Erik Imler
Erik Imler is a retired professional player & NCAA Champion (1989,1991,1992)He played MLS and featured on the 1992 U.S Men's National Team. Erik is determined to change the landscape of youth club soccer in the USA. Following his playing career he has gone on to be the Olympic Team Coach (youth, collegiate, U.S. Youth National Teams), a Youth Academy Director and holds the U.S. Soccer 'A' License.
Articles by Erik Imler
An inspirational chance meeting with a legend and a blog post that reiterates the value of mentors. Former US Men’s National Team Player & Player Development Project Contributor, Erik Imler talks about the impact Johan Cruyff had on him as a young player. Not many would argue that nearly my entire identity is this game we all love. While I played a little basketball, some baseball, tennis on occasion and even tried wrestling in my high school years (that did not last long), soccer is the…
PDP contributor, Erik Imler discusses the importance of young players celebrating their success. Coaching my U11B team this weekend, we faced quite a good team. The opponent had one of those difference makers in their team. Besides his technical ability and confidence on the ball under pressure, he brought something different to yesterday’s dance (game)….the joy of celebration! The difference between him and the rest of the players I saw during the day (upwards of 100+) was the flair and joy he displayed when scoring…
Why are we always in a hurry to turn children into mini-adults? The topics of premature professionalism and challenging parents dominate youth football. Former US Men’s U17 Coach, Erik Imler shares his thoughts on the upside of a long-term approach. Recently, I found myself in a conversation with a group of youth academy (U9/U10 age group) directors from a neighboring club…a big club. We were discussing the new US Soccer youth initiatives – the number of players on the field format – to be more…