IR Academy of Soccer Development

★★M Stath

We played for IR for two years and had such varying experiences. Our first year was great. Attentive coaches who really focused on skill development and fun. They were committed to the sport and the kids. Management was receptive and responsive. Second year was a 180 flip and we should have known better when 90% of the team didn’t return. We had high expectations as we heard great things about the new coach. Unfortunately, she had too many personal issues going on and was inconsistent with her attention to the team. Her sarcastic tone and negative feedback didn’t work for every kid and she wasn’t able to get the best out of them. We eventually got a new coach, great attitude, but too late. The worst thing we experienced was the drama from management. Instead of being concerned with the players and coaches and how to make the club better, he was focused on hearsay, negativity, and creating overall unnecessary drama. He was condescending in his approach. There is a lot of potential in this club because they have some great coaches, but really need to ensure they are focused on the kids instead of egos. My child loves soccer, we want it to be a positive and fun experience and this year almost ruined that. Shout out to Coach Stephen who we paid for private lessons to continue our child’s growth in the sport.

★Chris Wagner

The good, the bad, and the ugly. First, we had a coach who worked to be positive in practice and games. My daughter is nine years old, so that's important. Kudos to him for that philosophy. I liked that a lot. On the negative side, he had a reward sytem for the girls in place in writing that he never mentioned after a handout and never followed through with. He also made a lot of strong statements about development as number one priority. I agree with that at the age group of U10. However, he played some players 45 to 50 minutes a game and others less than 10, even in league games and tournaments that required travel. Even if they were not good and had severe deficiencies at that age, being committed to development means playing them adequate minutes to learn in the game. My daughter had a problem with game-time timidity (not as much so in practice), so I really disagreed with his minutes distribution. At an older age, I would have seen it as more appropriate. I expressed that privately to him and he defended his stance respectfully. All good. I respectfully and privately told him we would stay and cooperate until December and leave. This seemed reasonable because maybe my daughter would improve, she could say bye to friends if nothing changed, and I could hand over the treasury duties to a new treasurer without creating any hiccups for the team. I was the parent sticking up for coach and keeping conversations positive. We made every practice and game religiously and we were always early on payments. Here is where things really went south with the club. I reached out to the DOC for youth, Araia Behrane, to find out how to get our release for December. He asked to speak to me on the phone to discuss options. Sure. We arranged the call. He is an incredibly condescending man. The conversation started with him asking what was going on. Nice enough. I explained it honestly, including that my daughter is timid on the field at times. I explained she just wasn't ready to play on a purple team (we made the white team, lower level but it was then melded together with the higher level after we had committed financially). He latched onto the timidity factor to justify coach's decisions with playing and told me "when [your daughter] learns her face isn't made of glass, she will get better at soccer." This is a guy in charge of youth girls age 9 keep in mind talking to one of their parents. I was pretty irritated with him but did not blow up at him. He told me staying until December was not an option and we either needed to stay the whole season or leave right away. I tried to convince him of the reasons we wanted to stay until December and he did not want to hear a word of it. He was rude and condescending about that as an option, interrupting me several times. I thanked for his time without articulating a final decision and got off the phone. Next thing an email came out saying I requested immediate removal from the club for my daughter. Merciless! Not even a chance for a nine year old kid to finish up the month and the tournament we had paid for and say goodbye to friends . Not a fan of this guy. Moreover, never even got so much as a kind word from coach saying good luck or anything. The guy just didn't really care. Actions always speak louder than words. I don't think the club is full of bad actors. There are good coaches and people there, but when you choose someone like Araia to represent your club's leadership, you have made a statement about your clubs values. He is there to serve himself and his own ambition and that trickles down to pressure and rules for coaching. He has been fired from several clubs in the past and pushed away from several teams for asking parents not to attend practice for 11 year olds and being too harsh. I can't imagine why IR went with him.

★christine hamilton

My child went to tryouts and they never communicated whether he made the team or not. My kid joined another league but it's unprofessional and a waste of people's time to not communicate.

★Cristal Roldan

Our team played these boys and regardless of how the game is as going the fact that a coach could call one of our kids wet bags was very un called for and unprofessional! Especially coming from a coach that also had a team with different ethnicities! You guys should be ashamed of what you are teaching your players !

★SPEAK UP AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This is a very unorganized Soccer Academy. My son plays for them and I am dreading my husband wanting him to play next season for this group. He has 1 good coach I will give him that but thats it.. Not a great experience. They engage in the kaos of drama between the team/ parents... We just stay out of it but read all 150 emails through TC...