The goal of The Academy is to provide U8 recreational soccer players the chance to receive expert coaching on a regular basis while still participating in recreational soccer.

Players who sign up for recreational soccer and The Academy are assigned to a rec team as usual. They will practice and play with their team but over the course of the season they will have 8 extra training sessions with an Academy coach. In addition to the extra training sessions they will take part in one or two informal scrimmages against other teams within the club or teams from around the local area.

Each training session will last 75 minutes and will be conducted by one of the professional Lobos staff (http://colsoc.com/lobos/coaches.shtml). The emphasis of each session will be on the development of basic technical skills in a fun environment. Some of the skills covered will include:

1. Dribbling - Very basic with no pressure.

2. Passing (short) - Using only instep to pass the ball

3. Passing (long) - Body position and angle is essential

4. Receiving - Body position and timing

5. Turning - Sharp change of direction

6. Heading (controlled) - The basic technique of heading the ball

7. Heading (attacking + defensive) - Understanding the difference

8. Shooting (still ball) - Basic technique of striking the ball at goal

9. Shooting (moving ball) - Understanding the there is a difference between a ball moving towards you and a ball moving away from you

10. Tackling - Body position and timing

11. Moves - Focusing on three moves for the session

Each session will finish with a small sided scrimmage where players can put their new found skills into practice in a controlled environment. For example, if the topic of the day is dribbling the final small sided scrimmage may have restrictions where a player scores a point by dribbling into a set area, rather than scoring in a goal, thus encouraging players to dribble.

Once players reach the age where they move from the U8 division they have the chance to continue within the recreational program or move to the Jr Lobos program.

The Jr. Lobos program is the first step into competitive soccer but it's not the big leap many people fear. It's a program with player development and enjoyment as its core principles. The time commitment is 3 or 4 events per week and there is no out of town travel involved. For more information on this excellent program contact the soccer office 901-854-8724.