An academy is when a club/association keeps a collection of players within an age group as opposed to placing them on individual teams. The academy is a concept that is based on the professional soccer club systems from around the world.

Many academies do not “cut” or “tryout” younger players and all children that want to play can participate. There are no A, B, and C teams with these academies as players stay in pools and can be moved back and forth according to their progress and development throughout the seasonal year. The emphasis is on developing players and FUN!

The Academy will be provided by Odyssey Soccer Club. The OSC Director of Coaching will be responsible for designing the training plans and designating certified soccer coaches to lead the training sessions. The Academy will train each week and play games within the academy. All games will be played locally within the Academy. Occasionally, academies from other clubs will be invited to Martin to play games.

The academy approach accommodates and accepts that younger players still have a lot of learning and growing to do within the game and recognizes that putting them in an environment where they receive more training than games is more developmentally appropriate. This approach allows clubs to keep players in larger pools, foster development over winning, and let these young players play freely. Odyssey Soccer Club’s Academy will play non-result oriented competition within the Academy and other club academies if preferred.

With the academy approach, the focus on improving the individual player’s technique will be emphasized because players will be in an environment where they will not have to worry about making poor decisions or fear of failure during the match. Young players need to get a “feel” for the game; to learn to play instinctively. Young players will be allowed to show their abilities in an environment in which they will still be playing against competition without the “fear” of losing a match.

With young players it is the coaches’ job to develop every player without discretion of ability. How many times have we seen late bloomers? An academy provides an environment that allows these young players to experiment and play without the fear of losing a game. Odyssey Soccer Club’s Academy will foster an environment where players will look to be more creative, take risks, become better with the ball and have more fun.