Youth Development Program (9 & Under and 10 & Under)

The Youth Development Program (YDP) is designed for children 8-10 years of age who are showing a greater interest in soccer. The program will focus on technical skill development and will serve as an introduction to competitive style play. The YDP uses a developmental model of play in which players attend an evaluation before the season to assess their psycho-social readiness for the YDP.

The 9 & Under teams participate in the BYSL 9 & Under Developmental League. Each team meets for 2 training sessions per week, one of which is run by the Comp DOC for the entire age group and the other is run by the team coach for their team. Per US Youth Soccer Guidelines and BYSL regulations, no child may be “cut” from the YDP. Team rosters are selected at random to ensure parity amongst the teams and encourage whole age group development.

The 10 & Under teams participate in the BYSL 10 & Under Competitive Division. Each team meets for 2 training sessions per week, one of which is run by the Comp DOC for the entire age group and the other is run by the team coach for their team. Per US Youth Soccer Guidelines and BYSL regulations, no child may be “cut” from the YDP. Team rosters in this division will be selected with each player’s technical ability and psycho-social development in mind. In coordination with the team coaches, the Comp DOC will make weekly evaluations and updates to the rosters to ensure that each player is training with the appropriate team according to the player’s development.