TO REGISTER FOR THIS PROGRAM GO TO LEFT VERTICAL COLUMN ON HOME PAGE AND CHOOSE "REGISTER ONLINE"

To:  All Parents and Players
 
From:  Bob Martin, Director of Coaching, Park City Soccer Club
 
Re:  PCSC Youth Academy for boys and girls
 
Welcome to our introductory Youth Academy program.  Park City Soccer Club is interested in providing a bridge between recreation soccer and our full year competition program. The scope of the program has a three-fold emphasis; one is the critical emphasis on technical development and two to develop a child’s love of the game and thirdly doing this while having fun.  Any child who chooses our program will be encouraged to attend all activities however training will be optional not mandatory.  Of course developing a love of the game will change a player’s commitment on its own.
 
Our standard Youth Academy program will run summer/fall and winter/spring with the option to participate in both or one or the other.  The academy will run approximately August 1 – November 30, 2010 and February 1 – May 31, 2011.  The cost will be $250 per session.  Training will take place one to two days a week and will be designed to avoid conflicts with the Basin Recreation game schedule set for this fall.  Most training will take place on Monday/Fridays, however it may vary based on our own Club competitive schedule which usually starts the last week of August or early September following Labor Day weekend.
 
As a club, we highly recommend that all interested players continue to play in the recreation leagues offered by Basin Recreation and Park City Recreation department.  However it has become very apparent that many of the recreation players struggle to make the jump to our competitive soccer club due to the lack of technical development.  It is very clear we need to start training and teaching proper technical proficiency much earlier age-wise and as a club we do not have the luxury to wait for recreation players to step up to our program without any skill set. Thus the introduction of our Youth Academy will hopefully provide the proper technical development to allow any player the opportunity to make the transition from recreation soccer to competitive club soccer. 
 
The goal of the youth academy is to teach the game of soccer in a fun and challenging environment.  The early years of soccer are crucial for developing a love for the game, basic skills and creativity that our soccer players will need as they progress in their development.  The academy is an ideal place for developing the fundamentals of soccer, like individual balls skills and creativity through age appropriate and developmentally appropriate practice sessions.  Emphasis will be on developing individual player skills and creativity with the ball.  Practices and games will be designed to create a fun environment for any young person who wants to play soccer and help them develop the tools they will need to be successful if they choose to continue playing.
 
Our programs focus will be for girls and boys of any age who are interested in developing the soccer tools to move from recreation to competitive club soccer.  Our introductory level starts with children who are 6 years old or will turn 6 in 2010.  As the coaching director for Park City Soccer Club I originally planned the academy for children 10 and younger, however we have decided to open the Youth Academy to all ages with the understanding that training groups will be developmentally appropriate groups.  Our goal as a club and program will be to provide a technical and developmental foundation that will allow youth academy players to successfully transition into competitive youth soccer.
 
At present our club plays in the Utah Youth Soccer Association.  We start competitively at the under 9 and under 10 level for boys and girls and presently have teams competing up to U18 for boys and U17 for girls.  As a club our Youth Academy will emphasize development over competition, however we will provide competition through intra-club play, inter-club friendlies with other Utah youth clubs and one-day soccer festivals of round-robin play amongst other Utah clubs. Our Youth Academy will be directed by Matt Terwilleger who directed the Academy program this spring at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse.  He will be assisted by PCSC coaches throughout the year.  
 
To register you can go to our club website at www.parkcitysoccer.organd you will see an Academy info tab on the left and to register for the Youth Academy go to the register on line tab on the left and find Academy to register on line.  If you have questions or concerns please feel free to email me directly at or call (435) 655-5766.  As director, the Park City Soccer Club staff looks forward to complimenting our fall and spring recreation programs with the Youth Academy.  As I said in the beginning of this letter our goal is to provide a bridge from recreation to competitive club soccer for any and all interested Park City youth.  I look forward to seeing you on the pitch.  Once again feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
 
Yours in Soccer,
 
Bob Martin
Director of Coaching
Park City Soccer Club