Dallas Legends Soccer Academy

A great weekend for our teams in the Coppell Cup this weekend. A great opportunity to get minutes under the belt after some hard pre-season training.

Special congratulations go to our U7 2019/20B Raptors winning their first Championship, our U8 2018/19B Spartans going undefeated in their first 7v7 venture, winning 3 games and losing the final on penalty kicks, and our U13 Rochetti 2013/2014G (Wildcats) also with 3 wins then losing in the Final on penalty kicks.

Well done to all!!

Love pre-season. Putting in the work...

We will be looking for additional players or full teams to join us on our SuperClubs tour next summer of 2027. We've been participating on these tours for 5 years now with the operating partner SuperClubs National Team who have over 20 years of experience and do a bang up job!

Whether you're a single player looking to join up with a team, or a full team, let us know.

We are especially focused on the Brazil (inc. Women's World Cup) & the England tours.

We're raising funds to cover scholarships of families needing financial assistance to cover their club fees.

Order you some gourmet popcorn, and share with friends and families...

https://popup.doublegood.com/s/upn52m57

Congratulations to our Dallas Legends Soccer Academy 17/18B Redhawks on winning their Bob Wiseman U10 Championship bracket.

First Classic League Soccer Organization game. First win.

Congratulations to our Dallas Legends Soccer Academy 15/16B Burden team, formerly and forever affectionately known as Dallas Legends Locos.

YOU'RE DOING IT ALL WRONG AMERICA

With some of our club's top teams now being U13 & U14, we have of course lost players to bigger clubs offering shiny leagues. It's natural in the youth soccer ecosytem, it happens every year, and with the age band changes it has been a slighter deeper, more painful cut this year. But players do come & go, plus stronger players or the most ambitious parents jump for the shiny leagues mega-clubs have bought there way into. I don't blame families for trying other environments, or for simply trying other patches of grass because I know it is generally never greener, it is just a different shade of grass. And often it actually shines the light brighter on our program once they see how poorly run some clubs are. God forbid they actually hear about a convincing philosophy with facilities & programming built around it, or that they ever hear from the owner.

But what I have been shocked by hearing this summer is that some of those players that departed for MLS or ECNL teams are practising 5-7 times per week. When I heard that 1) I was shocked because I think I know better, and 2) I started to do my research because I always need to remember that maybe I don't...

Do you realize how many times per week a pro academy in the UK practices below U17? From U17 they generally are full-time, because kids can leave school at 16. But below U17 it's generally 3x per week. I'm talking about Premier League clubs.

And don't hit me up with "it's pre-season", because even when you're in-season you'll still be doing at least 4x per week, plus other sessions occasionally.

Do you know why you're doing that many sessions? MONEY. That's it, that's all... Because with so many sessions the club can
1) pay the coach more, which helps with retention of what I agree are generally very good coaches, and
2) so they can warrant the stupid amount of money they're charging you to be on a team by saying "look at how much work we put into your child".

While those clubs and coaches consume your earnings that you could be investing into a college fund, you're burning out your kid.

If you think I'm wrong, if you think the Premier League club's are wrong, and you are confident that these US youth mega-clubs are right... check how well the US is doing internationally, which is consistently poorly on the men's side, and increasingly less well on the women's side. You might want to reflect a little. With the continued growth of the pay-to-play model in the last 20+ years, your international standing has flat-lined or dropped.

I was born in England but I am a proud American. We have all the resources to get it right, and to do so much better. I am amazed how many American families just blindly pay a fortune to have their kid worked and worked and all for what... a very low % chance of a D2 or lower scholarship or partial.

Oh, and if you are not concerned with burnout because you are confident your super legit big big club, with multiple technical, athletic, welfare, etc "directors", knows what they're doing. You might want to check out US Soccer's recommendations... which funnily enough, also recommend 3x per week at those older ages
https://www.soccerwire.com/soccer-blog/best-practices-for-youth-soccer-player-development-avoid-burnout-foster-creativity-more/

5-7x per week at 12 or 13 years old! SMDH!

Coach Neil Marshall, Dallas Legends

[stepping off the soap box now] Your turn...

Congratulations to Coach Carson & our U11 Dallas Legends 15/16B Burden team (aka Locos) on qualifying for Classic League Soccer Organization.

After a great showing in Round 1 last week, they narrowly missed out by 1 point on qualification to D2. This weekend they struggled, with 2 losses, both by just 1 goal, plus a tie; but they qualified. You can never take anything for granted, everything has to be earned, and credit to how hard they played this morning to ensure qualification.

This is the first time we have had a team qualify in their U11 year. Only 2 short years ago in 2024 we set Classic League qualfication as a goal. Our 2013B Bobcats qualified at U12 and they are now playing D1 Classic plus ECNL-RL NTX. Our 2013G entered Girls Classic League the same year at U12. Our 2014B & 2014G followed a year later also at U12. The girls are now playing National 1 League. Last year our 2015B narrowly missed out on qualifying at U11 but qualified this year at U12. And now here we are in 2026 and Locos have qualified at U11.

This steady growth & progression is what it's all about. No private equity backers, no commercial real estate moguls, just a club that wants to earn it's way, and importantly wants to show these kids that earning your way is how you progress in life. Family values are at the core of everything we do and it is those families and our coaches that should take all the credit for this qualification and for what has gone before them.

Thank you all for your commitment, and congratulations again!

North Texas soccer family, our parent club KC Legends Soccer Club has lost a player as the result of a tragic car accident while traveling to a tournament.

If anybody wishes to show their support, here's their gofundme to help the family work through this tragedy.

God bless Annie Koester #8.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-koester-family-after-car-accident.

Donate to Support the Koester Family After Car Accident, organized by Alec Bethurum On July 15, the Koester family was involved in a tragic car accident whil… Alec Bethurum needs your support for Support the Koester Family After Car Accident