Claim OwnershipKids on the Pitch (Scholastic and Youth Soccer in Western PA)
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© 2025 John Krysinsky
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From the maker's of Pittsburgh Soccer Now comes a show all about scholastic and youth soccer across Western PA.
20 Episodes
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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 coaching both the Boys and Girls programs in this year's playoffs, Beaver Area's Nick Crivelli and OLSH's Head Coach Paige Petroval.
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 Head Coach Tyler Blake joined John to discuss their team's each earning tops seeds in their respective tournaments.
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, Rafal Kolankowski, to talk about the Mustangs' 1-0-2 start to the season against tough Class 4A competition.
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 discuss the return of the Classic and many topics including Pine-Richland's squad, the importance of playing tough competition right at the start of the season, WPIAL Class 4A's outlook, PIAA/WPIAL changes in rules and lack of changes (overtime will remain in the regular season), and much, much more.
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 the playoff experience thus far, his team's preparations for the District Championship game, but also opens up about being born deaf, and being one of the first-ever bilateral Cochlear Implant recipients -- and his experiences growing up and being a student-athlete in mainstream school and sports settings.
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 development, experience playing with the Red Bulls Academy and in MLS Next Pro and with the US YNT U-15 squad in August.
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 them.On this special episode of Kids on the Pitch, PSN's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock are joined by Alex Brown and North Catholic boys soccer players Jake Stofko and Francisco Smith.Following their conversation with Alex, Jake and Francisco, John and Matt also discuss the validity and value (or lack thereof) for high school soccer rankings.
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 in our region in the coming weeks.In addition, John interviews Ben Fiore, who has taken on a new coaching position at his alma mater, Kiski Area, following his successful stint at Ambridge, where he helped lead the Bridgers to a WPIAL 3A runner-up finish in 2022, and a semifinal appearance in 2021. In an enlightening interview, Ben discusses the off season process for coaches and players, preparing for training camp, stepping into a new program, building a successful culture and much more.
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 Rey Maristas, the school where her uncle Juanaso is a physical education teacher. Lydija and her family will be visiting Cajamarca in February.
Then, John takes another look back at the WPIAL season, and the eight Championship matches at Highmark Stadium in early November, including interviews with the winners along with the remarkable seasons for Moon girls soccer and Seneca Valley boys soccer, who each won a PIAA Championship.
PSN's John Krysinsky was joined by three coaches of teams that have reached this weekend's finals: Pine-Richland boys' Jordan WiegandAmbridge boys' Ben FioreMount Pleasant girls' Rich GarlandThen, 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 doing stats at the Pitt men's game) as they held a rapid-fire takeaways and predictions session that included: What was the toughest section across the WPIAL in Boys or Girls soccer this year?Which low seed has best chance to win? What game has best chancce to go to a penalty kick shootout? What game will be decided by a golden goal? How many goals scored and predictions for each game.
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.
The WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Playoff brackets are out! John Krysinsky and Brandon Rossi shared their reaction and spoke with a pair of boys coaches for Part I of a two-part special podcast. Joining John and Brandon were Pine-Richland's Jordan Wiegand and Greensburg Central Catholic's Rob Fabean, to get their thoughts on the seedings and their teams' prospects in the upcoming playoffs.
Among the topics John and Libby tackled on this Podcast include:Her thoughts on Mt. Lebanon's Mia Bhuta, who is playing with US Youth National Women's Soccer team at the U17 Women's World CupStigma associated with mental illness and disordersFemale athlete mental health (four young female athlete suicides this year)Her personal story and other personal storiesAddressing ongoing challenges for youth coaches, parents, soccer organizations and schools in mentoring, guiding and supporting young athletes and students.Resources to provide help and assistanceNAMI and AFSPNational Alliance on Mental Illness (website: https://www.nami.org/Home) American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (website: https://afsp.org/)
North Catholic's Devin Paschell, Oliver Joseph and Marcus Kurtz join PSN's John Krysinsky to talk about Muscular Dystrophy Awareness game when they take on neighboring Mars in a key WPIAL Boys Soccer Class 3A Section 1 showdown.
Kolankowski's Plum squad is off to a strong, 3-0-1 start after two weeks, including a big 2-0 win last Thursday against section rival Franklin Regional. Among the topics discussed on the Kids on the Pitch podcast included: Plum's positive start to the 2022 against tough competitionMeasuring up a very deep group of strong teams contending in Class 3A this seasonA look back at how WPIAL Soccer has evolved over the years, since Kolankowski was a player in the late 1980s and early 1990s, seeing multiple generations of players circling through, many at the same high schoolsExperience staying home, and playing at Point Park, when the soccer program was still in its early years when both John and Raf played and later coached in the early-to-mid 1990sApproach to coaching young players and keeping their priorities in checkAnd much more
In our first episode of KOTP, we preview the 2022 WPIAL High School Soccer season.PSN's Jordan Smith (who is also an assistant boys varsity and head JV boys coach at South Fayette) joins John Krysinsky to discuss the upcoming high school soccer season, the impact of this year's realignment, as they run through all classifications and sections ahead of the official start date of the season on Friday, August 26, 2022.Jordan Weigand, who is entering his fourth season as the Head Coach of Pine-Richland boys, discusses Boys 4A realignment to just two 'mega-sections' and having just 16 teams,and also provides a preview of the six-team preseason tournament hosted by Pine-Richland this coming weekend (August 27 & 28).Finally, we reconnect with Ed Rosentsteel, longtime PSN contributor who is back coaching as an assistant varsity coach for Ringgold girls soccer. Ed provides his outlook on WPIAL girls soccer season, Ringgold's chances in loaded 3A classification, plus Ed shares more about the Moe Rosensteel preseason tournament to be played on Saturday, September 3.
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