Our Academy Philosophy
Young players need time to develop without the pressure of winning and losing at the earliest stages of their soccer careers. At Century United, we are developing a scouting/evaluation process that will guide your child through the course of several years. Within this time frame your son or daughter will have the time to develop at his or her own pace.
We do not believe that eight, nine, or ten year old children should be labeled as “not good enough” when they are unable to play the game proficiently. Submitting a child to a tryout process at such a young age cannot only damage their psychological development but increase the likelihood that they will chose a different sport. Tryouts are like job interviews except in soccer they are conducted for children. Can you imagine a job interview for a child that is only nine-years-old??? It’s hard to imagine, but that is exactly what is taking place throughout the soccer landscape of Western Pennsylvania.
Our definition of proficiently is nothing more than being able to perform all the skills and making decisions necessary to play the game. We don’t believe that any parent would attempt to get a job within a field that they know nothing about. So how does Century United plan on developing this academy model?
(To read more about the Player Pool Model used at Academies, click here.)
Come have your son or daughter trained the Century United Way – allowing them to develop the RIGHT WAY.
2011-12 Season
Winter Academy at GREENTREE SPORTSPLEX
600 Iron City Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15205
Click to download flyer
DATES: Fridays January 6, 13, 20, 27;
February3, 10, 17, 24;
March 2, 9, 16, 23
Time: 5:45 - 6:45 PM
Cost: $225 per player
Click to register
PISA (Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena)
22 Rich Hill Road., Cheswick, PA 15024
Saturdays January 21,28
Saturdays Feb 4, 18, 25
Saturdays March 3, 10, 17
Time: 10:30 - Noon
Cost: $150 per player
Download a pdf flyer
Click to register
Century United is privileged to offer Academy training at three sites using our Academy Curriculum. (Click here to read more about the curriculum.) All Academy players practice by age groups as shown on the following age chart :
| Tykes | 8/1/2003 to 7/31/2006 |
| Niners | 8/1/2002 to 7/31/2003 |
| Stars | 8/1/2001–7/31/2002 |
| U11 | 8/1/2000–7/31/2001 |
Century United coaching staff will assist with the Academy. To register - CLICK HERE
All Academies start the week of Sept. 6th
PRACTICE
EAST
Coordinating the East Academy is Brian Shrumm. The one day sessions will be on Fridays at the Nike site in Norwin. Two day sessions at the same site on Tuesdays and Fridays.
NORTH
Coordinating the Junior Academy in the north is North DOC Tracy Blake. The one day sessions will be on Thursday 6-7:30 at Harlequins Field in Indianola. Two day sessions will be Tuesday and Thursday at the same site and time.
SOUTH
Coordinating the South Academy is DOC Mike Blatz. The one day sessions will be on Tuesdays in the fall and Mondays in the spring at Hough Field in South Park.
| Group | Practices | Games | Price |
| Tykes | Once per week | None | $600* |
| Niners | Twice per week | up to 6 per session | $790** |
| Stars | Twice per week | up to 6 per session | $790** |
Paper payments are charged $5 extra per payment.
* Twp payments required: $300 due with first invoice and $300 by 1/15/2012.
** Two payments required: $300 due with first invoice and $490 by 1/15/2012.
U6-U8 Age Group “The Tykes”
The Tykes Program is focused on developing players through fun games and exciting challenges with the ball. The length of the session will be 1 hour and will be driven by the USYSA Youth Module curriculum. Each player in this program will need their own ball, water and a Century United Academy training shirt. This group will not participate in league games but will be involved with “3 versus 3” games within every practice. This group will meet once a week.
U9 Age Group “The Niners”
The Niners Program will be more intensive than the Tykes Program. It will have 2 practices a week that will last for 1 hour and 30 minutes. The Niners will be focused on training and league games formed by the pool of players in the club (including a club festival each season). The festival will draw players from all three sites to participate in a day of games and fun activities. There will NOT be tryouts at this age group to make any particular team in the club. Instead, we are going to create a “pool” of players program that will be 100% focused on individual player development.
U10 Age Group “The Stars”
The Stars Program is the final chapter of our Academy program. The players will practice two times a week for 1 hour and half. Players will have a choice of being a part of the “Players Only” or “Advanced Program”. The “Players Only” player will practice once a week for 1 hour and thirty minutes and the “Advanced Player” will train 2 times a week. The Stars program will field teams to participate in league play and one tournament each season. The teams that are organized are at the discretion of the Director of Coaching and Academy Directors.
U11 Programs
This is the start of organized team play for our players. After three years of seeing the players in our Academy setting we are confident we will be able to place them in the correct environment. The players and parents will be given a rationale by the Academy Director for their son or daughter’s placement. Our goal is to have two teams (Elite and Premier) at each site. These teams will be organized based on ability. These teams will be assigned a head and an assistant coach. In addition to the six teams that are assembled there will also be an opportunity to play at the highest level within the club. That level would be a selection of players in the age group to represent Century Select.
Century Select
This program is designed to get the best players from the three sites together to train and compete in two events. The events will be tournaments and/or organized friendies. These players WILL NOT be a team put together to compete in the PA West State Cup. This program is a great opportunity for us to develop and assess players for advanced development opportunities with partner organizations such as US Club Soccer, The Pittsburgh Riverhounds and USYSA Regional / National teams.
This concept is a better way of allowing players to develop within their appropriate age group, similar to how the academic system works. All children are included within the same grade within the school system yet they are in different classrooms based on their educational prowess. Because some students are better at math they take Math 2 while some of the other students are in Math 1. This is a concept that allows all students to learn math at their own pace.
We will train players together within a pool but will have the ability to separate the group during training in order to ensure they are progressing individually. The skills will be challenged with the games that they can participate in on the weekends. This evaluation process is also more beneficial for the coach. It gives the Century United staff a chance to evaluate the players over a longer period of time. If a player shows up to a tryout and doesn’t perform well, the staff must make a tough decision on that very night. We may not accept a player because they had a tough day at school or a fight with their parents on the way to the tryout. This leads to anxiety, which stimulates the “fight-or-flight” response and increases the sympathetic nervous systems release of adrenaline. This will inevitably cause distractions and inhibit a players’ skill level. All of this could lead to a “bad tryout” and frustration for the child.