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Mission Statement
Our mission is to provide our players with the best possible environment to
learn and improve their soccer skills, and to develop a lasting desire to play
the game
Objectives
We believe that a player has more “fun” in soccer when s/he knows how to play
the game. To this extend, we have certain age-related objectives. For example, a
very young player will need to learn how to kick the ball without using his/her
toes, while an older player needs to understand set plays and tactics.
We believe that soccer is a sport that should be played well into the senior
years because of its physical and social benefits. For this, our objective is to
instil in a player the desire to play this game by making him/her competent on
the field and show them how to deal with the various personalities found on a
team.
History
The Milton Soccer Academy was founded in September 2004 as a non-profit
organization by Uwe Samstag-Schnock, Dolly Pawlak, and Michael Walter. Soon after, Cory
Carter, Mark Boswell, Joe Amaral, and Pat Henstock joined in to complement the
Board.
The Academy started with its skills-focused indoor program in October 2004 with
24 players aged 9-11. It grew to 110 players in two age groups in the summer of
2005. This is when a separate, weekly Advanced Skills Development session was
introduced for those who wanted to learn advanced, and engrain newly acquired,
skills. During the winter of 2005, we were able to accommodate over 60 players
in three age groups. During this winter, we also piloted the “Kinder Soccer
Academy” for players aged 3 & 4, with great success. During the summer of 2006,
we had over 250 children organized in four age groups. Our Advanced Skills
Development sessions were quite popular as well, providing players with an
additional 2 hours per week of training.
The summer of 2006 marked the first time that we needed to turn players away as
demand outstripped coaching capacity. Our indoor 2006 session now has over 130
players, with many more that we could not service. Our 2007 outdoor season has
reached capacity – in fact, we are scaling back in order to increase the
coaches-players ratio. This will further enhance the soccer experience of our
young players. 2008 will see the addition of an U14 age group.
In the summer of 2007, the Academy added 3 adult Ladies teams, playing in an
intercity recreational league.
This allows us to complement our programs with senior teams and draw upon more
experienced players to augment our coaching staff. In 2008, demand for adult
female programming allows us to run a league with 8 teams. This is also in accordance
with our club mission of providing an avenue for players to have a club when
they grow beyond their junior years.
Future
Growth is not always a good thing and we are cognizant of issues that come about
when admitting players indiscriminately. Our policy is to limit the number of
players according to the number of qualified coaches we have at time of
registration. Lastly and invariably, a big organization loses touch with its
members – we hope not to. With this in mind, we cap enrolment into our programs.
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