Soccer program takes new approach
By: Mark Rosenthal
On Saturday at Greenway Meadows Park, the Princeton Soccer Association began the first season of a new travel soccer program that may lead to a change in the structure of youth soccer across the entire state.
Leading the way for the Princeton Travel Development Academy is program director Chris Mayer, a former Princeton University soccer standout and assistant coach.
The league will consist of boys and girls teams of under-7 to under-9 age group participants. The way the league differs from other youth soccer programs is that instead of playing 8-vs.-8 as they did in the past, teams will consist of four players and one goalie. The decision to reduce the number of participants came after the suggestion of the United States Youth Soccer Organization to go to small-sided games.
PSA is one of the first clubs in New Jersey to take the steps to do so. The hope, according to PSA Executive Director Mike Poller, is that other youth soccer programs will follow suit and switch their format to the one adopted by the PSA.
"Right now there is only one other club of this kind in the state, as far as we know," Poller said. "If we can have some success with it, maybes some others will follow our lead. At this point the closest program to ours is in Yardley (Pa.)."
The idea behind the program is that smaller-sided games will increase the amount of learning and development of skills for each individual child. Less players on the field allows for more involvement from each player in every aspect of the game. This includes handling the ball more frequently, which should help improve dribbling skills and creativity, playing attack and defense, which should increase versatility, and passing the ball more often.
The playing field will also be greatly reduced in size, which will allow the players to be more physically efficient within the space they play. Most importantly, it will allow for coaches to have more individual instruction time with the players.
Players already went through an open tryout in June, after which they were split into pools based on their ability and later separated into 10 boys’ teams and six girls’ teams. Throughout the season each team will train with a professional staff two to three times a week, while playing games on Saturdays.
Participants will also have the opportunity to play against other teams who will travel to Princeton, as well as go on the road to various other clubs. The teams will also be taking part in their respective festivals and tournaments, giving the players the opportunity to get a sense of their development and progress against some different competition.
"We believe that this program will help develop the all-around skills of each player, while hopefully increasing their fun and passion for the game, and ultimately, should strengthen the PSA as a whole," Poller said.
Added Mayer: "We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from people so far. The kids like it because they get to be more involved in the games. And the parents seem to like it because its going to involve a lot less travel than most leagues."
If the turnout is any indicator, the league should already be considered a great success. At the moment there are 120 players who have signed up, with 70 boys and 50 girls slated to take part in the inaugural season.
"We’re real happy with the amount of kids that have signed up," Mayer said. "It was a little more than we expected. There seems to be a major drop-off in the number of kids who play soccer as they get older. Hopefully, leagues like this will help peak the interests in the sport for more kids, and maybe keep those interests for longer."

