Mission Statement

The Director’s Development Program (DDP) transitions players from the less structured environment of intramural or recreational soccer to the more defined player development curriculums.

DDP players are trained as an age group by the same professional training staff that works with our travel teams year-round, under a curriculum specifically designed for our U7 and U8 DDP players by Andy Wilkes, Director of Coaching. Festivals are held jointly with other like-minded clubs to allow players to use their developing skills in short, small-sided 4v4 games that maximize their number of ball touches. By not keeping score and maintaining a consistent and singular focus on the application of the skills learned in training, we eliminate the pressure of competitive travel soccer, while still maintaining the high training standards

Program Objectives

• Encourage creative freedom in training and in games
• Reduce fear of failure by placing more emphasis on individual player development and eliminating the pressure of winning games
• Reduce or eliminate labeling players at a young age by creating player pools instead of assigning them to "A," "B," and "C" teams with the goal of developing a larger pool of talented players at each age group
• Create free player movement within age groups to ensure the top players can play up and be challenged
• Provide appropriate training to game ratio
• Maintain an appropriate travel to playing time ratio