FC Blazers
FC Blazers
Background
FC Blazers is a recognized leader in the development of elite soccer players who demonstrate exceptional skill and knowledge of the game, as well as a deep commitment to the values of sportsmanship, personal responsibility, respect and teamwork.
FC Blazers has grown from one team to ten teams of young men, who are taught about the power of confidence and the rewards when one works towards their goals and achieves them.
Blazers teams play in the Northeast Soccer League (NSL) and Region 1.
Club Composition
FC Blazers consists of 8 boys teams and 2 girls team; there are eight coaches.
Camps/Clinics
FC Blazers runs the Francis Okaroh’s Ultimate Soccer Academy.
The academy offers top-notch facilities where the fundamentals of soccer will be taught by experienced coaches and players.
Whether you are just learning the game or are thinking of playing college soccer, the academy will help you achieve your goals.
There’s a spring soccer camp, held during school vacation week in Medfield MA, multiple summer soccer camps at the New Hampton School in scenic New Hampton NH, and a Junior Soccer Academy with fall and winter sessions at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center.
Young Players
The FC Blazers have a Junior Academy.
Website
- The website of FC Blazers is easy to read and contains a fair amount of information.
- There is some incomplete information on the site; tournament and philosophy of the club are key components missing.
good spot
Horrible club, very unorganized, and coaching turns your kid into a town soccer player
I played 2 years for this club and my only wish is I played for him since I was 8. Now I coach for the club.
For the reviews that call this club “classless.. Terrible facilities… Horrible club” I respect the fact that you and your child may not have enjoyed a professional soccer environment”… Its NOT FOR EVERYONE. in fact its only for a select breed of player. That is why Francis has played professionally on 3 continents. Won an MLS cup, U.S Open Cup and was defender of the year. As a coach he has numerous players in the MLS today. He has won more club state, regional, and national championships in MA than any other coach. At FC Blazers we are committed to excellence in ALL that we do. This is not recreational soccer if your looking for a kumbaya team go elsewhere. We build champions on and off the pitch that requires a high demand. At FC Blazers we stand together and alone at the same time because our way produces results unlike any other club around MA. “If you have enemies its good because it means you stand for something”.
this club isnt for everyone but if you are a dedicated player then its rewarding.
Is it true this club emphasizes sweeper/stopper?
How much is this club though
Horrible club. One of the most classless organizations.
You must have been cut….
I agree, my friend ______ was a player on this team and is very terrible, he cant even score on me at recess even though I play basketball, please tell your coaches to help train your players more.
I like the concept of this website but people like Jerry ruin it for me. He is obviously a part of the Blazers and spends his spare time writing on other clubs profiles for example NEFC, Abbey Villa, MPS. The website will never work until your weed out the people like Jerry and delete there comments because there is no truth behind them.
The guy doesn’t even use a different name what an idiot!
Great reviews overall for the Blazers; folks can be very passionate about the FC Blazers.
You may find helpful and article I wrote here on MassClubSoccer that highlights the Blazers. Please see the article here:
https://massclubsoccer.com/5-best-soccer-teams-in-mass/
Peter
best team
Highly competitive club that is a perfect place for our child. The coaching is outstanding led by Francis Okaroh who has seen it all. He knows how to communicate with players and deal with the parents. I would suggest allowing Okaroh do the coaching and you, the parent focus on the parenting of your child. My son has flourished in Okaroh’s system which focuses around passing and unselfish play. It is taught and implemented for multiple age groups so kids at any similar age group may practice together at different age group practices and not skip a beat. Practices are spirited because kids are generally highly skilled and this fosters competitive drills. The national tournaments are competitive and provide competition that develops players because they compete at a high level as well. Summer camp sessions are in late July and provide an opportunity for new skill development as well as reinforcement. Two hour morning, afternoon and evening sessions followed by oral and video review foster the communication necessary to enable your child to be aware of where they need to improve and to help provide the tools to do so. Facilities are generally turf fields with lighting and are state of the art for in season practices. Winter practices for the older age groups are outdoors and build character. As an attractive alternative to Academy Teams, my child is able to play High School Soccer and play for the Blazers. This allows him to get the best of both worlds and really works in his favor.
My son has been playing for Blazers for a while. From our experience, we have had many ups and downs, because our son was not as strong as the other kids on the team when he started playing. We hung in there, and now he is a terrific player, He gained confidence in himself and would not be the athlete he is today had he not played on Blazers. If your child is serious about playing soccer in college he would do well here. The only way kids get better in soccer is through lots of training and tournaments. If you are looking for less training and competition, then a lesser club might be for you.
This is a great club, isn’t it? I have actually enjoyed the parent involvement – I love that this is a non profit club and everyone pitches in to raise money so even the kids with little to no parent involvement are able to play. I think my son has always known he was lucky – but seeing that some of his teammates have so little has increased his empathy and gratitude in ways I can’t describe. There isn’t a weekend that goes by when we aren’t housing somebody or driving someone else somewhere. I love that everyone pitches in (and the tournaments that the club plays are carefully chosen to get college coach exposure which helps everyone – especially the kids who wouldn’t normally be able to afford college).
I understand that the club may not be what you and your child were looking for but you state that they could have done a better job at developing younger players. This club insists on starting their development programs early so they can encourage proper technical skills early. They feel that it’s easier to teach them at that age then re-teach them when they get older and have to spend time to show them how to not continue making mistakes. Their practices reinforce these teachings – so while you wanted less practicing, that would be counter productive to their development.
This club isn’t for everybody – if you don’t have a child that is serious about soccer and developing their skills, send them somewhere else. But if your son or daughter loves soccer and wants nothing more than to get better – theres no place better!! The facilities are great (Forekicks, Boston University Soccer Stadium….)
My wife and I looked into going to NEFC with our son. We’d heard good things about their winning record and the owner of the club, who coaches at BC. We wanted the “family feel” we had at our previous club but didn’t feel that at all with them and after talking to several families we realized that their super competitive vibe went straight through to the parents as well (for this particular team anyway). The parents were talking poorly about other people’s kids, lots of back biting and we didn’t find the supportive group we were looking for with NEFC.
I’d actually heard bad things about the Blazers program, especially one of their coach’s Francis Okarah. We found him to be outwardly tough with the kids and hard on them but off the field there is no one who cares about them more and when you get to know him, you discover what a big heart he has and why he has such a loyal group of followers. Everything he says and does actuallly has a purpose and if you stick around, you figure out what it is. The parents care greatly that their children are able to play for him and spend so much time with each other at practices, games and tournaments that we quickly found that “Family feeling” we wanted.
I was curious why this coach had a bad reputation and discovered that for the most part it turns out that it comes from parents who’s children didn’t get as much playing time as they wanted and left the club. This certainly isn’t a club like Mass Premiere where everyone on the team will get playing time. If you aren’t keeping up, ya rent working hard at training, and not listening to the corrections you need to make – you’ll be held accountable. It’s a serious club so if your child isn’t serious about soccer, Blazers isn’t for him/her!
Left MPS where they play the ridiculous Super Y league. Had a good experience with them for the most part but coaches at FC Blazers get the boys very physically fit and definitely work on individual player development while going to top rate tournaments where college coaches see them, and play great competition during the season to challenge them. If your son or daughter LOVES soccer and wants to get better – Id highly recommend Blazers!