-US High School Soccer Champions League movement
Tampa Bay Area, Florida, USA
Joined July 2012
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Jim Harte retweeted
Mad respect to @CCP_Soccer & @WAOS_Tigers fans for showing up to the final. You’ve set the bad HIGH
You can’t beat that atmosphere. More to be shared. @STLchampsleague #HSsoccer #HighSchoolSoccer
Jim Harte retweeted
BSOC: McLaughlin delivers PK excellence, helps Chaminade defeat Francis Howell Central in STL Champions League semifinal @STLchampsleague @CCPAthletics @CCP_Soccer @FHCSoccer @FHCActivities @Msccamp @STLSoccerNews @STLHSCL @KevinWh2901930. metrosportsstl.com/2026/10/1…
Jim Harte retweeted
BSOC: Photo Gallery from @CCPAthletics 2-1 victory (4-2 in PKs) over @FHCSoccer in a @STLchampsleague
semifinal from 10-14-26 is at the link below.
@Msccamp @STLHSCL.
benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-So…
Jim Harte retweeted
The reality in the U.S. is this:
If we put a spotlight on the Entry Level, the stage where parents can create, at zero cost, an environment in the home where development can flourish, and help families understand that the benefits go far beyond simply developing football skills, we could solve football’s biggest problem:
Failure at the Foundational Phase.
That one fundamental fix could transform football in an entire country.😉⚽️
Jim Harte retweeted
If you get the very bottom of the pyramid right, you don’t need to overcomplicate coaching at the youngest ages.
Build a strong foundation, then give children the opportunity to play, lots of small-sided games, with volunteer or inexperienced parent-coaches who aren’t constantly stopping play every 30 seconds to shout instructions.
That environment starts to recreate something we’ve largely lost: street football.
Here in Japan, children aged 6–12 can train four or more days a week, with the majority of that time spent playing small-sided games. At weekends, they can play for half a day.
That’s essentially organized street football.
And that volume of play matters far more than having highly qualified coaches standing on the touchline telling 6-year-olds what to do.
Give children the right environment, enough repetition, freedom to make decisions, and thousands of opportunities to solve problems for themselves.
Get the foundation right, and coaching at the youngest ages becomes almost irrelevant.
The game becomes the teacher.
Jim Harte retweeted
There is only one girl in Japan whose football development I have ever taken a personal interest in. Her family asked me to help introduce their daughter to football, and she was the daughter of my wife’s best friend and my oldest son’s classmate.
Our families spent a lot of time together, as often happens when wives or husbands are close friends and their children are around the same age. Because of my schedule and workload, I rarely get involved in one-on-one coaching or individual activities. But this was the daughter of our best friends, so I naturally wanted to help.
My recommendation was simple: keep small balls around the house, encourage her to play with them as much as possible, focus on ball mastery, and most importantly, build a relationship with the ball.
Fast forward a few years, and Yura was selected as the Player of the Match at the FIFA U-20 World Cup most recently.
Could it be a fluke? Absolutely. Or could it be a small example of the impact that a “Football Starts at Home” approach can have?
I’ll let you decide.
Jim Harte retweeted
Check out the brand new NATIONAL PAGE for the United States High School Champions League! You can find up to date standings, fixtures, stories here for the St. Louis Champions League AND other Champions Leagues around the nation! The movement is GROWING!
ushscl.com/
Jim Harte retweeted
High school soccer is the most grassroots thing in U.S. soccer. It's also the most ignored. If you love the game, check in on what's happening in your local high school program and check your preconceptions at the door.
More at @soccerdownhere:
soccerdownhere.net/post/high…
Jim Harte retweeted
Imagine if every preschool, early learning center, and kindergarten in your community had a program like this, giving children access to small balls during recess and introducing them to Ball Mastery through play.
The benefits go far beyond football:
• Focus
• Concentration
• Coordination
• Agility
• Balance
• Body awareness
• Reaction & decision-making
• Creativity & problem-solving
• Confidence
• Active movement
• Brain development
• Social & emotional development
• Enjoyment of physical activity
Give children a ball. Let them explore, experiment, move, and play.
The goal isn't to create football players at age 4. It's to create children who love moving, learning, and playing with a ball.
Imagine the impact if we did this everywhere. ⚽️
Jim Harte retweeted
⚽🏆 The STL High School Soccer Hub is your home for rankings, schools, player pathways, local stories, and official resources—all in one place! 🌟 Be sure to keep an eye on the STL Champions League Boys season kickoff! 🔥
Explore: mofutbol.tv/stl-soccer/STL-H… #STLSoccer #HighSchoolSoccer #MoFutbol
Jim Harte retweeted
“Football Starts at Home needs to be understood as a philosophy, not a product. The philosophy is this: the most important football development environment is not an academy or the training field or the foundational community club. Nor is it the shiny brochure or Prezi presentation that houses a program full of buzzwords, made up acronyms, or words like high performance, elite, excel, etc. It is the living room. The basement. The backyard. The moment a parent puts a ball at a child’s feet before any coach, any league, any institution gets involved. The relationship between a young child and a ball, developed at home, before formal coaching, before registration, before the sport becomes an activity, is where football culture is actually born.” @earlfcochrane
Jim Harte retweeted
Many of the world's greatest basketball players grew up in countries where football is the game children naturally play first. Whether or not they pursued football seriously, they were raised in cultures where ball mastery with the feet, unstructured play, and physical literacy are woven into everyday childhood.
Across Europe and South America, virtually every elite basketball player spent their early years in environments where football was a natural part of growing up. Long before specializing in basketball, they were developing the foundations of athletic excellence:
Footwork
Balance
Coordination
Spatial awareness
Decision-making
Creativity
Agility under pressure
These are the very qualities that translate across sports and underpin elite performance.
That is exactly what Football Starts at Home® is designed to nurture, not simply future footballers, but more capable, coordinated, creative, and confident athletes for life.😉⚽️🏀
Thanks to @DrAEHernandez for shining a bright light on this topic.
Jim Harte retweeted
We talking US soccer development, right? ⚽🇺🇸
WELL… thank me later. 👀
The United States High School Champions League is a FREE platform built to showcase players, unite communities, and make HS soccer history.
Players. Fans. Parents. Coaches. Schools. Businesses.
Join the movement 👉 USHSCL.com
Jim Harte retweeted
We talking US soccer development, right? ⚽🇺🇸
WELL… thank me later. 👀
The United States High School Champions League is a FREE platform built to showcase players, unite communities, and make HS soccer history.
Players. Fans. Parents. Coaches. Schools. Businesses.
Join the movement 👉 USHSCL.com
Jim Harte retweeted
Mohamed Salah, World class legend, That's integrity.
That ref is an embracement to French football as a whole. #fifa
Mo Salah pulled his teammates away who were complaining to the referee and shook hands with the officials.
He was probably the only one in that team who is experienced enough at the elite level to have the maturity to take responsibility for his own mistakes. That’s why he’s a legend.
Stay calm during a setback, just wait for the next chance. He's literally doing that here - they feel unjust, but he remains calm, move on to the next goal.
Jim Harte retweeted
BREAKING: FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Flo Balogun's red card.
“I have seen the public comments regarding the decision of the independent FIFA Disciplinary Committee related to the suspension of Folarin Balogun, and I would like to reiterate a fundamental principle of FIFA’s governance.
“FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.
“Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues. During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.
“I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree.
“What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”
Jim Harte retweeted
Most will never take the time to read this. Perhaps the most up to date Research conducted on Trends in Developing Elite Players. A 133 page review that challenges many long-held assumptions about player development and reinforces the importance of what happens long before elite pathways begin.
historic-media.scottishfa.co…
