Competitive Program Overview (U9-U19)

  • Competitive Program Overview

Our club believes in giving the most meaningful training environment to our players. Our training philosophy is to emphasize vision, technique, dynamic play, nutrition, mental toughness, sportmanship & the methodology of proper running & cutting. Competitive teams have licensed head coaches (or their licenses are in progress. By their second season, all our competitive coaches should have at least the USSF “E” License).

  • Club Coaches’ Clinics

Our coaches are fully supported in a variety of ways to enhance their coaching education.

Our Coaches Development Program is unparalleled in the area and includes funding for licensing, internal clinics, local clinics, regional courses and symposiums. When available through our partners, trips to Europe for coaches courses and shadowing top coaches on Professional European camps is offered to our coaches.

The knowledge the coaches bring to their own teams from their own coaching and/or playing experience and from the developmental opportunities they are exposed to are the most important benefit our players receive. These opportunities will impact the way coaches train and how their players and teams develop.

Coaches’ meetings – our competitive team coaches are required to attend the periodic coaches’ meetings where coaches will have an opportunity to socialize, to learn about coaching methodologies that can be incorporated into their practices right away, and to discuss important topics that affect their teams and our competitive program.

In addition to the technical, tactical, physical and mental components, which coaches incorporate in their training, coaches may choose to add other important elements our club encourages:

• Vision and Awareness Development— During training, coaches implement activities that develop vision, awareness, faster processing of information and higher speed of execution. When players are trained to see and understand what is happening around them before receiving the ball, their speed of play will increase. This is something that can be trained with fun activities and will change the way your child plays soccer or any other sport.

• Speed & Agility and Explosiveness — The ability to run faster and make quicker cuts can be improved. In fact, a player’s straight ahead speed and agility can be improved with minimal work by targeting the muscles and joints specifically involved in these actions. Parents and players receive an orientation session about the program. Then, interested players guided by their head coaches work individually on a variety of specialized strength and flexibility exercises that are specific to running and cutting. As a positive side effect, the jumping and kicking ability is also be improved since many of the muscles and joints involved are the same. More information at: https://realsoccerclub.org/programs/speed-agility/

• International Partnership and Identification Camps

  • European Club

From 2014 to 2020, our club was proud to be partners with pro Italian club AC Chievo Verona.

Though the programs will be very similar to the ones we have been offering ( see 2014-2019 PATH TO PRO OVERVIEW presentation), once we announced a new partnership we will update the document linked above.

So you have an idea about what our new European partnership will entail, we can look at what we were doing with our previous partner. The partnership Real Soccer signed in 2014 with GIS and Italian Serie A Pro Club AC Chievo Verona saw the ChievoVerona North American Academy hosting a series of Elite Player ID events with our club. ChievoVerona sends Academy staff members over to work our players and our coaches at these events. The best male and female players at these events were invited to attend the ChievoVerona National Camp. The National Camp hosted the top players from each of our partner clubs in North America. From the National Camp, the top players were then invited to attend the Elite Player Tour at our Academy in Verona, Italy. Juanjo Carmona, Director of Coaching stated back then: “This partnership with GIS and AC ChievoVerona is a giant leap in the club’s aspirations to have our coaches exposed to the highest coaching methods, and bring ChievoVerona Academy coaches to work with Real Soccer Club. This partnership will give our players and coaches’ accessibility to travel to Italy and learn from one of the best Italian Serie A pro youth academies.”

Stay tuned for news about our new European partner soon!

Identification camps Info here.

  • MLS Club

In April 2022, our club partnered with MLS Pro club Real Salt Lake. Please click here to learn about all the benefits this will bring to our players, coaches and families!

• Sports Nutrition – Our club’s nutritional consultant, works with our staff on nutrition applied to soccer. Her work reflects guidelines for proper nutrition before games, in between games, and after games as well as considerations on proper nutrition on tournament trips and on an athlete’s life in general. The club sends her periodic newsletter to the Real Soccer Club. More information at: https://realsoccerclub.org/programs/sports-nutrition/

• Goal Keeping — The club provides weekly Goal Keeping training for our teams. Topics include the 10 guiding principles of Goalkeeping: Hand work, Body shape, ever-ready consideration, staying on your feet, secondary cover, set consideration, reaction factor, recovery, decision/communication and organization, and first attacker. Also, other concepts will be trained: Near Post considerations, Penalties, Cross Ball situations, Defending at set plays and Back pass rule. More info at: https://realsoccerclub.org/programs/goal-keeping/

• Video Analysis of Games/Watching Professional Soccer — Our head coaches are encouraged to meet with players periodically to watch soccer and analyze relevant play. According to Yessis, Emeritus professor at CSU, “ Upon viewing a clear demonstration, physiological changes occur in the body, especially if you have been concentrating on the presentation. As the action is viewed, impulses are automatically sent from the brain to the muscles involved in executing the movement. These are very subtle signals that do not result in movement. But the activation of the proper brain centers together with the signals going to the muscles begin. This is how you can learn the rudiments of a skill simply form watching an athlete play.”

• College Prep. Program – In 2011, the Real Soccer Club partnered with Step Ahead Idaho, a non-profit organization that helps students prepare for college academically and athletically. Parents and students are invited to free seminars. Topics include the recruiting process, financial aid planning, college search and resume building. One on one meetings are also available at no cost. More info at: https://realsoccerclub.org/programs/college-prep/

• Adult Soccer — Agreeing with “US Club Soccer” philosophy and objective of promoting Adult Soccer and Leagues, the Real Soccer Club wants to give our members opportunities for playing soccer in our own Adult teams, at all levels of play, formats, and gender (coed, men, and women). Some objectives include: to provide a vehicle through which our club can offer life-long soccer to our members; to allow our club to connect youth and adult soccer seamlessly, and develop members for life; to complete the Real Soccer Club structure, by providing an amateur and competitive adult program which competes in the local outdoor and indoor leagues as well as adding involvement in futsal and beach soccer in the future; to follow the successful world model of full integration at all age.

• Futsal & Indoor – In the winter seasons, our club offers futsal camps (not included in the club fees). In the own words of the US Futsal Federation, “Futsal quickly develop skills required for soccer: balance, motor ability, agility and co-ordination, ball mastery, accurate and quick passing and receiving, perception insight and awareness.” In the futsal sessions, players enjoy a lot of touches on the ball due in part to the constrains of the limited play space since, futsal is played on a basketball size court and also because of the heavier ball used, which tends to stay in play longer. More information at: https://realsoccerclub.org/futsal-camp-technical-description/

Some coaches may also do their own futsal training with their teams during winter at no cost.

See our Competitive Program Fees here and/or register a player.

WHY CHOOSE REAL?

Real Soccer offers the best value/cost structure of any true competitive soccer club in the area. All our competitive program coaches are licensed. A director of coaching works with the coaches to make sure an age-appropriate curriculum is delivered to their players. Read our mission statement here.

Here is one of the many comments we get. This is from a former coach of a big club in Boise (she prefers to remain anonymous):

“I am a notorious price shopper – but if shown why I should spend more money, I will (value).  Unfortunately, I did not know about quality soccer programs when my daughter was starting out.  I have not been happy with 3 of the 4 volunteer coaches she had over the years.  As persons, they are fine, but as coaches…well, they didn’t know what they were doing and the kids did not grow much.” May 2014

To see feedback from parents in google, please go here.

PAST SEASONS HIGHLIGHTS

Read more: Competitive Program Overview (U9-U19)

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