About Coach Stephanie
Howdy! My name is Stephanie Ciceri. I am a 22-year-old graduate of UCLA, and an LA native. While I grew up in Los Angeles, my home and culture were very much Latin American. I have a Colombian father as well as a Brazilian mother. Both immigrated to the United States during their late adolescence to pursue a better life in America. For my parents, soccer is more than just a sport; it is a cultural component of their lives. In other words, it isn’t just a sport you can pick up as a kid, but rather an art form you are taught as soon as you can walk. It was soccer that brought communities together in my parents’ day because it was an activity that transcended daily life and allowed people to share a common interest and passion.
As a child, my dad made many attempts to get me more involved in sports, but I often refused, choosing my Barbies over soccer balls. It wasn’t until my dad took my little brother to a soccer camp that I changed my mind. From there, I had a natural affinity and aptitude for sports. My Latin American background perhaps offered a natural athletic ability that enabled me to get new things quickly. Although still devoted to my barbies, I enjoyed racing the boys at school; I was eager to prove my competitiveness. So, as I watched my brother play soccer, I felt that I had to prove I was better than him; my competitive nature was sparked. For the next ten years, soccer became the center of my life; it became my identity.
Initially, I chose to participate in the sport. However, as I grew older, it became less my decision and more my father’s. My early years in soccer were a BLAST! I loved every minute of it, especially when on the All-Star team. As I became a member of that team, I felt like I had a second family, a sense of community that I needed more than I realized.
I continued to play soccer as long as possible, and although not every experience was as fun as my first one with my teammates, I learned a lot through those experiences. Sports can offer a lot to a younger person growing up; traits like perseverance, resilience, and humility are all significant parts of being in sports. A major lesson for me was learning to decide what I wanted to do and take ownership of those decisions.
Each of us has the right to learn from our own experiences, yes, be guided by our parents, coaches, or teachers. Guidance can point us in the right direction, but it is up to each individual to choose which path to follow and at what pace to go. Whether or not kids participate in a particular activity is up to them, and I believe adult role models should encourage them to do their best, even if it is not what we would do ourselves. I aim to make every child who chooses to play soccer feel comfortable and enjoy the experience. Soccer should be a positive and exciting activity for all kids, and I am committed to making it so. I hope to see you on the field!
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The Jamboree
To mark our first birthday, SoCal Youth Sports will be celebrating with our first Nanosoccer Jamboree! The Jamboree is a full morning of festival style soccer where our participants enter to play scrimmages, in teams, against other teams and children from inside and outside of our program.
Our purpose for the jamboree is to celebrate development of the children, and to further encourage their enjoyment for the game and engagement with the game.
What Is Nanosoccer?
Nanosoccer is a tiny version of the game, field size, teams the children would make and numbers played on the field. The children will playing 1 versus 1, 2 versus 2 and 3 versus 3 to best support their individual development.
With the youngest children being egocentric (limited awareness beyond themselves) nanosoccer is designed to support their development by creating a playing environment relative to their age, stage and psychological development. Nanosoccer is a more effective version of the, game from a developmental standpoint, than other larger forms of the game because we are:
- Increasing the amount of game time for your child
- Increasing the time on the ball for your child
- Increasing the number of touches of the ball for your child
- Increasing the number of actions (dribbling, protecting, shooting, etc) for your child
- Increasing the opportunities for your child to make decisions for themselves.
- Increasing repetition of failures & successes for your child
- Increasing the technical demands for your child
- Increasing the intensity and physical demand for your child
- Increasing the variability of movement for your child
Scores are not kept! There are no winners and losers. There is no league table, no championship or no all stars.
This is a development only mentality. The festival is to celebrate true development in children and build a love and affection for the game.
Children Ages & Game Formats:
- 4 & 5 Year Olds – 1 Versus 1 – 2 Goals – Teams of 2
- 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds – 1 Versus 1 + Goalkeeper – 1 Goal – Teams of 3
- 9 & 10 Year Olds – 2 Versus 2 + Goalkeeper – 1 Goal – Teams of 4
More information will be released over time.
How Does It Work?
Sign up as an individual and be placed in a team join a team already created or create your own team for the day. Each team will require a Team Liaison. The Team Liaison’s role is to manage the teams movements off the field to games and at games, support the fields coach with substitutions etc. If you are creating a team we will assign you as the Team Liaison initially. This is not a coaching assignment and no knowledge of soccer is required.
Play Up/Down Request
We are aware that children are in very different stages of development regardless of age, therefore we are giving you the option to play up and down*:
- For those who seek more challenge you can request to play up
- For for those who are new to the sport in their age group you can request to play down.
For more information or to discuss your spot at the Jamboree please Contact Us.
*Play Up and Down requests are subject to approval from our coaching team. Please email Matt via Matt@Socalyouthsports.com if you have any questions.
You can cancel up to 5 days in advance of the Jamboree on your Class Portal
