This is a guest post by Ken Sweda, owner of PresicionSoccerSkills. You can also follow him on twitter @Zone_14.

There is a belief in this country that US Soccer and its domestic league, Major League Soccer, have a goal to greatly improve the quality of the American player and the status of the sport in this country.

United States National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been announced as the opening speaker for the 2012 US Youth Soccer Workshop on February 17th, the organization announced on Tuesday. "We are extremely excited to have Jurgen Klinsmann join us at the US Youth Soccer Workshop in Boston," US Youth Soccer president John Sutter said.

Photo: Earl Gardner

Philadelphia Union

A leaked copy of Toronto FC's 2012 schedule obtained by Canadian Soccer News shows the Union traveling to BMO Field on May 26 and Sept. 15, with the Canadian team at PPL Park on July 7. This unbalanced schedule thing is gonna take some getting used to.

On Thursday, US Youth Soccer announced that Dr. Thomas Fleck had died on December 24th. Dr. Fleck was well known to youth soccer coaches in the United States for his work with the National Youth license. He was a former National Staff coach and Youth Coordinator for the United States Soccer Federation, and spent over 40 years working to improve developmental methods and coaching techniques for youth soccer players.

By Chris Ackels
ESPNHS.com
It doesn't take much to realize the importance of this weekend's ECNL matches between Michigan Hawks and Eclipse Select.
At the U18 level, it's a battle between the first-place Hawks and the second-place Eclipse. For the U17s, it's last year's US Youth Soccer Region II Champion against last year's best ECNL record.

Soccer Fanatic would like to congratulate our member club, the Fullerton Rangers Boys Under-14 team who were crowned 2011 US Youth Soccer National Champions! The Under-14 Boys Fullerton Rangers put... Read more »

Minnesota had two teams that made it through the US Youth Soccer Region II Midwest Regionals and qualify for the Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona. Both the boys U-16 Minnesota Thunder Elite Academy and the girls U-19 Woodbury Inferno competed in that tournament last week but neither team qualified for the final.

Minnesota had two teams that made it through the US Youth Soccer Region II Midwest Regionals and qualify for the Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona. Both the boys U-16 Minnesota Thunder Elite Academy and the girls U-19 Woodbury Inferno competed in that tournament last week but neither team qualified for the final.

If you follow the the Hot Time In Old Town twitter account, you know that this has been a busy week for the Chicago Fire youth teams. The Chicago Fire PDL, U-19, U-17, and U-15 teams have all been in action and Chicago Fire senior roster player but youth eligible Victor Pineda received some playing time in the international Milk Cup tournament.

Glendale Falcons, Austin Hart

The 2011 Region 2 Boys Camps are being held in Overland Park, KS this week. The Camps bring in the State teams from Region 2 offering age group competition between the teams and leading to what is termed the Holdover Camp where individual players are invited to stay and participate on a Regional level squad.

Only 3 of Minnesota's 13 teams that participated in this years 2011 US Youth Soccer Midwest Regionals in Fox Cities, Wis., made it to the finals. They were the boys U-16 Minnesota Thunder Elite Academy, the girls U-17 Minnesota Thunder Academy East and the girls U-19 Woodbury Inferno.

The 2011 Missouri State Cup will be held June 11 16, 2011 in St. Louis, MO at the SLYSA and Sportport complexes. The Missouri State Cup is the first leg of the US Youth National Championship Series. All age groups (Under 13 up to Under 19) will participate June 11th 16th. The 2012 Girls State Cup will be played in the Fall later this year as MYSA separates the tournaments by gender.

Lydia Holtmann, Springfield Catholic 2014/Springfield SC 95/96

The 2011 Missouri State Cup will be held June 11 16, 2011 in St. Louis, MO at the SLYSA and Sportport complexes. The Missouri State Cup is the first leg of the US Youth National Championship Series. All age groups (Under 13 up to Under 19) will participate June 11th 16th.

Soccer Across America is teaming up with local club, PWSI Courage, to host the upcoming Soccer Fiesta in Woodbridge, VA.
Soccer Across America (formerly known as Soccer Start) is designed to introduce the sport of soccer to youngsters living in communities not yet served by existing clubs and leagues.

Soccer Across America is teaming up with local club, PWSI Courage, to host the upcoming Soccer Fiesta in Woodbridge, VA.
Soccer Across America (formerly known as Soccer Start) is designed to introduce the sport of soccer to youngsters living in communities not yet served by existing clubs and leagues.

Check out this great question asked by soccer blogger, Coach Scotty B at ussoccernet.com: Why don't our kids watch more soccer?

Earlier this month the North American Soccer League announced the partnering with Playbook Management International (PMI), a firm run by former MLS FC Dallas executive Michael Hitchcock. PMI was contracted by the NASL to support each of its teams in ticket marketing and sales.

Thom Meredith

The NASL is continuing on the path of using experienced and proven front office soccer talent by contracting with both Thom Meredith for league operations and Rich Levy for league branding.

US Youth Soccer is proud to announce applications are now available for the third annual William J. "Billy" Goaziou Scholarships for post-secondary education.

Two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded based on community service and giving back to the game of soccer to honor the memory of William J.