Huntsville Futbol Club
CLUB SPOTLIGHT IN NORTH ALABAMA, SOCCER IS GROWING AND PLAYERS ARE DEVELOPING at unprecedented levels thanks to the work of the Huntsville Futbol Club. The club’s current level of success is largely due to the vision and dedication of the club’s leadership and parents, all of whom have embraced new concepts and ideas and, in the process, have created one of the most forward-thinking clubs in the northern part of the state. MARTY CLARK The club’s leadership launched a pool system three years ago among the Executive Director younger age groups, moving away from the old method of team creation based USSF “C” License on skill level. While there was some resistance from a few parents at first, the Brazilian “C” License plan has already provided results, including three girls state championships - NSCAA Advanced National Diploma two U-11 and one U-10. “Those pools at the younger levels are up to 40 and 50 TYPES OF PROGRAMS OFFERED: players deep whereas before this plan we put in place they may have been 16 or Recreational | Competitive | ECNL 17 players deep,” explained Marty Clark, Director of Coaching for the Huntsville Futbol Club. “The real future of the club is very, very strong because of these ADDRESS pools we’ve created through parity teams and concepts based around player 3322 South Memorial Parkway development, not team development.” Suite 609 Huntsville, AL 35801 Huntsville also has a comprehensive college preparation program, PHONE: 256.489.2849 equipping talented players with the skills necessary to successfully navigate WEBSITE: huntsvillefc.org the recruitment process. The club also has a relationship with Stoke City of the English Premiere League, which provides coaching support as well as the giving qualifying kids the opportunity of a lifetime to train with youth academy in England in the spring. The Huntsville Soccer Club is also putting an emphasis on coach development. They are currently one of the only clubs in the state that provides 100 percent reimbursement for all coaching education expenses - licensing fees, travel, lodging, food and course work. Clark says the club’s commitment to developing great coaches sets them apart from other clubs in the area. “You can never have enough quality coaches for one and the time it takes to really develop a quality coach is about 5 years in my estimation,” Clark said. “For north Alabama, we absolutely have the most robust and talented staff in our history, and our success backs that statement up.”