s National Team burst into public consciousness in the 1996 Olympics and 1999 Women’s World Cup, it did so in a nation whose general population and media really didn’t know what to...
View ArticleDure: Machiavelli’s guide to winning in youth soccer
Winning in youth soccer is an easy task for those who are bold, aggressive and focused solely on the present, says Beau Dure, who this week offers up a sly "how-to" for those interested in coaching...
View ArticleDure: NASL still finding its way as year five kicks off
Like a college graduate backpacking through Europe, the NASL is still trying to find itself. Not that the league is on the wrong track. It’s just young. It has been chastened by some setbacks and...
View ArticleDure: NWSL can’t remain subservient to national teams
The NWSL's 2015 season kicks off on Friday. And while many of its national team stars are treating the league as an afterthought, the passion and dedication of its rank-and-file players, not to mention...
View ArticleDure: Did Jill Ellis and U.S. women find the right mix with their Women’s...
Amid some extreme reactions to Tuesday’s announcement of the U.S. Women’s National Team roster for this summer’s World Cup, Beau Dure takes a middle path as he analyzes the work that's been done by...
View ArticleDure: If you must cut players, consider the options
No one’s suggesting that the U-8 Purple Butterflies need to cut the kid who missed the sitter right in front of the Pugg goal. But at older age groups and at levels of competition above your local rec...
View ArticleDure: Brainstorming a coaching curriculum for parent coaches
Parent coaches often receive absolutely no guidance in dealing with challenging players in "house" or recreational youth leagues. So Beau Dure has offered up a semi-serious suggested curriculum for...
View ArticleDure: Youth soccer’s vanishing middle class
Is the pyramid becoming an hourglass? With a growing emphasis on travel and competitive leagues, youth soccer's "middle class" finds itself under threat, writes Beau Dure.
View ArticleDure: Young players must learn to pass the dadgum ball
Even great coaching minds still disagree on “over-dribbling,” writes Beau Dure in his latest SoccerWire column. Some even insist young players -- U-7, U-8, even U-10 -- aren’t really playing a team...
View ArticleDure: Sepp Blatter matters less than moving the 2022 World Cup
The infamous Sepp Blatter has announced his plans to retire, writes Beau Dure, but the rest of the world should remain focused on the ultimate goal: Moving the 2022 World Cup away from Qatar and its...
View ArticleDure: USWNT beat Australia with fitness, and why not?
The opening days of the Women's World Cup showed that the rest of the world has evolved, says Beau Dure. But "evolved" isn't "better," as the U.S. Women's National Team showed in their unsubtle but...
View ArticleDure: Women’s World Cup shows it’s all about finishing
One goal in 180 minutes, off a set piece, against a team that can’t defend set pieces. That’s the U.S. Women’s National Team's scoring record from the last two games of the Women's World Cup group...
View ArticleNWSL offers up marquee playoff semifinal with Seattle Reign, Washington Spirit
NWSL is a young league, but it's already offering up enticingly intense battles like Sunday's playoff game between top-seeded Seattle Reign FC and the Washington Spirit (9:30 p.m. ET, broadcast live on...
View ArticleWhich year determines your age group? Youth soccer organizations move to clarify
Some detail-oriented people in youth soccer have noticed that a recently released U.S. Soccer document contradicts what several organizations have said about the new birth-year age group mandates.
View ArticleDure: Age-group issue puts Development Academy in a time warp
For at least one year, the Development Academy will be playing in different age groups than other organizations have announced despite the fact the Federation-run youth league has been on a calendar...
View ArticleWhat will come from U.S. youth soccer organizations’ detente?
This week, three of the five biggest national youth soccer administrative bodies had a summit, as all five seek to reach consensus on how to adapt their sport to the new mandates handed down by U.S....
View ArticleTurfGate part 2: Lingering questions link U.S. Women, Aloha Stadium and...
After the cancellation of Sunday’s U.S. Women’s National Team soccer game in Honolulu, a friendly vs. Trinidad & Tobago called off after the USWNT took serious issue with the playing surface, a...
View ArticleU.S. Soccer needs to step up and talk with us, youth groups say
Six months before the landscape of youth soccer is supposed to change, everyone has questions. And they're no longer just whispers on the sidelines at a youth game or idle discussion at the NSCAA...
View Article