The purpose of the Soccer Extreme School of Excellence is to offer players a professional development program that is conducive to their club travel program.  It will also offer clubs, parents, and players the opportunity to be educated in soccer at the next level without the feeling of solicitation for the premier environment.

The program will offer dedicated player an additional professional training day that will not set precedence over their travel practice or game schedule.  One by-product of this program is to strengthen or enhance the travel play within the players town.  The Academy will offer three, ten-week sessions with a 75 minute professional training session one day per week.  There will be one session in the fall, winter, and spring. SE2 will cater exclusively to boys and girls between the ages of 8-12 years old.  The schools training sessions will be gender specific.

Concerns and Resolution

One of the largest growing concerns for a travel club in the state of Connecticut is losing its players to premier soccer year after year.  In addition, the players are being recruited at a younger age every new season.  This may all be justified if the premier standards within the state demonstrated competition at a national standard but in fact it is widely known that Division 3 in this state is often the equivalent or below the club classic A level of travel soccer.  Unfortunately this dilutes the playing pools on both the club and premier level.  The majority of these mid range players are forced into a win at all cost environment while development takes a spot on the sideline!  Consequently these players usually bounce from premier club to premier club or back to club travel and therefore lose interest in soccer altogether.

What can we do at the grassroots level to resolve this issue?

The Soccer Extreme School of Excellences (SE2) motivational force is to develop players in a controlled nurturing environment with its age appropriate curriculum.  Our accredited professional staff will work diligently with players within the ages of 8-11 years old to ensure that the schools players are focused on the appropriate gender specific technical, tactical, physical and psychological skills that maximizing ones own potential.  SE2s primary goal is player development through supplementary training that is conducive to the players club travel schedule.  There are no formal tryouts to be part of SE2 but there will be verbal individualized assessments three times per year. SE2 reserves the right of refusal to anyone in the program based on ability on either end of the spectrum.

A secondary goal is to educate clubs, parents, and players on the options of playing at the next level. SE2 has no official affiliation with a premier club, nor will it advocate or solicit players for any specific premier club.  Because of our neutral status we are in the unique situation to be available for unbiased counsel on the subject of playing at the next level.  A by product of this program may be the development that makes the next level your club travel team!

Soccer Extreme School of Excellence will be comprised of professional board that will collaborate on the age appropriate curriculum.  The SE2 staff will have background in all areas of playing at the next level.  The board will meet four times a year in order to ensure that the players are receiving the optimum training environment. 

Key Factors:

Club Travel Soccer Concerns:

- Team or Player attrition.

- Premier recruiting.

- Level of training.

- Disparity within ability among team.
 
- Winning vs. Development.

- Economics of fees and travel.

- Inconsistency in level of match play.

Solutions from SE2

- Development is the only concern.

- Local.

- Professional training.

- Cost.

- Age specific curriculum.

Experience:

- Developing leadership and teamwork skills.

- Creating a life-long passion for physical activity.

- Experiencing the joy of the struggle to pursue ones full potential.