BUILDING THE FOUNDATION

(8U-9U-10U BOYS AND GIRLS)

THE FUN PHASE    

The fascination for playing and the thrill of scoring goals provides the launching pad.  The joy and pleasure of the game are best nurtured by encouraging freedom of expression and organizing children’s play in small groups. Our focus is on FUNdamentals and improving technique.  At this stage, players do not understand tactics or collective play. We keep it FUN and ENJOYABLE to foster a desire to play while learning basic skills.

ALL TEAMS WILL BE BALANCED. THERE WILL NOT BE ACADEMY AND/OR ELITE LEVEL TEAMS IN THIS AGE DIVISION. ROSTERS WILL BE STRUCTURED TO ASSURE MORE PLAYING TIME AND MORE TOUCHES ON THE BALL DURING THEIR LEAGUE GAMES.

LEAGUES: Indiana Soccer League (Limited Travel) and Friendlies.
9U AND 10U play 7v7, 8U will play 4v4.

GOLDEN AGE OF LEARNING

(AGES 11U & 12U BOYS AND GIRLS)

This is the most important age of skill development.  What they hear, they forget; what they see, they remember; what they do, they understand. Repetitions are critical in skill training. Developing individual skills, as well as small group tactics, are important in establishing discipline during these stages.  

LEAGUES:

ACADEMY TEAMS-Indiana Soccer League Premier Division or 1st Division

ELITE TEAMS-Indiana Soccer League Premier or 1st, 2nd or 3rd Division. NESSL.

11U and 12U play 9v9

MATURING STAGES

(AGES 13U – 19U BOYS AND GIRLS)

AGES 13U-14U: Players will be moving to full field 11v11 competition.  It is a critical stage when players will continue to work on their overall skills and small group tactics, but primarily focus on functional training, i.e. learning positional play, patterns, strategies and defensive responsibilities in a team setting.  Soccer is one language internationally and at 13U and 14U players will learn that language through 11v11 functional training and use games (tests) to improve individually in a team setting. It is the first of many stages to understanding how to play full field 11v11. 

AGE 15U:  Players are one step closer to a finished product.  The process continues, the style of play becomes more fluent and players are learning functionally how to play positions while improving speed of thought and speed of play. Players are becoming physically stronger and emotionally tougher.  

AGES 16U-19U:  Players are technically, tactically, physically and emotionally closest to a finished product.  Competing and striving to WIN games, events, and CUP games, players are ready to showcase their knowledge and understanding of the game. These players attend the highest level events and are more closely watched and recruited for college and national programs with the possibility of one day being considered for a professional level.

LEAGUES:

ACADEMY TEAMS-Elite Academy League. USYS National League. Indiana Soccer League Premier Division or 1st Division

ELITE TEAMS-Indiana Soccer League Premier or 1st, 2nd or 3rd Division. NESSL.