Frequently asked questions:

1. What is the NASA Academy? The NASA Academyis designed to enhance the development of the North Atlanta Soccer Association's boys through professional coaching at the younger age levels (ages 7-12). Our mission is to build a strong foundation for the soccer stars of tomorrow, while providing a fun and healthy soccer environment.

2. How does the NASA Academy fit into the programs offered at NASA? Our club launched the U10 Academy program in May, 2001 to serve as a bridge between the U8 / U10 recreational soccer programs and the U11 select (i.e., "Athena") program. We created the U11 Academy for the fall, 2003 season, and launched the U12 Academy for the fall, 2004 season. Traditional select (Athena) teams now begin at the U13 age group.

3. What is NASA North and NASA South? NASA has two locations. Each location has its own Academy program. Our coaching philosophy and training curriculum (along with several of the coaches) are the same at both locations.

NASA Northplays out of United Quest and Noonday Parks (northeast Cobb near Town Center Mall and I-575). This is also known as NASA @ UQP.
NASA Southplays out of Metro North Park (southeast Cobb near Johnson Ferry Road and the Chattahoochee River). This is also known as NASA @ MNP.

4. Is this a year-round commitment? Yes and no. It's a 1-year commitment that covers fall and spring seasons. But we don't play year-round. After tryouts are complete (late May or early June), we break until we start preparation for the fall with our NASA Academy camp in July. The fall season ends before the Thanksgiving holiday. We start preparation for the spring season in February, and wrap up with the Memorial Day Cup tournament in late May.

5. How often do you practice? We currently practice three times a week and play most of our games on Saturdays.

6. Is this a travel team? Yes, but with limited travel. During league play, we usually play half our games at home, the other half at other clubs' fields. The other clubs are almost always from the metro Atlanta area. The U11 and U12 age groups will occasionally travel outside Atlanta (for example, Birmingham, Greenville or Knoxville) for tournaments. "Travel" tournaments are within easy driving distance.

7. How many tournaments do you play? This varies by age group:

U10 Academy: We typically play one tournament at the end of the fall season, one to start the spring season, one midway through the spring season and our own Memorial Day Cup at the end of the spring season. The only holiday tournament is the Memorial Day Cup. All tournaments are in the metro Atlanta area. Some tournaments follow the "soccer festival" format, where teams play a series of games, but no championships are awarded. Others follow the format where teams play for championships and tournament silverware (trophies, medals, etc.).
U11 & U12 Academies: We typically play a pre-season and post-season fall tournament. We typically play three tournaments during the spring: one pre-season, one mid-season and our own Memorial Day Cup at the end of the spring season. Most of the tournaments are in the Atlanta area. At the U11 and U12 ages, we occasionally travel outside Atlanta (for example, Birmingham, Greenville or Knoxville) for tournaments.

8. Do you have to tryout? Usually. Admission into the NASA Academy is through invitation only. We evaluate players from the NASA recreational programs during the spring season. Some players may make a strong enough impression that we issue an invitation prior to formal tryouts. In most cases, though, we want candidates to attend tryouts so we can confirm our previous evaluations.

9. How old does my son need to be? Boys are eligible for the various Academy programs based on their birth dates and Georgia Soccer rules. Click here to see the ages for 2008-2009.

10. What happens if my son tries out and makes it? We will invite your son to join the Academy either via a phone call, a face-to-face conversation at the fields, or via our Academy web site. If you need a day or two to think it over, that's no problem. If you decide to join, you then attend a meeting in June to register and handle uniform fitting and ordering. If you decline the invitation, you are still welcome to register for the NASA recreational program.

11. What happens if my son tries out and doesn't make it? If your son had the initiative to try out, this speaks well of his desire. We encourage your son to keep playing! He can register for the NASA recreational program, keep improving, and try again next year. (Some of our current players didn't make it into the Academy on their first try.)

12. Who are the coaches? Coaching staffs and contact information are linked here.

13. What are the coaches' qualifications? All of the coaches are licensed by the US Soccer Federation (USSF) and/or the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). They all have many years of experience coaching youth "select" teams along with years of playing experience. None of them have sons who play in their age group's Academy.

14. What do the coaches look for in a player? Three main characteristics: game awareness, personality (for example, desire, enthusiasm and creativity) and athletic ability. Current technical skill is a bonus, but if a young player has the other three attributes, we believe he can quickly develop technical skill through focused training sessions and by playing with and against strong players in training and games.

15. What are the coaches expectations? We expect three things from each player:

give your best effort
be enthusiastic
have fun

A good attitude and consistent effort will yield good results. We're accepting of mistakes, which are a key part of the learning process. (We are teachers, not drill sergeants.)

16. Is Academy soccer all abut winning? No. We measure learning and fun, not scores and standings. The Academy program doesn't post scores or keep standings. At young ages, player development is much more important than winning a game. Our goal is to create an environment where players are allowed to flourish in a competitive arena in which winning is not a determinant of success, but where the instillation of quality is more important than short-term success.

At young ages, some teams will win games by playing "superstar" soccer, where most players on the team are instructed to kick the ball to a superstar player and let him do the rest. That's not our style. We want all of our boys to develop into skilled soccer players who are confident in their own abilities and eager to display those abilities on the field.

17. What do you expect from parents? We expect four things from the parents:

arrange to get your son to training and games on time
be supportive of your son and his teammates
leave the coaching to the coaches (you can cheer from the sidelines, but you should not try to direct your son or any other player from the sidelines)
when fees are due, pay them promptly

18. What are the yearly fees? Information on fees and other expected costs can be found on the NASA website, www.nasa-ga.org.

19. I already registered my son for the fall recreational program. Do I have to pay twice? No! Money already paid toward registration for the recreational program will be applied to your son's Academy registration. So you only have to pay the difference between the recreational and Academy fees.

20. Which team will my son be on? We don't have pre-set teams. Some weeks we'll create equal teams, some weeks we'll create teams by age, some weeks we'll create teams by current playing level. We normally post team assignments for Saturday's games on Monday night. We normally post tournament team assignments a week ahead of the tournament. We post the teams on the web site and send an e-mail to each family with a link to the team rosters.

21. What size soccer ball does my son need? A "size 4" ball. This is the recommended size ball for the Academy age groups.

22. Do you play full-field or small-sided soccer? We play small-sided games on smaller fields:

U10 Academy: We play mostly 6v6 (6-aside) on smaller fields. The smaller team sizes allow players to get more touches on the ball. The 6-aside fields are typically slightly less than half the size of a full 11-aside field. The smaller fields allow players to thrive based on soccer skills instead of straight-line sprinting ability. On occasion we'll play 8v8 (8-aside) on slightly larger fields.
U11 Academy: We play 8v8 (8-aside) soccer on smaller fields. The 8-aside fields are typically half the size of a full 11-aside field.
U12 Academy: We play mostly 8v8 (8-aside) soccer on smaller fields. The 8-aside fields are typically half the size of a full 11-aside field. We'll also schedule some 11-aside games to give the boys exposure to "full field" soccer, which they will play once they reach the U13 age group.

23. How many teams do you put together? This depends on the size of the player pool. For example, if we have 32 boys in the U10 pool, we'll form four teams for 6v6 games. This means 8 boys per team, which helps us maximize playing time.

24. How much playing time will my son receive? All boys play at least half of each game. We keep roster sizes small for regular weekly play, though, so boys typically play 2/3 or more of each game.

25. What happens if my son has to miss an event? Just communicate this in advance with his coach. The flexibility of the Academy program usually allows us to work around an occasional schedule conflict.