Development Teams (U8-U12)

Okanagan FC Development Team Programs are proudly sponsored in 2023 by CSN Collision Centres

www.insistoncsn.com

Program Overview

Our Development Team Program is for motivated boys and girls from U8 to U12.

Teams are formed at the beginning of July each year, but players can be added to our rosters throughout the year with our evaluation process.

Evaluations are open to all players registered on the Junior Academy and also to non registered players who wish to find out more about our teams and about our program. In short, everybody is very welcome! More information about our evaluation process is HERE.

Once selected, Development Team players will commit to a full playing phase on the team. They will train 2/3 times a week through July, August, September and October for the Summer/Fall playing phase, and then the same again during March, April, May and June for the Spring playing phase.

November, December, January and February will be off season for the Development Teams. Players will be able to enrol for our Winter Academy Program, and/or our Winter Futsal Program….both will be optional.

All of our Development Teams will be coached by a full time or part time, qualified staff coach. Our teams will never be coached by a volunteer.

Players will be required to purchase an equipment package…items are available individually throughout the year at our club shop.

Our Development Teams will compete in a variety of tournaments, local exhibition matches (within COYSA and TOYSL), and inter squad matches throughout each phase. We aim to get each of our Development Teams 15-20 competitive matches each phase.

Each of our teams will travel to The Lower Mainland for matches and tournaments 3-4 times per year, on average, twice per phase.

Our Development Team Program conforms to the guidelines set out by the Canadian Soccer Association’s Long Term Player Development Plan. The program is structured around stage 3 of the LTPD “Learning to Train” specifically aimed at players between the ages of U9 and U12…the “Golden Age” of soccer learning. We play 7 a side at U9 and U10, and then 8 a side at U11 and U12. We use a size 4 ball and we never record our scores or standings, as we strongly believe that the priority during these very important years is development, and not results. We use BC Soccer’s Small Sided Games Manual to structure our competitive playing environment.

The roster size for our Development Teams is 12-14 and we will usually field one team at each age group. We have a fair playing time policy in place for our Development Teams, and we do not stray from it.

We have a playing style philosophy in place and it is the same for all of our Development Teams. We like to play a fast paced, attacking style of soccer which is based upon domination of the ball. Our Development Teams are exciting to watch…we NEVER play ‘kick and run’.

The cost of our Development Team Program for each playing phase is as follows: