NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS | September 2, 2019 3:43 pm | Matt Murray

New Junior Academy Changes for Fall 2019 Season!

The Club has made some changes to the Junior Academy this Fall! In an effort to better provide all of our educational and professional resources to our new members in order to create the best possible environment for our kids, parents & coaches from the moment they begin with Needham Soccer Club. This fall,… View Article

This fall, the Junior Academy will be moving to a “Group Play Saturday” model of training and playing. This model will help NSC maximize the professional coaching resources that were brought in at the start of 2017 when the partnership with the NE Revolution Academy began. It will also allow the club to align its player and coach development philosophy with the best practice guidelines from US Soccer and create a true progression of development for both players and coaches at the beginning stages of their new relationship with the game!

What does that mean? Well, our club directors will schedule games on Saturdays based on grade so that all of the players on the field at any one time are the same age. For this Fall, for example, our 1st Graders will be scheduled to play their games at any 1 of 3, 90 minute time slots on Saturday Mornings from either 8:00 – 9:30, 9:30 – 11:00 or 11:00 – 12:30pm. While our 2nd Graders will be scheduled for 1 of any 3 time slots from 1:00- 2:30, 2:30 – 4:00 or 4:00 – 5:30pm! CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE LIST OF NSCJA SCHEDULES

This will allow our Director of Coaching and Technical Coordinator of the Revolution Academy, Matt Murray to create an age appropriate curriculum of practice activities that EVERY team, player and coach will use for the first 30 minutes of game day. The curriculum will be executed by a professional coach of the Revolution Academy who will be on site to work with ALL of our players and coaches every week! This will give all of our teams the opportunity to utilize the first 30 minutes of the game day to run the exact same skill activities every week to create a truly equal opportunity for development for everyone involved.

After the 30 minutes of skills activities wraps up, teams will have an hour to play their 40 minute game where our Professional Coaching Staff will stay on site to walk around the fields, help our coaches with any questions, speak with parents about the club and simply be a resource for all of our NSCJA members.

Having the professional coach from the Revolution Academy leading each group will help to create a community learning environment for both players and coaches’ week in and week out. Coaches, players and even parents will get a chance to ask questions about set up, see live demonstrations, get real-time feedback and help in executing the different sessions every single week. Our hope is that this will foster an environment that will help build better relationships at every level of the club that all of our members can carry with them as they grow and develop during their time with NSC.

The change to how the club utilizes its professional resources is one that is expected to provide dozens of benefits for every member and will result in a few structural changes necessary to make it all happen. For a complete list of what to expect for you and your youngsters next Fall Click Here!

For any questions, concerns or for how you can get involved with NSCJA next year email our Director of Coaching at doc@needhamsoccer.com!