THE JUNIOR ACADEMY PROGRAM

Girls Jr. Academy	Boys Jr. Academy

The NorthStar Junior Academy is designed for our youngest soccer players, ages U5-U8 (8/1/03 to 7/31/06). This program is geared for the beginning player to those who have been playing for a few seasons. The goal is to provide a fun, safe and developmentally appropriate soccer environment.

The Junior Academy is run by NorthStar, a professionally run soccer club representing Northern Michigan. It is a unique opportunity for recreational players, to receive professional soccer training and develop their technical skills while enhancing their enthusiasm and love for the sport.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE JR ACADEMY?      

As the name implies it is a place of learning. Players enrolled in the Junior Academy will focus on the core skills such as learning and mastering soccer techniques. We will judge their success by their ability to improve their skills they have been taught in low pressure and FUN training sessions. The NorthStar Junior Academy is designed to provide the children from all surrounding areas the opportunity to receive high quality training without the full commitment of travel soccer.

HOW DOES THE JR ACADEMY FUNCTION?

The players are split into age appropriate pools such as four year olds, five year olds and so on. They train together on a designated evening for a one-hour period among our coaching staff in high energy sessions. The curriculum is pre-planned and the player has the chance to work with highly qualified professional coaches covering all angles of the game.

THE UNIFORM

All players that register for our program receive one jersey and one pair of shorts. All players are required to wear their uniforms at each and every practice session. Players will be issued with uniform one week prior to the season start date at our parent/program meeting.

THE DEVELOPMENT

The players centered approach creates an environment for individual learning to occur. The primary goal at this age is to make every player comfortable with a ball at their feet.
• The players are exposed to various CORE SKILLS through disguised learning methods.
• Creating a passion and love for the game through FUN based development.
• Players will develop coordination and motor/muscle memory skills through the game of soccer.

WHAT IS THE TIME COMMITMENT?

SPRING & FALL SEASON:
• Eight one hour training sessions.

• One training session per week.
• Potential friendly games.

WHO COACHES THE JR ACADEMY?

The training aspect of the Junior Academy is led by a member of the NorthStar professional coaching staff, and, will be assisted by current members of the NorthStar Senior teams. The implementation of hand picked high school staff is a deliberate action on behalf of the Junior Academy to continue the clubs vision and mission statement of training quality coaches for the upcoming generations of soccer players.