Well, it’s hard to believe we are finally done with the winter season and are moving into the spring! As of this writing, we have completed about a week and a half of training outdoors at Southview and Mahler Park for our Academy players and at our spring training campus at Great Northern Park for our classic teams. While it is great to see the kids outdoors (we were all beginning to succumb to cabin fever), I feel enough can’t be said about all the work we were able to accomplish throughout the winter months.

Beginning in January, the Neenah SC winter training program began in earnest. A huge thanks to the Neenah Joint School District for allowing us to utilize Lakeshore Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary and the gyms at high school during the winter. Because of their generosity and our coaches’ commitment to the players in the club, we were able to offer all of our players from 8U Academy all the way up to our 19U Boys and Girls teams at least one training session per week, with many getting multiple opportunities every week. Instead of being split up by teams, players were split up by age group. Here is what those numbers look like:

• 7U/8U Academy Boys and Girls: One training session per week, 10 sessions total, on average around 20 players per session out of a possible 42
• 9U Academy Boys: Two training sessions per week, 21 sessions total, on average around 12 players per session out of a possible 28
• 9U Academy Girls: Two training sessions per week, 20 sessions total, on average around 10 players per session out of a possible 19
• 10U Academy Boys: Two training sessions per week, 26 sessions total, on average around 15 players per session out of a possible 31
• 10U Academy Girls: Two training sessions per week, 23 sessions total, on average around 10 players per session out of a possible 20
• 11U Boys: Two-three training sessions per week, 29 sessions total, on average around 10 players per session out of a possible 18
• 11U Girls: Two-three training sessions per week, 33 sessions total, on average around 10 players per session out of a possible 18
• 12U Boys: Two-three training sessions per week, 28 sessions total, on average around 10 players per session out of a possible 25
• 12U Girls: Two-three training sessions per week, 33 sessions total, on average around 15 players per session out of a possible 23
• 13U Boys: Three training sessions per week, 33 sessions total, on average around 10 players per session out of a possible 18
• 13U Girls: Three training sessions per week, 35 sessions total, on average around 10 players per session out of a possible 25
• 14U-19U Boys: Three training sessions per week, 33 sessions total, on average around 12 players per session out of a possible 49
• 14U-19U Girls: Three training sessions per week, 33 sessions total, on average around 20 players per session out of a possible 48

Out of 364 players on a classic team or in Academy, we serviced on average about 154 weekly. Just under 50% participation in the off-season, especially considering all the other activities kids participate in during the winter months, is great to see. Out of the 364 players, only 47 did not take advantage of winter training. That means 317 of our 364 players (87%) took advantage of these opportunities at least once.

Now, none of these include the additional offerings we provided throughout the winter. As a club we worked with Oshkosh United to hold some play dates at the UW-Oshkosh RecPlex dome and participated in two futsal tournaments, one put on by Concordia University and the other by WYSA (Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association). Beyond all of this, we ended our winter training with scrimmages at the RecPlex dome with the likes of Oshkosh United, Fond du Lac Soccer Club, Waunakee Area Soccer Association and Lakeshore United FC. We were able to provide games for every age group.

Overall, this was a successful winter in terms of participation and exposing our players to more soccer “outside of soccer” (i.e. futsal). It will be great to see how these kids bring everything we worked on to this upcoming spring season. Honestly, I am excited to see it!

See you on the Pitch,

Sean Breitzman

Director of Coaching 

Neenah SC