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South Park Soccer Association

In-House Soccer Overview

Philosophy

This SPSA in-house soccer program provides children of all ages and skill level the opportunity to learn the game of soccer in a positive, fun and friendly environment.  Children from local communities are invited to come and play soccer in this recreation style program.  The in-house soccer season is broken up into two separate mini-seasons, Fall and Spring and offers soccer for various age groups ranging from under 5 through the under 15 age group. 

Overview


Your registration covers both sessions but it is possible to register for the Spring session only. In-house soccer season usually begins in September for the Fall and April for the Spring.  Games are played on Saturday's at Evans' Field in South Park Township. Registration for these sessions usually occur in May for the Fall and January for the Spring.

Practices for in-house soccer are held once a week by a volunteer coach. These practices are held at each coach's discretion.   Most practices will occur at the South Park Middle school.  Some exceptions are made and your practice location may be at Evan's Field.

 

Team uniform kits are provided by the SPSA and need to be worn for all games.  These uniforms kits are part of your initial registration cost.  A uniform kit consist of a team colored jersey, black shorts and socks to match their team color.  Your child's coach will give you your child's uniform during one of your child's first few practices.  Please remember that shin guards are required and must be covered by socks for all games and practices.  These must be purchased separately by the parent. Spikes are allowed but not required. Football or baseball spikes (those having a spike at the toe) are not allowed.

If you are interested in registering for the in-house soccer program please go to the registration tab above to register!

Age Groups

In accordance with the United State Soccer Federation mandate, the SPSA has changed to age grouping by birth year. Previously, age groups were determined based on players born between August 1 and July 31. The change to calendar year age groups will reflect the calendar/birth year, or January 1 to December 31.

Calendar Year Age Matrix

Small Sided Games

What does "Small-Sided Games" mean? These are soccer games with fewer players competing on a smaller sized field. These are fun games that involve the players more because fewer players are sharing one ball.  All ages can play small sided games, but it has a definite developmental impact on our younger soccer players.

The US Youth Soccer Association makes recommendations for the number of players at the various age groups.  The SPSA in-house program attempts to follow these guidelines.  However, sometimes due to the number of registered players and approved coaches these guidelines can't always be met. The guidelines are as follows:

U5 and U6 | 4 v 4,  no goalkeepers
U8 | 4 v 4 no goalkeepers
U10| 7 v 7 with goalkeepers
U12 | 9 V 9 with goalkeepers
U15 | 9 V 9 or 11 V 11 with goalkeepers

U5 & U6 Academy

In continuing its mission to provide the highest quality training and experience to our members, the South Park Soccer Association will transition to an academy program for our U5 & U6 age groups in the fall 2020 season.  

It was the intention of the SPSA to provide “tests” of the academy format over two separate weekends this spring and a great deal of planning between SPSA board members and South Park High School soccer staff took place in preparation.  Fortunately, all of this hard work will allow us to implement the academy program full time this fall and we are excited to do so.

The academy program is being implemented to provide consistent, quality training for our youngest age-groups.  It is critical to provide the right foundation for player growth and development at this age and the academy will ensure that the training provided is standard and all players have the same opportunity to learn.   A great deal of the focus will be on individual technical training to establish players with good ball control, vision and passing abilities that will enable them to move into the older age groups more successfully. 


The academy will also be extremely helpful in educating future SPSA coaches.  We have been listening closely to the feedback we have received over the years regarding the concern and anxiety many parents who are unfamiliar with soccer have when considering if they will volunteer to coach.  The academy will be led by seasoned coaches from the SPSA as well as South Park High School and other area coaches when possible.  These coaches will provide the lesson plans and structure for all the training sessions and parent volunteers will be there to assist, observe and learn.  The intention is that we will provide great experience with far less pressure to newer coaches who can then use what they have learned to become coaches at the U8 age group and beyond. 

The academy program will take place on Saturday mornings for an hour and a half per age group.  All U5 players will train together and all U6 players will be training together.  Each group will be broken into smaller groups for the training sessions and will rotate through various stations that will focus on a variety of technical skills.  The trainings will be iterative and build upon each other from week to week so that there is a clear path for assessing improvement and mastery.  At the end of each training session, the players will be divided into small teams for free play scrimmages that will allow them to practice and use the new skills they are learning. 

Academy programs are used successfully at many clubs throughout the US, as well as internationally.  We are excited that we have the opportunity and necessary expertise to implement an academy format for our youngest SPSA players and will provide additional information regarding this program as the fall season approaches. 

 

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"The South Park In-House Soccer Program is built on the foundation of fun and good sportsmanship in soccer.  Players will learn the basics of soccer as well as learn what it is like to be part of team."

Contact

South Park Soccer Association

2700 Triphammer Rd 
South Park, Pennsylvania 15129

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 412-760-1901

Contact Us

South Park Soccer Association

2700 Triphammer Rd 
South Park, Pennsylvania 15129

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 412-760-1901

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