The Athlete's Lounge

 The Importance of Video in College Recruiting     Technology has become both a boon to and the bane of many aspiring athletes. Coaches will utilize video after games or sessions and some organizations will even require video footage before admitting a new athlete. On the college front, recruiting has always been a labyrinth of unspoken rules and hard deadlines. Without knowledgeable leadership within your youth organization, many kids will find themselves falling behind in the recruiting process. So how can video footage help your athlete get ahead? Image from the official Veo website. Image depicts an extended Veo Cam 3 recording a game.     When Does Video Matter?     Starting in an athlete's freshman year, your club coaches should begin to provide video footage of games for players to analyze and compile for recruiters to evaluate. Frequently, athletes are asked to submit optional footage to recruiters before college showcases, recruiting semi...

  Spring Tryouts and Club Soccer in Ohio     As youth soccer tryouts begin to wrap up in the Midwest, many parents begin to ask themselves "why is this process so convoluted?".  Our goal is to help disseminate three of the most common tryout myths and roadblocks that parents and players will encounter each year. Myth 1: You must attend every night of tryouts to secure a "good" offer at a new club.     The reality is much more convoluted. In light of the constant battle for supremacy between US Youth Soccer and US Club--resulting in the lack of guidelines for tryout dates--all tryouts have essentially become a veritable free-for-all. In an effort to not "fall behind", many clubs have heavily relied upon open training sessions to identify top contenders for spots on National, Regional, and Local teams. Often times, these open trainings can be where "good" offers emerge. Reach out to your target club to see if they offer open trainings in the Spring...

The Increased Marketability of Women’s Soccer   And how the USWNT made it happen in America Image depicts young United States Women’s Soccer fans holding signs cheering on the team and specific players following the USWNT’s World Cup win. Introduction Obsessive, hyper-competitive, prideful, loud. These are just a few adjectives that describe Americans, especially when it comes to international competition of any type. Boasting the strongest or fastest athletes, the most technical players, the greatest coaching methods; the United States has long been proud of the men’s soccer teams that are sent to perform on the international stage. However, women’s soccer has a much more recent history. Women’s soccer has only been permitted at the highest level of international competition—namely the World Cup and the Olympics–since 1991 and 1996 respectively. Despite the practically cult-like fanaticism of soccer (futbol)  fans world-wide, the United States has not been nearly so quick on ...