About The Youth

IS YOUR CLUB A 501(c) 3 NON-PROFIT?

YES !! We our very passionate about keeping the cost of playing soccer as low as possible. Our mission is to use the game of soccer to inspire academic achievement, discipline, teamwork, hard work, focus, goal setting, planning, and community spirit. Many of the children that participate in our program are from at-risk communities and from hard working families that find it difficult to fund extracurricular activities such as soccer. Our corporate sponsorships are a tremendous help in allowing us to keep our costs low.

HOW IS YOUR CLUB WORKING TOWARDS ELIMINATING THE CURRENT “PAY TO PLAY” YOUTH CLUB MODEL?

The current “pay to play” youth club model is incredibly detrimental to the development of soccer in the United States. Soccer in the U.S. has become a country club sport like Tennis or Golf. For the rest of the world, soccer is a game of the people, the regular folk. In many circumstances, youth club players in the U.S. are not necessarily the best players but rather those that have the financial resources to pay the hefty fees that most clubs charge. Youth soccer in the U.S. has turned into a BUSINESS. Low-income children from working class families cannot afford the outrageous fees that most clubs charge. These fees can range from $1,800 per child to $3,500 just for the fall season. The talent pool is vastly diminished with the “pay to play” business model. Invictus Athletic Club is doing its part to change the economically oppressive youth soccer culture. Our total fees are in the hundreds not in the thousands like most clubs. We offer various scholarships for those families that simply do not have money for extracurricular activities. Many of our excellent USSF licensed coaches coach Pro-Bono. Invictus Athletic Club is a club FOR EVERYONE, regardless of economic circumstances.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ENSURE THAT PLAYER DEVELOPMENT IS KEPT AS THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY?

As a youth soccer club, developing children as both players and people has to be the primary goal. Invictus Athletic Club is staffed by quality coaches whose priorities align with those of the club, namely age-appropriate skill development alongside learning the important life lessons that being part of a sports team can provide. Our coaches understand their role within the entire club development structure and also their role as mentors in helping our children learn the skills and values required to be successful and valuable people. A U7 player must learn and master certain skills that will enable them to reach their full potential by the time they are U18. Skills and development should always be the focus. Winning is just a byproduct of hard work and dedication.

WHAT IS INVICTUS ATHLETIC CLUB DOING TO ENSURE THAT COACHING DEVELOPMENT IS KEPT AT A HIGH LEVEL?

Our Coaches are our most important asset. They are the people with direct influence over our young players. We are actively working to develop a staff of the highest quality, so that they may be great soccer educators and can also be leaders of young people. Typically we choose and select our coaches from the array of top players that play semi-professional soccer in Southern California as well as great local High School coaches. We feel that coaches who actively play the game or are winding down their professional careers can be great teacher of the game and great role models.

WHAT IS YOUR AFFILIATION?

The Invictus Athletic Club is affiliated with Cal South, United States Adult Soccer Association, Coast Soccer League, US Youth Soccer, WPSL, and US Soccer.