United States Joins with Canada and Mexico to Launch World Cup Bid

History was made on Monday when United States Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati, along with Victor Montagliani and Decio de Maria, the leaders of the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) respectively, announced their intention to submit a unified bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup throughout North America. Montagliani is […]

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: The Return of Bruce Arena

U.S. Soccer is becoming comparable to the movie Groundhog Day. With the frenetic free-fall of Jurgen Klinsmann in recent weeks, it was clearly a necessity to find a fresh face to take the reigns of the United States Men’s National Team. Instead, USSF President Sunil Gulati and his staff have gone with a familiar face […]

Deathly? Copa America Group A Preview

We begin our Copa America Centenario Preview here at Soccer Nation with Group A, where the tournament kicks off on June 3rd. Whether or not you label it as the “Group of Death”, there is no question that the foursome of Colombia, the United States, Paraguay, and Costa Rica is as deep and challenging as […]

Q&A with National Soccer Hall of Fame Inductee Shannon MacMillan

On May 5th, it was announced that San Diego’s very own Shannon MacMillan was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. After a 12-year-career that included a whopping 176 matches for the U.S. Women’s National Team, it’s no surprise that the highly-talented veteran was chosen as a member of the 2016 Hall of Fame class. […]

2016 USA National Team Kits

The United States Women’s and Men’s National Team home and away kits have been unveiled ahead of a summer jam-packed with soccer. The U.S. Men’s National team hosts the 2016 Copa America Centenario and the Women’s National Team travels to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to defend their Olympic gold medal, which they earned at the […]

US Soccer Unveils New Crest

US Soccer released a new crest today with the help of several notable names from around the nation. Several people including USMNT players Geoff Cameron and Deandre Yedlin, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, ESPN Analyst Taylor Twellman, and many others took to social media to share the contents of the parcel sent to them by […]

We are going to be good at throw-ins and goal kicks: Part II

Scaffolding and the Zone of Proximal Development In education, we have learned to scaffold the learning process for our children in order to create a more effective teaching environment.  Scaffolding is the belief that in certain instances some elements of a skill are beyond the current ability of the learner, and the only way for […]

We are going to be good at throw-ins and goal kicks: Part I

This article digs into the science of education and of coaching methodologies.  This was done to prove the point with peer-reviewed, empirically developed theories.  It was not meant to be a rant, but rather as a review of legislative decisions from another perspective and a kick-start to begin a discussion of what we can do […]

I have no idea what is going on with the new field sizes…

I have gotten this comment a lot in the last few weeks, and as a club Executive Director, and also a coach, the people asking me want to know more than the simple details or logistics.  Most parents asking me are trying to figure how the new field and rosters will affect their children, why […]

USSF Makes Major changes to Youth Soccer

There are major changes coming to youth soccer which will impact every youth player, team, club, organization and league.  For many years the US Soccer Federation (USSF) has been developing and planning a strategy to address the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) process within soccer in our country.  They have identified two areas that they are changing which […]

A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT!

Hello there! Hope your season is going well and that your children are enjoying themselves! What I wouldn’t give to be able to be that age and participate in youth sports again! On this NFTP edition, I wanted to take a moment to bring everyone up to speed on changes that are coming to the […]