At the Midland Soccer Club, we are proud to offer an elite training program for our competitive select leagues. Our training philosophy is to teach players the technical and tactical skills they need in order to improve their skills and knowledge of the game while instilling the values of sportsmanship, teamwork, and leadership. Through our top-of-the-line triaing program, we improve players skills and abilities and advance their level of play.

Each select team at the Midland Soccer Club is assigned a trainer who will run weekly practices as well as attend games and tournament play. All of our trainers are very skilled and knowledgeable players. They use a hands-on approach ad reinforce skill development through drills and scrimmages. Our trainers are very committed and enthusiastic to work with our Fusion teams.

Each Premier level team is assigned a trainer who works with the team two days a week as well as attending games. The Premier Fusion Teams play in the Michigan State Youth Premier Leagues.  Our teams compete at different levels within this league depending on their standard.  Our training program works to improve the standard of our players and teams as well as the competitiveness within these leagues. Our professional trainers and newly added, high-quality coaches are directly responsible for the success of our teams.

The coaching philosophy for the U-13 & U-14 age groups is to combine individual development training with the concept of team tactics and playing to win.  Outstanding teams at the club will also be encouraged to participate in the Michigan State Cup as well as other high profile tournaments.

At the U-15 to U-18 age groups, we become increasingly focused on building the team and creating a winning formula though advanced training and competition. Teams at these ages are also encouraged to join State Cup as well as other highly competitive tournaments within and outside of the state.

Players who express an interest in playing collegiate soccer will be exposed to college coaches from within Michigan; this aspect of the program is handled by our Director of Training.  Teams who participate in tournaments or college showcases may also be exposed to colleges and universities outside of Michigan.

At these ages, the training philosophy is to focus on developing each player’s individual technical skills and tactical ability.  We strive to improve these aspects of a soccer player’s game because these are the fundamental skills that will improve the player and advance them to a greater level of play.  Players at these age groups will be encouraged to advance their skills in order to challenge for places on our Premier Teams and high school teams.

Mid-Michigan Teams play within the Mid-Michigan Leagues.  Each team playing at this level is assigned a trainer who is skilled and knowledgeable of the game of soccer. Trainers will work with the team once a week and also attend home games.

The Midland Soccer Club recognizes that our younger players are the future of our club.  Therefore, we have an all encompassing developmental program to make sure our players have the building blocks and fundamental skills to become stronger competitors.  During the winter months, we have a developmental program in place that will help drive our players, teams, and club to the next level.

Our Academy Training Program includes:

• Age Specific Coaches Clinics – All age group coaches will attend at least two clinics run by our Director in Training.  At these clinics specific goals, objectives, and formations will be given to the coaches to implement during the Spring Season.
   
• Fusion Academy Training Sessions (Spring) – All Fusion teams will attend academy training sessions once a week during the season.  At these sessions, trainers will focus on specific technical and tactical topics.  These topics are pre-determined from an age appropriate curriculum set by our Director in Training.
   
• Fusion Premier Training Sessions (Spring) – Each academy team will practice twice a week with a club trainer.  Teams will train together as an age group once per week; Club Trainers will again work from an age appropriate curriculum.
   
• Fusion Academy Summer Camps – Age groups will attend camps together. Trainers at these camps will work from specific age appropriate curriculums. These topics will be carried into the regular season.
   
• Winter Training – The MSC in cooperation with Hangtime Sports offers the opportunity to train and prepare for the spring season. MSC has arranged for access to Hangtime for a duration of twelve weeks. Please check the Winter Training page for more information.

We believe that goalkeepers are a vital aspect to our select program.  In order for our travel teams to progress we must provide our goalkeepers a high level of training. Trainers take goalkeepers through vigorous technical activities along with working on positioning and goalkeeper specific fitness aspects.  Our goalkeeper trainers are of the highest quality giving us the best goalkeeper training program in the Mid-Michigan area. Goalkeepers are encouraged to attend training sessions weekly; this is a great way for them to get individual time with qualified trainers.

Drew Emrich - Director of Training - Drew has his USSF ’B’License and NSCAA National USSF GK license. He achieved his Masters in Sports Management from CentralMichiganUniversity. Drew first started at the MSC in the fall of 2004 as a team trainer while finishing his graduate work at CentralMichiganUniversity. In June of 2005, Drew took the role of Director of Training. Since taking over as the Director of Training, Drew has received his USSF, Goalkeeping License, as well as his ’B’ and ’C’ licenses. In addition to his professional development, he has developed a continuous winter training program for the club during the off-season, as well as to develop the club’s growing training staff and program. Prior to coming to MSC, Drew was the Men’s assistant coach at AlmaCollege where he also played earning three varsity letters and was a part of Alma’s 1999 National Final Four run. Additionally, Drew has been part of the coaching staffs of IndianaUniversity’s (5-years), University of Michigan’s (4-years), and University of Wisconsin’s (1-year) summer coaching camps.