Articles
Volunteers Still Needed
We are short on field marshals and concession volunteers for Saturday mornings. Two hours once a month makes a real difference. Fill out the volunteer interest form to help.
Concussion Awareness for Parents and Coaches
Recognizing it, responding to it, and why the protocol has no exceptions
August 12, 2026 Youth Soccer Association
Soccer is not a high-collision sport, but head injuries happen in it — from aerial challenges, from collisions with other players or the ground, and occasionally from contact with a goalpost. Every adult around a youth team should be able to recognize a concussion and should know exactly what to do, because the response matters more than the injury itself.What…
How Teams Are Formed and Why Your Request May Not Be Granted
The registrar explains a process that looks arbitrary from the outside
August 8, 2026 Youth Soccer Association
Every season I get messages from families who are certain the team formation process is arbitrary, unfair, or rigged in favor of somebody's friends. I understand why it looks that way from outside. Here is what actually happens.Step One: Registration ClosesNothing can be built until we know who is playing. This is why the registration deadline is genuinely a deadline…
Understanding Offside Without the Argument
A plain explanation for parents who yell about it every Saturday
August 5, 2026 Youth Soccer Association
Offside is the most misunderstood law in soccer and, not coincidentally, the one adults shout about most from the sideline. Most of that shouting comes from a genuine misunderstanding rather than bad faith. So here is the law, in plain language, from someone who has explained it several hundred times.The Rule in One SentenceA player is offside if, at the…
What to Expect at Select Tryouts
For families considering the competitive track for the first time
July 28, 2026 Youth Soccer Association
Every August a group of families comes to select tryouts without a clear picture of what they are walking into, and by the end of the week some of them are frustrated for reasons that were entirely preventable. This is an attempt to prevent them.What Tryouts Actually AreFour evenings of sessions organized by birth year. Players are put through technical…
Sideline Behavior and What It Teaches
An honest look at the adults, from the board president
July 10, 2026 Youth Soccer Association
I have been around this association for eleven years, first as a recreational coach and now as president. In that time I have watched exactly one thing drive good volunteers away, and it is not the hours or the weather or the paperwork. It is the behavior of adults on the sideline.The Numbers ProblemYouth soccer nationally loses officials faster than…
Cards Were Invented at a Traffic Light
English referee Ken Aston came up with yellow and red cards while sitting at a stoplight, after confusion over bookings at the 1966 World Cup. They were introduced at the 1970 tournament and are now used in nearly every sport that needs them.
The Biggest Crowd Ever for a Club Match
On 22 April 2022, a world-record 91,648 fans packed Camp Nou to watch Barcelona beat Wolfsburg 5-1 in the Champions League semi-final. Barcelona had set the previous record themselves just three weeks earlier, with 91,553 against Real Madrid.