Cugini Soccer Club

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Programs

 Spring 2009 Pulcini and Piccoli Amici House League Program

When people ask what makes Cugini different from other clubs, the answer starts with our house league. Cugini is the ONLY local soccer club to offer its recreational players PROFESSIONAL instruction at EVERY practice session. This equals 3 hours of the highest quality training every week each Fall and Spring in a truly FUN learning environment. Team tactics and competition is kept to a minimum in these formative years; there is no focus on winning or losing, per the philosophy and methodology of all Italian soccer schools. In addition, introductory Italian language instructions is now incldued in every practice session.

In addition, Cugini is the only local youth soccer club that is first and foremost a school and the first and only official Italian scuola calcio (soccer school) in North America sanctioned by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC). This means ALL Cugini members, age 4 to 17, follow the same CONI & FIGC player development program - training proven to be successful in producing one of the top professional leagues and national teams in the world for over 100 years. Cugini is also the only soccer organization in North America to have signed affiliatiation agreements with 2 professional Italain soccer clubs -  ACF Fiorentina and AC Perugia.

Cugini may be the only local soccer club that makes sure all its professional trainers and coaches, on recreational or travel teams, adhere to the same player development program - in Cugini's case - an Italian Olympic training program and philosophy, designed to follow a player each step of their development beginning at age 4. As always, parents are uged to review the Cugini website thoroughly and ask school officials any questions before they enroll their child in a Cugini program. Cugini also encourages all parents to ask any club or trainer for specific information on exactly what player development program the club, coach, or trainer follows, before enrollment, as this information is crucial to understanding the quality of the program and the qualifications of the instructor as well as if the program is a good fit for your child.

Tuition fee:  $145. There is also a  $15 discount on registrations for second or third child from the same family. To help keep registration fees low and assist children with financial need by lending used uniforms to scholarship players, we ask players who have outgrown a uniform to please exchange their old uniform for a new one.

Head Instructor: The head instructor at every practice is AC Cugini's Founder and President Fabio Diletti. A native Italian, Fabio is a professional trainer and talent scout who played goalkeeper for Italian professional club Ascoli Calcio - founded in 1898 (www.ascolicalcio.it). Fabio possesses a UEFA license and receives training twice a year in Italy through Italian National Olympic Committee and Italian Soccer Federation coach training programs. Fabio has been coaching and training American players in the United States and Italy for over 20 years.

 

• Cugini's House League is coed and has 2 divisions:
  Piccoli Amici "Little Friends") for players ages 4-6
• Pulcini ("Little Chickens") for players ages 7-9

The $145 registration fee includes:

• Uniform with jersey and shorts (new players)
• 3 hours of professional instructon weekly (Monday & Friday)
• Saturday morning games
• VYSA membership, insurance, $5.50 Fairfax County user fee
• End of season trophy
• Introductory Italian language for young children
  Note: There is a never an extra fee for late registrations; children are always welcome as long as there is space. 

Please feel free to contact the head instructor Fabio Diletti @ 866.6792.9433; president@cuginisoccer.com anytime with questions or concerns.  Note: Fabio may, at times,place some younger players wtih an older group if the player would benefit from being with older, more skilled players. He will disucus this with the parents in such cases.

Picccoli Amici Coed Spring 2009 House League Facts

April 13-June 6

Spring 20098 Schedule:

• April 13: First practice 
• April 25: First game
• June 5: Last practice
• June 6: Last game
• NO PRACTICES or GAMES: May 22-25 (Memorial Day weekend ) 

Practices: Monday and Friday, 4:30-6:00pm, Baron Cameron Park, Field #6 (11300 Baron Cameron Avenue, Reston, VA 20190)

Games: Saturday morning, Baron Cameron Park, Field  #6. Game times are between 9:45 am & 11:45am: (Final times to be announced by April 15) Note: Teams are mixed up each Saturday so your child may not play on the same team each game day.

Practice - Game Cancellations: Cancellations due to weather or field closings will be noted on the Cugini hotline at 866.792.9433 by 3:30pm on practice days and 8:30am on Saturdays. Please use the hotline to check for important messages. Please remember to check the hotline after days of rain (even if it's sunny outside) because Fairfax County often closes fields due to muddy conditions.

Uniforms & Equipment: Uniforms for NEW players will be distributed at first practices. The uniform, included in the registration fee, consists of jersey and shorts. Returning players must wear uniforms from last season or contact Fabio Diletti by email to trade in for a larger size (president@cuginsoccer.com). If your child has outgrown their uniform, please bring old one to practice for an exchange. (Note: We recycle uniforms for our scholarship players who can't afford tuition so your help is greatly appreciated.)

• Please be sure your child wears soccer cleats and shin guards to practices and games and always has plenty of water with them. If shinguards bother younger players (4-6 year olds), don't force your child to wear them.
• Always bring soccer ball to practice - size 3 (ages 4-5) or size 4 (ages 6-8).
• Cugini also has optional accessories available for purchase: backpacks, warm-ups, Cugini T-shirts, soccer ball with Cugini logo.
• For purchasing soccer shoes and shinguards, we highly recommend Sterling Soccer, 46950 Community Plaza, Sterling, VA 20164; Telephone: 703.430.2566. (Located in the Burlington Coat Factory shopping center at corner of Dranesville Road & Leesburg Pike). Upon check out, always be sure to tell the salesperson that you're a Cugini Soccer member, to receive a 10% discount.

Email: Please check your emails on a regular basis as that is our number one form of communication. Leaving Children Unattended at

Practices or Games (VERY IMPORTANT): Cugini Soccer policy prohibits children 7 and younger from being left unattended at practices or games. There must be a parent or guardian with your child in case of emergency or your child needs to use bathroom facilities.

Positive Reinforcement: Cugini encourages a pressure free environment for children and we ask parents to support that effort. Please do not coach your child from the sidelines or shout their name when they play. We want children to feel comfortable making mistakes; that's how they learn the most. So please always give your child, and other children, POSITIVE reinforcement. Cugini's philosophy for players of this age is to just let them go out and play on game day and show what they've learned in practices. Fundamentals are stressed in the Cugini scuola calcio program and Cugini instructors work hard to instill love of the game in children, not a love of winning.

Game Scores/Trophies: Game scores are not kept or posted and are de-emphasized at this young age. All children will receive trophies at the last game of the season for commitment to their team and the progress they've made. There is no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place trophies.