Beaumont Soccer Association is proud to offer soccer programs, for kids from as young as four and youth up to age 18, the opportunity to play the beautiful game of soccer.
Grassroots Program (U5 - U7)
“The essence of Grassroots Soccer is to encourage and nurture a passion for playing the game.” Alberta Soccer Association
The Grassroots program is all about getting the youngest players out and playing with others in an atmosphere that encourages fun. With these age groups, basic skills are taught through various games.
The program is delivered in a “festival” or "academy" format where a technical director provides session plans to the team staff and helps them deliver the sessions. This allows for the development of the players and future coaches. At the end of each session, the players will be put into teams to have small sided games which will be used to implement the skills used during the training sessions.
The session plans are based on the Canada Soccer Association’s Long Term Player Development (LTPD) and the Preferred Training Model. These are proven programs with formatting specific to the various age groups.
In the LTPD model, this age group is referred to as “Active Start”. For more information on the LTPD, please refer to https://www.canadasoccer.com/play-landing/canada-soccer-pathway/
Alberta Soccer Association also provides the Preferred Training Method with additional information
for the various age groups: https://canadasoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/Pathway/EN/CanadaSoccerPathway_CoachsToolKit_ActiveStart_EN.pdf
The academy style is an approach for our U5 and U7 groups that is offered in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. All players receive the same skills training; with each session ending in a scrimmage.
Why is academy style training the way to go?
Academy style training is different because it is focused on player development first and foremost. The entire program is carefully designed by the technical director, to train the players on all of the fundamental skills of soccer, which are then reinforced through game-style scrimmages at the end of each training session.
How does it work?
BSA uses a bit of a hybrid of the academy program, but results in the same effect. In the standard academy style, players are randomly assigned to groups each session. This allows for the players to experience playing with different players and coaches each session. While BSA agrees that this is the right process for player development, the logistics of running this method make it very time consuming for setup for the limited technical staff. BSA’s hybrid academy program will assign the players to specific “teams” and a coaching staff as this allows for players to find their assigned fields quickly. The BSA program is still delivered by Technical Director who will supply the coaches with skill sessions for each day.
Why is it better that "league play" format for the youngest players?
This allows us to not only train the players on all the fundamentals of soccer, but also train and mentor these parent-coaches so they will be familiar with how to set up and run a high-quality training session should they elect to stay on as coaches in the future, as well as grow the leadership skills of our senior players. Often the players of conventional recreational soccer programs, with their compressed season and a relatively large number of games, find themselves so busy playing the game; they never have time to learn the skills. With academy style training, the sole focus is on learning the game, then applying those new skills through playing the game!
Another important component of the academy program is that it maximizes the touches the player has on the ball. Most skill sessions focus on each player having a ball at all times. In the game situations, players may never touch a ball the entire game, which does not provide any development for the player.
Fundamentals Program (U9)
The Fundamentals builds on the Grassroots with the introduction of refereed games. At this level, the players will be provided with 1 coach lead practice, 1 technical director practice and 1 game each week.
The focus of Fundamentals is to enhance the technique/skills of each player. The introductory skills are required to allow for the continued growth of the player.
Both the U9 and U11 programs are a major focus area for BSA for the continued development of these young players. We are continuing to look for more ways to engage with these players to continue their interest in soccer.
BSA’s technical director and other board members are available to assist with any questions and to provide assistance in the delivery of sessions.
Session plans can also be downloaded from the Canada Soccer Association’s Long Term Player
Development (LTPD) at https://albertasoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2.-FUNdamentals-Training-Plan-and-Periodization.pdf
Alberta Soccer Association also provides the Preferred Training Method with additional information
for the various age groups: https://canadasoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/Pathway/EN/CanadaSoccerPathway_CoachsToolKit_FUNdamentals_EN.pdf
Game Format:
- 7 vs 7 (outdoor and indoor)
- outdoor: 60 minutes (2 x 30 minute halves)
- indoor: 50 minutes (2 x 25 minute halves)
Learn to Train (U11)
Our Learn To Train program is very similar to the U9 program, but includes an additional game each week. With the additional game, the technical director lead session is removed. The focus is on tactical and environmental awareness, encouraging decision making and self critical game play. Both the U9 and U11 programs are a major focus area for BSA for the continued development of these young players. We are continuing to look for more ways to engage with these players to continue their interest in soccer.
Practices are done once a week, but coaches may run more than one practice a week. For indoor, facilities may not be available for more than once a week. BSA’s technical director and other board members are available to assist with any questions and to provide assistance in the delivery of sessions.
Session plans can also be downloaded from the Canada Soccer Association’s Long Term Player Development (LTPD) at: https://albertasoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/4.-Learning-toTrain-U12-Training-Plan-and-Periodization.pdf
Alberta Soccer Association also provides the Preferred Training Method with additional information for the various age groups: https://canadasoccer.com/wpcontent/uploads/resources/Pathway/EN/CanadaSoccerPathway_CoachsToolKit_LearnToTrain_EN.pdf
Game Format:
- 7 vs 7 (indoor)
- 9 vs 9 (outdoor
- outdoor: 70 minutes (2 x 35 minute halves)
- indoor: 50 minutes (2 x 25 minute halves)
Soccer For Life (U13+)
The Soccer For Life program covers all age groups from U13 and up. At this group, games are standard FIFA laws and with 11v11 outdoor games. The focus at this level is to work on more tactical skills, but also continue with the regular skill development as had been done in the younger groups.
Practices are done once a week, but coaches may run more than one practice a week. For indoor, facilities may not be available for more than once a week. BSA’s technical director and other board members are available to assist with any questions and to provide assistance in the delivery of sessions.
Session plans can also be downloaded from the Canada Soccer Association’s Long Term Player Development (LTPD) at: https://albertasoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/5.-Soccer-for-Life-U13-U17-Training-Plan-and-Periodization.pdf
Game Format:
- 6 vs 6 (indoor)
- 11 vs 11 (outdoor
- outdoor: 90 minutes (2 x 45 minute halves)
- indoor: 50 minutes (2 x 25 minute halves)