The Academy Program is sanctioned by the Georgia State Soccer Association and is designed to offer an opportunity for advanced development for boys and girls age 8-12. Players are surrounded by and compete with those players who have shown to have a gift in soccer and a commitment to improve. Players will have the opportunity to develop in a enjoyable and rewarding environment within a competitive arena, while emphasizing on  player development, and not on winning and losing.

Our Academy Program objective is for players to enjoy the game, emphasize individual development, and motivate players to play. It is our goal for the players to have fun and enjoy playing the game of soccer so they can learn to love the “Beautiful Game”. We strive to make every aspect of our program enjoyable for all players. At the same time, we want players to take responsibility for their own development because we believe it is the key to their success.

Our Academy Program philosophy is to ensure that both players and parents understand that commitment leads to success. We believe that training is the most important ingredient on players’ development, and it should take priority over numbers of games. We believe that “winning” in Academy means that players’ gave their best, enjoyed their game, performed individual skills taught in training, and learned thru success and/or mistakes.

During their Academy experience, there are so many games played that each player will have the chance to experience different positions on the field and different formations. In order to maximize individual development as well as team development we will place players in a position that suits their strengths, place players in position to give the team success, place players in a position in order to teach the role of the position, and place players in a position according to the players on the team.

The Macon United teams will compete against other soccer clubs in Georgia who also field Academy teams in a non-results oriented format. Typically, an Academy team will play one or two matches on a weekend (mostly Saturdays), and have 8-9 games dates. The season wraps up in November.  Spring season begins in February and ends in May. Academy teams may also attend Pre-season and Post-season tournaments depending on teams’ commitment. These tournaments will consist of a result oriented format.

All teams are trained by appropriately licensed, professional Club coaches to provide the players with the best possible foundation of skills and knowledge of the game.

Each Academy Team will have a parent volunteer that serves as a Team Manager. The team manager works closely with the teams’ trainer and the Academy Director. The team manager registers the team for tournaments, books hotel rooms, collects team fees, and facilitates a line of communication between trainer and parents. 

Season Fees:

• One time Season Regsitration Fee: $140 (doesn’t include uniform)

                ***Multiple Children Discount: For every additional child that a family has playing, take $25 off the registration fee.    

• Season Training Fee: $200 (option available to pay with 4 postdated checks as of 8/1, 9/1, 10/1, 11/1)

U9-U10:       

These age groups are often coined as the ‘Golden Age’ of player development, where players’ increased capacity for learning and endless enthusiasm makes for an extremely fulfilling experience for students and teacher alike. It is also a crucial stage in player development, the cementing of a technical foundation and the dawn of tactics.

In both of these age groups, players’ individual technical development will be the main focus of the training sessions. Players’ Development will be the driven focus instead of Team Development.

Players will be trained to develop all basic soccer techniques so they can master ball control with all parts of their body. These basic soccer techniques include but are not limited to: Ball Control, Fast Footwork, Passing, Receiving, Turning, Shooting, Heading, Juggling, and Finishing. A lot of 1v1 drills will be performed to develop these techniques.

            Training sessions will also include some tactical aspects of the game so players can learn to read the game, find a problem and create solutions. This tactical component will include the principles of defending (pressure/balance) and attacking (support). Drills use to develop this Tactical awareness will be 2v1, 2v2, and 3v2.

            Training sessions will also include physical training so players’ would be able to keep up with the demands of the game. Physical activities will be planned to develop players’ Coordination, Balance, Agility, Power, Speed, and Quickness.

Players will train together, but play games within a pool of players. This pool of players may be divided into A and B teams or equal teams from all players. How players are divided will be based on skills level, t