April, 2010

GFC Gu12s Enter New England Premiership for Spring 2010. The Grasshopper Football Club Gu12 Green team has been invited to participate in the New England Premiership (NEP) for the Spring 2010 season. The NEP is a club-based league for clubs through-out the New England region. The new league was inaugurated in August 2009. Participation is limited to clubs who have demonstrated a consistent commitment to long-term player development.

Participating clubs, such as GFC, have demonstrated a focus on step-by-step technical and tactical development of players, over models which emphasis short-term tactics for immediate results and the recruitment of players from other clubs. For more on the topic of player development models see the GFC article from our Feb 2008 newsletter. view article

The NEP maintains match formats, substitution rules, and roster rules consistent with the US Soccer Federation guidelines and the international football federation (FIFA). For example, NEP maintains strict adherence to rules regarding the number of players on the field and rules around substitutions as best practices have deemed appropriate at each age group. The NEP also provides for the use of the "club roster" system. A club roster system allows players to be moved around freely from week to week in order to meet the developmental needs of the players, balancing the need to players to be pushed to raise their level, and the need for players to experience success. NEP has adopted the recommended goal-kick rules for u10 matches, with the opposing players required to retreat behind the mid-line for goal kicks. This rule is important because it encourages teams to play the ball out of the back via thoughtful interplay, as opposed to long-kicking.

View New England Premiership (NEP) Website

The GFC Teams program is always looking for talented and motivated new players. We welcome prospective players to attend GFC team training at any time of the year to check out our program. Interested families should contact GFC Director, Tom Mitch.

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