"Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is."
-Johan Cruyff
Rec Soccer Program Details
Player Demographics
Boys and girls ages 5-7 are welcome to register. All players must be 5, 6, or 7 on or before the registration deadline of September 14. Registration fee is $465/player; families registering 2 or more siblings in concurrent programs can use the coupon code 13GEM2025 for the 13% Multi-Child Discount.
Small Teams for Maximum Engagement
All players registered will be assigned to a team consisting of 4-6 players (depending on total number of players registered in Fall Soccer). The total number of teams will depend on the total number of players registered: more players = more teams = more variation. Smaller teams will allow players more opportunities to learn and play while minimizing having to "sit out and wait your turn". This will accelerate the growth and development of all players. A cornerstone of all 13GEM Sporting programs is maximizing opportunities to respond and participation rates for all players, regardless of skill level.
Fully Customized Uniform Kit Included
Each team of 4-6 players will be assigned a team color. In anticipation of at least 4 teams, the first four team colors will be Blue, Black, White, and Gold. Each player will receive a fully customized uniform based on each player's chosen name and number printed on the back of the jersey. The kit will include shorts and socks that match the team color. The uniform fee is included in the registration fee.
Practice Time focused on Growth and Development
The first 40 minutes of each session will be devoted to developing skills and conceptual understanding. Players will interact with other players on their team during the practice portion to develop skills and learn concepts. Each practice will focus on developing fundamental skills of dribbling, passing, shooting, and defending. One major differentiator of 13GEM Sporting programs is the ability to teach abstract concepts such as team spacing, maintaining relationships with teammates, off-ball movement, sharing the ball with teammates, basic algorithms of dribble-pass, and much more.
Game Time focused on Synthesis and Fun
The second 40 minutes of each session will allow players to synthesize skills and knowledge learned in practice, express creativity, develop decision-making algorithms, and just have fun playing Soccer. Players will cooperate with players on their team to compete against another team while coaches coach the players and referee the game. For example: Blue v White and Black v Gold would play one week, then Blue v Black and White v Gold the next week. This rotation will continue throughout the season, so each team plays each other as equally as possible. Games will be 4v4 (no keeper) and the objective is for all players to play as much as possible and sit as little as possible. All players will get to play equally as rotations will be dictated by time played, not player skill. Score will always be "Fun to Fun".
Philosophies
We coach and emphasize "simple football"
Inspired by Barcelona's Tiki-Taka play style, we coach players to make quick one-touch and two-touch passes while on the ball and consistent offering movement off-ball. The ball moves faster when kicked than when dribbled, so we encourage passing more than dribbling. We teach that soccer is about kicking the ball and that passing the ball is as important a kick as a shot. We teach that a professional soccer match can have 200-500 passes, 0-15 shots, and 0-5 goals, on average. Therefore, knowing how to pass accurately and consistently is the backbone of our developmental philosophy.
Our style is "direct, purposeful possession" which means we form triangles and use possession passing as a means to find outlets. We do not coach blind "possession for possession's sake". Our initial read is always to move the ball forward, but when that is not possible, we pass it around until an opening is created.
Offensively, we want quick passing with lots of off-ball movement. We want the ball to be shared often. 13GEM mottos like "I get the ball. I pass the ball. I get the ball. I pass the ball." and "Receive, pass, offer. Receive, pass, offer." form the backbone of our offensive philosophy. We teach that your teammates want to touch the ball as much as you do, so share it, no ball hogging. If you pass around and play possession with your teammates with the intent to score, then the ball will eventually find the back of net. And the exciting part of this play style is that it can be anyone who scores the goal; the ball decides who scores.
Defensively, we want to pressure the ball to regain possession quickly. Players near the ball pressure the ball, players away from the ball close space and passing lanes. I know this sounds obvious, but working as a defensive unit is a difficult concept for young players to understand. Teaching players how to communicate and work as a unit on defense to maintain a shape is the primary objective.
Our training philosophy is that "Games are fun, but training sessions are fundamental." Every training session devotes time to reinforcing the fundamentals of dribbling and passing. We want each player to have hundreds of touches during a training session. We want players to enjoy training as a form of intentional growth, not just random play time. A fun training session for us is defined as intense, competitive, and showing sportsmanship with lots of learning.
Inspired by prime Barcelona Tiki-Taka with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta
This is Coach Jacob's favorite trio of all-time. In our opinion, this is the most beautiful form of soccer. Soccer is a team game and team goals are magical. We are not remiss to acknowledge the technical skill this play style requires, but that is the purpose of training. We want to provide our players with a method and style of thinking about and processing the game. Young players are capable of understanding and implementing advanced principles if they can be conveyed properly and practiced in training. The challenge is being able to teach these concepts to younger minds, and this is what 13GEM Sporting specializes in.
Click below to see a video of how we coach our players to play. We show this video during the "Possession Passing" portion of training to convey the idea of what we want players to do. Once they see it and perform 13GEM Sporting training drills, they are capable of executing this play style. We have already trained players to play this way.