Energy FC Announces Groundbreaking Partnership with Oklahoma Soccer Association
February 6, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
OKC Energy FC News Release
OKLAHOMA CITY - OKC Energy FC announced a groundbreaking partnership with Oklahoma Soccer Association at OSA's annual meeting today.
The partnership steers the coaching education, player development, and community growth initiatives at all levels. Energy FC's affiliation with OSA comes at a time when growth of the game is on the rise locally and nationally.
"It's (the free coaching education partnership between Energy FC and OSA) been outstanding. We've had clubs from all over Oklahoma take advantage of it," Executive Director of Oklahoma Soccer Association Sid Goodrich said. "It's helped raise awareness of the Energy and also the education level of our coaches."
When analyzing the partnership between Energy FC and OSA over the last two years, expanding the relationship was the logical decision.
"There's always limited resources in youth sports. So we want to find ways to impact where maybe we feel like there may be some gaps or holes," Energy FC General Manager Jason Hawkins said. "Coaching education has always been big for us...we want to really focus around player development, and some of those players that are up at the elite level, we want to make sure they're getting the opportunities they deserve."
"This dynamic partnership between OKC Energy and the Oklahoma Soccer Association will receive the full support from the league office and our technical department. We look forward to seeing the immediate and long-term impact this relationship will have on the growth of the game in Oklahoma," Gordon Bengtson, Executive Director of USL Academy, said.
The goal of the partnership is to continue to grow the game and expand opportunities for coaches, players, and clubs from introductory youth soccer to the highest competitive teams.
"When you look at it, you're really talking about the base of the pyramid. Obviously, the pro team sits up at the top, but the better you're doing down at the base, the better the foundation is going to be," Hawkins said. "There's no club out there that doesn't want to look up one day and be able to say 'yeah that kid came all the way through, we developed him, we turned him into what we wanted him to be for the future of the program.'"
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