With well over 400 soccer organizations serving over 200,000 members playing on kids’ soccer teams, Mass Youth Soccer has a place for every child who wants one. Most members play on town or rec teams, but Mass club soccer enjoys quite a large following as well.
What is the best soccer team in Mass? Well, out of the more than 100 clubs, I’ve singled out 5 as having some of the best youth soccer teams and programs available in Mass.
Scorpions SC
Scorpions SC has been historically a girls’ club that has ventured into training boys, and has had some measure of success there as well. The club is primarily located just south of Boston, but has players from all over the state. Their focus is on training and development for the younger groups with their Junior Academy, and higher level competition through MAPLE, Region 1 Premier League, and ECNL at the upper age groups.
Scorpions are a growing club in that they went from 25 to 52 teams between 2009 an 2011. Their list of accomplishments includes both regional and state championships, and they were ranked the 20th in the nation by Soccer America Magazine. Read the review about the Scorpions.
SEE MORE: 7 Questions to Ask Before Joining a Soccer Club!
One last thing about the Scorpions…they are rumored so to merge with another club so ask around, keep up-to-date on this site and ask folks in the club point blank. See my blog post The Urge to Merge.
FC Stars of Massachusetts
Founded in 1997 with one girls team, FC Stars went on to win 5 consecutive state championships from 2001 to 2005, establishing themselves as one of the best youth soccer teams in the state. Since then, they’ve expanded to include more girls teams, an academy, and more recently, boys teams. They are now a full service club, providing high level training to all kids, ages 6 through 18. They have a tiered system with players of all levels, and a Junior Academy program for the U9 age groups to learn basic fundamentals while fostering a love for the game.
The FC Stars best year was in 2010, when they won 6 state cups, 5 for girls and 1 for boys. FC Stars’ mission is simple and clearly stated: to provide the optimal training and competition to best prepare young athletes to play at high school, college, regional, and national levels.
They are also building up their coaching staff at the elite level so be forewarned as they may drain resources from the lower ranks.
Read more about FC Stars.
FC Blazers
On the boys side, you’ll find it hard to beat FC Blazers in terms of level of competition and play. Winning 4 out of 5 state championships in 2011, they showed their dominance over other club soccer teams in Massachusetts. This success has attracted talent in the form of players and coaches from all over the state, and has set their players up to go on to successful college soccer playing careers.
The Blazers’ stated mission is to develop their players’ skills and knowledge of the game, while instilling pride, sportsmanship, and a desire to excel. They are just now venturing into the girls side of the game with a U14 team that has already made a good showing in their first tournament.
For more information about FC Blazers.
NEFC
With over 100 teams and 1,000+ players, NEFC is the largest and strongest clubs and has some of the best youth soccer teams in Massachusetts. With a professional staff and state of the art facilities, NEFC unabashedly caters to the premier player. They accept anyone age 6 through 11 into the Youth Academy Program, but their primary goal is to accelerate the development of the most talented players who wish to take their game to the next level.
Through their association with top college and professional coaches, NEFC makes sure players receive top level coaching, challenging training, and when the time comes, the opportunity for maximum exposure.
NEFC is growing at a fast pace as they continue to acquire/merge with others clubs in Mass, adding more facilities and compete on a greater scale at more select tournaments.
Read more about the NEFC.
Abbey Villa SC
There are also excellent club soccer teams in Massachusetts that truly put their focus on individual player development yet also strive to provide an opportunity for high level competition. Abbey Villa SC has a different approach to soccer training than most Mass club soccer teams. They use the concept of Total Football originally created by the hugely successful Dutch Ajax club. The idea is that each player is able to play any position whenever it is required of them, and the focus is on the team as a whole maintaining possession rather than always moving the ball up to the goal right away. (See Is “Total Football” Effective?)
Abbey Villa S.C. provides opportunities for players ages 8 to 17 years old allowing them to play soccer at the highest level through their Club Teams. Youth Academy is offered for boys and girls aged 6-9, while their Soccer Mini’s is offered for children aged 3-6 years old. They have a spot for players at all levels. Abbey Villa SC is a very competitive club playing in MAPLE, MASC and boys playing in Regionals.
Find out more about Abbey Villa.
While all Mass club soccer programs exist to provide kids soccer teams and players with a place to develop their game and grow as people, they do differ in their approaches. This list of 5 good ones is just the tip of the iceberg. However, if your child wants to experience playing with some of the best youth soccer teams in Massachusetts, it’s a good place to start.
For information about soccer fitness and the basics of soccer check out my free ebooks: Soccer Fitness Tips For All Levels and Understanding The Basics of Soccer.
