Soccer Friends USA — Local services in New York

Edit: I had a productive conversation with Director Efrain and Ashley. They were patient in listening to my concerns and addressing them. From that point forward, I believe my child has enjoyed Futsal a lot more, and I appreciate them receiving the feedback and implementing it.

OP: Soccer Friends overall is great. Futsal Academy is not.

We have been doing Soccer Friends on and off for several years for as long as I can remember. We did the 2 to 4 program for a couple of years and it was a lot of fun. We also did a skills program in the park over by the Overlook, and again a positive experience. Coaches have always been nice, kids play well with one another, and it fosters a love for the game.

Futsal is a different experience. We have been in it for a few games now and there are a litany of issues. I will only try to focus on the couple of big issues I am seeing.

1. The philosophy of the program is to let the kids self-organize. This would be fine, if they did that in totality. However, because the kids struggle to do that, they have to intervene. That in it of itself is not an issue. The issue is that the coaches we have been assigned with are inconsistent and make the same kids (such as my own) sit out or play goalie repeatedly.

2. The attendance I have seen from the other teams have been poor so one of our kids is always sitting out. The coaches call the substitutions. Again, they are inconsistent at best and usually sit the same kids out, while never sitting down other kids. a) This came to a head at an earlier game and I spoke to the coaches about this. i) They tried to sit my kid again to start the second half after sitting out half of the first. Instead, of sitting the kid or kids who repeatedly play the whole game - they decide to bench the kid who played goalie in the first half. This in my opinion, is messed up. b) The current coaches we are assigned with, clearly favor certain kids over others, and this is what leads to the imbalance of play time.

TL/DR - Soccer Friends overall is great. Futsal Academy is not. Futsal Academy is not good because of the current coaches we are working with show favoritism causing all other kids to play goalie or to sit-out. I hope they take my feedback that I shared in person and in this review and correct this program. It does...

We consider ourselves very fortunate to have learned about Soccer Friends the old fashioned way - through word of mouth. We have seen how our two daughters (12 and 8 years old) have learned so much about the game over the last few years thanks to the wonderful and experienced coaches at SF and the various programs they offer. The girls currently take weekly lessons which offer vital instuction as well as play time. Since these classes are given in small groups, they allow each player to practice technique and ball handling with hands on coaching. We have also played in the SF Futsal League which takes place during the winter. We'd never played before but highly recommend it - it was a blast for the kids and the parents. Our girls LOVE it. We recently ended the Futsal season and my 8 year old is asking when the next begins. It's facinating to watch how the players improve throughout the Futsal season. In the years we have associated with SF, we have never seen any of the coaches be rude or abusive to any child. This is a major concern of ours since we'd seen this behaviour at other organizations. We want our girls to have fun while learning to play the game. That is exactly the Soccer Friends approach. The coaches often play with the kids and you can sense their love for the game which is contagious. We highly reccomend SF to all. Coach Sean and Coach Ova are amazing human beings who love teaching and do everything within their power to ensure our kids are happy...

Truly one of a kind experience; Not many businesses would go out your way to make sure you have a great experience weekly. But they do, and I have had the great fortune of meeting and interacting with someone from Soccer Friends USA that provides just that. Tiffany has been so accomodating in helping with everything a young mom deals with; from scheduling mishaps to the emotional stages of choosing the right coach/location. As a result, I even consider her a friend because you can tell when she talks to you and helps you through the process that she is genuine. Which says alot about the morale of the school and the staff.

I thought that she was just a terribly nice person. But as soon as the classes started I figured out that is the representation of the school. They actually teach the kids how to play soccer and find excellent ways to keep them engaged/ interested in the class. My daughter loves the Classes, the uniform and the coaches in that order (lol). She looks forward to going every weekend.

As a young mom of a toddler that is super important to me.. So if you are considering Soccer Friends Usa for your child and you are still on the fence about it.

Just call and ask for Tiffany, I am more than sure you will not regret it and that your child will love the Classes/ Coaches as much as...