GUSC DIRECTOR OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT - Hugo Grajeda
Assistants - Diego Romero and Greg Adams
The Gaston United Soccer Club is in its second year of the Academy Program which began during the 2007-2008 season.
What is Academy Soccer? The GUSC Soccer Academy is designed to teach the fundamental skills which are absolutely necessary to fully enjoy and compete in this sport known as, "The Beautiful Game". These skills are best learned by providing clear examples and repetitions, which require proper instruction to master the skills.
The program will serve as an instructional program for soccer ages 8-10 who are seeking a more structured environment than recreational soccer, but may not be ready for competition, travel, and the cost of Challenge and Classic level soccer. Our Academy will consist of player pools in two different age groups, under 10 and under 9, each consisting of around 16-18 players. These pools are divided into teams for game days and festivals. The pool teams can interchange their roster from game to game and week to week. Each age group will have a licensed professional age group instructor/coach who will run the training sessions and attend the games scheduled for each Academy Pool. All Academy training sessions will focus on the technical and fundamental skills needed as well as a strong emphasis on 1 v 1 and small sided games.
The Academy mission is to develop the heart, mind, and body of our young athletes by developing their skills and knowledge with professional coaches that model what they teach. The coaches teach the young players to understand how to succeed in the game of soccer as well as succeeding in life.
What Kind of Training and Game Schedule will be Followed by the Academy? The Academy pools will train/practice 2 times a week on Tuesday and Thursday beginning in mid-August and ending in early November for the fall season. The spring season begins in February and goes through the end of May. Our Academy teams will participate in Academy days (Saturday or Sunday) throughout the season with other participating clubs or internally within our own club.
Is there any Travel with the Academy Program? For the most part there is not much travel for the Academy. One or two times a month our Academy may play an Academy club from another city and may require travel to Charlotte. The majority of our Academy games will be played at Martha Rivers in Gastonia or George Poston Park in Lowell. One or two times a season we will take our Academy to another club outside a 50 mile radius to expose the players to something different known as Academy Festivals. A great example of this would be a trip to Greenville, SC to play a club called Carolina Elite Soccer Academy (CESA). The GUSC Director of player development or DOC may determine that the Academy play in one elimination tournament each season which may require one overnight stay in a hotel. No other games will require the Academy to stay overnight.
What does it Cost to Participate in the GUSC Academy? The Gaston United Soccer Club has developed its Academy program to provide quality instruction by nationally licensed professional coaches at a very reasonable cost, providing the best value for soccer in the area. Our Academy program consist of an 8 month commitment by the family of each player. This 8 month commitment is divided into 2 four (4) month seasons, Fall 2008 and Spring 2009. The cost of the program is $200 for the Fall and $200 for the Spring. The total annual fee of $400 covers the training dues, field rental, referees, equipment cost and administration fees.
Can my Child Participate in the GUSC Academy and Play on a Recreational, Challenge, or Classic Team? No. The Academy program, whether state sanctioned or not, is designed to remove the results oriented win at all cost mentality associated with youth soccer. The Academy games and festivals will be played without published or recorded scoring and playing time is guaranteed for all players who attend training on a regular basis and maintain a great attitude. Therefore, Academy players cannot participate in other leagues as we feel that would be contrary to the idealogy of the Academy philosophy. GUSC will however provide Challenge and Classic teams in the respective U10 and U11 age groups to give players and their families a choice. From time to time an Academy player may be asked to play as a guest player with another GUSC team. Guest playing will also be allowed with the permission of the GUSC Director of Player Development.
In the event that there are not enough players in certain age groups to field a sufficient player pool, we will consider joining two age groups together. For example, if there are 9 players to field a U9 Academy pool and 18 players in the U10 Academy pool we will combine the 2 groups into an Academy pool of 27 players which will play in the U10 Academy. The U10 Academy would then form 3 pools of teams for any given game day or festival.
For More Information email: guschugo@yahoo.com or call 704-823-7322.
