Feedback from Fall 2026
Hello,
This was my first year coaching and my daughter's first year in Junior Academy. I joined because a good friend of my daughter was also doing it, and their mom asked if I wanted to coach with her. I admittedly know almost nothing about soccer, but she made it sound like it would be a lot of fun. To be perfectly honest, based on how she told me it used to run and how it ran this year, I was severely disappointed.
First off, the head coach that ran U5 all but ignored me yet spoke with the other dad's who were coaches. I truly believe if there could have been some kind of get-together for the coaches, other than the 5-minute meeting before the season started, it would have at least given everyone a chance to get to know one another and establish how practices would run.
Secondly, the practices seemed disorganized. When you've got 20+ 4-5 year olds, having a routine in place is key. Allowing them to come together, warm up, and actually feel like a team would allow those who may have been more hesitant to get going (like my daughter was) or allow some who may have been late arrivals (because let's face it...they are 4-5) time to "get their head in the game" and make it feel like a real practice.
While I like that games were used to teach soccer skills, trying to teach 20+ 4-5 year olds all at once is insanity. Half the kids weren't listening or didn't understand what they were doing. I was told it used to be that each coach/volunteer had a group of 6 or so kids. Not only does that allow the coaches to develop a rapport with a core group of kids, but it also allows those children to actually learn the skills that are being taught, so when they move up to U6, they may actually have some skills. When the kids did the 1v1 games, you had a ton of kids just standing around, having to wait. 4-5-year-olds don't wait patiently, so you've got many wandering off or doing something else entirely.
As mentioned, I am not a soccer person, but I did grow up doing theatre, and I understand the importance of being part of a team and feeling like you belong. Not only did I feel ignored and unneeded, but my daughter was completely in her own world, choosing to play on the sidelines with her friend instead. This game probably isn't for my kiddo, as she rarely participated, and I accept that, but to alienate people and not even try to make them feel like part of the team feels completely counterproductive to what sports should do for a kid. I don't know if we will be back, as my daughter definitely seems to have found her place in the dance class we enrolled her in, but regardless, I truly think that the junior academy at least should return to the old way, less you continue to alienate families and turn away kids who could have developed a love of the sport.