There has been a shake-up in US Youth Soccer with a change of the dividing date for age groups to January 1st. This puts the US in line with the rest of the world as opposed to our existing date of August 1st. The good news is that rather than trying to figure out which… Read More Age Group Shake-up
There is a broad range of expectations for these age groups beyond U12. This note tries to explain our reality and hopefully avoid your disappointment by being up-front with decisions that we have to make. My hope is that you’ll register your child to play this season, but most of all I want to make… Read More Spring 2014 Teen Soccer
By Viktor Gotz – Director of Coaching and Player Development In general, playing up is not a bad thing in itself. On occasion players demonstrate consistent technical or physical superiority over players in their own age group. In these cases parents or coaches may wish to consider letting the player play up to be exposed… Read More Deciding Whether Your Youth Soccer Player Should “Play Up”
We are trying to open up the teen soccer program to keep more kids active and enjoying soccer. This feat is difficult considering the increasing levels of competition the kids encounter as they ascend through our programs and school in general. In a school district as large as NA, competition is tough for the limited… Read More Teen Soccer Program Recalibration
“Elevator speech” is a term used to describe how you’d get your point across in a short time window, such as obviously the time from when you see someone on an elevator until one of you departs and goes on your way. Preparing one really makes you step back and find your reason with precision,… Read More The Big Picture
There is a common misconception about “travel teams” at our NA Soccer Club. Many people think that you have to try-out to play on a travel team and that if they don’t make the team, their child can’t play soccer in our club. Neither are true. Our foremost mission is to help as many community… Read More Why Travel?
Its mid-September, the fields and weather are in good shape, and we’ve got the first week of soccer games under our belt. Life is good! Getting things running smoothly in fall is always extra crazy. All of the kids kick up a year and for many that means a new division with new rules or… Read More NASC Fall 2012 Season Kicks Into Gear
In serving a broad spectrum of players across 15 years of age, a league of our size needs to differentiate levels of play to keep it fun for kids progressing at different rates. Kids in U8 and lower all play co-ed “rec” games (recreational). By the time the kids are 8 or 9 years old… Read More Levels of Play to Keep it Fun and Competitive For All
