It’s hard to believe, but the end of the 2018-2019 soccer year is coming soon! This means it’s time to document the transition from the current soccer year to the upcoming 2019-2020 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.
Age groups:
Our girls with 2011 birth years graduate from the Junior Academy program and will be eligible to tryout for the U9 Academy Girls program. Girls with 2012 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 lots of similarities between the Junior Academy and U9 Academy programs. There are three main differences with the U9 program:
- Game format: Standard game format is 7v7.
- Schedule: Most weekends have games 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 a local pre-season and post-season tournament.
Pre-tryout camp: May 20-23, 2019
NTH offers an open Academy pre-tryout camp the week before tryouts. Link: 2019 pre-tryout camp details. The camp is free for current NTH Junior Academy and Academy players. It’s highly recommended for any players who will miss tryouts.
Tryouts: May 28-30, 2019:
Tryouts for all NTH Academy programs for the 2019-2020 soccer year start Tuesday, May 28th. Check our tryouts page for more information.
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 Kimmie (U9) and Ward (Junior Academy) 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: Kimmie O’Connor (U9 tryouts) or Ward (Junior Academy tryouts).
Coaching assignments:
NTH-Tophat North Academy Girls Groups (2019-2020):
| Academy Program | Eligible Birth Years (2019-2020 soccer year) | Coach | E-mail address |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Academy (U7 / U8) web site link | 2012, 2013 | Ward Swain | ward(dot)swain(at)nasa-ga(dot)org |
| U9 Academy | 2011 | Kimmie O'Connor | nasacoachkimmie(at)gmail(dot)com |
| U10 Academy | 2010 | Trey Daniel | trey(dot)daniel(at)nasa-ga(dot)org |
| U11 Academy | 2009 | Trey Daniel | trey(dot)daniel(at)nasa-ga(dot)org |
| U12 Academy | 2008 | Ashley Stinson | ashley(dot)stinson(at)nasa-ga(dot)org |
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.
Academy group names:
If you check the NASA Tophat web site, you may see some references to NTH-Tophat and NTH-Tophat North. When used in reference to teams or programs, NTH-Tophat refers to groups that play out of the Buckhead branch, and NTH-Tophat North refers to the groups that play out of the Metro North and Quest Park branches.
Academy Team Camps:
TBD. Camp information is usually finalized in early May.