1| What is the Player Pathway through our club?

• We understand club soccer can be difficult to navigate and the alphabet soup of leagues is confusing as players graduate from one age group to the next. On our website we try to explain the overall pathway and the leagues, please click here.

• U7 to U10 - United FC - Players in these age groups play in the Michigan Youth Soccer League (MYSL), which includes travel within 45 minutes radius of our facilities in Birmingham and Pontiac.

• U11 & U12 - United FC - Players are these age groups will play in either the MYSL or the Directors Academy. The Directors Academy is a state association (MSYSA) run league and can include travel around the state. This is the highest level of play in Michigan.

• U13 to U19 Girls - Sporting United FC - At U13 United FC merges with our sister club Sporting Michigan. The relationship between United FC and Sporting Michigan, allows us to bring more like minded players together to form teams, which can compete on a regional and state level. Our first teams compete in the Elite Clubs Regional League (ECNL RL), which includes travel around the midwest. Our second teams can compete in either the National League Competition (NLC) or the Michigan State Premier Soccer League (MSPSP). The NLC involves travel around the midwest, usually Illinois and Wisconsin, while MSPSP involves travel around the state. Please note, for high school aged players, the club soccer season runs from August to March. In March, high school aged players play with their high school teams.

• U13 to U19 Boys - United FC - At U13 our teams graduate from the Directors Academy and MYSL into the Elite Academy (EA), Elite 64 Regional League (E64 RL), National League Competition (NLC) and Michigan State Premier Soccer League (MSPSP). The EA involves travel around the midwest as well as one travel tournament / showcase. In 2022 & 2023 this event was held in Florida. The E64 RL & NLC involves travel around the midwest, while MSPSP involves travel around the state. Please note, for high school aged players, the club soccer season runs from November to June. From August to November, high school aged players play with their high school teams.

• Why do we offer so many leagues at U13 & Above? Ultimately, we participate in these leagues to find the appropriate level of competition for our players, while allowing us to provide a positive experience for our families and players.

2| 2024-2026 Uniform Package - What will be included and what are the projected cost?

We are current working through the uniform package and its pricing with our retailer partner. Based on feedback from the club we have decided to moving away from all white uniforms. As we mandated by the leagues to have a light and dark kit, this color may be included somewhere, however, it will definitely not be the shorts and we are trying to incorporate it into the socks and jersey. In 2022, the club rebranded and moved from Nike to Adidas, which meant that some package items, such as a bag were included to move the club from our old branding. For the next uniform cycle we are working with our retailer to freeze pricing and move towards a more a la carte offering. Please note, there are certain items every player will need based on our current contract, however, we want to provide more options to families to choose their own total package. More information on design, package and pricing will be announced in the spring season.

3| When will the 2024/25 Tryouts be held?

• June 1st & 2nd at UWM Sports Complex - Girls ECNL RL Tryouts - U13 to U19 Age Groups

• June 2nd & 3rd at UWM Sports Complex - Boys Elite Academy Tryouts - U13 to U19 Age Groups

• June 3rd to 6th at UWM Sports Complex - Boys & Girls Open Training Week - U7 to U19 Age Groups

• June 8th & 9th at UWM Sports Complex - Boys & Girls Michigan State Youth Soccer Association Tryouts - U7 to U19 Age Groups

4| What summer soccer options will there be in 2024?

• Team Camp will be held the week of August 5th to 8th

• Camps will be held July 22nd to 25th and July 29th to August 1st

• Summer Champions Cup - we will offer age groups at U8, U10 & U12 Boys and Girls

• Summer Tournament Series - This year we will be offering a new program for players looking to continue their soccer season throughout the summer. This program will offering training and travel to a soccer tournament. More information will be available in the new year.

5| How do Club Fees work at United & Sporting United FC?

In 2022 the club moved to an all inclusive fee structure. This means all fees associated with participating with our club, excluding coaches travel expenses, are included in the contracted price. The club contract and age group team plan, which is signed at tryouts, outlines all programming included in the yearly fees. Please note, if a team decides to do additional events, that fee will be billed separately to all players who participate.

6| Why are coaching travel expenses not included in the club fees?

For the 2023/2024 season, the club decided to move to an invoicing policy for coaches travel. As outlined in the ‘club fees’ question, for the 2022/2023 season the club moved to an all inclusive pricing system, the feedback on this move was extremely positive and something we wanted to continue with for future years.
However, the one element in this process that was extremely hard to budget was coaches travel. In order to provide the best experience possible, our coaches, with feedback from their families, are responsible for choosing their own tournaments, hotels, methods of travel, etc. Some teams will travel to Grand Rapids, while some of our younger teams may choose Petoskey or at the older age groups Florida or Phoenix. These decisions are made after the budgeting process and as you can imagine all incur very different expenses. In order to provide a realistic budget and pricing, and not have one team subsidize another, we made the decision in 2023 to invoice families per event rather than try to predict the costs that the coach and team would incur. Although this was our thinking, we understand there was a mistake made in the 2023/2024 United FC contracts. In addition the communication, and timing of this, was confusing and inadequate. We take full responsibility for this lack of communication and are working hard to provide more information to our families, and be as transparent as possible moving forward.

7| What additional programs does the club run over the Winter season?

• Advanced Technical Training - 6 Week Sessions in Winter 1 and Winter 2 - The Advanced Technical Training Program curriculum has been designed to intentionally focus on improving our players confidence, creativity and technical execution. Training will be split into three main areas; isolating and developing soccer techniques, increasing the players speed of execution and decision-making in game-like situations. The sessions will be delivered by our exceptional coaching staff.

• United Juniors - 6 Week Sessions in Winter 1 and Winter 2 - Our United Juniors youth academy provides the connection between our Recreational Youth League and our Travel Program. It is a great place for players to experience professional training once a week during the Fall, Winter and Spring seasons, while still playing in the Recreational League. It is the foundation in our player development model. The United Juniors program is a technical development program designed to help players take their game to the next level. The program is open to both boys and girls.

• Futsal - 6 Week Sessions in Winter 1 and Winter 2 - Our futsal program takes place on Friday evenings. Players are broken up into teams and they play an intra club league season over six weeks. Futsal is a fast paced and extremely challenging environment, which helps develop our players technically and tactically in a fun, and competitive environment.

8| What does the club do for indoor leagues & games?

• U7 to U10 - Our teams participate in indoor leagues at Total Soccer Royal Oak. We feel that this is the best environment for our players at these as it offers local travel, a consistent game schedule, continuous play, and requires players to play at fast paced and technically challenging environment.

• U11 & Above - For years there were two main non-boarded league offerings; Total Soccer and Ultimate Soccer Arena. Both offered a traditional league season, where you would be grouped with like ability teams and play each team once. Over the past few years, these companies have been purchased by other companies and due to the advent of outdoor leagues playing games in November, December and March, the need for a traditional league diminished. This led to a more all a la carte offering, where clubs would request the number of games they wanted from the indoor facilities. The consequence of this has been a more scattered schedule and difficultly in managing the level of the opponent. Last year the club made a decision to invest in indoor game time at UWM, so we could have more control over the schedule and the opponents we played. Although there are challenges in running our own indoor games, we felt the move was a success and benefited our families, players and coaches. This year we decided to invest in more time at UWM, which has allowed us to expand the game offerings, programs and improve the overall experience of the teams.

9| Soccer Aid

• What is Soccer Aid? The Soccer Aid is a non for profit 501-3c scholarship fund, which was created in 2022.

• Why was Soccer Aid created? Soccer Aid was created as a resource to be used to support players for whom it would be difficult to join without financial support.

• Why is Soccer Aid important? There are many important benefits for children who participate in organized sports. United FC, Sporting Michigan, and Sporting United FC’s goal is to develop young people, not only as soccer players, but in their personality and character - creating lifelong memories, relationships, and a sense of family through the pursuit of this game.

• Who administers and allocates monies raised from Soccer Aid? Soccer Aid is administered by a volunteer board of directors. Families receiving scholarships must submit an applications and monies are allocated based on need.

• How much money did Soccer Aid raise in 2022? Thanks to everyone who supported our events last year, we were able to raise over $45,000 and assist 12 families for the 2023-2024 seasonal year.

• When is Soccer Aid in 2024? Our Soccer Aid Gala is to be held on Friday, February 9th at the San Marino Club. The Soccer Aid Golf Classic will be held on Friday, May 10th at Fieldstone Golf Course.