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Post by soccerdad82 on Mar 30, 2023 21:05:27 GMT -5
Moving north of Atlanta in a few weeks and looking for an Academy team for my 2012 born daughter in the fall. We'll be living close to UFA Forsyth, Rush Milton or NTH Milton ... further away (but possibly still doable) from Alpharetta Ambush and Roswell Santos. Daughter is a good player who works hard and is very coachable but maybe not "top" natural talent. So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations?
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Post by jamsoccer on Mar 30, 2023 21:37:13 GMT -5
Moving north of Atlanta in a few weeks and looking for an Academy team for my 2012 born daughter in the fall. We'll be living close to UFA Forsyth, Rush Milton or NTH Milton ... further away (but possibly still doable) from Alpharetta Ambush and Roswell Santos. Daughter is a good player who works hard and is very coachable but maybe not "top" natural talent. So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations? 100% would try Roswell Santos. Smaller club-more likely to be seen as a player and not a number. NTH is also a great choice for development and I’m sure parents and girls are nice, but with a smaller club you can really develop solid friendships for her. Santos has also developed top players in the state. Good lukc! |
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Post by soccerloafer on Mar 31, 2023 7:24:03 GMT -5
"So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations?"
Switch to track and cross country with a side of mountain bike racing.
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Post by bogan on Mar 31, 2023 9:05:12 GMT -5
"So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations?" Switch to track and cross country with a side of mountain bike racing. Equestrian events are also fun. |
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Mar 31, 2023 9:58:26 GMT -5
Moving north of Atlanta in a few weeks and looking for an Academy team for my 2012 born daughter in the fall. We'll be living close to UFA Forsyth, Rush Milton or NTH Milton ... further away (but possibly still doable) from Alpharetta Ambush and Roswell Santos. Daughter is a good player who works hard and is very coachable but maybe not "top" natural talent. So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations? Honestly, at that age, it is about trusting her to a competent coach who truly focuses on developing the skills she will use for the rest of her soccer career. As hard as it may be, you are correct in not focusing on "best team" or only winning. I would go check out the clubs in-person, and specifically the coaches that will be coaching the U12s next season. Watch how they run their training sessions. Is it organized, planned and achieves a specific goal. Or is it a meandering session of rondos and small sided games while they check their phones. I would also use this opportunity to chat up the parents. What do they like or dislike about the club, coach, environment, etc. See how the girls on the future interact with each other and the coach. If possible, ask to join one of their practices and see how your daughter clicks based on talent, ability and comfort. Finally, ask about the tournaments and additional opportunities the team will be involved in. Do they go to local tournaments only or only go out of town to the Disney Cup, Jeff Cup, etc. Goodluck... |
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Post by soccerdad82 on Mar 31, 2023 10:37:33 GMT -5
"So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations?" Switch to track and cross country with a side of mountain bike racing. Equestrian events are also fun. LOL ... she happens to be passionate about soccer. Crazy politics aside I think it's a good sport and probably better for my wallet than Equestrian. |
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Post by mamadona on Mar 31, 2023 13:54:58 GMT -5
We like UFA at Fowler Park! Tophat Milton is not great IMO. They also practice on grass fields and gets rained out a lot. Ambush is ok but more room for development at UFA. I don't really know about the others.
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Post by tmurray387 on Mar 31, 2023 15:35:21 GMT -5
We moved here 3 years ago when our daughter was rising U12 and chose UFA over Tophat mostly due to proximity. You simply cannot beat training 10 minutes from home 3x week on turf fields. Rainouts happen but UFA trains in everything but lightning at Fowler. All of the clubs mentioned offer several team levels so your daughter will likely find an appropriate team and have room to move inside the club. One other consideration especially if she is passionate about the game (IMO) is a pathway to ECNL. Santos and Ambush do not currently have that option so you will see some kids leave when they go up to U13. This decision may not be forever but if she wants to play ECNL I’d pick one of the many area ECNL clubs now rather than need to change in a year.
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Post by rpsoccer on Mar 31, 2023 19:40:45 GMT -5
That is true, specially during Spring season. I thought it was just a recreational soccer thing but it is not, if the club doesn't have turf fields then games and trainings would be most probably cancelled if it rains before the event.
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Post by steamers on Apr 7, 2023 17:38:51 GMT -5
I have heard good things about Roswell Santos. We have some experience with UFA Forsyth and it has been positive. I would not reco Tophat Milton as it is a satellite location and not prioritized. Was a mess a year ago, and don’t believe it was better this year.
Your player may or may not be ECNL-type talent now, but getting in one of those clubs at least provides the flexibility for down the road if that option is needed. So in your area, sounds like UFA Forsyth or Atlanta Fire United. UFA Forsyth, as others mentioned, practices for some ages at Fowler Park, which is a very nice soccer facility with turf fields. We have been with several clubs in the area and have found the parents to be similar at each. Agree, I would check out the facilities where that age group will practice during the week, see what you can find out the coaches, and see if u can join or view a practice. Good luck!
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Post by steamers on Apr 7, 2023 17:41:05 GMT -5
Also, check out the various teams’ social media activity to see if any feel different to you. Facebook and Twitter seem to be the most used.
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Post by mochiburon on Apr 18, 2023 8:11:20 GMT -5
Moving north of Atlanta in a few weeks and looking for an Academy team for my 2012 born daughter in the fall. We'll be living close to UFA Forsyth, Rush Milton or NTH Milton ... further away (but possibly still doable) from Alpharetta Ambush and Roswell Santos. Daughter is a good player who works hard and is very coachable but maybe not "top" natural talent. So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations? Santos and Rush etc. all have happy competitive players. Rush has "the barn" so they offer indoor in the winter. Parking there can be a bit rural. Tophat Milton uses the Kings Ridge Campus as their home fields and it is immaculate. They use both the grass fields and the turf stadium. I'm sure grass is preferred since it is the surface used in top tournaments. Ambush players seem competitive enough but haven't seen them much in tournaments. I didn't love trying to park at Santos and the field was aging. Probably not a reflection of how a player would view it but an academy parent will spend a lot of time at the club so facility matters. I don't know the metric used to determine if a club is "a mess". The NTH Milton boys side 2015\14\13\2012 is winning everything and some coaches overlap with the girls side. NTH Milton exported 2 coaches from last year to other clubs, and brought in a new girls director Jason??? Darnell Robinson moved to UFA Forsyth Mike Gailey moved to Atlanta Fire United. If that was the mess, the mess was sent to another club. The Santos, Rush, and NTH parents I have been around are nice, they are kind of the "green egg and craft beer" set. My brief impression of UFA was that the parents were "into it", sideline coaching etc. I'm sure some of that happens everywhere but it seemed intense. Usually not that serious in N Atlanta clubs. Find the directors information for whichever club and ask about how to mix into a practice. |
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Post by rifle on Apr 18, 2023 8:36:58 GMT -5
The Santos, Rush, and NTH parents I have been around are nice, they are kind of the "green egg and craft beer" set. That is awesome. In my experience it’s a characteristic of domestic club soccer in general - the cost of admission is stunning and it’s only getting worse every season. Inflation is a thing today but “taking money from willing suckers” is on a whole different plane. |
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Post by randomparent on Apr 18, 2023 10:09:47 GMT -5
Moving north of Atlanta in a few weeks and looking for an Academy team for my 2012 born daughter in the fall. We'll be living close to UFA Forsyth, Rush Milton or NTH Milton ... further away (but possibly still doable) from Alpharetta Ambush and Roswell Santos. Daughter is a good player who works hard and is very coachable but maybe not "top" natural talent. So priority isn't necessarily the "best team" but rather to find a good environment with solid coaching, nice girls and nice families. Any recommendations? Santos and Rush etc. all have happy competitive players. Rush has "the barn" so they offer indoor in the winter. Parking there can be a bit rural. Tophat Milton uses the Kings Ridge Campus as their home fields and it is immaculate. They use both the grass fields and the turf stadium. I'm sure grass is preferred since it is the surface used in top tournaments. Ambush players seem competitive enough but haven't seen them much in tournaments. I didn't love trying to park at Santos and the field was aging. Probably not a reflection of how a player would view it but an academy parent will spend a lot of time at the club so facility matters. I don't know the metric used to determine if a club is "a mess". The NTH Milton boys side 2015\14\13\2012 is winning everything and some coaches overlap with the girls side. NTH Milton exported 2 coaches from last year to other clubs, and brought in a new girls director Jason??? Darnell Robinson moved to UFA Forsyth Mike Gailey moved to Atlanta Fire United. If that was the mess, the mess was sent to another club. The Santos, Rush, and NTH parents I have been around are nice, they are kind of the "green egg and craft beer" set. My brief impression of UFA was that the parents were "into it", sideline coaching etc. I'm sure some of that happens everywhere but it seemed intense. Usually not that serious in N Atlanta clubs. Find the directors information for whichever club and ask about how to mix into a practice. Just to note Santos has a number of facilities, that is not to say some facilities may be aging but in general they probably have some of the best fields / turf of any club in ATL with a number of different location (lower/upper waller turf, grimes bridge grass, woodstock grass, east roswell turf,etc.) |
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Post by mochiburon on Apr 18, 2023 10:27:18 GMT -5
Good point, Santos is not just one field. The OP mentioned they were looking in North Alpharetta so I think Woodstock is the closest and I felt like it could use a little bit of upkeep.
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Post by rifle on Apr 18, 2023 11:21:02 GMT -5
Good point, Santos is not just one field. The OP mentioned they were looking in North Alpharetta so I think Woodstock is the closest and I felt like it could use a little bit of upkeep. Woodstock in Roswell gets maintained very well - nic Bermuda surface but it gets a LOT of use. I suspected they were talking about Grimes Bridge which is still grass but looking pretty rough this year. Lots of standing water. It will get over seeded and fixed. Much like AFU’s Scott Hudgens park and the city and county parks all over the region - grass thrives some years and suffers other years. All the turf fields in Roswell are good (based on quantity) but the city appears to not be maintaining them. They’re still about 20 years newer than the surface in the soccer barn though.. |
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Post by randomparent on Apr 18, 2023 12:53:23 GMT -5
Good point, Santos is not just one field. The OP mentioned they were looking in North Alpharetta so I think Woodstock is the closest and I felt like it could use a little bit of upkeep. That is fair, but what you give up on the fields your a short walk away from a lot of great bars and restaurants.  |
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Post by mochiburon on Apr 19, 2023 8:04:53 GMT -5
Good point, Santos is not just one field. The OP mentioned they were looking in North Alpharetta so I think Woodstock is the closest and I felt like it could use a little bit of upkeep. That is fair, but what you give up on the fields your a short walk away from a lot of great bars and restaurants. If you have kids in club soccer and still have time for bars and restaurants you have cracked the code. I salute you! |
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Post by rifle on Apr 19, 2023 19:17:36 GMT -5
That is fair, but what you give up on the fields your a short walk away from a lot of great bars and restaurants. If you have kids in club soccer and still have time for bars and restaurants you have cracked the code. I salute you! Get off the sidelines during practice. Drop them off and go do anything else. Nothing useful comes from lingering there. I wasted so many nights on those sidelines. Thanks for listening to my TED talk. |
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Post by mochiburon on Apr 27, 2023 10:51:13 GMT -5
The Jason at Tophat Milton is Jason Christie. He has coached for Johns Creek High School and is currently also affiliated with the Roswell High School Varsity girls. Apparently he has been around the area for a while.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Apr 27, 2023 11:08:18 GMT -5
Yea, he was with concorde 10+ years ago etc. used to coach the youngest 3rd teams on the boys youngest side. He's been around. Scary, remember meeting him back then, he was a young kid for sure, not any more!
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