The official, definitive, and unique celebration of a century of achievement in U.S. soccer. With one of the fastest-growing domestic leagues in the world and national teams asserting their presence on an international stage-and the U.S. womens' team taking the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic games-American soccer is at a peak. Opening its archives for the first time, the U.S. Soccer Federation takes us on a visual journey, from the introduction of the beautiful game a century ago in the amateur leagues of towns in the industrial northeast to soccer's dominance as the fastest-growing sport across America today. This book is illustrated with remarkable and rarely seen mementos, from vintage portraits of the first national teams in the 1920s to game programs, ticket stubs, jerseys, and exciting pictures of today's and past stars in action. With contributions from stars spanning generations of American soccer, including firsthand testimonies from coaches and players themselves, the book profiles the most talented players of the men's and women's national teams over the decades, looks at the coaches who have changed the game, celebrates the most memorable moments and unforgettable goals, and chronicles the U.S.'s greatest achievements, from the World Cup to the Olympics.

This guide to coaching female athletes of all ages shows how to build a team and provides invaluable advice on the differences between coaching males and females.  The authors include exercises that foster teamwork and develop essential skills.  They also answer parent's most common questions, such as how to tell if the coach is doing a good job and what to do if a child wants to quit.  Filled with stories about Olympic and World Cup championship teams, this useful handbook is infused throughout with DiCicco's philosophy that at every level playing soccer (or any sport) is about "playing hard, playing fair, playing to win, and having fun."

If you're going to coach your first soccer team, you know you've got a lot to learn about teaching kids this unfamiliar sport. If you coach soccer now, you want to improve your team. If your son or daughter plays soccer, you want to know what good coaching is all about. This is the book for you Jim San Marco (head soccer coach at the highly successful Edgemont High School program in New York State) and Kurt Aschermann (co-author with Gerard O'Shea of Coaching Kids to Play Baseball and Softball) have written this friendly, easy-to-use, fully illustrated guide that teaches you how to run a successful soccer team - from setting up the first practice to choosing callisthenics to running individual and team skill drills to getting everyone a ride home at the end of the game. Emphasizing that helping kids to have fun and learn about team spirit, competition, and themselves is far more important than winning games, the authors detail every step of building a soccer team that plays well and plays healthy.Instructions are fully illustrated with photos and diagrams: * Teaching the rules * Pre-practice preparation * Choosing the right equipment * Evaluating talent and assigning positions * Drills and exercises to teach fundamentals * Offensive and defensive tactics * Game strategies You may not have played much soccer or know much about it, but Coaching Kids to Play Soccer will teach you everything you need to know.Don't start your season without it