PANTHER CITY PHILOSOPHY

In today’s soccer climate, especially in the US, there is an unhealthy trend of focusing on and promoting athleticism over soccer fundamentals. This climate and attitude is having an adverse effect on soccer development of our youth. Panther City FC focuses on development, an understanding of the game and Soccer IQ which varies dramatically from the very young player to the adult player.

At Panther City FC we have licensed coaches and team managers whose primary focus is on the child’s development not the monetary aspects of promoting a club. Our competitive cost structure allows parents to directly benefit from the flow-through costs. Costs (league and ref fees, tournaments and field rentals et al) are shared across the team roster without additional club or administrative fees. We believe in age appropriate coaching with the proper skills and techniques for the player’s given age with emphasis on the long-term soccer player not the short term “win”. It is a marathon not a sprint.

Panther City FC’s primary objective is to provide an environment that will aid the youth player in their ever-evolving Soccer IQ (problem solving, improvisation, decision making, confidence and skills). How can one expect a player to develop both physically and mentally if those players are more focused on failures or mistakes?

At Panther City FC, we will focus on “ball mastery”, developing the player’s ability to control and manipulate the ball with not only the feet, but the head, chest and various parts of the lower extremities.

Training curriculum fundamentals and structured practices include:

• Footwork / Skills
• Passing / Receiving / Dribbling
• Striking / Shooting
• Set Plays / Tactics
• Rondos / Small Sided Games / Scrimmages
• Conditioning
• Goal Keeper Training

Players develop skills that typically prioritizes placement at one position over another on the soccer field, but that inevitably changes from season to season as the player physically matures. We do not isolate players in one position where they are never given the opportunity to play another because another player occupies that “spot”. At Panther City FC, we teach our players the requirements, demands and expectations of all the various field positions. Players will be afforded the opportunity to play in multiple positions in practice, scrimmages and games.

By promoting our player’s freedom to exercise free thought and independent thinking, their experience grows along with their skills. Panther City FC coaches will be there to guide the payers, to identify each player’s strengths and weaknesses through graded skills assessments with written and verbal feedback delivered to both players and parents. We offer pre-game and post-game Q&A to deliver consistent expectations established during training sessions to develop the well-rounded player. We nurture direct communication from each player to both their teammates and coaches.