At U7 and U8, while not required, we recommend players register and play with the Lake Cities Soccer Association (LCSA) in addition to our academy. By playing both rec and competitive, players are given a chance to develop and try out the skills that they are learning in academy in a less competitive environment that will build their confidence and allow them to explore the game of soccer with less fear of failure. They are still children and if we want them to grow the passion for soccer, we must let them explore and succeed in addition to challenging them. At U9 and U10, a player can choose if they want to continue with recreational soccer or play academy only. A majority of our players continue with rec soccer because they develop a love of the game and bond with their teammates and do not want to let that go.
While it is up to the team coach, in general, our U7 and U8 teams practice two time per week as a team and then we offer additional skills sessions that are optional to work on individual ball mastery and confidence on the ball. Our U9 and U10 teams also practice two times per week as a team. We offer private skills sessions various days if you want small group training on technique to supplement team practices.
We offer open practices to tryout for our LC United academy teams two times per year in November and May. Please see our Events page to look for any upcoming tryout dates. However, you can reach out to the team coach to get additional details about the team at any time.
If your child is excelling in recreational soccer and you find that they are not be challenged enough, LC United’s academy program will offer them a more competitive team to practice with and more difficult opponents in league play. We have elite level instructional coaches that are ready to train players who show passion and are developmentally ready for a higher level of playing. Competitive soccer is not for all players. We must let the players develop at their own pace. For more information about the Lake Cities Soccer Association and to register for recreational soccer please click here.
The academy league games are on Saturdays or Sundays at the option of the team coach. Occasionally the league will schedule a Friday night game.
Per North Texas (NTX) Soccer rules, a player cannot be rostered on a NTX soccer select soccer team and recreational soccer team concurrently at U11 and older. Once a player is placed on a NTX roster for either rec or select soccer, they cannot make a change until Dec 1 to go from rec to select or vice versa. The required paperwork must completed in order to transfer per NTX rules. This rule does not apply for US Club Soccer players.
Open practices are held in May and June to form teams on July 1. After July 1 signing, players can still tryout for a team until they are rostered for recreational soccer. If a player is a free agent (not rostered to a rec team or select team) then they can tryout any time during the year.
Yes, any player (rec or select) can guest in a tournament for LC United with the proper North Texas paperwork filled out and permission from their current coach.
At LC United, we purposely keep our costs low, usually 1/3 the cost of the big for-profit clubs. We believe every player should be given an opportunity to play at the highest levels if that is their desire.
