About Me

Welcome to Box to Box Soccer Life

Welcome to Box to Box Soccer Life.  I’m Jason.

This site is all about navigating the hurdles and pitfalls of youth soccer from a parent’s perspective.  I’m your guide — a 51 year old soccer has-been (probably never was) with a wonderful wife and two spectacular kids — a 19 year old boy and a 17 year old girl.  I’ve played the beautiful game since I was about 5 (and still do). I live in Soccer City, U.S.A. (at least one of them), Kansas City, Missouri.

My Qualifications

I have my E license through U.S. Soccer. I coached my son from age 4 all the way to high school, and I coached my daughter from about ages 4 to 10. I’ve coached through Lee’s Summit Soccer Association, Sporting Lee’s Summit (an affiliate of Sporting Kansas City) and Alliance FC.

On the girls side, my daughter has played in Premier I of the USYS National League, ECNL Regional League and the Girls Academy League.  Some of the other girls I coached have ended up in ECNL, ECNL Regional League, Girls Academy League and USYS National League E64. (Look at ECNL vs. GA and MLS Next for help with sorting out all these leagues). Several of the girls I coached are currently verbally committed to play college soccer at the D1 level and at the D2 level.

On the boys side, one of my players is currently playing college soccer at the NAIA level, while my nephew played for the Sporting Kansas City Academy and for the D1 Missouri State University Bears (including a couple of NCAA Tournament appearances).

I won’t say I’ve seen it all in youth soccer, but I’ve seen quite a bit!

I’m also a huge professional soccer fan. Of course I love Sporting Kansas City, but I also follow the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga, not to mention the USMNT and the USWNT. I’m a bit obsessed.

But, really, I’m just a parent like you

But, the reason I started this site is that, as a parent, I did not have a clue what to do when my son was finally old enough to play soccer.  So, I want to tell you about all my experiences — things I think I’ve done right and things I think I did wrong — as a soccer parent. Soccer parenting is hard! I also want to share my thoughts on U.S. Soccer and where we are as a country with respect to the world’s most popular game. Finally, I want to give you some tips, ideas and exercises to help you with your burgeoning soccer star.  

It’s an awesome journey

I can tell you that I’ve read a ton of books and articles, been to countless coaching classes, watched hours and hours of both youth and professional soccer training and matches and talked with some incredibly bright and progressive soccer minds… and I’ve still got a lot to learn! Perhaps the thing I look forward to the most is hearing from you because I’m still in the midst of this awesome journey.  We can share our championship medals and all of our bumps and bruises along the way. Thanks for stopping by!