Support town-based club soccer for skills, community, and fun
These soccer programs put kids first
It’s Kicks for Cancer weekend in Acton. The sidelines are filled with jubilant fans. Pink shirts and big smiles are everywhere. It’s a wonderful event that harkens back to a simpler time, when young athletes took immense pride in representing their communities, and club teams had not yet come to dominate youth sports. I miss those days.
I have been involved in youth soccer for 20 years as a coach and served three years as president of Acton-Carlisle Youth Soccer (CCYS). Over that time, I have watched with sorrow and frustration as for-profit clubs, preying on parental anxieties, have grown in influence. It’s now common for children as young as 8 or 9 to play club soccer, their parents paying thousands of dollars for the “privilege.”
A few years ago, I completed the U.S.Soccer C license course. Perhaps the best part was the opportunity to share thoughts with committed coaches. Roughly two-thirds of them were expats from the UK and all were harshly critical of youth soccer in Massachusetts. In their eyes, for-profit clubs had ruined the game. They were driven by money, not community, not sportsmanship, and certainly not fun.
We are fortunate in Acton-Carlisle to have an alternative. Under the leadership of Mark Thomas, CCYS coaching director, children have access not only to the in-town recreational and inter-town travel programs, but also Strikers United, a town-based club program for children with ability and a passion for soccer. Strikers offers competitive games and professional coaching, but emphasizes community, player development, and, most importantly, fun!
I hope more families in our towns and neighboring communities will support town-based club
soccer programs that put kids first. Then maybe the joy so apparent at Kicks for Cancer can
become a regular part of youth soccer once again.
Jon Grayzel
Grant Street
