FAQ

A: The competitive landscape of soccer and the options for choosing a competitive soccer program is constantly evolving. COVID-19 has drastically reshaped the landscape as many smaller clubs were not able to establish protocols to keep their kids safe or maintain the revenue streams to stay financially viable. Union FC is one of the largest competitive soccer programs in the area competing at every level from grassroots up to the National Premier League levels.

We pride ourselves on our family-friendly environment where we teach kids to be more than just soccer players. Sports is the ultimate metaphor for life and whether a kid wants to pursue a career in professional sports, or become a teacher, doctor, or artist, we feel that the game of soccer can help grow the skills our youth need to be successful beyond club soccer. Our mission statement was developed with this in mind.

We are one of the only clubs in the area that offers a 100% all inclusive cost model to our families. We feel this is an important aspect of our club and something that sets us apart from other clubs. We collect dues on a one-time fee and these costs cover the entire program. This includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Fall and Spring League Fees

• NorCal State Cup

• 2- 4 Professionally led training sessions per week

• Skills and Goalkeeper training

• 2-6 tournaments per year including all tournament fees and coaching travel expenses

• College Education including seminars and online resources

• Referee Fees

• Club and Team Administration

• Field Space for camps, training, and games

• Equipment for both games and practices

• Access to Veo Cameras (these are cameras that are checked out to teams to film games. Each camera is able to film a game without a person operating the camera. The software uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to then break down each game within 24 hours later to be used be players, coaches, and parents to create highlights to be used for college recruiting or film breakdown sessions)

• College Recruiting Program (U14 and above)

Most other clubs will charge similar fees to ours but then ask that parents help with game scheduling, tournaments, player passes, coaches travel, etc. While many advertise a certain number of tournaments per season, what they don’t mention is that these tournaments are their own, and as you travel out of town or compete in local tournaments you need to pay coaches’ travel expenses, and in some cases additional tournament fees. These hidden costs add up quickly and can easily equal 50%-100% or more of your monthly dues. Outside of the initial registration fee, the monthly dues, and uniforms, we will never collect for additional team expenses. Our cost model can be found below.

A: In general competitive soccer programs are year round soccer programs that run from May through April. The season operates around the following general schedule:

• May – Tryouts are held and teams are formed

• June – Practices begin. Depending on the age group practices range from 2-3 practices per week. The younger age groups (9-13 year olds) practice 2 times per week and as the kids get older and teams become more competitive, practices can increase to 3-4 times per week (depending on the time of year). Practices are run by paid coaches that are professionally licensed through soccer associations. (Generally USSF or USC (formally NSCAA)) Skills sessions also start shortly after practices begin. These supplement the 2-3 practices per week and are focused on individual skills. Union FC also runs the best goalkeeper training program in the area. All goalkeepers have the opportunity to train with our goalkeeper trainers 1-2 times per week as well. This is all included in your monthly dues! Practices for most teams are either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday with a 3rd skills specific practice on either Thursday or Friday. Practices are determined at the beginning of the season and vary by team.

• July – During a typical season, this is when teams begin participating in tournaments. Our teams compete in 2-6 tournaments per year depending on the team and age group. The younger age groups will typically play in local tournaments with 1 or 2 out of town tournaments per season. These are normally in Northern and Central California locations like Lake Tahoe, the Bay Area, Santa Cruz, and San Luis Obispo. These provide great team building experiences for the kids while the whole family gets to travel for a weekend to beautiful locations throughout the state. Our older age groups typically travel a bit more and longer distances. Our elite teams participate in national college showcase events like San Diego’s Surf Cup, the Phoenix Open, and Nationals in Denver, CO. Additionally, our Boy’s EA teams will participate in regional and national showcases throughout the year. These events garner huge interest from college scouts and are a great opportunity for kids looking to play at the collegiate level to make a name for themselves.

• August – This is when fall league starts. Fall league runs during the same timeline of your typical recreational soccer league, meaning it runs from August to November. Again, the younger age groups play local games while the older teams play both locally and in neighboring areas throughout Northern California with some games located in the Bay Area. These games are normally played on Saturdays.

• September – This is when State Cup starts. State Cup is an annual “tournament” in which teams compete against other teams in Northern California. There are three rounds of games where upon each team is reseeded (either up or down) depending on the outcomes of the previous round. After the three rounds teams are then seeded into a single elimination tournament based on the outcomes of the first three rounds. This final round is a “win or go home” format. These games are typically played on Sundays. The youngers finish State Cup before Christmas while the older groups, who are on Winter Break for high school soccer, complete their State Cup games in the spring when they return to club soccer.

• November – Our older, high school age teams, shut down for High School soccer. This is a “blackout” period where kids cannot participate in club activities. This runs through the end of the High School soccer season. This is a great break for kids to enjoy soccer with their high school friends, many of whom might play at other area clubs.

• December – This is the time of year where we typically take a break. Practices may continue but the club will shut down for a couple of weeks to give families time to enjoy the holidays. Teams may participate in a tournament in the early part of December. This is also the time that we run our Copa Del Rey tournament which draws upwards of 200 teams from around the state as teams ramp down their fall season and get ready to head off for the holidays

• January – Practices begin to ramp back up and we begin preparing for the start of spring season. Younger teams may participate in tournaments towards the end of the month or February to get into the swing of things after the winter break.

• March – Spring league kicks off and runs through May. During this time the older age groups play the final rounds of State Cup as well to determine the winners of each group.

A: Tryouts are generally conducted in May each year with the first tryout week being used to form the younger teams (U9-U14) and then a couple of weeks later clubs hold tryouts for the older teams (U15-U19). Each year our governing body NorCal provides a window in which teams can conduct tryouts. Then each of the clubs within their region (Union FC competes in Region 6 of NorCal) decides on when they will hold tryouts. This allows for each club to be able to compete on a level playing field. Prior to these windows clubs are not allowed to talk or recruit players already playing competitively for other clubs. During the tryout window clubs can freely talk to any players.

Union FC generally conducts tryouts over a three day window, with a fourth optional day. It is mandatory that each player be registered for tryouts before the first day of tryouts. Due to waivers associated with the free tryout registration we cannot let players tryout without this registration. Each player is assigned a pinnie (training vest) with a specific number when they check in on the first day of tryouts. The coaches will be given a list of players and their number. Players will get the same pinnie/number at each tryout.

Players must attend at least 2 tryouts to receive an offer from a coach for a club team. Coaches will not make offers until after the first tryout, and many will not make offers until after final tryout. Coaches will make offers in writing or via email. Families have 48 hours after receiving an offer to accept or decline. All players who participate will be contacted. As there are two to three teams in many age groups, it may take a few days after the last tryout to contact players with offers (or to be notified that an offer will not be extended).

Like all other organizations we are dependent on the support of our families to help our club run. In order to provide the best experience for our players we have a minimum requirement that each family provide 15 hours of volunteer time. This is easily fulfilled through our many events which include but are not limited to tryouts, our annual soccer-a-thon, various social events, and our tournaments. Tournaments are by far the easiest way to get hours. Throughout the season we will provide plenty of opportunities to fulfill your hours. We frequently send club wide emails to notify you of these events. These are great opportunities to meet other members and most of the time they are available during a time you will already be at an event.

If you are interested in joining our club, learning more about Union, or have a question that you can’t find the answer to, please email us at info@unionfc.org and we would be more than happy to reach out and do our best to make sure we can get you the information you need. Go Union!!