Juniors

 

Overview of NGS Programs

Juniors Program: Kindergarten

NGS Juniors Kindergarten (JK) program sessions meet on Saturdays in the late-morning/early afternoon. The 60-minute program emphasizes fun, touches on the ball and positive encouragement. Players engage in soccer learning activities led by the NGS Professional Coaching Staff during the first half hour, then play small-sided (4v4) scrimmages.  Players are placed on teams with a parent coach for organizational purposes and may submit friend/teammate requests to NGS.

Juniors Program: 1st Grade

NGS Juniors Grade 1 (J1) program sessions meet on Saturday mornings. The Juniors Grade 1 program meets for 75 minutes and emphasizes fun and learning. Players engage in soccer learning activities led by the NGS Professional Coaching Staff during the first half hour, then play small-sided (4v4) scrimmages.  Players are placed on teams with a parent coach for organizational purposes and may submit friend/teammate requests to NGS.

Juniors Program: 2nd Grade

The NGS Juniors Grade 2 (J2) program plays scrimmages on Saturday afternoons. J2 players are assigned to teams and may submit friend/teammate requests to NGS. J2 teams are coached by parent coaches and hold one 60-minute practice each week. On Saturdays, teams play 40-minute small-sided scrimmages (4v4) against other NGS J2 teams using small goals. Games are officiated by NGS referees-in-training.

There is no scorekeeping in NGS JK, J1 or J2 soccer.

Team Placements

Juniors are placed on grade-level teams with the goal of creating equally balanced teams.  NGS is a community program, not a school-based program. Therefore, we purposely create teams with girls from multiple neighboring schools and honor only one mutual friend request per player.  To the extent possible, we place players (who register on time) on teams with at least one schoolmate.  Teams are generally mixed up from year-to-year and sometimes season-to-season so that players have the opportunity to:

  • Develop good sportsmanship skills, winning some games and losing some games
  • Develop social skills, playing with friends and making new friends
  • Develop soccer skills, learning from multiple coaches

Families are notified about their fall team placements by email in late August and their spring team placements in late March. Please help your daughter have a positive soccer experience by supporting her assigned team.

Roster Size

NGS has an open roster policy — everyone who registers on time is placed on a team.  (See late registration policy.)  Therefore, one of our most challenging tasks is dividing the total number of registered players into teams that have sufficient numbers for practice and games, but are small enough to maximize playing time.  To address this issue and create the best learning and playing environment for our girls, NGS has established minimum and maximum roster sizes for each age group that are in line with US Youth Soccer guidelines.  Exceptions may only be made with approval from the Juniors Program Committee.  Coaches do not decide how many players are placed on their teams.

4 v  4 – Grade K/1/2:  Min 6 – Max 8
7 v  7 – Grade 3/4:  Min 11 – Max 13
9 v  9 – Grade 5/6:  Min 14 – Max 16
11 v 11 – Grade 7/8:  Min 16 – Max 22