The affiliation program began in 2007 with Stroudsburg United and Nazareth leading the way. Since 2007 the affiliation has welcomed ENCO Soccer Club and Pocono Mountain Soccer Club to the mix. Together the above organizations work hand and hand to ensure the proper environment is created for our young athletes who wish to experience soccer.
These affiliations will serve players of every age and ability. Players in each club will develop as players using a common curriculum. This curriculum has been developed over recent years by the professional staff which will now be known as Keystone Athletic Grifos.
The program begins at age 4 with the "First Touch" program. This is a fun-filled introduction to the game of soccer. Players then graduate to a series of small sided programs, including the "Kick-Start Program" and the "Euro 4 V 4 Program." www.smallsided.org"
As players develop, they graduate into the "Classic" team level. Each affiliated club will continue to maintain its own classic level teams and for the most part, they will compete in local Soccer Leagues. They will continue to wear their existing club colors.
Players who aspire to play soccer at the highest levels will no longer have to travel great distances to play. They now have a place to train locally with other top players from the area under the supervision of coaches who have played and coached at the collegiate, amateur and professional levels.
With the large player pool created through this joint affiliation, players will have more opportunity to grow within the system and to play at levels which are appropriate for them. The plan is to use the Keystone Athletic Grifos to further the education of their affiliate coaching staff.
Our primary goal is to create a place for children of all levels to be able to grow as players as a club, we found that we were not big enough to address the needs of every level. We now have the critical mass to do this."
Yet, it is stressed that the cornerstone in the development of players is to create a positive learning environment which gives developing players the chance to have fun and be creative. Learning in small groups is the best way to accomplish this.
