Anthony DiCicco and I are in Boston this weekend, speaking at the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association 50th Anniversary Workshop for coaches, club leaders, referees, and administrators. I love these gatherings as they remind me just how many thousands of people love this game and commit a large amount of their time and energy to helping children, families, and communities. Volunteers continue to make up the fabric of the soccer infrastructure in America-and the leadership of the leagues and state associations is instrumental in guiding, educating, and supporting these volunteers. I know the staff at Mass Youth Soccer has been hard at work preparing for this extra special anniversary event, and we are looking forward to being a part of it.

For those who have been following along with our work over the years, you may remember that for the past five years we have hosted Gratitude Week during Valentine's Day week. We have decided to push this important week later in the year to align better with the general seasons in which participation occurs (there are a lot of people NOT directly connected to a team or coach in February!). Don't worry-we know how much you love this week to demonstrate gratitude-and we look forward to celebrating with you later in the year.

After a very hectic time traveling during December and January, it's been very nice to be home for the past couple of weeks, finding time to focus on some important projects we have been developing. We have two new courses that will be launching this Spring, and early next week we will distribute an important survey for the leaders of our club members, trying to learn about ways we can continue to drive best practices around parent engagement.

Thank you for being a part of our movement to #MakeYouthSoccerBetter. If you are a member at the SoccerParentResourceCenter.com and find yourself with a bit of extra time on your hands-I encourage you to take one of our six courses this week!

Let's Keep Going!

- skye