Who: U10Boys U10 Girls & U12Boys U12 Girls (New this year U14 Boys & U14 Girls)

Where: Dunwoody UMC soccer field

When: Evaluations  2/21/12 5:00 U10 5:45 U12, 6:30  U14 (1 hour each)

WHY: We are establishing 6 Academy soccer teams here out of Dunwoody UMC!

We will be playing area organizations and academies throughout Metro Atlanta area. This League is designed for your son or daughter to have the next step in between Church /Rec and the Club level a smoother transition. I invite all to come and tryout from our members, neighbors, and surrounding community friends.

How: Please register online through www.sportability.com under our in-house league.

Answer yes to the scroll down question so we can keep track of numbers. There will be an additional charge for you, if your son or daughter makes the team! ($110.00 Pays for coaches and equipment expenses) If you do not make the team you are still able to play in-house and able to tryout again in the fall!

FAQs

Q. How many Academy teams will we have?

A. We definitely plan on having 4 teams – U10 and U12 in each gender.

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Q. Who will the coaches be?

A. We received very positive feedback on the coaches from the Fall season. Given that we may have 5-6 teams this year, we are interviewing other coaching candidates, all of whom are very experienced coaches.

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Q. Will there be adequate playing time for my child?

A. To ensure appropriate playing time, we will decrease team size this season. All U10 teams will carry a maximum of 10 players, and U12 will carry a maximum of 12 players. The U10's will play either 6V6 or 7V7 games depending on the competition. The U12's will play 8V8 or 9V9.

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Q. Do we really want to play 6V6, given that it does not really teach positions that will be relevant in future years?

A. Mike and the coaches have discussed that 6V6 is not our preference. However, the reality is that this is the standard for U10 with most of the major soccer leagues/organizations in the area. We can’t change their policy, but we can adjust our team size to ensure appropriate playing time (see above).

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Q. How many roster spots will be open?

A. In order to have some team continuity, we currently plan to keep boys/girls on the team for Fall and Spring seasons. We will have totally open tryouts each Fall. Given that we are adding another team for boys and girls, we have a number of spots available for new participants.

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Q. What teams will we play? Will the level of competition be satisfactory?

A. Improving the level of competition is one of our highest priorities, and we are very confident there will be improvements. We plan to avoid playing regular rec league teams, except maybe as a practice game and/or against a park known for high quality soccer. We believe we have commitments from Dunwoody Baptist, YMCA Ashford Dunwoody, Chamblee Parks and Rec, and MJCC’s Academy level team (except for U10 girls). We are also having discussions with 3-4 other high quality soccer programs. Please realize that some of this could change, as it’s not totally in our control.

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Q. What will be the time commitment?

A. Last year, we had a stretch where it seemed as though we had 4-5 games per week. The Fall season was abnormal in terms of rainfall. Soccer leagues around Atlanta experienced similar problems. We plan to have three events per week during the season, most likely Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Saturday would almost surely be a game day. If we have a game during the week, we will only have one practice.

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Q. Will we play and practice on fields that are the appropriate size and quality?

A. We can’t totally control the field sizes for our competitors, but Mike plans to discuss that topic with potential competitors. Dunwoody Baptist has indicated that we can use their larger field for most of our U12 teams “home” games.

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Q. Will my child be able to play all positions?

A. There are different opinions on this issue. It is our belief that Academy soccer is different than rec league, in that ‘forced’ rotations are not necessarily the best approach. Our coaches believe that the best approach is to let each player learn a couple of positions, but not necessarily play all of them regularly. As the kids get older, progress in skill, and begin to think about ongoing involvement in soccer, they tend to gravitate to a few positions. More knowledgeable coaches begin to teach more position specific skills.

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We look forward to a great season. Mike Mey and the Coaching Staff, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it