Friday April 10th & 17th - Decatur Soccer Academy

Decatur Soccer Academy

As part of adding a new academy/traveling soccer team for more advanced city resident soccer youth players, Decatur Active Living will hold "Soccer I.D. program" open training sessions at Ebster Field on Friday, April 3rd; Friday, April 10th; and Friday April 17th. Ebster Field is behind the Decatur Police Dept./Ebster Recreation Center, 404 West Trinity Place. The academy/traveling soccer team is a supplement to the traditional, long-standing Decatur Youth Soccer recreational program.

The training for 8, 9 and 10 year olds (U 10) will be from 6-7 pm, Friday, April 3rd, 10th and 17th.

The training for 11 and 12 year olds (U 12) will be from 7-8 pm, Friday, April 3rd, 10th and 17th.

The purpose of the program will be to identify players from U-10 to U-12 with the desire and commitment to play academy soccer starting, with tryouts in late May for the 2009–10 season.
Each session will build on the previous session so commitment to attendance is important. After the first three open dates, there will be 6 more Friday sessions for the committed players concluding on May 22nd.

Training will be developmental, with a focus on fundamentals. One of the objectives will be to prepare for academy tryouts in May and provide exposure to the academy environment. Each participant who completes the program will be given a free training jersey; the Friday I.D. sessions are free of charge.

Throughout the program there will be verbal feedback for parents/guardians to understand how their children are progressing. For more information about the soccer academy/traveling team, please contact parent volunteer Frank Lesesne, frankl@f2technology.com or Paul Smith, Academy Director, ureds22@hotmail.com.

Please note that the Decatur Soccer Academy I.D. program is only available to players who have not currently registered to play academy soccer with another GSSA affiliated club.

Paul Smith Bio

Paul Smith was born in Nottingham England and has over 12 years of experience coaching youth soccer. From 1997 – 2000 Paul was the Director of Coaching for Fayetteville Soccer Club in Fayetteville, North Carolina. From the Fall of 2000 – Spring of 2003 Paul was the Assistant Director of Coaching at the prestigious Charlotte Soccer club in Charlotte North Carolina helping to establish the club as one of the premier youth soccer organizations in the State of NorthCarolina.In 2003 Paul was hired as Academy Director at Concorde Fire in Atlanta. Paul’s efforts helped propel Concorde Fire’s academy program to become one of the best and most successful in Georgia. Paul played professionally in England with Notts County FC before moving to theUnited States to attend school at Methodist College where he was an All- American in 1996. He holds his USSF National Youth License and English FA Level 1 & 2 licenses. Paul also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical education with a minor in child psychology.