About Akron Area Futbol Club
The Akron Area Futbol Club is a not for profit organization governed by an elected body of parents and friends of our community. Funding comes from seasonal fees and periodic fund raising activities as well as local sponsors. Our club does not receive ANY financial support from any school district, recreational centers or surrounding municipalities. We are not affiliated or supported by the school district or the Ephrata. Our Club offers educational, fun spirited, youth soccer programs in the fall, winter and spring for girls and boys Ages 5-19. Games are played on 3 levels:
• Intramural
• Recreational
• Travel

One of our core established values is to ensure that every child and parent come first and foremost.

Too many times in today's age are the core values lost. We have strived to make soccer affordable to everyone to not only encourage but also provide the opportunity to be a part of youth sports in our area. After careful analysis and study, we have concluded what the true cost of soccer is for a youth program. Therefore, in keeping with our values and ethics our price has been established at $35.00 for U7 and above and $25.00 for U6. This registration price includes uniforms, liability insurance, and medical insurance for the players, participation fees, equipment, ref fees and field fees and a very minimum for administrative expenses. We do not feel that overcharging the parents to make a profit is neither fair, warranted and directly violates our code of ethics and conduct.

The goal is to provide soccer to the youth of our community. Akron Area Futbol Club (AASL) does not charge a late fee for those registrations received after the due date. The established due date greatly assists us with ample time to process the registrations and organize teams in an expedient manner. This in turn helps us provide you with as much advance notice as possible to the team, practice dates & times your children are playing. Our philosophy is that every child whom wishes to play soccer will play soccer. We do not have a waiting list. We will exhaust all efforts to ensure every child plays within our organization. If we do not have enough players for a team, we will work with neighboring clubs to field a team to the best of our ability. We will even refer the player to a neighboring soccer club if they have available roster positions. No player will ever be denied the opportunity to play soccer due to economic hardship.

Our organization is comprised of all VOLUNTEERS. We DO NOT HAVE PAID board positions; this is something that we do not believe in and is not required to achieve our goals. Player and coach development is extremely valued and important with our organization, and we have strived to work with professionals to provide a tremendous program to our youth and coaches. We have contracted with One on One Soccer to provide our coach and player development. We do not feel that having a paid professional on our board can better serve our players and parents.

We have developed and adhere to a strict code of ethics and conduct which we are extremely honored to follow. We feel so strongly that the parents are a vital part of the organization, that all parents of players have a right to vote within the organization without having to hold a board or committee position. We do not feel that a board or committee position is any more important than any other parent. You as parents should have a say where and how your monies are spent as well as the programs we offer to the community. We encourage any parent to attend a board meeting and make motions, cast votes, or effect policy.

We do not believe that this organization has any right to be an entity that is self ruling with the ABSENCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY nor a body of representatives that vote for themselves each and every election. We believe this prevents positive change and a continuous strives for excellence and improvement. Please feel free to view our Code of Ethics on our website and provide any feedback. We are here to serve the players and parents at all times, if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at your convenience.

Intramural Programs (U6 - U8)
The Akron Area Futbol Club strongly believes that the intramural soccer program is the foundation of the club. Our organization works directly with our coaches to ensure that the children have fun and develop a love for the game. In addition, teach and learn basic soccer skills. All of our Intramural games are played in-house. At this level, we do not stress winning to any degree but place great emphasis on skill development, sportsmanship, teamwork, physical fitness and above all FUN.

Players do not have tryouts, special recruiting, or invited to a team based on talent or ability. All players play a minimum of 50% except for injury, illness, or discipline.

(U6 Teams) practice one (1) night a week and play eight (8) games in a season on Saturday mornings. Games are held at either 8:30am or 10:00 am. All games are played in a 3v3 format without a goal keeper and we do not maintain a game score.

(U8 Teams) practice two (2) nights a week and play eight (8) games in a season on Saturday mornings. Games are held at either 8:30am or 10:00 am. All games are played in a 4v4 format without a goal keeper or a 5v5 format with a goal keeper.

Recreational Programs (U9 - U19)
The Akron Area Futbol Club recreational program provides educational youth soccer to players throughout their school years including grade, middle and high school. The program builds upon the basic of fundamentals taught at the U6 & U8 level, but provides more in-depth knowledge and skill development. We continue to emphasize having fun which is extremely vital but also sportsmanship. At NO time do we condone or encourage rough play. This program is for the players that may not have the available time, skill set or commitment for travel soccer.

Players do not have tryouts, special recruiting, or invited to a team based on talent or ability. All players play a minimum of 50% except for injury, illness, or discipline.

Practice is held two (2) nights a week with games played on Saturday's or Sunday's either at 1:00pm or 3:00pm. In this division, teams play four (4) home games and four (4) away games with other youth soccer clubs in the Lancaster County Area. Examples of away games would be at Ephrata, Cocalico, Hempfield, and Manheim Township.

Girls’ teams play in the (LAGS) Lancaster Area Girls Soccer League and boys’ teams play in the Lancaster County Boys League. In these two leagues, there is usually an end of season tournament.

Travel Programs (U9-U19)
Travel Soccer is a more intense rigorous soccer program with much emphasis on training and competition. Some of the key aspects of Travel Soccer are that the program is intended for players and parents with the dedication and commitment to a higher level of soccer. Games are more competitive, skill level of players is higher, and speed of plays is quicker than recreational soccer.

Travel teams play against some of the same clubs that we play at the recreational level but the teams are travel teams. There are two levels of travel soccer, Division A and Division B. Division A is for seasoned travel teams that have been together for some time and are very skilled and Division B is for newly formed teams and those teams where they have not played together.

No player will ever be placed on a travel team without the consent of a parent or guardian. Our travel programs hold yearly tryouts each spring usually in May. Players are selected based upon current travel team open positions as well as skill level and a positive attitude. Travel soccer is truly a team game.

Teams compete in LANCO which is comprised of Travel teams / Clubs from the Lancaster Area. Practice is customary on two (2) nights per week with games on Saturday or Sundays. Travel Teams also play within two (2) to three (3) tournaments a year based on the coach and parents. Travel teams also have the opportunity to play indoor soccer to stay sharp over the winter months at Red Rose, Lanco Field House or Body Zone. Playing indoor soccer over the winter also is based on the coach and parents.

Indoor Soccer
Akron Area Futbol Club believes that any continuation of soccer skill development is important. Even though that we do not provide indoor programs for the winter sessions, we highly encourage players, parents and coaches to put together teams over winter session 1 and winter session 2 especially at the U10 & Above age groups. Indoor teams are independent and are not subject to the rules and regulations of the Akron Area Futbol Club nor are they subject to LAGS (Lancaster Area Girls) or LCB (Lancaster County Boys ). Indoor teams are funded solely by individual parents and coaches. Some indoor teams will even hold fundraising events to offset the cost per player fee to play indoor soccer. If an indoor team that has been put together comprises of a majority of Akron Area Futbol Club players, we as an organization do permit them to wear their Akron Uniforms. The uniforms are theirs which were paid by their fall or spring registrations. In addition as a courtesy we permit them to utilize a sub-site within our organizations website which must have the season listed as winter.

Coaches are persons whom are selected / approved by the parents and do not need to be coaches whom were or are coaches within the Akron Area Futbol Club. No funds from the Akron Area Futbol Club are utilized for the independent indoor teams. No fundraising monies that were raised for the organization are utilized for the independent indoor teams. Any issues or concerns that arise with indoor soccer must be directly handled between the coaches, parents and players as well as the hosting indoor facility. Akron Area Futbol Club has no jurisdiction over any of those matters since the teams are independent entities.

We encourage any player whom wishes to play indoor soccer since it will provide them with great learning experience of a different style of play as well as keep their soccer skills sharp and continue their soccer development.