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PSC Curriculum

DEVELOP - COMPETE - EXCEL

Table of ContentsMission Statement...................................................................................................................................................4

Vision........................................................................................................................................................................4

Philosophy................................................................................................................................................................6

Developing the person, not the athlete...............................................................................................................6

Individual Player Development............................................................................................................................6

Intrinsic Motivation and enjoyment of the game.................................................................................................6

Staff believe in the WE and not the I....................................................................................................................6

Program Curriculum.................................................................................................................................................7

Character Development.......................................................................................................................................7

Soccer Specific Skills.............................................................................................................................................7

Fitness and Health................................................................................................................................................7

Curriculum for Soccer Specific Skills.........................................................................................................................8

Objective of soccer skills curriculum....................................................................................................................8

Principles of Progression......................................................................................................................................8

Philosophy..................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Developing the person, not the athlete.................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Individual Player Development...............................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Intrinsic Motivation and enjoyment of the game...................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Staff believe in the WE and not the I......................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Program Curriculum...................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Character Development.........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Soccer Specific Skills...............................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Fitness and Health..................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Curriculum for Soccer Specific Skills...........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Objective of soccer skills curriculum......................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Principles of Progression........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Program Pyramid......................................................................................................................................................9

Level 1 - Academy.................................................................................................................................................9

TRAINING..........................................................................................................................................................9

TECHNICAL APPROACH.....................................................................................................................................9

PRICE................................................................................................................................................................9

Level 2 - Academy Developmental Teams – U8-U11..........................................................................................10

LEAGUE PLAY..................................................................................................................................................10

TOURNAMENT PLAY.......................................................................................................................................10

TRAINING........................................................................................................................................................10

TECHNICAL APPROACH...................................................................................................................................10

PLAYING TIME.................................................................................................................................................10

COST...............................................................................................................................................................11

Level 3 - Competitive Teams- Ages 13-15...........................................................................................................12

LEAGUE PLAY..................................................................................................................................................12

TOURNAMENTS..............................................................................................................................................12

TRAINING........................................................................................................................................................12

TECHNICAL APPROACH...................................................................................................................................12

PLAYING TIME.................................................................................................................................................12

COST...............................................................................................................................................................12

Level 4 - Excel Team...........................................................................................................................................14

LEAGUE PLAY..................................................................................................................................................14

TOURNAMENT................................................................................................................................................14

TRAINING........................................................................................................................................................14

TECHNICAL APPROACH...................................................................................................................................14

PLAYING TIME.................................................................................................................................................14

COST...............................................................................................................................................................14

Mission StatementThe Pros Soccer Club is dedicated to fostering young players’ physical, mental and social growth within a soccer environment, by providing professionally licensed training staff, facilities, environment and curriculum to give players the tools to succeed in their participation and development in soccer and overall successes in life.

Vision The club’s vision is to develop a reputation for producing well trained athletes and gain the respect of the Arizona soccer community as a true soccer academy. College coaches, national coaches and

Club Name: Pros Soccer Club (PSC)

Location: Tempe

Recruitment: Pros Academy & Try Outs

Teams: 11

Players: 200

Coaches: 7

Characteristics: Tempe Pro’s Soccer coaches are primarily ex-soccer players that have significant experience playing in club soccer atmosphere and high level soccer either in college or at professionally. Our coaches are also encouraged and developed through mentoring and obtaining official licensing.

Training

Start of Tactical Work: Age 12

Work with Weights: Age 15

Number of Sessions: U10 & Below 2 Sessions

U12 & Above 3 Sessions

Facilities

Benedict Park Wagner Park

Kiwanis Park Video Analysis Room

Estrada Park Club Office

professional coaches will recognize the standards of excellence embodied by the club and expect those who graduate from the club to be quality players with a solid soccer foundation and good citizens.

Philosophy The club philosophy is based upon four pillars.

Developing the person, not the athlete We look to prepare our players not only for the next step in their soccer careers, but enabling them with the experiences and discipline to succeed in the next step of their lives.

Individual Player Development Pros Soccer Club is focused on developing each player to be able to achieve his or her full potential on the field. The team is there to serve the needs of each player. Players should not be asked to sacrifice their individual needs for the team. This doesn’t preclude fostering a team ethos but knowing that the team dynamic is there to develop interpersonal relationships and social skills, not to stifle creativity and ambition.

Intrinsic Motivation and enjoyment of the gameExcellence can only be achieved if you are intrinsically motivated. There are no guarantees to success; ultimately it comes down to the players themselves. Recognizing it takes a combination of hard work, strong personal traits and natural athletic ability to achieve an elite level of play. A large part of our program will be based around instilling this in our players to measure themselves to a high standard on and off the field.

Staff believe in the WE and not the I As a whole Pros (PSC) believes in the WE philosophy. We don’t think of achievements individually but as a whole club effort in achieving our goals.

Program Curriculum Pros (PSC) recognizes that an integrated, club-wide curriculum is the key for optimum player development. There must be a line that connects U-6 to U-18 to create a cohesive learning and training environment for all club members to understand and follow. The Pros (PSC) curriculum is to prevent the player development process from becoming disjointed and provide a simple way to monitor and evaluate players. A deficit in one stage of the development process will tend to inhibit acquisition of more complex skills at a later stage. Our club will focus on developing skills that go beyond the mere concepts of attack and defense. It is imperative to develop problem solving skills, communication skills, leadership skills, and foster a positive self-image, a natural curiosity and an independent, inquisitive mind to better the player’s ability to play mentally but also to apply to environments off of the field. This is accomplished by creating an age specific curriculum that progressively addresses the following areas:

Character Development Develop self-confidence. Demonstrate the value of sportsmanship and humility. Teach the value of hard work and perseverance. Promote leadership and taking responsibility for one’s actions. Teach respect for mentors and elders as well as opponents. Promote academic education and school study.

Soccer Specific Skills Teach individual technique and develop a comfort level with the ball. Develop 1v1 skills that allow players to dominate opponents and win individual duels. Develop tactical problem solving skills. Develop creativity, versatility and adaptability. Develop the ability to operate in various playing systems. Develop a self-reliant player who can make his/her own decisions on the field.

Fitness and Health Develop a progressive program for long term fitness. Develop the core soccer fitness needs of

speed, agility, strength and stamina. Teach and promote a healthy lifestyle with proper balance. Develop a lifetime commitment to healthy living. Teach nutrition and self-care.

Curriculum for Soccer Specific Skills

Objective of soccer skills curriculum Our curriculum is based on the Building Block concept, where players are taught age and level specific skills in a progressive sequence. One of the key objectives of the curriculum is to provide a strong foundation with a step by step, progressive plan that enables players to achieve mastery of the ball and develop the tools and skills needed to play at a high level.

Skills from one age group are utilized to build more advanced skills later in the continuum. Although soccer is a team game, its flow is characterized as a succession of individual duels. Team success hinges on the ability of players to win these individual duels. Hence, the ultimate aim is to develop players who can dominate their opponents and win the majority of their individual duels. Players who can dominate opponents are able to play at a high level, in any system and any formation, and are the type of players sought by top level coaches.

Principles of Progression Players need technical, physical, tactical and psychological tools to win their duels. The technical tools are the foundation of soccer skills. Technique is the body’s mechanical execution of ball manipulation, such as receiving, dribbling, passing or shooting the ball. Technique leads to skill. Skill is the ability to select and execute the right technique under pressure of the game. Therefore, technique has to do with ‘how to’ while skill has to do with ‘when and why’.

However, before a player can learn soccer techniques and skills, he/she must learn to control his body’s movement. Players must first develop the full range of locomotors (running, jumping, hopping, turning, etc) and non-locomotors (pushing, pulling, bending, twisting, etc) movement skills before they can become adept at manipulative skills (such as propelling or receiving the ball). Therefore, the club’s curriculum starts at U-6 with teaching locomotors and non-locomotors movement along with simple ball manipulative skills.

Additionally, motor skills acquisition typically progresses from gross motor skills to fine motor skills. Gross motor skills refer to movements of the entire body or large segments of the body, while fine motor skills refer to movement requiring precision and dexterity, such as manipulative skills. Manipulative skills are basically the eye-to-hand and eye-to-foot coordination. The SKILL curriculum therefore should progress from gross motor skills (locomotors and nonlocomotors) to fine motor skills to soccer technique to soccer skills within the U-6 through U-18 continuum.

Program PyramidThe level of play in the program is split into 4 levels as displayed in the picture below.

Level 1 – In House AcademyIntroduction to Soccer Skills, in a non-competitive playing environment. At this level players will develop their mastery of the ball and gross and fine locomotor skills in a fun soccer environment.TRAININGTrain once per weekSaturday Scrimmages 4v4 / 3v3TECHNICAL APPROACHThe focus is on developmental appropriate, skill building, dribbling, driving the ball, basic possession passing, movement and finesse. All based around the players comfort on the ball and building player confidence. PRICE$125 per season

Level 2 - Academy Developmental Teams – U6-U10The developmental teams are geared towards U6 through U10. These teams focus on skill development and creating a love of the game. Players play in a more competitive environment against other clubs from within the valley. This is to expose each player to a higher level of play and the focus is never on the score but the improvements made on the field.

The goal for the program is to develop each individual player, and give them skill foundation which to build there play within a developmentally appropriate enviroment.

Putting an emphasis on results and tactics at an early age, you take away the players creativity and create skill gaps which will affect their play when they go on to play High School and College Soccer in new systems with a new coach.

LEAGUE PLAY Teams will play in the Maricopa Port of Subs league and AYSA Academy. This is a valley wide league, play is split into 2 seasons. Players will play 6 official league games per season and then each coach will schedule at least 4 additional scrimmages for the team.

TOURNAMENT PLAY Players will play in 2 tournaments per season with the option to do an extra tournament at the end of the season. Tournaments are played over the course of a weekend. (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) Coaches will schedule all tournaments at the start of the season.

TRAINING Number of Sessions: 2 Sessions Duration: 1hr – 1.5hrs

TECHNICAL APPROACHThe main focus is still on Individual skills, passing, receiving, dribbling technical play, in a problem solving environment, with a slight shift to learning about positional play heading and finishing. U6 = 1 Player 1 BallU8 = 1 Player 1 Ball + 2 Players 1 BallU10 = 1 Player 1 Ball + 2 Players 1 Ball + 4/3 Players 1 Ball

PLAYING TIME Within the development team program coaches will strive to give each player 50% playing time. This is at the coach’s discretion and will not be monitored. COST $595 - $795Covering: State Registration Fees

Field Rental Professional Coaching League Entry Fees Player Insurance Administration Fees

Level 3 - Competitive Gold ProgramOur Competitive Teams look to take the next step in their soccer education: positional awareness, situation specific scenarios as well as fine tuning the technical aspects of game learnt in the early stages of development.

LEAGUE PLAYLeague: Maricopa Port of Subs LeagueThis is a valley wide league split into 2 competitive seasons. Teams play 6 games per season. The players’ coach will schedule scrimmages on the pre-prescribed periodized training plan.

TOURNAMENTSPlayers will play a minimum of 3 tournaments per season, and will participate in two out of town tournaments (one each season). The coach will schedule tournaments based on the teams’ need. As part of a periodized plan to peak at different times in the season.

TRAININGNumber of Sessions: 3Duration: 1.5hrs + 30mins as requiredTraining topics will become more tactical: looking at decision making and phases of play.

TECHNICAL APPROACHDevelopment of individual capacity within small sided and field position specific games, ball mastery, moves to beat an opponent 1v1. Attacking and Defending as a team.

PLAYING TIMEPlaying time is not guaranteed and is based on the teams need. How that player can affect the game to help the team. Playing time is also a reflection of attendance, work rate and level of play during practice.

COST$1250Covering: State Registration Fees Field Rental Professional Coaching Fees League Entry Fees Player Insurance Administration Fees

Level 4 - Excel Program

Excel teams consist of teams playing within State League or Higher. The Excel team program is for teams competing within the highest tier of play in the State. These players must have a very high level of commitment to the game on and off the field.

LEAGUE PLAYLeague: Arizona State LeagueThis league is split into 2 competitive seasons. Teams play 7 competitive league games. Players’ coach will schedule scrimmages every bye weekend depending on a pre-prescribed periodized training plan.

TOURNAMENTPlayers will play a minimum of 4 tournaments per season, and will participate in a minimum 3 out of town tournaments over the course of the 2 seasons. The coach will schedule tournaments based on the teams need. Providing a schedule that will allow the team to peak at the right time of the season.

TRAININGNumber of Sessions: 3 + 1Duration: 1.5hrs + 30mins as requiredTraining focuses on tactical elements. Decision making and phases of play. Players will also be educated on diet for soccer and periodized fitness program.

TECHNICAL APPROACHOffensive and Defensive tactical concepts. With a strong emphasis on possession passing, accuracy, on fluid movement from defense to attack.

PLAYING TIMEPlaying time is not guaranteed and is based on the teams need. How that player can affect the game to help the team win. Playing time is also a reflection of attendance, work rate and level of play at practice.

COST$1250Covering: State Registration Field Rental Professional Coaching Fees League Entry Fees Player Insurance Administration Fees

ConclusionThe starting ages for each phase depend on the natural ability and learning skills of the player and can vary from those recommended above. But failure to properly address each phase or skipping a phase or ‘fast tracking’ players will result in under-developed individuals. Although each progressive phase starts at a different age, it’s important to note that the four phases eventually overlap. Once they start to overlap, one should not focus on a single phase at the expense of the other phases. The curriculum should allow for work on phases one, two and three to continue well into the teens and constantly be reinforced, refined and not be neglected once the Team Oriented Phase kicks in.