Kids on the Pitch (Scholastic and Youth Soccer in Western PA)

Two WPIAL girls soccer programs have reached the PIAA (State) Championship game for the first time ever in their respective classifications, as Burrell advanced in the Class 2A bracket where they'll take on Archbishop Wood (Friday evening, 7 p.m. kickoff) and South Fayette are headed to the Class 3A final where they'll face Radnor (Saturday afternoon, 1 p.m. kickoff). Both matches will be played a...

We've reached Championship week, the PIAA Boys and Girls Soccer tournament has a handful of teams who have made it deep into the tournament. Instead of the field from Western PA including all WPIAL (PIAA's District 7) schools, there's Pittsburgh City School program, designated in PIAA's District 8, Allderdice boys, have crashed the Class 3A party. On Saturday night, Allderdice faced off against a...

The WPIAL boys and girls soccer playoffs are halfway complete and will come to a mad dash finish this week with the semifinal round and then quickly turn to the WPIAL Finals at Highmark Stadium. Pittsburgh Soccer Now' s John Krysinsky is joined by Westmoreland Sports Network soccer analyst Mike Powers to take a look a quick look back at some of the highlights of the first two rounds of the WPIAL p...

The 2025 WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Playoff brackets are out! In the newest episodes of the Kids on the Pitch Podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now 's John Krysinsky is joined by Fox Chapel's Carlo Prati (Girls 3A) to get reaction and insights on the seedings, the postseason, match-ups, who may be the sleepers in their respective classifications and much more! In the coming days, look for more interview...

The 2025 WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Playoff brackets are out!   In the newest episode of the Kids on the Pitch Podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now 's John Krysinsky is joined by Pine-Richland's Jordan Wiegand his reaction and insights on the seedings, the postseason, match-ups, who may be the sleepers in their respective classifications and much more! 

We are excited to bring Libby Mascaro back to the Kids on the Pitch Podcast! If you recall, in her first appearance Mascaro shared her passion as a coach by 'leading with love' in crusade to promote Mental Health Awareness with young student athletes. Now, Libby joins the Podcast to address some of the questions we recently posed to High School boys and girls coaches, especially what some of the b...

The high school soccer season is nearly at the halfway point of the regular season, so it's perfect time to get the Kids on the Pitch Podcast cranking up again.   Pittsburgh Soccer Now ’s John Krysinsky is joined by Plum High School boys soccer coach, Rafal Kolankowski, to ask the same five questions he presented to 15 WPIAL boys coaches for PSN's new feature, Coaches Corner.

That's right, a new High School soccer season is getting ready to kick off!   That means the Kids on the Pitch Podcast returns for regular, ongoing episodes through the course of the Fall season. To get started, Pittsburgh Soccer Now 's John Krysinsky sits down with Pine-Richland Boys and Girls Head Coach Jordan Wiegand, who is excited to talk about a loaded field of boys' schools -- both in the W...

On the newest episode of this podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now 's John Krysinsky is joined by Blair Gerlach, who many in soccer circles in Western PA will know from his successful and ongoing tenure as Head Coach of Mars girls' soccer program.   What you may not know, is that Gerlach is also Director of Coaching and coaches a number of teams for Northern Steel, which has become an excellent club-bas...

On Thursday, PSN's John Krysinsky sat down with one of the leaders of the High School Soccer Champions League movement, Jim Harte, who shared more on how it came to be and some of the early successes that they've had in various metro areas, including Tampa Bay, FL, and St. Louis, MO. 

The Brackets are out!! After the brackets were released on Wednesday, Pittsburgh Soccer Now 's John Krysinsky was joined on the Kids on the Pitch Podcast by some coaches to get their reaction to the seedings and talk about their chances and how the competition stacks up in the WPIAL Girls Playoffs. Among the coaches who joined John and Matt include Pine-Richland's Jordan Wiegand, who will be coach...

The WPIAL Boys Soccer Playoff Bracket are out! After the brackets were released on Wednesday, Pittsburgh Soccer Now 's John Krysinsky was joined on the Kids on the Pitch Podcast by coaches to get their reaction to the seedings and talk about their chances and how the competition stacks up in the WPIAL Boys Playoffs. Class 4A top seed Plum's Head Coach Raf Kolankowski and Class 3A top seed Moon's H...

The high school soccer season got off to a running start with a weekend of opening season tournaments and non-conference action, then kept going through this week as section play has begun in some classifications.    Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock discuss some of what they saw this weekend at the JRK Memorial Classic, then were joined by Plum High School boys soccer coach...

The Kids on the Pitch Podcast , returns for a special opening weekend of the High School soccer season edition, as PSN’s John Krysinsky is joined by Pine-Richland Boys Head Coach Jordan Wiegand. This year, at the JRK Memorial Classic hosted by Pine-Richland boys soccer program, 10 high school boys soccer teams will get their 2024 seasons going against some tough competition.   John and Jordan disc...

In the latest edition of Kids on the Pitch Podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky provides a quick rundown of the WPIAL Soccer Finals, which kickoff on Thursday night, at Highmark Stadium, plus brings on Quaker Valley's senior forward, Bennett Haas, who has scored six goals in the past two matches to help lead the Quakers to the WPIAL Boys Class 2A Finals.   Haas shares his thoughts on th...

The WPIAL Soccer Playoff Brackets were announced on Wednesday. Shortly after the brackets were revealed, PSN's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock went on the Kids on the Pitch Podcast -- and brought a few coaches on to the show for their reaction, as they connected longtime PSN colleague, and current Ringgold girls coach Ed Rosensteel and OLSH's Paige Petroval.    

In the latest edition of the Kids on the Pitch Podcast, PSN's John Krysinsky catches up with Tanner Rosborough, who currently trains and competes with the Red Bulls Academy/NYRBII on an MLSNext Pro contract, has also been signed to join the senior team, NY Red Bulls on a MLS Homegrown contract in 2025. Tanner discusses his soccer journey, which began at age four with Beadling Soccer Club, his deve...

When North Catholic boys soccer team hosts Mars in a key WPIAL Class 3A, Section 1 match at J.C. Stone Field in North Park, it will also serve as an awareness game to help bring attention to Rise Again a non-profit organization formed and started by a North Catholic family (the Browns) in honor of their son Alex, to support individuals with spinal cord injuries and the professionals that work with...

 The Kids on the Pitch Podcast , presented by Glory on the Grass Tournaments, returns for a special opening weekend of the High School soccer season edition, as PSN's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock are joined by Pine-Richland Boys Head Coach Jordan Wiegand and South Park Girls Head Coach T.J. O'Brien. 

We're back!  In the first episode of 2023, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky brings on Kris Schemm, who is the founder of the Glory on the Grass 5v5 and 3v3 soccer tournaments, which are being played at various locations in and around Western Pennsylvania during the summer.  Learn more about the unique, 5v5 and 3v3 competition, how it came to be and where there are still opportunities to play...

PSN's John Krysinsky begins the pod by bringing on Lydija Amayo, a senior at Avonworth High School, who came up with a special name for a project that is very important to her and her family: 'The Beautiful Gift' -- as she's collecting soccer related donations for her family's native town Cajamarca, Peru. Lidija is hoping to collect donated soccer gear that she can bring to the kids at at Cristo R...

PSN's John Krysinsky was joined by three coaches of teams that have reached this weekend's finals:  Pine-Richland boys' Jordan Wiegand Ambridge boys' Ben Fiore Mount Pleasant girls' Rich Garland Then, John is joined by Matt Popchock to talk more about the three matches he'll be covering (Boys Class 2A, Boys Class 1A and Boys Class 3A), before Jordan Smith joins them both (after getting back from d...

The WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer playoff brackets were released on Wednesday!  Shortly after, PSN's John Krysinsky and Brandon Rossi shared their reaction and spoke with a pair of coaches, Our Lady of Sacred Heart's Paige Petroval and Avonworth's J.C. Mahon, to get their thoughts on the seedings and their teams' prospects in the upcoming playoffs.