Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this soccer academy due to the unprofessional and retaliatory behavior exhibited by the coach. My son was dedicated to the program and worked hard for the team, but after we decided to switch to another team for better opportunities, the coach's attitude toward him drastically changed. As parents, we met face-to-face with the coach to respectfully explain our reasons for switching teams, and at the time, he seemed to understand. However, a month later, instead of acting maturely and understanding that players may need different paths to grow, the coach's office retaliation began.
What's troubling is that it seems my son is being punished not for his performance or commitment but because of a personal vendetta the coach holds against his new coach. It's completely unacceptable to take out personal grudges on a child, and it reflects very poorly on the values and professionalism of the academy. At one point, the coach even made an unnecessary negative comment about my son's hairstyle, which was entirely irrelevant to his abilities as a player.
To make matters worse, the coach's aggressive and inappropriate behavior toward referees during a recent tournament caused the entire team to be disqualified from continuing to play. Rather than setting a positive example of sportsmanship, the coach's outbursts and attacks on the referees ended up punishing all the players who had worked hard to compete.
The most egregious action, however, was when the coach went as far as to lie to the league, claiming that my son was still registered with his team in order to make him ineligible to play for the new team. This is deceitful and goes completely against the spirit of youth sports.
Youth sports should be about fostering growth, teamwork, and sportsmanship -- not punishing a player for seeking better opportunities, making irrelevant comments about personal appearance, causing the whole team to suffer due to a coach's inability to control their temper, or engaging in dishonest tactics to sabotage a child's opportunities. I hope this academy reevaluates its approach to leadership, as this experience has left a very negative impression on us. read more