Parents and Players,

The Northern Elite Academy program is the result of decades of our coach's experience growing up, playing, watching and coaching soccer around the world. So let's cut to the chase, how is this program different and why is it better?

• The core of our coaches are local, certified and committed to our local program. Your child will have the opportunity to work with us for years to come.
• Our program is progressive in nature, not one week and we're gone. The players will get years of access to the same coaches who will systematically improve their play with both a structured program and close familiarity with them.
• We have access to the superstars of soccer and will bring them in to give the players a glimpse of what it takes to be the best.
• Our profits go right back into our program.

In our view, this program will develop athletes primarily. These athletes will become skilled soccer players. In our view there are 7 attributes to a well developed athlete:

• Speed - practice at game speed displays coachable weaknesses that can be helped
• Strength - core advantages to all athletes, apply the strength appropriately for greatest effect
• Flexibility - reduces likelihood of injury and allows greater freedom of motion
• Coordination - balance and touch are supremely important for effective players
• Endurance - there are no timeouts in soccer and few stoppages
• Intelligence - deeper understanding of the game creates Cinderella stories
• Competitiveness - a desire to be better is a healthy approach to so much in life

Young players in our program will progressively develop these attributes through time with the attention of coaches and support from family and friends.

The general time breakdown of our training summer sessions are:

20 min. Warm ups and stretching with many touches of the ball. Speed, Strength, Flexibility and Coordination all improve significantly over time with a well planned warm up.
30 min. Technical session including introduction, demonstration and utility of a skill or set of skills required for competitive play. Flexibility, Coordination and Intelligence improvements found here.
30 min. Applied play executing in scenarios commonly seen in the game. Speed, Coordination, Intelligence and Competitiveness are encouraged here.
30 min. Scrimmage play with rules that promote use of the skills introduced. All attributes are practiced to deliver the desired outcome here.
20 min. Snack Break. Watch our coaches play and demonstrate our learned techniques in a small sided game.
10 min. Warm up again.
30 min. Round robin scrimmage with coaches reinforcing behaviors and techniques. 10 min. Fitness training performed using techniques to promote whole body fitness. Speed, Strength, Endurance and Competitiveness are reinforced as departing themes.

For children from 4-7 years old we encourage the parent's participation learning the skills. Young children are often shy, reluctant to trust and need one-on-one reinforcement of the concepts. Working with a coach or even a peer can often be challenging for reasons independent of the activity.

The direction of the program's structured activities is a progression plan organized similarly to a martial arts program. Players will progressively elevate through skill levels in the program starting at the White Academy Jersey and progressing to a Black Academy Jersey. This is designed to motivate the players and allow them recognition from their peers as they get promoted. There is no fixed pace to the program but the objective is individual mastery of the ball combined with intelligence of the game. These are not just check boxes of 'I can do' rather a recognition of behaviors of 'I do use' at the right time in a game or game-like scenarios. So, there are objective guidelines with subjective evaluation criteria. You will learn more about the progression plan over time.

Players will be provided program t-shirts, a ball, water and sports drinks. They should bring shin guards and suitable shoes. Basic first aid supplies and ice will be available at the field.