Yes.  During registration, you can request to be in the same group with up to two other players. We can only guarantee these requests if all players in a friend group make the same request. If your son or daughter wants to play with someone born in a different year, fill out your registrations separately for your appropriate birth years. As long as your request makes developmental sense for your children and their teammates, we will adjust your placement after you both finish registration. Please indicate which age group you would like both children placed in.

Yes. On the registration, there is a separate space to request a specific parent-coach. Children of the coach are automatically placed with their parent. We will do our best to accommodate all requests.

Yes! In a shift to our In-House program, Nick will lead the practice sessions. He will give large-group demonstrations and instructions to the players about how to play fun games or perform a certain skill.  You will learn alongside the players. As an assistant coach, your job will be to help implement the games in small group settings.  On game days, you will be in charge of managing the game, the players, and substitutions. Nick will demonstrate how to run these games and will be able to answer all your questions.

Our Director of In-House and Academy is Nick Samsal. He plans the curriculum and leads each practice session. For the In-House program, Coach Nick depends on volunteer parent-coaches to assist at practice and lead their teams on game day. Any parent can volunteer to coach. In-House teams and coaches will be announced shortly before the fall season begins.

For the Academy program, the club hires young and aspiring coaches to act as Coach Nick’s assistants at practice and games. Most often, these are college students or recent graduates with a soccer background. In some instances, these coaches may be other highly-qualified coaches from within the club.

For the Traveling program, the club hires paid and experienced head coaches.

At In-House, the answer is yes. Coed teams help nurture and counterbalance the unique strengths and weaknesses that boys and girls bring to team sports prior to puberty. There is debate about whether coed teams are suitable in youth soccer, however, we believe the negative aspects of coed teams (players being too rough, friction between genders, etc.) are negated by good coaching, while the benefits help expand our players’ skills and character.

At Academy, the answer is rarely. In general, we want players to play on single-gender teams starting at U8 due to the emergence of physiological and social differences. However, each age group practices “together” at the same time on adjacent fields. As Coach Nick leads each session, players will be led as a large group but participate in small games with the same gender players. For numerical or ability reasons, players may play in coed settings at times. There are no permanent teams at the Academy level, so any coed grouping at a given practice or game is only temporary.

At Traveling, the answer is no. Competitive soccer leagues in Minnesota are split by gender for players age U9 to U18.

At In-House, the answer is no. We try our best to create balanced teams so that every player and every team feels both successful and challenged.

At Academy, the answer is sometimes. We may occasionally sort players into informal ability-based groups to accommodate different skill levels and scenarios.

At Traveling, players try out when we have enough players for multiple teams at their age level. We do not cut any player, so you are guaranteed a roster spot. To make the top team, though, you must prove yourself at tryouts and throughout the season.

For In-House and Academy, the answer is yes. However, when you register, your child will be automatically placed in the age group that corresponds with his/her birthdate. If you feel that your child should either play up or down an age group, please complete the registration for your birth year and include a written explanation for this request on the registration. The Director will confirm whether this request was approved or declined.

For the Traveling program, the answer is no. Players must play in their age group as designated by league rules. On rare occasions, a player may guest play up an age group, but they will have a permanent roster spot in their age group.

Smaller game sizes mean that players have a better chance of getting time on the ball. Similarly, we do not add goalies until the U8 age level, when games change to a 5v5 format. This is ideal for development and maximizes player involvement.

• U4:  3v3
• U5:  3v3
• U6:  3v3 and 4v4
• U7:  4v4
• U8:  5v5 (with goalies)
• U9:  7v7 (with goalies)
• U10:  7v7 (with goalies)
• U12:  9v9 (with goalies)
• U14+: 11v11 (with goalies)

In-House soccer helps young players become comfortable with the ball at their feet. With the confidence gained from individual ball skill proficiency, players can participate with teammates and score goals. These experiences and relationships provide the enjoyment and motivation necessary to foster a life-long love of the game.

Building on this foundation, the Academy program exposes players to the foundational elements of soccer. They will learn technical aspects like positions and game rules, but they will also explore more ambiguous topics like making good decisions and reading the situational moment. This knowledge forms the building blocks necessary to understand the complexities that players will encounter at the Traveling level.

Traveling coaches assume players possess a certain set of soccer knowledge when they get selected to a competitive team. So, with the Academy program’s firm foundation, players confidently become experts in the finer details of soccer. In addition to preparing their body for performance, players learn how to prepare for a specific opponent with a specific group of teammates. This is soccer at its best.