At the end of the 2024 summer & fall Junior Academy and Academy seasons, we asked parents & caregivers for feedback on our first official season. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts – we really appreciate it! We wanted to report back the themes we heard and what we’re planning to do (or have already done) based on your feedback.
By The Numbers:
- 29 respondents, representing about 30% of Junior Academy and Academy players (Some respondents had players in both Junior Academy and Academy)
- 86% of respondents rated satisfaction of summer program at a 4 or 5 (out of 5)
- 92% of respondents rated satisfaction of fall program at a 4 or 5
- 82% of respondents rated importance of holistic programming (yoga, strength training, mental skills, dynamic warm up) at a 4 or a 5
- 97% of respondents said their player planned to continue playing with WSSA
What We Heard WSSA Did Well:
- Great coaching staff that were knowledgeable, kind, caring, and drove skill development while also having fun
- Developing a supportive, encouraging, community-minded culture focused on building girls confidence & overall development
- Flexible and responsive to community needs (Adding a 4th Junior Academy team, adding skills training, etc.)
- Creating and delivering a great program in such a short time
- Communications & social media
What We Heard We Could Improve:
- Knowing schedules for training and tournaments further in advance
- Having a 2nd summer game/tournament option for Junior Academy
- Having another summer tournament option to replace Tyee Cup (It was challenging not having games played in one central location)
- Gear sizing was confusing and the quality of the shorts and socks wasn’t ideal
- Clarity around cost of Academy summer & fall season in relation to the length of season
- Offer yoga twice a month instead of once a month
- Consider having a team parent per team
What We’re Doing (Or Have Already Done) as a Result of Feedback:
- The 2025 spring team program was offered at no additional cost to Academy players who had played in summer/fall to deliver on the number of programming months originally promised. We’ll be playing in the Washington Premier League (WPL) again in summer & fall 2025 and the length and cost of the season will be known upfront and communicated accordingly.
- We’ve decided to enter Junior Academy teams into the July Crossfire Select tournament as a 2nd summer tournament opportunity. It’s played at a central location and many players have siblings already playing in the tournament.
- We’re working to get ahead of and communicate training & summer tournament schedules as early as we can. Our summer tournament schedule was shared in our January news email and is also available on this page. Training schedules for current 2009 – 2014 teams have been loaded into TeamSnap through April.
- We’ve chosen River Jam Challenge as our August tournament, replacing the Tyee Cup. All River Jam matches will be held at the Washington Premier FC Complex in Puyallup.
- We are currently looking into a possible alternative option for the practice/uniform shorts and will keep you updated on that. The brands and styles of our practice jerseys vs. our game jerseys were different, causing differences in sizing and confusion. In the future when we choose gear, we’ll do our best to choose shirts from the same brands, but also can’t account for the fact that sometimes a different style within a brand fits differently. We will do our best to communicate at multiple touch points anything we know about sizing and also continue to offer multiple “try-on” dates, as we did this summer.
- We recommend this sock alternative, available on Amazon.
- The 2025 spring team season includes yoga twice per month. The dates are Feb 10 & 24, March 9 & 23, and April 14 & 28. They’re also in TeamSnap.
- We’re working on the logistics and expectations for a team parent per team. We’ll share more on this soon!
Thank you for your feedback, and keep it coming. You can reach out to info@westsoundsoccer.org at any time. When we work together, we build a stronger West Sound Soccer Academy for our players, coaches, and community!
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