The Scorpions Soccer Junior Academy has a time-tested record of developing players and teams which stands at or near the top of youth soccer clubs in Massachusetts. Our program has recently grown not only to include boys, but also to offer programming in three locations: Our central Braintree location, and our Plymouth and Dartmouth satellites.
The Scorpions Juniors pool has produced eight Division 1 MAPLE teams in eight consecutive years. We also have now produced three youth national pool players from the Juniors pool.
Each year Scorpions players are vigorously recruited by top colleges and universities. Our girls side has had its share of success. In July, 2006, our class of '02 became the first Scorpions team to capture a Region 1 Championship, and they have won National level tournaments such as Jefferson Cup, WAGS, PDA and the FC Delco Players Cup.
Our current U14s are the highest ranked team in Massachusetts and are defending MAPLE champions. Our current U13s are the MAPLE and defending State Cup Champions. Our current U12s are competing in the 'Blue' (top) division, and were the semifinalists of last year's Andre Cup.
We expect similar success from our current U11 group.
Our boys side is newer, however our first graduates of the Junior Academy are now U13, and qualified for division 1. They finished as quarterfinalists of the Paul Irwin Cup last year.
Our boys U11 group is exciting, particularly given we attracted our largest boys tryout pool ever.
Both boys and girls programs are coached by Scorpions Soccer staff coaches (employees of the club). Brendon Boates is the director of our Junior Academy, and also runs our Plymouth satellite. Don Whitaker is the director of our Boys Juniors programming. Patrick Marino assists both Don and Brendon in Braintree, and is also the director of our new Dartmouth satellite.
Juniors train at least two to four times weekly, attend tournaments, and play in indoor and outdoor leagues. All of that is optional. Players may participate at any level they like...periodically or consistently...whatever works for each individual. The prime learning years for soccer are said to be U7 to U12. We believe that to be true and have seen that accelerated improvement is possible at those ages. Teaching and polishing basic skill is the emphasis of the curriculum. We scrimmage at the end of every session as well.
Most of the training is at Braintree High School, 128 Town Street Braintree 02184, though we also train at the Thayer Academy Turf Complex at 1515 Washington St., also in Braintree. Training begins shortly after registration. You will be notified by email regarding training schedules for each season.
During 2005-06, Scorpions Soccer expanded in to the Plymouth area with a Juniors group guided by area resident, Renee DeMarsh. Renee has since left the program and now coaches a Scorpions team. The program has been taken over by Juniors director Brendon Boates. This year, Scorpions expands into Dartmouth, with the Dartmouth effort lead by Patrick Marino. Players may attend training at either the Braintree, Plymouth, or Dartmouth locations, or all three.
Juniors train outside until the weather stops them. During the winter months they go inside for skill improvement training, indoor leagues, and tournaments. We will offer many indoor training opportunities. The Junior Academy will train 75-90 times during the year, hopefully closer to 90. The curriculum for U10s is basic skill, basic skill, basic skill, and fun. The program is less formal than U11 and older teams, but not less effective. The atmosphere is genuinely fun.
Scorpions Junior Academy members play in many tournaments (pay as you go), scrimmages against other clubs and towns, indoor tournaments, and leagues (pay as you go). Again, everything outside the regularly scheduled training is optional. Typically we email the group and get replies from those who want to participate in a particular tournament or indoor league etc.
The cost for those tournaments/leagues is only what the club pays to participate. We take the actual cost of the event and divide it by the number of players attending for the cost per player. If a coach has to travel to an away tournament with the group then the group also splits the cost of the coach's hotel room. We use Scorpions U16 and 17 players to assist the Juniors’ coaches as a means to optimize the coach/player ratio and to provide some role models for the younger players. The Juniors enjoy the older players and benefit greatly from their example.
Scorpions Soccer enters teams from our Juniors pool into the Massachusetts Premier League (MAPLE) each season. Even though Scorpions Soccer is aggressive about recruiting and training the group, the atmosphere at the U10 pool practices is fun, relaxed, and naturally a little noisy. However, we do have them working hard most of the time.
The cost for the Junior Academy from June-June for 2007-2008 is $750 (Pro-rated at many times during the year). Players are encouraged to attend practices with the group before joining to determine if they would like to join. You can obtain practice schedules from:
Braintree and Plymouth group: Brendon Boates brendonb@scorpionssoccerclub.com
Braintree boys: Don Whitaker whit9176@yahoo.com
Dartmouth group: Patrick Marino patrick@scorpionssoccerclub.com
Braintree Juniors manager: Moira Petrocelli m_petrocelli@hotmail.com
There is no cost for working out with the group. Take as long as you need to make a decision. Once you decide to join, you should register. Please visit our registration page for registration information.
The coaches will then provide you with a uniform and you will be included on all emails sent to the group regarding tournaments, leagues, friendly games and practices.
We communicate almost totally by email. Please be certain to include a current email address in your registration. Please also be certain to provide the Juniors coordinators with all email addresses you would like to recieve important updates. Whatever age your son/daughter is on August 1st is their soccer age for the year until next August 1st. If he or she is 9 on that date he or she would be under 10 for the 2007-2008 year.
The Scorpion Junior Academy uniform 'kit' (Under Armour shortsleeve and longsleeve shirts, Diadora shorts and socks) is included in the player fee. Other options (such as tracksuit and bag) are available, but not required. Attendance isn't taken. Players come when available. We would like the players to attend as often as possible but we don't make any issue of it. If your child wants to be a serious (or just a better) player then he or she should attend often, there will be significant improvements. It isn't a complicated game and we don't make our name on fancy philosophies. We find good athletes, train with solid fundamental skill, teach them basic soccer principles, inspire them to become better and make training fun for them. They will learn to perform the fundamental skills of the game very, very well. Your child will start improving immediately. The improvement will be clearly noticeable after a month and progress from there. Bad habits will start to disappear, good techniques taking their place.