Welcome to FYSC’s monthly newsletter! Here we’ll share news about the club, and provide supporting materials to help parents navigate the often confusing and complex youth sports landscape.
We’re passionate about our 3 pillars of learning:
Educating Players | Educating Parents | Educating Coaches
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Fremont YSC Programs Open for Registration
- Competitive Evaluation, Interest Form: https://registration.teamsnap.com/form/28702
- Fall 2025 Grassroots Season: https://registration.teamsnap.com/form/25674
Registrations are OPEN for Competitive, and Grassroots.
Fremont YSC Competitive program is for players wanting to learn and develop in an athlete centered environment, where curriculum structure and session design is aligned to the needs of the individual player, and an appropriate pathway to follow the phases of learning and characteristics of the individual during these specific phases.
Player Spotlight – Isaak Johnsen
If there’s one word his teammates would use to describe Isaak, it’s “fast.”
But, they’d be quick to follow with his commitment to the club and dedication for working hard to not only grow in his development, but be an asset to his team.
Joining Fremont YSC at age 8, Isaak started out like most. He was eager to learn a sport he loved, make friends, and stay active. Little did he know the resilience he would be taught along the way, which would only build upon his character and work habit.
One of those moments came when Issak’s teammate and friend, Arunay Prathi, was swept away by the sea in January 2021. During this devastating time of adversity, Isaak dug deep and continued to work hard, but it wasn’t just just his worth ethic that shone bright. It’s the example he sets for younger players.
During an overseas trip with the club to the United Kingdom where they toured Scotland and Manchester, Isaak found himself to be the oldest player in attendance. Taking this role seriously, he was a great example to the younger players of how to behave, prepare, and conduct oneself.
And that example has continued on the field. Fully committed to his training and discipline, Isaak demonstrates excellence in composure, commitment, and communication.
Isaak is a huge credit to the club and his family, and is a true example of Fremont YSC’s focus on holistic development without the distraction of the alphabet league fanfare.
His commitment to the development process, and maintaining his high standards and discipline off the field—creating highlight clips and proactively engaging in the college recruitment process, Isaak was identified by a number of D1 colleges at a recent College ID event, being invited to specific College ID Camps during the summer.
We are incredibly proud of Isaak and all he has achieved as a player and person, and while it’s sad to think the 25/26 season will be his final season with Fremont YSC, we can’t wait to cheer him on in his future success.
Parent Education and Engagement
What’s the Foundation Phase?
Early Stages of Development
We are all too fast to join a race to nowhere, wanting to jump ahead to what comes next, rather than embrace and fully engage in the moment. It’s completely understandable because, as parents, we want the best for our child, and worry our child is not keeping up with others, or is missing out on opportunities.
The problem is, when we jump ahead, we miss key milestones of the player’s development. Coaches who are too focused on outcome and more focused on results to gain status tend to rely on the early developers—the physically more developed players and those more impactful now rather than the potential for the future and immediate needs of the player.
Development Pathways
A development pathway relies on an understanding of the development structure of the learning phase of the person. Knowing the characteristics of the age group, and the considerations needed, we can outline realistic and age-appropriate objectives. This informs curriculum and ultimately session design.
Holistic Development
Youth soccer is more than just the ability to perform an action on the field. The whole person must be considered as the pillars of a player are all connected.
At such a young age, it’s important for positive interactions and reinforcement, and setting appropriate challenges while accepting failure as part of the process. Teaching an open mindset to learning young will support confidence in the person, and nurture a creative decision maker of the future.
We will always put the person and player first, ahead of team outcome, and best support the developmental needs utilizing age-appropriate methods. While this is a modern approach to coaching, and can be scary as it removes us from traditional methods, it’s the youth player that’s most important.
Lets work together in providing a positive play-friendly environment for a rewarding youth soccer experience.
What Have Our Coaches Been Up To?
Coach education is an important pillar of a club’s structure. While we support the external education of licensing, the internal education program is just as important.
Reflective Practice
While each learning phase of the player has a characteristic and objective, the coaches have a similar structure. To coach in a development phase, the coach needs to align with the following competencies we’ve highlighted as being important.
Coaching | Connection | Communication | Creativity | Competition | Commitment | Consideration
These are assigned to specific areas being their own personal qualities, training, game day, and off-field.
The coaches complete a self scan in all these areas, and in specific tasks that require performance in the outlined competencies. The initial scan is just the beginning, with coaches meeting weekly with their DOC for guidance and suggestions on how they can focus on improving three key areas of their self scan for personal development.
At the end of the week, the coach then completes their reflection of training, and, in game weeks, a reflection on the game. This full alignment of the players’ overview with the coaches competencies ensures a structure of ongoing professional development for the coaches, which ultimately will provide a better learning environment for the players.
Learn More about Reflective Practice – https://hbr.org/2022/03/dont-underestimate-the-power-of-self-reflection
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