What is USA North?
USA North is a soccer club dedicated to training and helping players compete in the North Knoxville Soccer Area including Powell, Halls, Karns, Fountain City, Corryton, Gibbs, and stretching to outlying areas including Campbell and Scott County. We have players representing all of those communities working together with teamwork to enable players to play and compete at all levels of soccer.
USA North Soccer is both a club and a concept. It's roots stretch back to 1997 when a group of local players and teams wanted to get more technical training than what was offered at the time in the Knoxville area. Players began to realize that something more was needed in order to compete with areas like Atlanta and Nashville and Cincinnati. Our program developed from Coerver based Dutch soccer (Voetbalschool Balcontrole Techniektraining) program inspired by legendary soccer coach Wiel Coerver. The North Area Soccer Training Academy began 10 years ago and helped to furnish area clubs with many talented players and teams. Becoming a stand alone entity in Fall of 2014 this program will increase and focus on bringing opportunity to all players in North Knox and surrounding communities. The program teaches both soccer and life lessons through the sport to players from intro level to the most advanced. Our club will provide the best and most complete training in technical, tactical, and athetic player development, while at the same time enabling development of the player as a person and engendering a passion for the game.The Club strives to make its programs available to all youth players who have a sincere desire to learn to play soccer at a competitive level, and the Club has an active scholarship program that makes financial aid available to those who need financial assistance to participate in the Club’s programs. We work with both middle school and high school soccer to allow players who are participating or want to participate in those programs the ability and skills to do so. We provide teams that start at all age group and allow players to develop locally first as a select team, and then as they build confidence and ability they are then able to compete more and more in the travel side of the organization.
We hold to these concepts when training players within the program...
Value
We run more programs and provide more continuous training throughout the year for the fees that are charged than any of the other local clubs. We strongly encourage our teams to have a reasonable travel budget each season, and we keep our club fees and overhead as low as possible. Unlike the big box clubs every player on every team interacts with the Director and has multiple coaches work with them. Additionally players are allowed and encouraged to develop locally without huge costs, and even as players move to the travel side we make sure to keep the costs as low as possible so the focus remains the soccer side of things.
Developing the Whole Player
Our Club’s focus is on all aspects of our player’s development, not just technical soccer skills. Our coaching staff strives to help our players grow in body, mind and spirit through soccer. The game of soccer can be a great teacher, and our staff tries to use that resource to its fullest potential. Players learn to play as hard as possible while always maintaining good sportsmanship and core values.
Player-Focused Coaching
Our coaches are coaching soccer because they love seeing children grow and learn through sports. All players are given Personal Objectives to Practice (POP's) and Evaluations each season to help every player learn what they must individually do to continue to improve and to realize their own potential as a soccer player. Our coaches certainly want to win soccer games, but more importantly, they want to maximize our players’ personal growth.
Team Development
Our Club understands that one of the main reasons children play youth sports is to enjoy the great experience that comes from being part of a team. An important part of our Club’s culture is to encourage team cohesion throughout each soccer year. Additionally we engender a cohesion between our teams that is rarely if ever seen in club soccer. Teams and players in our club work with the other teams and players so that we are always developing as player, a team, and an entire club.
Communication
Our coaching staff and board of directors welcome open communication from our soccer families. Competitive soccer is part of our players’ overall educational experience, and our coaching staff recognizes that the whole family must be involved for your child’s soccer experience to be positive. Coaches and Directors are there as a resource to answer questions and help people make the most informed choices, and provide the best insight and information.
Honest Evaluation
All players each season deserve and will receive an evaluation. Our objective is to give each player feedback so they can continue to develop at as fast a rate as possible and with correct guidance. Our evaluations come from 18+ years of working with youth teams and being part of players development from kids as young as 4, to college players.
Sportsmanship
One of the most important lessons that can be learned through sports is to win and lose with grace and dignity. We want our players, coaches and families to respect each other, other teams and the referees that make playing soccer possible.
Growth
We are always welcoming to new families to our Club, from new players to those who already show a high level of soccer ability. We want to add coaches and soccer families that share our values and goals and who will help us grow in a positive way. Our goal is to enable every child who wants to develop in soccer an opportunity, and a place to grow!