For Those That Do Not Know Me, My Name Is Riley Butler and I Am the Director of Academy

Thank you for choosing to enroll your son or daughter in New River United's youth Academy Program and welcome (or welcome back!).

For those that do not know me, my name is Riley Butler and I am the Director of Academy.

We have a lot to go over, so please review and we will go into further details as the meeting continues.

Academy Mission/Goals

The Academy Program at New River United is intended to provide a "bridge" from recreational to travel soccer. The focus in our Academy Program is on the development of each individual player (technical ability), not the team (tactical ability). Ages 9 through 11-12 are considered the critical years for player skill development, and the Academy Program provides the ideal environment to promote the technical growth of the young soccer player. The focus is NOT on winning; while we want the players to compete at their highest level possible, the coaching staff will not sacrifice technical growth for wins. All players will play all positions throughout the season, and equal playing time is given to all players as best as possible.

In addition to skills learned on the field, players will be encouraged to respect the game, teammates, opposing players, coaches, and referees. Players will also be expected to be responsible for their own practice and game preparation.

Team Managers

Below is the list of the Age Group Mangers, and the Field Lining Coordinator:

• U9 Boys –
• Email:
• Cell:
• U10 Boys – Tijana Grove
• Email:
• Cell:
• U9 & U10 Girls -
• Email:
• Academy Commissioner/Field Lining Coordinator – Bo Webster
• Email:

Thank you managers for your volunteer efforts! The managers will keep you updated throughout the season with academy-related communications. They all work very hard at their "job", so please be diligent in responding to them when asked, as many things they will ask for will be time-sensitive. Thank you in advance for your compliance.

Coaching Staff

It is my great pleasure to present an excellent coaching staff, appointed by NRU for the Spring 2017 season.

U10 Boys: Taylor Martin, Nathan Teagarden

U9 Boys: Kyle, Emily, Stephanie

U9/10 Girls: Abby Poff

In addition to their primary age-group assignments, coaches may switch to another team for a particular practice session here and there, and there can be "stations" practices where all players will visit more or all coaches during the training session. As well, additional coaches from VT and other resources may come in from time to time to give skill-specific training (such as a goalkeeper introduction).
Volunteer Opportunities

NRU is a volunteer-driven organization, and the Academy Program's historical success has always hinged on enthusiastic volunteer participation by our families. Please let your team manager know which of the following opportunities you will volunteer for:

• Field Lining Volunteers - Academy parents are responsible for weekly field lining of the CRC Fields. The more volunteers, the less duty everyone gets. It is a simple task, and all of the required details are already documented and available to share to make this an easy task.
• Field Lining Coordinator – Bo Webster- This is the person that schedules who lines when.
• NRU Academy Games - various volunteers will be needed for the academy games to help with moving goals before and after the event, and trash pickup. Team managers will share more detail on this once the event date gets closer. No need to volunteer for games until further communication is made regarding the event (I just wanted to plant the seed for now).
• Volunteer Referees - are used for the intra-squad matches and friendlies. Older siblings (U12 and older) and parents that know the main laws of the game are great for this.

Practices

When: Monday and Wednesday starting August 28th, 2017

Where: Corporate Research Center Fields (CRC Fields)

Time: 5:30 to 7:00pm

What to Wear: Monday Blue Jersey- Wednesday White Jersey

What to Bring: Ball (size 4), Water, Shin Guards

Please be on time for practice and go to the player’s assigned area. If you are early, you will be juggling on your own, doing foot skills, or passing with one partner, NO SHOOTING.

I have planned every session and it is up to the coaches to execute them. All session can be viewed on the website under “Programs,” “Academy,” “Academy Info/Forms.” Some groups/players will move quicker through a session than others. We do have coaches available if an individual player needs more time on a certain session. We will not let one player slow an entire group down.

Practice Session topics are as followed:

• Sessions 1-5 Foot Skills
• Sessions 5-10 Passing
• Sessions 11-15 Movement off the Ball
• Sessions 16-20 Defending
• Sessions 20-25 Shooting

For U9 (2009’s) Practices

Practice groups, coaches, topics, assigned area will rotate every 5 practices. For example, say the U9 boys have 30 players total (with jersey numbers 1-30) and 3 coaches. For the first 5 practices (3 Mondays, 2 Wednesdays) with the topic of “Foot Skills” players 1-10 will be with Coach A field 4, players 11-20 will be with Coach B field 6, Players 21-30 will have Coach C field 8. On the 6th practice and through the 10th practice, they will have a new group of players, a new topic (passing), a new coach and possible a different field. Players 1,4,7,11,14,18,22,26,30 will have Coach B field 4, players 2,6,10,13,17,21,25,27,29 will have Coach A field 6, and so on. By doing this, players will get to work with different coaches and hear a different voice, and players play with different players to get used to everyone. I will not be taking any friend/team/carpool request as I will create teams at random.

For U10 (2008’s) Practices

The U10 (2007) boys will be divided by skill level. The first few (up to 5) practices will be used at an evaluation period. I will then meet with the staff and divide up groups base on who we think are at similar skill level. All groups will still have the same training session, they will still work with all coaches, they will just be training with players that have their similar skill set. Players can move up and down from these groups, depending on their development throughout the season, so if you don’t agree with where you are placed at first, put in the work and show that you belong in the next group. It isn’t a bad thing if you are not in the first group, several players develop at different rates and are still learning skill sets, this also does not reflect your kids try out status going into the U11.

Tuesday and Thursday Homework

Tuesday and Thursday individual practice (see attached). If you really want to improve, you will want/need to get in the habit of getting touches on the ball, on days your team is not practicing. Those who want to improve and get better will take advantage of these days, and those who want to stay the same and be average, will. The choice is yours.

Games/Schedule

At the youth level, games are a forum for players to test their ball skills and game awareness, and should be considered an additional means of development, rather than the objective. Results are important as it gives the players a competitive focus in the match. Coaches are encouraged to promote soccer that is free flowing; is coach-guided, not coach-directed; and, demands that all players on the field, regardless of their specified position, participate in defending and attacking. Teams will be divided up evenly heading into weekends, unless teams need to be tier for a tournament or another club request two different tiers.

There are various types of events that academy teams participate in. They are:

• Intra-squad scrimmages - These promote the ideal non-threatening environment where players can demonstrate their skills learned during the practices while not having any pressure on winning. These typically have either coaches or parent volunteers as referees.
• Friendlies - These are scheduled matches with one or more clubs, either at our field or at the other club's field. Games will be no further than 2.5 hours away. These also typically have either a coach or parent volunteers as referees.
• Tournaments - Tournament participation is optional, but recommended, and each tournament incurs an additional cost per player (anywhere from $40-70 per player per tourney, plus travel costs). For each tournament, expect two full matches on Saturday and either one or two on Sunday. Tournament schedule and team roster make-ups should be available a couple weeks prior to the tournament. The players enjoy these events as it gives them a taste for what travel soccer will be like when they reach the U11 age group. Team managers will keep parents informed on the deadlines for deciding whether or not to participate in each tournament. Finally, it is our intent for interested Academy players to participate in the NRU Summer Kickoff Tournament on May 21st and 22nd.

In general, academy games will be held on Saturday or Sunday morning/afternoon. You can plan on an event most weekends during the season. If a Saturday game/event is canceled due to rain, the coaching staff may have the players show up to play an intra-squad match on Sunday afternoon (of the same weekend), weather permitting and provided that enough coaches are available.

More specifics on the schedule and types of events will be made available as soon as the schedules are complete and final but this is what we have so far and might add another game or two.

NRU Academy Schedule

September 3rd – Inter-squad (Blacksburg)

September 10th – TBD

September 16th - @SVU (Harrisonburg)

September 30th – vs. Christiansburg/Roanoke Star (Blacksburg

October 14th – Inter-squad @ Radford University Game

October 28th – @ CVU (Lynchburg)

November 4th – vs. Christiansburg/Star City (Blacksburg)

For all games, players should always bring BOTH sets of uniforms, and arrive ready to play at least 30 minutes prior to the listed event start time. Please do not show up ten minutes prior to kickoff and expect your son/daughter to perform admirably or play equal minutes as everyone else.

Rules for Parents

PLEASE do not coach from the sidelines. The players will be learning to play all positions on the field, and the coaches are not yet too concerned with their tactical ability - tactics can easily be taught down the road once the technical components of play are mastered. If parents are coaching from the sidelines, it may conflict with what their coach has asked them to do or focus on, and it also may introduce confusion to the player or interrupt their thought processes (these players will have many things to process simultaneously during games and even in an intra-squad scrimmage). Please allow the players to play and the coaches to coach as they see fit and the parents observe the game. If there are serious coaching issues that you feel requires attention, please bring them to your team manager and/or the Director of Academy and we'll be happy to address the issue.

Just a reminder, in case anyone forgot, these kids are 7,8, and 9 years old, they will make lots of mistakes, they will give the ball away, they will miss a wide open goal, they will not run as hard as you want them to at times, and probably do several other things that will make you want to comment on, but please be respectful and understand that your child is out there trying their best. Let them learn from their mistakes.

(What constitutes "coaching from the sidelines"? If the comment is an instruction, most likely it is considered an act of coaching. "Kick it!" "Shoot!" "Pass!" "Cross it" "Look behind you!" are all instructions and are an act of coaching (whether the speaker realizes it or not). Cheering from the sideline is definitely encouraged, however. "Great play!" "Nice move!" "Wow! Fantastic save!"). I prefer just clapping.

Uniforms

The NRU uniform includes two jerseys (one blue, one white), one pair of Shorts (one blue), and now 1 pair of White Socks. Players should always bring both sets of uniforms for ALL scheduled events. Team managers should be sending reminders about who wears which colors each week (typically, home team wears white jersey/socks, and away team wears blue jersey/socks).

Inclement Weather

Weather-related cancellations will always be communicated:

- Email from NRU

- Website Field Status

- Email from Managers

- Social Media Accounts (instagram, Facebook, twitter)

We will always try to alert of cancellations/field closures by 3:30pm (weekdays/nights) or by 8:00am (weekends).

Communication

Parent------ Team Manager ------Riley Butler

Parents, if you have any issues or questions, please reach out to your manager first. If they cannot answer your questions, I will then step in to help solve any issues if needed.

24-Hour Rule. If a parent as any issue regarding what happened in a game which could include, playtime, positions, scoring, etc, please do not talk to a coach or manager right after a game, please wait 24-hours to collect your thoughts and then if you feel the need the reach out to someone, you may do so.

Team Snap: All parents need to be on the app Team Snap. It is free and a great way to stay organized and planned for both parents and coaches. It has when/where practices and games are, what to wear, contact information, and it also allows you to show if you are able to attend and event or not. Sign up today!

Looking Forward to It!

The coaching staff and everyone at NRU are all looking forward to a great season. If you have any questions, please contact your team manager, or you can contact me directly via email if the manager is somehow unable to provide the required answer.

Thanks,

Riley Butler

Director of Academy

New River United

904.563.3385