Soccer Clique | How we started

Soccer Clique started as a small group of friends from various local schools.

It was based on two core concepts, that children want to have fun playing the game of soccer and that they want to play and spend time with their friends.

We brought these two concepts together as we taught the fundamental skills of the game through a variety of developmentally age appropriate activities to help children reach their full creative and physical potential, while at the same time sharing these experiences with their friends.

Our unique program taught children ball control, dribbling, trapping, passing, shooting and other key elements of the game as well as allowing for lots of fun, open free play soccer. Our program helped in the development of the child’s creativity, Soccer IQ, motor skills, physical abilities, and overall body awareness.

Along the way we grew and started playing in local recreational leagues and competitive tournaments, achieving a high level of success in these leagues and tournaments.

As our players grew in the game, so did their demand for a higher level of competition. At that time we were not structured to offer competitive teams, so we looked for ways for our players to continue their soccer pathway growth by placing them with local, competitive clubs. Many of our players went on to play for Elite teams and A teams at these local clubs. In essence, we were developing technically, tactically, psychological and physically developed players with a higher Soccer IQ level, who were given the tools to play competitive soccer and beyond.

We took a year off from the academy to restructure and rethink our purpose and how we could best help players continue developing in their soccer journey.

During this time of rethinking and restructuring, we received many calls from parents of former players asking us if we could restart our academy program. Parents had many concerns with regards to their children’s soccer development. One concern was the level of coaching and the lack of technical and tactical training at their clubs. They felt that too much emphasis was spent on physical development and not enough on teaching the children how to play the game. Their other major concern was that practice areas were small, heavily congested and of poor quality. This would explain why so much emphasis is placed on physical training as opposed to technical and tactical development. The practice areas are not adequate to properly develop players in order to prepare them to play the game at the 7v7, 9v9 or 11v11 level. There is just no room to train.

Soccer Clique | Today

Today, we have brought back our academy in order to help players, regardless of the club or team they are currently playing in, get the additional training that they need. Our focus is on developing the player’s technical, tactical, psychological and physical capacities holistically within the game in order to develop a more complete and confident player.

We have developed our Run Less - Play Smarter methodology in order to elevate a player’s technical, tactical, psychological and physical capacities by developing their game intelligence or Soccer IQ.

Game intelligence is a player’s ability to understand the game and make good decisions on the field in real time. It is a combination of factors, including technical skills, tactical knowledge, spatial awareness, decision making ability, principals of play and when, where and how to apply them.

Players with higher levels of Soccer IQ stay more calm and focused under pressure knowing that they have developed the necessary skills that will help them deal with high pressure situations that are constantly occurring in the game.

Our methodology allows us to develop a higher level of Soccer IQ through the use of Rondos, Possession, Positional and Small Sided games. The combination of these elements allows for the development of a more complete confident player who’s technical, tactical, psychological and physical capabilities are developed holistically within the challenges and demands of the modern game. Why does this methodology work? Because players learn the game by playing the game. They are having fun and learning as they play.

Soccer Clique and Run Less - Play Smarter methodology was created by Coach Paul Delbo, who has over 40 years soccer playing experience. In addition to his playing and coaching experience, he holds various soccer coaching licenses, among them the Union of European Football Associations License, (UEFA B), Football Association of Wales Certificate, (FAW C), United States Soccer Federation National Youth License, (USSF Y). United States Soccer Federation C License, (USSF C), United Soccer Coaches Association Advanced National Diploma, United Soccer Coaches Association National Diploma., TOVO Academy Barcelona Level 1 Diploma.

David Beckham | Visits Soccer Clique