Developmental Program Overview

The PSC Iowa Developmental Program consists of two parts: the basic program and the Developmental Academy program.

The PSC Iowa Developmental Basic Program is designed for children ages 4 to 9 (U9 and U10) interested in learning and improving their soccer skills in a fun, safe, and exciting environment. The basic program is focused on introducing new players to the game of soccer while giving them a solid fundamental foundation to build upon as the interest in soccer grows. More details for this program are below.

The Developmental Academy Program is a more advanced part of the Developmental Program. It is for U7 and U8 players (6 and 7 year-olds) who want a more intensive instructional environment of professional coaching and are more advanced, both with their soccer skills and/or in their athletic and physical abilities. In the Developmental Academy each team is assigned one of PSC Iowa's professional coaches and is trained at a player-to-coach ratio of no more than 8-1. More details about this program are below in the Developmental Academy section. 

U7/U8 Developmental Academy

The Developmental Academy Program is an 11-week program designed for 6 and 7 year-olds who want the more intensive instructional environment of day-to-day professional coaching.

It starts in mid-August and goes through the end of October in the fall and from mid-March (after spring break) and runs through the first week on June. Training is one day a week, for 75 minutes, with one of the PSC Iowa professional coaches. PSC Iowa follows a specially designed, age-specific, curriculum that will help the players develop their soccer skills and instill a love for the game. All training will be conducted at the Prairie Soccer Fields and the Kirkwood soccer fields.

The Developmental Academy teams will participate in the PSC Iowa Developmental league. This is conducted on Sundays during each season and consists of a skills session followed by a game. This group will also participate in local "Friendlies" against other clubs in the Cedar Rapids area. These games will be scheduled each season on Saturdays as not to interfere with the Sunday Developmental league games. All games will be coached by one of PSC Iowa's staff.

There are no tryouts for this program and any player is welcome to join.

Basic Program

The Developmental Basic Program is designed for players who are new to the game of soccer. It focuses on providing a fun, safe and instructional environment that will foster the growth for players in their beginning stages of growing their love for the sport. The basic program if built to require a minimal time commitment from families and players. All basic program activities occur on one day a week, Sundays, including both the individual skills session and the game.

While the registration is done by birth year, PSC Iowa divides the players into the following divisions (based on school grade:

Pre-Kindergarten/Kindergarten (ages 4-5 years old);

1st Grade/2nd Grade (ages 6-7 years old); and

3rd Grade/4th Grade (ages 8-9 years old). 

The schedule for each group is 30 minutes of skills training, with the subject of those skills changing each week to cover the proper age specific skills, followed by a game. The games will be 4v4 for the two youngest ages and 6v6 for the older age group. The game will be officiated by the PSC Iowa coaching staff who will also help each team, and parent-coach, with playing the game.

Developmental Academy

TEAMS

Players are placed on teams based upon who registers for the program. Teams will be filled out by the PSC Iowa Academy Director and will be selected to be evenly talented teams.

TRAINING

Developmental Academy teams will train from mid-August to the end of October in the fall and mid-March (after spring break) through the first week in June for the spring season. The training sessions will be conducted at the Prairie and Kirkwood soccer fields by PSC Iowa coaching staff.  Each team will train at least one (1) day a week, for 60-75 minutes per session, with their designated PSC Iowa staff coach.

PSC Iowa follows a specifically designed, age-specific, curriculum that will help the players develop their soccer skills and instill a love for the game. We will also offer playing and training options in January and February.

COACHING STAFF

All training is planned and overseen by PSC Iowa's Academy Director, Michael Robertson. He has over 30 years of coaching experience, including 17 years coaching college, 23 years of high school coaching, and over 12 years coaching club soccer. He holds a US Soccer National C License.

The main assistant coach to the Academy Director is Steven Robertson. Steve has an impressive background coaching soccer, including over 15 years coaching college, 25 years coaching high school, over 12 years coaching club soccer, and 5 years experience as a staff coach in the Iowa ODP program. He also holds a US Soccer National C License.

All other staff coaches will complete their applicable Grass Roots license before coaching for PSC Iowa.

LEAGUES

The Developmental Academy players will participate in the PSC Iowa Developmental League (PSC-DL). The PSC-DL is played on six (6) Sundays, and the dates for the Fall 2023 season are: September 10, September 17, September 23, October 8, October 15, and October 22. The make-up dates will be September 30 for the September days, and October 29 for the weekends in October.

The intra-club "Friendlies" with CRSA and FC United will be scheduled in the beginning of August between the clubs after teams have been formed.

TOURNAMENTS

The costs of these tournaments (entry fees and coaches expenses) are included in the fees for the program.

UNIFORMS

PSC Iowa is a Nike Soccer club. The uniform kit, that players are required to purchase, will include: two (2) jerseys, one (1) pair of shorts, and one (1) pair of socks. The approximate cost of the required items is $65.00. Players can also purchase optional items, such as warm-ups and backpacks, at an additional cost. Each player is responsible for purchasing their uniform.

Players will also be required to wear practice shirts at every training session. This item is part of the Academy fees and will be provided to the players at the team meeting in August.

FEES

PSC Iowa Developmental Academy fee for the Fall 2023 season is $150.00.

The fees include PSC Iowa administrative costs and coaching fees. There are other team fees that are in addition (uniforms) and those fees are highlighted in above sections.

TEAM MEETING

PSC Iowa will hold team meetings the first week of each season. These meetings will be used to discuss the upcoming season including the schedules, tournament selections, and other team specific items.

 

Basic Program

Schedule

For the Fall 2023 season, the program will start on Sunday, September 10 and run through Sunday October 22. There will be six (6) Sundays that we play on and we have two Sundays as make-up dates should there be a reason to postpone a day (i.e. weather issues). We will play a three week block in September (September 10, 17, and 24) and a three week block in October (October 8, 15, and 22). We will use October 1 and October 29 as make-up dates, with the first date being the make-up for the September dates and the second for the October dates. If we do not have any postponements then those dates will be off weekends. 

Teams

Teams will not be pre-determined before the season. Each Sunday the PSC Iowa coaching staff will divide the teams, after the skills session, for the games. This is done so that each player gets to play games with most, if not all, the other players in their age group. This helps the players with their social development and also limits any "competitive imbalance" to a single game instead of the entire season.

Uniform

Each player will receive a PSC Iowa Developmental shirt as part of their registration fee. This shirt will serve as their uniforms for each Sunday. Each player will be required to provide their own shorts, socks, shin guards, and soccer shoes. It is requested, but not required, that players wear black shorts and black soccer socks. 

Ball

Each player is required to provide their own soccer ball. This is necessary for the skills portion of each Sunday. Each age has a specific size ball that the players will need to bring. The following table shows what size soccer ball is required, by group:

Pre-Kindergarten/Kindergarten (ages 4-5) - Size 3

1st Grade/2nd Grade (ages 6-7) - Size 3

2nd Grade/3rd Grade (ages 8-9) - Size 4