Norcal has one ultimate purpose – helping Clubs develop stronger players.
We know from the experience of Clubs – worldwide – that to bring about this improvement, Northern California must expand the base – the grassroots - of players. We need more young players who are“inspired”  to play our wonderful sport at an increasingly higher level.
 
This takes time and commitment, but the benefits can be enormous – including the good physical health that comes from an active life style; and the emotional satisfaction that comes through leaning diffiuclt and challenging skills – well.
 
Out of this “grassroots” will develop an increasing number of “elite” players.

Letters from Player Development Program Attendee's 

-Thanks for setting up a pretty impressive play day. The trainers today were top notch. I am much more impressed with PDP than I was with ODP. My experience with ODP was very disappointing. The coaches and the whole process was a waste of time. From what I saw and heard today, I think PDP is headed in the right direction. I'm looking forward to the next play day and I'm excited to see how PDP evolves. Thanks again for a great day for the girls.
Don .....

-What went well....
    - Your communications are very good
    - Pepijn did an excellent job.  Having top quality trainers is great!
    - Facilities (Sycamore Valley park in Danville) with all-weather turf was excellent
    - Parent session at the end to help us know what's going on and meet the people involved
> What could be improved....
    - Move advanced notice - this allows us to get it on our calendars
    - Longer sessions (min half day - 4 hrs) - this makes the 2 hour travel time more affordable
> Other comments....
    - We know the other girls in our club that are participating.  If there is any way to know the know the other girls in the area (Sacramento) - we could possibly arrange for more car pooling.

-My daughter is___________,#4 DVSC Black 93/ SP Samba.  She had a great time and learned a lot!  The only request that I would make is that the girls are asked to split up into groups not to include more than one other teamate.  I think that they would focus more and challenge themselves also, if they were practicing/learning with girls they are not so comfortable with. 

  My daughter had a great time. The information you sent was both timely and informative; my only suggestion would be to encourage every coach to fill out the recommendation forms at each NorCal game day (and maybe send a reminder the Friday before game weekends).   The date was perfect (obviously with such great attendance).   Emily would be very interested in high level tournaments with the group because her team (Alpine Menlo Pumas) will probably not be accepted to play in that type of event in the next year or so (although they continue to steadily improve).  Please let me know if our club (or I) can be of assistance to you.

-My daughter enjoyed the instruction and attention to individual skill training! Jackie C. -Thanks for your and other's effort to organize this great event for our girls.  This is great and my daughter , Melissa, really enjoyed it. In addition, I would like to suggest the program to organize a mini camp (a long weekend, three days) for this pool before the evaluation, which can give the top coaches enough time to work with the players to identify more coachable and potential players.  As a parent, I would like to pay for the camp for the top coaching since we pay other coaches anyway.  In this way, you will not only give the players who have not expose to high coaching in their own teams or clubs a true opportunity but ensure that coaches have enough time to work with each player to observe their performances in a real game and small group training.  

-Just wanted to say that my daugter Jessica had a wonderful time. She has been going on and on about it. Thanks so much. Bobbie S.
-Thank you for inviting my daughter Emily to this week end training. Emily came away from the training excited and thought the training was fantastic. When we got home she went upstairs and I could her practicing all the moves she had learned earlier. She thought all the instructors explained everything clearly. She is looking forward to further training through the program.My thoughts as a parent with four daughters playing soccer, one daughter playing in college now and another playing college soccer next year the importance of proper training. Good high quality training that blends the fundamentals along with the additional tools to be a better soccer player is good for the game. The type of training being offered by the program is a huge step toward bringing quality soccer to our area. Saturdays training was put together well, no down time which is important to keep the girls interest and wanting more. Keep up the good work you are doing for the youths and the game of soccer. 

-Thanks my daughter had a great time. I enjoyed watching the training especially the European way of no stretching and no water breaks just working all the way threw,and no one died so I guess that’s ok. The 1 v1 training was great and my daughter has been trying the moves all day and has taught one of her teammates already. Thanks for the time to set this up and we look forward to more evens like this as the one PDP day has been more benifical then any ODP we have done so far.

-Appreciated the opportunity for training especially in the company of other competitive players from the NorCal region. For those of us whose clubs are not particularly strong, the PDProgram enhances training and challenges players who want to improve and excell. Excellent day of soccer-valuable information well taught and well organised-positive , experienced knowledgeable coaching staff-convivial atmosphere. Would highly recommend this program.

-I just wanted to say thanks for the great event! The training was Excellent, the girls were excited to be there, and it was just an all around positive experience. My daughter Haley really enjoyed it and learned a lot, as she did at id2 also. Keep up the great work!