It’s hard to believe, but the end of the 2020-2021 soccer year is coming soon! This means it’s time to document the transition from the current soccer year to the upcoming 2021-2022 soccer year.
On the field, we’ll stay in the moment and focus on the here and now. We have more control over the here and now than we do over the future.
Parents will have questions related to the future: age groups, tryouts, coaching assignments and other factors. We’ll update this post with more details about the transition as more details become available. You can also ask your coach after any upcoming practice.
Academy group names:
There will be a slight name change for the various NTH-Tophat Academy branches. The groups based at Metro North and United Quest Parks are currently known as NTH-Tophat North. We will become Tophat Marietta. The other branches will become Tophat Buckhead, Tophat Cherokee, Tophat Milton and Tophat Smyrna. All of the Tophat Academy players will be known as Hatters.
Age groups will be referred to by the girls’ birth year, or the last two digits of the birth year. For example, Tophat Marietta 13 will refer to the 2013 group based out of Marietta (Metro North and United Quest Parks).
The Junior Academy Girls name:
We’ll officially become Tophat Marietta 2014. But we’ll likely still occasionally refer to ourselves as the Junior Academy Girls.
Age groups:
Our girls with 2013 birth years graduate from the Junior Academy program and will be eligible to tryout for the Tophat 2013 Girls Academy program (aka U9). Girls with 2014 birth years will be eligible to return to the Junior Academy Girls program for a 2nd year. Link: soccer age chart
Differences between Junior Academy and U9:
There are many similarities between the Junior Academy (2014) and U9 Academy programs (2013). Here are the main differences with the U9 program:
- Game format: The standard U9 game format is 7v7 including goalkeepers.
- Schedule: The majority of U9 game days are scheduled against outside opponents, with roughly a 50/50 mix of home and away games. Away games are usually in the metro Atlanta area.
- Tournaments: U9 teams typically play local pre-season and post-season tournaments.
- Ball: U9 (through U12) players use a size 4 soccer ball.
Academy Open House, May 17-20, 2021 (updated May 12):
The Tophat Academy hosts an open house the week of May 17. Current Tophat Academy players who would like to participate should attend their upcoming age group’s sessions. (This is a change from what we reported on May 11.) For example, our 2013 girls should attend the U9 sessions, while our 2014 girls should attend our Junior Academy Girls sessions.
Schedules and field assignments match each age group’s standard practice schedule:
- 2013s: Noonday Park back field #8 Monday and Wednesday, 4:45-6:00 pm. Metro Park field #5 Tuesday and Thursday, 4:45-6:00 pm
- 2014s: Quest Park field #7 Monday and Wednesday, 5:30-6:45 pm. Metro Park Tops turf field Tuesday and Thursday, 5:00-6:15 pm
If your daughter plans to attend, please register via your NTH web site account.
- Program name: NTH Tophat Girls Open House Camp
- Fee: $0 (free!) for current Tophat Academy players
Tryouts: May 24-26, 2021:
Tryouts for all Tophat Academy programs for the 2021-2022 soccer year start Monday, May 24th. Check our tryouts page for more information. (Link to tryout registration process: https://www.nasaacademygirls.org/tryouts-may-2021/#register.)
If your daughter will miss tryouts, be sure to notify her upcoming age group’s coach well in advance to review options.
Tryout volunteers needed:
Coaches Ashley (U9/2013) and Ward (Junior Academy/2014-2015) are looking for 1-3 parent volunteers to staff the tryout sign-in tent each night. Roles include greeter, data master (confirming player info on pre-printed registration lists) and artist (marking tryout numbers on players’ arms).
If you’re available to help any of the nights, please e-mail the appropriate coach and include which night(s) you’re available: Ashley Stinson (U9/2013 tryouts) or Ward (Junior Academy / 2014-2015 tryouts).
Coaching assignments:
Link: 2021-22 Girls Academy Teams & Coaches
Other questions:
If you have questions about other parts of the transition, please feel free to send them our way and we’ll address them.
Fees:
Fees for the 2021-2022 Junior Academy and Academy programs stay the same as they were for the 2018-2019, 2019-2020 soccer years. Payment installments are offered as a four month, a seven month or a ten month plan. Further details on payment plans are available within the NTH registration system.
Uniforms:
TBD. The COVID pandemic put us off our usual uniform cycle. We’ll post any uniform order news before tryouts.
Academy Team Camps:
Our 2021 Academy Team Camp takes place the week of August 2 during after school hours.