GALAXY ALLIANCE CLUB OVERVIEW
WHAT IS OUR MISSION?
Galaxy Alliance Soccer Club’s mission is to provide the best coaching and support resources to enable each player to develop to his or her fullest potential, both as a soccer player and as an individual.
WHO ARE WE?
Galaxy Alliance Soccer Club (GASC) is a non-profit 501c(3) organization dedicated to youth soccer on the Westside of Los Angeles. We form teams for players between the ages of 8 and 19 that compete in the Coast Soccer League, one of the largest and most competitive youth leagues in the country. We consider ourselves a service organization that focuses on the needs of its current and prospective members: players and their families in and around the Westside of Los Angeles whose primary extracurricular focus is playing high-level soccer.
We are a soccer community within which a player is encouraged to find the most appropriate environment given his or her desired level of competitiveness, commitment and intensity. We emphasize both athletic and academic excellence, using soccer as a vehicle to teach important life lessons and help our players develop into well-rounded young adults.
Through our focus on the development of the individual, we strive to build winning teams where success is measured in more than victories on the field. Our over-arching goal is to keep our players playing soccer as long as possible, because we believe soccer teaches them life lessons that are hard to learn elsewhere. We have accomplished our mission if our players' lives are enriched through their involvement with the Club and if they experience the joy of playing quality soccer at the highest levels available on the Westside of Los Angeles, and they keep coming back for more.
WHAT MAKES US STAND OUT?
The Club’s success has been evidenced by the development of its players, the competitive records of its teams, its ability to attract some of the top coaching talent in the region, and the matriculation of its players to professional clubs, development academies, college teams and other high-level programs.
The following statistics help substantiate Galaxy Alliance's success:
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According to 3Four3 Analytics (http://analytics.3four3.com/), Galaxy Alliance is the only Westside club in CSL with a winning record since its inception.
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In the 2010 and 2011 Coast Soccer League seasons, our teams have won or tied nearly 2/3 of their games (on par with the top clubs in Southern California).
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We achieved this while having more teams in the CSL Silver Elite, Gold and Premier brackets than any other Westside club.
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Over 60% of our teams earned promotion to a higher bracket for the Fall 2011 CSL season, and up to seven teams stand to be promoted for the coming 2012 season.
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In the Fall 2011 CSL season, 70% of our teams were Silver or above, 42% Silver Elite or above, and 26% Gold and Premier, which is across the board higher than any other Westside club.
- Perhaps the greatest evidence of our positive momentum is the steady stream of quality players and coaches coming to our teams, many of which are migrating not just from other Westside clubs, but nearby “Superclubs”.
WHAT IS OUR COACHING & TRAINING PHILOSOPHY?
We encourage our coaches to focus on the long-term goal of teaching a high-quality style of soccer that would be appealing to any soccer enthusiast. Our ideal multi-year curriculum teaches age-specific skills and concepts in a gradual, progressive manner, and requires strong focus and commitment from players, families and coaches alike.
We aim to achieve a 360-degree approach to development. For younger players (13 years old and younger), our focus is on developing technical skills (ball handling, first touch, etc.) and promoting individual growth. At the older ages (14 and upwards), tactical skills (field awareness, game strategy, etc.) assume precedence, along with team advancement and player matriculation (to college and the upper echelons of soccer if desired).
Our philosophy of player development includes the following basic concepts:
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Winning is a byproduct of player development.
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Teams are vehicles for player development and matriculation, which take precedence over team and club advancement.
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While it is important to emphasize team loyalty and fulfilling a commitment, players and parents should decide which club, team and coach is right for the player each season without fear of chastisement. Our primary concern is doing what is right for the player.
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The balance between intensity and “having fun” depends upon the charter of a team.
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Keep kids playing as long as possible, because soccer teaches kids many life lessons in addition to soccer.
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Players improve one touch at a time. While coaching is important, soccer is in many ways self-teaching, and more touches will result in faster improvement.
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Success results from discipline, commitment and hard work within a positive and supportive environment. Players will get out of club soccer what they put into it.
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“Don’t push them, don’t hold them back”, i.e., encourage players who want to strive for the highest levels, but let them set their own goals.
WHAT STYLE OF SOCCER DO WE TEACH?
We are steadfast in teaching these basic tenets of quality soccer:
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Passing the ball on the ground and to feet;
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Playing the ball “out of the back” (building an attack out of the defensive area of the team formation);
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Utilizing open space and movement “off the ball” to develop a quick, aggressive and dynamic passing game;
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Playing “possession with progression soccer” to develop patience and enable our teams to control the speed of a game;
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Playing an adaptable, balanced and well-rounded game, incorporating different styles and systems of play, alternate formations, the ability to rotate positions, etc.
CLUB HISTORY
GASC’s origins date back to 1983 with the founding of one of its predecessor organizations, the well-known and popular Real Madrid Soccer Club of West Los Angeles. In 1997, Galaxy Alliance Soccer Club was formed out of the merger of Real Madrid SC and two other local clubs. Today, GASC is the largest and most prominent youth-oriented soccer club on the Westside of Los Angeles.
We support the LA Galaxy professional MLS club and have a good working relationship with them, but have no direct affiliation.
FIELDS
Most of GASC’s teams practice at the recently-renovated MacArthur Field (“VA Field”) in the Veteran’s Administration facility in West Los Angeles, as well as at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center (“Rancho Park”) near Westwood and RFK Community Schools in the Mid-Wilshire area. GASC’s primary home field is Mark Twain Middle School in Venice, but the Club also plays weekend games at the VA Field, RFK Community Schools in Los Angeles, Paul Revere Middle School in Brentwood and on the artificial turf fields in the City of Santa Monica.
TEAM STRUCTURE & PLAYER DUES
Each GASC team operates as an independent financial unit but is overseen by the Club. When players commit to play on a team for the coming year, their families pay annual Player Dues to the team, which are then used to pay for fields, coaching salaries, tournaments, etc. The club finances and the expense side of team budgets are fully “transparent”, i.e., are broken out and available for review by members. Efforts are made to keep the Player Dues as affordable as possible, typically ranging from $1,800-$2,500 per year. Financial Aid for qualified players is normally considered at the team level.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Like most youth soccer clubs in Southern California, GASC is a primarily volunteer-run organization. It has a seven person board of directors that is elected annually by the regular membership (usually represented by the team manager from each team). The board, in turn, appoints eight officers (President, Vice President, Club Administrator, Treasurer, Secretary, Registrar, Fields Coordinator and Director of Coaching) to run the Club's operations. Volunteers fill many other positions such as Uniforms & Equipment, Field Services, Webmaster, Fundrasing, etc.
