What are the BEST settings for outdoor soccer game?

I'm a beginner, just recently received this Nikon D3000 camera from my husband. I love taking pictures of my kids playing soccer & softball, but for some odd reason they don't come out to good when indoors. As far as outdoors, its all new to me. Should there be any specific settings to have it on while my child is playing soccer outdoors, cloudy weather? Is sports setting the best way to go?

Also should the VR on the lens be set to on or off?

The only good setting for a DSLR is manual.

Aperture Priority Mode.

If you are seeing the shutter speed drop below 1/500, then raise your ISO accordingly.

The D3000 is mostly for advanced users
join a class and you will be able to shoot anything
and maybe make some money on the side for other things

For simplicity's sake, set ISO to Auto, set mode to Auto, set flash to Auto, and set EV to 0 (zero). That should work indoor or outdoor, cloudy or sunny, dim or bright. I'm telling you now that with these settings, you are not in any better situation than using a point-and-shoot camera.

If the camera is on a tripod, turn VR off, if it is hand held, turn it on.

Yes, the best mode in any dSLR is Manual but you have to know exactly what you're doing to use that.