NASA Academy U10 / U11 / U12 Girls

Frequently asked questions:

1. What is the NASA Academy?  The NASA Academy is designed to enhance the development of the North Atlanta Soccer Association's girls through professional coaching at the younger age levels (ages 7-12). Our mission is to build a strong foundation for the soccer stars of tomorrow, while providing a fun and healthy soccer environment.

2. How does the NASA Academy fit into the programs offered at NASA?  Our club launched the U10 Academy program in May, 2001 to serve as a bridge between the U8 / U10 recreational soccer programs and the U11 select (i.e., "Athena") program. We created the U11 Academy in the fall, 2003 season, and launched the U12 Academy in the fall, 2004 season. Traditional select (Athena) teams now begin at the U13 age group.

3. Where are you located?  NASA has two locations, Metro North Park (MNP) in southeast Cobb near Johnson Ferry Road and the Chattahoochee River, and United Quest Park (UQP) in northeast Cobb near Town Center Mall and I-575. Each location has its own Academy program. Our coaching philosophy and training curriculum (along with several of the coaches) are the same at both locations. Link: Google map with both NASA locations

4. Is this a year-round commitment?  Yes and no. It's a 1-year commitment that covers fall and spring seasons. But we don't play year-round. After tryouts are complete (late May or early June), we break until we start preparation for the fall with our Academy Camp in July. The fall season ends before the Thanksgiving holiday. We start preparation for the spring season in February, and wrap up with the Friendship Cup tournament in late May.

5. How often do you practice?  We practice two and a half times a week and play most of our games on Saturdays. The UQP group practices Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday. The MNP group practices Tuesday, Thursday and the other Fridays. Academy players are welcome to attend practices at either NASA park. If we have a rain-out, or your daughter has to miss a practice and wants to make it up, she's welcome (but not required) to attend a session at the other park.

6. Is this a travel team?  Yes, but with limited travel. During league play, we usually play half our games at home, the other half at other clubs' fields in the metro Atlanta area. The U11 and U12 age groups will occasionally travel outside Atlanta (for example, Birmingham, Greenville or Knoxville) for tournaments. Travel tournaments are within easy driving distance.

7. How many tournaments do you play?  This varies by age group:

• U10 Academy:  We typically play one pre-season tournament and one post-season tournament each season. All tournaments are in the metro Atlanta area, and our tournament choices rarely involve a holiday weekend. Some tournaments follow the "soccer festival" format, where teams play a series of games, but no championships are awarded. Others follow the format where teams play for championships and tournament silverware (trophies, medals, etc.).

• U11 & U12 Academies:  We typically play a pre-season and post-season fall tournament, possibly one mid-season tournament. We typically play three tournaments during the spring: one pre-season, one mid-season and our own NASA Friendship Cup at the end of the spring season. Most of the tournaments are in the Atlanta area. At the U11 and U12 ages, we occasionally travel outside Atlanta for a tournament, but these are "driving distance" trips (for example, Birmingham, Chattanooga or Greenville).

• Tournament time commitments:  A typical tournament schedule calls for two games on Saturday, one or two games on Sunday. Schedules might include early morning games and / or a Saturday night game. Tournament schedules are determined by the tournament host and are usually made available 5-10 days before the event.

8. Do you have to tryout?  Usually. Admission into the NASA Academy is through invitation only. We select most of our players through tryout sessions in late May or early June. Tryouts are open to all age-appropriate girls, whether they currently play at NASA, another soccer organization, or are new to soccer. We also evaluate players from the NASA recreational programs during the spring season. Some players may make a strong enough impression that we issue an invitation prior to our tryout sessions. In most cases, though, we want candidates to attend tryouts so we can confirm our previous evaluations.

9. How old does my daughter need to be?  Girls are eligible for the various Academy programs based on their birth dates as follows:

• Under 10 age note:  The U10 Academy includes both under-10 and under-9 girls. In special cases, we'll also select younger girls (birth date 08/01/03 or later) to join the Academy.

10. What happens if my daughter tries out and makes it?  We will invite your daughter to join the Academy either via a phone call, a face-to-face conversation at the fields, or via our Academy web site. If you need a day or two to think it over, that's no problem. If you decide to join, you attend an orientation meeting in June to review registration, uniforms, schedules and other details. If you decline the invitation, you are still welcome to register for the NASA recreational program.

11. What happens if my daughter tries out and doesn't make it?  If your daughter had the initiative to try out, this speaks well of her desire. We encourage her to keep playing! She can register for the NASA recreational program, keep improving, and try again next year. (Some of our current players didn't make it into the Academy on their first try.)

12. Who are the coaches?  Coaching staffs for the 2011-12 year include:

• U10 Academy:  Ward Swain, Kimmie O'Connor, Lauren Horne, Mo Gonda, Sarah May. Amber Anderson
• U11 Academy:  Paul Copeland, Ashley Stinson, Dawn Bristol, Joe Aaron, Lauren Horne
• U12 Academy:  Jay Ingram, Alpha Dwyer, Ashley Stinson, Lauren Horne, Mo Gonda, Sarah May

13. What are the coaches' qualifications?  Coaches are licensed by the US Soccer Federation (USSF) and/or the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Most have many years of experience coaching youth "select" teams, all have many years of playing experience. None of the coaches have daughters who play in their age group's Academy.

14. What do the coaches look for in a player?  Three main characteristics: game awareness, personality (for example, desire, enthusiasm and creativity) and athletic ability. Current technical skill is a bonus, but if a young player has the other three attributes, we believe she can develop technical skill through focused training sessions and by playing with and against strong players in training and games.

15. What are the coaches expectations?  We expect three things from each player:

• give your best effort
• be enthusiastic
• treat yourself and others with respect

A good attitude and consistent effort will yield good results. We're accepting of mistakes, which are a key part of the learning process. (We are teachers, not drill sergeants.)

16. Is Academy soccer all abut winning?  No. We measure learning and fun, not scores and standings. The Academy program doesn't post scores or keep standings. At young ages, player development is much more important than winning a game. Our goal is to create an environment where players are allowed to flourish in a competitive arena in which winning is not a determinant of success, but where the instillation of quality is more important than short-term success.

At young ages, some teams will win games by playing "superstar" soccer, where most players on the team are instructed to kick the ball to a superstar player and let her do the rest. That's not our style. We want all of our girls to develop into skilled soccer players who are confident in their own abilities and eager to display those abilities on the field.

17. What do you expect from parents?  We expect four things from parents:

• arrange to get your daughter to training and games on time

• be supportive of your daughter and her teammates

• leave the coaching to the coaches (you're welcome to cheer from the sidelines, but you should not try to direct your daughter or any other player from the sidelines)

• when fees are due, pay them promptly

18. What are the yearly fees?  Fees for the 2011-12 soccer year are $1185. This covers player registration and coaching fees for both fall & spring seasons, capital improvement fee, plus the summer Academy camp. Uniforms are not included. There's a $60 discount if paid in full in June. Fees can be paid in installments. Link: fee details. Other fees for the 2011-12 year:

• Uniforms:  We started a new uniform cycle for the fall 2010 season. Returning players will keep last year's uniforms for another year, while new players will need to order the uniform package. We typically keep our uniform package for two full years, so the current uniform package will carry through the spring 2012 season.

• Tournament entry fees:  Typically $40-50 per player per tournament (we play 3-5 tournaments per year)

• Occasional indoor arena rental:  $4-5 per player per event (for those occasions when fields are closed and we want an alternate training location)

• Overhead for your age group's web site and phone hot line: approximately $5 per player per year

19. I already registered my daughter for NASA's fall recreational program. Do I have to pay twice?  No! Money already paid toward registration for the NASA recreational program will be applied to your daughter's Academy registration. So you only have to pay the difference between the recreational and Academy fees.

20. Which team will my daughter be on?  We don't have pre-set teams. Some weeks we'll create teams by current playing level, some weeks we'll create teams by age, some weeks we'll create equal teams. We normally post team assignments for Saturday's games on Monday night. We normally post tournament team assignments a week ahead of the tournament. Team assignments are available via a web site and / or e-mail.

21. What happens on game days?  A typical league game day has us playing 3-4 games against another Atlanta-area Academy program, all games at the same location. We divide our player pool into teams, and each team plays one game. Games are usually 1 hour long with a 5-10 minute halftime. Link: game-day details

22. What size soccer ball does my daughter need?  A "size 4" ball. This is the recommended size ball for the Academy age groups. It's perfectly fine to bring a size 3 or smaller ball, but we discourage size 5 balls.

23. Do you play full-field or small-sided soccer?  We play small-sided games on smaller fields:

• U10 Academy:  We play mostly 6v6 (6-aside) on smaller fields. The smaller team sizes allow players to get more touches on the ball. The 6-aside fields are typically slightly less than half the size of a full 11-aside field. The smaller fields allow players to thrive based on soccer skills instead of straight-line sprinting ability. On occasion we may play 8v8 (8-aside) on slightly larger fields.

• U11 Academy:  We play 8v8 (8-aside) soccer on smaller fields. The 8-aside fields are typically half the size of a full 11-aside field.

• U12 Academy:  We play mostly 8v8 (8-aside) soccer on smaller fields. The 8-aside fields are typically half the size of a full 11-aside field. We may also schedule some 11-aside games to give the girls exposure to "full field" soccer, which they will play once they reach the U13 age group.

24. How many teams do you put together?  This depends on the size of the player pool. For example, if we have 32 girls in the U10 pool, we'll form four teams for 6v6 games. This means 8 girls per team, which helps us maximize playing time.

25. How much playing time will my daughter receive?  All girls play at least half of each game. We keep roster sizes small for regular weekly play, though, so girls typically play 2/3 or more of each game.

26. What happens if my daughter has to miss an event?  Just communicate this in advance with her coach. The flexibility of the Academy program usually allows us to work around an occasional schedule conflict.