Dear Benfica USA families,
I’m excited to give you a little preview of what we have been working on behind the scenes in preparation for the 2015/2016 soccer year.
BOYS PROGRAM
We will continue with our mission in player development in trainings and games. Our relationship with Seacoast United has made us the only Club in our area to identify potential Development Academy Players (DAP).
To qualify for this extended program the players must be members of Benfica USA and best of all with no additional cost.
The US Development Academy Program is the only league directly governed by the US Soccer Federation. This is the highest level league in the country, with the purpose of developing elite level soccer players.
This integration will be done in two ways:
1. The PreAcademy U11/U12 program: This will be for a dedicated pool of players that will train three times per week and play in the NEP league on Sundays and possibly some Saturdays. This program is for the serious more committed player that wants to train consistently following a scaffolding US Soccer curriculum and have the opportunities to participate in trainings and play in additional games with the All-Star team made-up from all the Seacoast United affiliated clubs. Each affiliated club will be selecting their top players to train together and from this selected pool a team will be selected to play in PreAcademy games. These opportunities will be fluent on a weekly basis to the players that deserves it based on improvement in their abilities.
2. For our boys U13-U18, the Seacoast United US Soccer Development Academy and Pre-Academy Programs will be available to train and play in games in addition to their Benfica USA team. READ MORE:
http://www.seacoastunited.org/Academy/index_E.html
Benfica USA players will be selected by our staff coaches to train and perhaps be offered to play in Academy or Pre-Academy games in addition to their team games and practices. The selection will be based on the player’s ability, dedication and improvement. The players and their families will have the option to accept or decline these extra opportunities.
3. We will also add many cross-training and playing up opportunities to challenge players beyond their comfort level. That is the reason for the integrated coaching assignments. This brings our holistic approach to coaching up another level.
Boys : Head Coach / Assistant Coach
Jr Academy : John MacMullin
U9 : Mike Borba + Ryan Keefe Co-coaches
U10 : Ryan Keefe + Mike Borba Co-coaches
U11 : Nick Vitorino
U11 PreAcademy : Arthur Dimitrakopoulos + Alvaro Amaral Co-coaches
U12 : Humberto Calle
U12 PreAcademy : Alvaro Amaral + Arthur Dimitrakopoulos Co-coaches
U13 : David Sparks / Norris Gibson
U14 : Norris Gibson + Nick Vitorino Co-coaches / John MacMullin
U15 : Norris Gibson + Dimitri Markonidis
U15 : John MacMullin
U16 : Dimitri Markonidis + Fraser Murphy Co-coaches
U17 : Alvaro Amaral / Tony Luongo
U18 : John Shimer / Luis Escobar
GIRLS PROGRAM
On the girls side we will continue with our mission of player development in trainings and games. The US Soccer Federation does not have a similar program as the boys, so Seacoast United together with Benfica USA will be offering the following programs, free of charge.
1. Regional Training Days for the U10-U12 teams. Two to three times per season all affiliated clubs will bring their U10-U12 teams together to train and play games in a scramble format utilizing all Seacoast Staff Coaches.
2. Our U13-U16 players will be offered opportunities to train and play in games with the Seacoast United NPL and Premier teams. The selection will be made by our staff coaches and it will be based on the player’s ability, dedication and improvement. The players and their families will have the option to accept or decline these extra opportunities.
3. New this coming soccer year will be additional training days with College Coaches. This is not only to get extra practices but also to expose and prepare our female athletes to the college level expectations. Dina Gentile, Girls Director and assistant DOC is in the process of securing the coaches and schedule.
Both the Boys and Girls programs will have many cross-training and playing up opportunities to challenge players beyond their comfort level. That is the reason for the integrated coaching assignments and guest coaches. This brings our holistic approach to coaching up another level.
Girls Head Coach/ Assistant Coach
U9 : SarahPerson/Gabby Vega
U10 : Alex Sutter
U10 : Katie Donnelly
U11 : Dina Gentile/Erica Leber
U11 : Erica Leber/Gabby Vega
U12 : Lexi Dussi/Charlotte Jensen
U13 : Charlotte Jensen/Lexi Dussi *
U14 : Mario Bettencourt/Caitlin Peters *
U15 : Kenny Pigeon/Dina Gentile *
U16 : Mario Bettencourt *
* + Guest College Coaches
I am looking forward to seeing you at the tryouts.
Regards,
Arthur
Arthur Dimitrakopoulos
Executive Director/President
Email:
[email protected]
Home email:
[email protected]
Cell: 978-979-2233