VISION SOCCER ACADEMY OF WAUKEE
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Mission Statement
Vision Soccer Academy of Waukee (VSA) was established in 1996 as a non-profit organization committed to providing soccer development opportunities for approximately 2200 young athletes from ages 3 to 19. Vision Soccer Academy’s mission statement is to “Develop People and Players Through Soccer". The skills taught through VSA’s soccer programs center around players understanding appropriate time management, engaging in an active life style, taking time to rest, engaging in team oriented activities, and participating in an environment with positive people. These tenets of our mission provide youth athletes with the skills needed to lead healthy active lives.
About This Cause
Since the establishment of Vision Soccer Academy of Waukee in 1996, VSA has offered two main soccer programs; recreational and select. VSA's recreational program is formed according to location and neighborhoods and emphasizes development through participation of players at all ability levels. The recreational soccer program provides service to anyone between the ages of 4 and 19 years old. Two soccer seasons are offered for the recreational program in the fall and spring. Lastly, all recreational teams are coached by volunteer coaches. VSA's select program is for players who are extremely dedicated to the sport and are more inclined to pursue playing opportunities in high school, college, and professionally. Our select teams train at least three times weekly and play in various leagues based on competitive level in the fall, winter and spring seasons. For the Select program, unrestricted tryouts are held in early June to determine teams with invitations for the U11 through U13 age divisions being issued around mid-June. Invitations for U14 & above age divisions are issued around the end of June. All select teams at Vision Soccer Academy are coached by the professional coaching staff who have a great deal of playing and/or coaching experience along with a USSF and/or NSCAA license. In the Fall of 2008, the Iowa Soccer Association allowed a few chosen soccer clubs to offer a more advanced soccer program for players in the pre-select age groups. VSA was one of the few clubs statewide allowed to offer the Academy soccer program that fall. The Academy provides a structured training environment to allow 9 & 10 year old players with more advanced skills an opportunity to develop at a faster pace. In addition to VSA offering the three main soccer development programs for youth athletes, Vision Soccer Academy also provides additional programming through its Mighty Tikes (3-4 year olds), Grasskickers (5-6 year olds) and Pre-Academy programs (7-8 year olds). Players seeking a higher level of development are also offered various opportunities to participate in camps and individual training offered by VSA’s professional coaches. VSA is dedicated to providing an environment tailored to the player’s age and developmental level, which provides youth athletes individual choices in training level. In February of 2013, the Vision Soccer Academy of Waukee participated in the NSCAA Club Standards Project Intermediate Assessment offered through the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) to evaluate our club against national standards to determine the needs of the club in better serving youth soccer athletes in our community. The three main areas NSCAA evaluated were player development, coaching practices, and administrative practices. The NSCAA Club Standards Project provides a catalyst to elevate the standard of player and coach development in organized youth soccer in the USA - one organization at a time. This is achieved in part by raising awareness of key principles of player development and assisting organizations in implementing educationally sound and long-term strategic decisions. The NSCAA Club Standards Project is based on an evaluation model called the Y-SAT™ (Youth Soccer Assessment Tool) developed in 2008. In the intermediate assessment process, there are five phases including data collection, interview, strengths and weaknesses analysis, report, and post report review. NSCAA provided VSA with its strengths and weaknesses in the areas of player development, coaching practices, and administrative practices and compared these areas to best practices focused around, coaching education, curriculum framework, strategic planning, risk management, and coaching oversight. From the suggested weaknesses identified in the assessment, VSA has established an action plan to address the needs of the club to better serve of members. These action steps serve as the club’s short and long term goals. Vision Soccer Academy of Waukee has established four actions our club will take to improve in the area of player development over the next five years. These actions are: 1. Establish our own player development curriculum to provide the reference point for all player and coach development decisions. 2. Implement a comprehensive player assessment program for the primary purpose of development (not team selection) starting with the youngest players. 3. Introduce a competency based training approach to guide coaches in planning and content selection. 4. Provide a centralized training environment for all teams and age groups to receive exposure to top quality coaching and assist the Director of Coaching in providing oversight to all teams/groups and coaches. The number one player development weakness recognized by NSCAA was the deficiency of quality playing fields. The current soccer facility of the Vision Soccer Academy is located west of town on a 23 acre plot of land and surrounded by corn and soybean fields. The only access to the soccer complex is by gravel roads which creates significant challenges for the club’s members. Depending on weather conditions, dust generated by the heavy traffic on the narrow rural road creates significant visibility issues resulting in car accidents and unsafe driving conditions for commuting members and their families. Also, the road and harvesting dust disbursed by certain wind conditions pose challenging environmental conditions for playing and training by the athletes. Lastly, the current soccer complex lacks an irrigation system, which has caused the fields to deteriorate even more during the drought conditions of the last two years. These poor field conditions put players at risk of injury and have caused our club to ask players to train in flat soled shoes to prevent such injuries. Since April of 2013, VSA has invested a great deal of time and effort to remedy this player development weakness by engaging the Waukee School District in the Timberline Soccer Complex collaboration for area youth soccer players. The new Timberline Soccer Complex is scheduled for completion by September of 2015. Access to quality fields presents our club with a chance to provide oversight and support to coaches working with recreation and competitive teams. A centralized training location offers an opportunity for our club to rotate players and teams through the facility while maintaining high standards of coaching. In addition to improving the environment for players and coaches, VSA will significantly reduce its exposure to risk management issues and liability. A second area for improvement in terms of player development deals with engaging players and parents in the younger age groups to improve player retention after the age of 12. Establishing strong relationships with members, offering exceptional programming, and ensuring quality coaching during the formative years of development, goes a long way to creating a community culture. In order to accomplish this goal, our club implemented new soccer programming by offering the Mighty Tikes program for 3 and 4 year players; the Grasskickers program for 5 and 6 year old players; and the Pre-Academy program for 7 and 8 year olds. The third area of improvement detailed by the report deals with continuity in staffing and programming. To address this deficiency, VSA has begun the process of creating a team of loyal coaches and staff. Our club recently hired a coach holding a United States Soccer Federation “A” license. Additionally, VSA has established a structural framework to provide consistent, quality programming. Currently, VSA’s professional coaching staff has the highest percentage of “A” licensed coaches in the state. With the recent changes in staff, the consistency of the continuum of programming has improved. Another area of improvement centered on our declining participation over the last few years by players in the U4 through U9 age groups. With a shrinking pool of players at the younger age groups, this leaves fewer players to participate at the older age groups in the future. To change the current trend, VSA has set player pool goals at both the U6 & U9 age groups to support the future viability of having 2 select boys’ teams & 2 select girls’ teams at each age group between the ages of 14 & 18. The player pool goal at U6 for both boys and girls is in the range of 180 to 220 players. The player pool at U9 for both boys and girls is in the range of 105 to 145 players. The last player development area of improvement deals with the establishment of an educational framework for the club. The educational framework consists of the systems and processes that create a relevant, coherent and engaging environment for all players, parents and coaches. VSA has adopted NSCAA’s 10 essential components of a successful education framework as goals in establishing an appropriate educational framework for the club. The components are: 1. The intended outcomes are clearly stated for each stage of development/age group. A successful system clearly defines, in measurable terms, expectations for what students need to know and be able to do at end development stage. 2. Assessment is used for the primary purpose of development and measures performance competencies consistent with the intended learning outcomes. Assessment should also be a continuous process, with various methods utilized and with several data collection points during the year. 3. A recognition and reward system for players and coaches that focuses on achievement and progress in relation to the assessment program. 4. Involve the coaching team (volunteers and professionals) in all discussions and decisions. A consultative approach helps to develop more detailed planning and more often than not creates buy-in. 5. A major emphasis is placed on coach development and the establishment of an in-house coaching education program supported by external courses, awards and qualifications. 6. A high-quality, Pre-K to 2nd grade program is critical in establishing the basic individual techniques, working in small groups and for the love of the game. 7. Parents are engaged in the education experience.