NSCAA, Club Champions League enter 10-year partnership
KANSAS CITY, Mo. and CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Via NSCAA / Club Champions League) – The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and the Club Champions League (CCL), headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., have announced a 10-year partnership that will seek to help impact the American player and coach development landscape.
The NSCAA is the leading coaching education organization in the U.S., providing a range of learning opportunities for soccer coaches at every level of the game. The CCL is a full-service league with 16 clubs that prides itself on superior club competition and innovative player development.
“The partnership between the NSCAA and the Club Champions League is revolutionary in the history of our associations,” Joe Cummings, departing NSCAA CEO, said. “This partnership has been a long time coming, and we are looking forward to working with the CCL to develop coaches that develop even better players.”
Through the partnership, CCL clubs and coaches will be able to take advantage of exclusive benefits that flow from the NSCAA’s three pillars:
Learn
CCL coaches will have access to the full range of educational opportunities through the NSCAA. The two organizations will develop a co-branded and co-hosted coaching education diploma, available only in the states where the CCL has a presence. Additionally, CCL coaches that join as new NSCAA members have the opportunity to take one of three NSCAA eLearning courses (“Key Moments in the Game,” “Attacking Principles of Play,” or “Defending Principles of Play”).
Participate
The Club Champions League will have an increased presence at the annual NSCAA Convention, and other Association-related events and showcases throughout the year. The CCL has hosted its annual general meeting at the Convention since the league’s inception in 1997, but will now host educational sessions at other NSCAA events.
Belong
All 16 CCL clubs will become NSCAA Member Clubs, a program through which youth soccer clubs, associations, and organizations partner with the NSCAA to provide additional resources, benefits, and coaching education opportunities. Some of those benefits include board of directors’ insurance protection for the club, discounts through NSCAA partners, and access to NSCAA educational resources including the Online Resource Library and the bi-monthly member magazine, Soccer Journal.
The NSCAA will have a stronger presence at CCL events, as well as provide enhanced coaching education opportunities for CCL clubs.
“The American soccer landscape is continuing to evolve, and soccer organizations need to evolve with it,” incoming NSCAA CEO Lynn Berling-Manuel said. “This partnership between the NSCAA and the CCL can impact how we serve clubs, and develop coaches and players.”
Brian Kuk, the Club Champions League’s executive director, added: “One of the exciting pieces of the NSCAA/CCL partnership revolves around how the values of both organizations align. The NSCAA’s core values of ‘Learn. Participate. Belong.’ go hand in hand with the CCL. As one of the few standards-based leagues around, the CCL leadership is made up of technical professionals, all of whom are required to stay current on different coaching methodologies and how they affect the ever changing landscape of youth soccer.
“In addition, the central belief of the CCL is that a player is part of a club and the club is part of the league. In a day and age of ‘club and team hopping,’ the CCL offers a level of stability for any player within the club to experience the benefit of being a CCL member. It is certainly an exciting time for these two forward-thinking organizations to come together.”
While the Club Champions League’s history first started in 1997 at the NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, it was officially founded in January 2013. Sixteen soccer clubs in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., formed a league based on superior competition, a model for player development, and a governing board made of professional soccer directors.
This official partnership between the NSCAA and the CCL began to develop in January at the 2015 Convention in Philadelphia. Representatives from both organizations spoke about specific league clubs’ participation in the NSCAA Member Club program. That conversation escalated from a handful of clubs to a league-wide partnership.
The NSCAA and CCL hosted a live Google Hangout on Wednesday to discuss the player development, the American soccer landscape, and the deep-rooted ties between the two organizations. The online event was also the first mention of this partnership. [+] Click here to watch the Hangout recording
