nasl – Ranting Soccer Dad

RSD short: Funny stories from youth soccer, then less funny news on USSF and NASL

A few texts for today's podcast: About the "Play/Practice/Play" model of coaching About buildout lines Mike Woitalla interview with UnSocCo's Ian Barker Compass Football (Jason Davis, Nipun Chopra) summing up NASL response to previous episode Brian Quarstad on 2010 Pro League Standards Quarstad again on 2011 struggling to get D2 sanction Quarstad yet again on … Continue reading RSD short: Funny stories from youth soccer, then less funny news on USSF and NASL

pro soccer, us soccer, youth soccer

When will the soccer “change” movement get serious?

This will start out on a personal level, but bear with me -- it'll get to big-picture stuff. And we'll talk about the desperate need to change a few things in U.S. soccer and at U.S. Soccer. I think the state of the soccer "change" movement can be summed up (pardon the SUM pun) in … Continue reading When will the soccer “change” movement get serious?

pro soccer, us soccer

Dispatches from the NASL offensive …

On the heels of Monday's Commisso-palooza, NASL interim commissioner for life Rishi Sehgal presented a more palatable take on the issues, speaking with Nipun Chopra at SocTakes Sehgal is not Commisso. He doesn't have the Trump-style tendency to laud himself in easily refuted terms (e.g., "I'm the only investor in this country who played soccer"). He actually … Continue reading Dispatches from the NASL offensive …

pro soccer, us soccer

Will Commisso’s money and bluster lure the grownups to the table?

I'm not going to devote a lot of my own time to reporting on and analyzing today's revelation that New York Cosmos owner Rocco Commisso is pledging $250 million to, in essence, prop up the NASL as Phil Anschutz, Lamar Hunt and Robert Kraft propped up MLS in the early oughts. The ratio of "important … Continue reading Will Commisso’s money and bluster lure the grownups to the table?

pro soccer, us soccer

Change and Chattanooga: What’s the next step for U.S. pro soccer?

(This post has been updated three times. I blame Zoidberg.) After a few weeks of post-election doom and gloom on Twitter, it's refreshing to see the "change" movement in U.S. Soccer moving forward with something constructive. The Summit for American Soccer in Chattanooga asked a lot of interesting questions: Can we have professional teams outside … Continue reading Change and Chattanooga: What’s the next step for U.S. pro soccer?