Chiefs Futbol Club

LAUNCHED WITH JUST 250 PLAYERS, CHIEFS FUTBOL Club was a break-off group that joined Cobb Futbol Club for a while before going its own way in 2008. Having grown to a little more than 1,000 players, Chiefs FC eschewed the current merger-happy trend, choosing to focus on providing quality soccer and character building in and around the northeast corner of Atlanta. Program Director Neil McNab Jr., says the club’s philosophy centers around developing the whole person rather than in becoming a mega-club. Neil McNab Jr., left, Neil McNab Sr. and Joe McNab “Our retention rate is extremely high. We’ve really maintained being a community program here,” says McNab. NEIL MCNAB JR. “I wouldn’t say that we’re a recruiting club, but we’re certainly a develop Executive Director club. That’s kind of been the mantra of our program. We definitely believe USSF B in developing the player first and that means developing the person and the UEFA C NSCAA DOC Diploma passion for the game.” While wins are important, McNab believes they are by no means the only TYPES OF PROGRAMS OFFERED way to measure a team, or a club’s, success. He and the club’s Director of Recreational | Academy | Select Coaching, Neil McNab Sr., believe in allowing the kids to take chances and learn to trust their teammates, while also learning how to play the game ADDRESS PO Box 941518 correctly. The club emphasizes a possession-based style of soccer that Atlanta GA 31141 builds from the back. For instance, they discourage punting by goalkeepers PHONE: 404 431 7386 among their younger teams, instead promoting what McNab calls “attractive WEBSITE: www.chiefsfc.org soccer” instead of boom ball. “We’ve encouraged them to make decisions that have a higher success rate of maintaining possession wherever they are on the field and that means we’re asking the kids to take risks and gamble on themselves and their teammates,” says McNab. “We don’t want them to be afraid to make mistakes, instead we want to embrace mistakes. Every mistake a child makes is an opportunity to learn.” Above all, however, McNab says the club’s leadership works hard to promote a sense of community and family at Chiefs FC, among the players and coaches. One such coach, Steve Reid, recently won coach of the year honors in Georgia, the Southeast region, and nationally, all coming after having a stroke in 2015. “The first thing he said when he woke up was ‘how’s my team doing?’ ” says McNab. “That really explains the character of the club that we have folks like that who have been with us for a long time. Things like that stand out more.”