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Our Executive Diretor was in the recovery room with his mom after her surgery at a local hospital when the resident nurse noticed his soccer jacket. She asked if he was involved with youth soccer. He said “Yes, I’m the executive director of the Miami DA, a local non-profit girls’ soccer club.”
She went on to tell him about her playing experience at the highest levels of girls’ youth soccer in South Florida. How she played for the Girls’ DA as well as ECNL, and named all the elite clubs she bounced between. She eventually ended up playing Division 1 college soccer at a local university.
When she finished, he asked her a simple question: “Did you enjoy your experience?” Her response was quick, without qualification: “No. I can’t stand soccer anymore.” She had reached the highest level of competitive youth soccer; earned a Division 1 college scholarship, what millions of young girls dream of, and hated it.
Her answer was sad but expected. As parents of daughters who played and still play youth soccer in Miami, we have seen the mental beating these girls take. An environment where long-term development is cast aside in favor of winning at all cost, even at the age of 10. Coaches whose egos ride on the final score. And club management that does everything to make sure the adults are happy, so the coaches stay, parents keep paying, and their club can keep calling itself “elite”. Everything revolving around the adults, with the children as bystanders regardless of whether they get harmed in the process.
This is why the Miami DA was created: To break this status-quo.
Why
Breaking the status quo of youth soccer in Miami
Our focus is 100% our players and providing them an elite pathway for our girls to play soccer. They are the protagonists of our stories. Our coaches and our club are mere facilitators, supported by parents, who guide and support our girls through their learning process. But this is about them. This is why every decision we make as a club starts with answering the question: What is best for the individual player? This “Player First” framework does not mean catering to players' whims and making things easier for them, quite the opposite. A “Player First” focus challenges players more and empowers them to learn to manage themselves and their surroundings.
What
We are extremely passionate about soccer here at the Academy for two main reasons. First, we love to teach. It is at the core of why and how we coach: That feeling you get when we you see a kid’s eyes sparkle when they not only learn something new; but realize they can achieve more than they once believed they could.
The second reason is that to us, soccer is more than just a game. Our style of soccer, and the way we teach and develop our kids to play it, is about their journey towards becoming young adults. It is a conscience choice of the values we find important; and reflects what we aspire our community to be and the type of neighbors we want our players to become. When we ask our winger to position themselves as wide as possible, so the midfielder can receive the ball in space and go to goal, we are asking that winger to sacrifice their personal desire for the ball, their desire to be the star of the play, in favor of their teammate and the good of the team. Our players play in service to each other.
There are other ways to play soccer that are more direct, more individualistic. Without passing judgment on others, we do not share those values, and thus we do not play that way. We are passionate about our soccer because it reflects how we want to be as a community. We are developing intelligent, skilled players of good character; and that “good character” is formed by the values reinforced by our playing style.
These values are at the core of what the Miami DA does and why it was created. This is their journey. The rest of us; the club, coaches, and parents, we are mere facilitators of their experience. We look forward to working with you and your family during your daughter's amazing journey.
Together, we are breaking the status quo of girls’ soccer in Miami-Dade County.
