{"id":4577,"date":"2021-02-25T10:22:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T14:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usclub.gotsportsites.com\/?p=4577"},"modified":"2021-07-27T15:26:40","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T19:26:40","slug":"players-first-club-spotlight-gulf-coast-youth-soccer-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/players-first-club-spotlight-gulf-coast-youth-soccer-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Players First Club Spotlight: Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"4577\" class=\"elementor elementor-4577\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ed5e808 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ed5e808\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c8a74a2\" data-id=\"c8a74a2\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b723a52 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"b723a52\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1038e8d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1038e8d\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c4121ac\" data-id=\"c4121ac\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84d828a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"84d828a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"320\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gulf_Coast_Youth_Soccer_Club_BLACK_FEATURED_Players_First_Licensed_Club_GFX_-_SEsite_large.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4579 lazyload\" alt=\"\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gulf_Coast_Youth_Soccer_Club_BLACK_FEATURED_Players_First_Licensed_Club_GFX_-_SEsite_large.png 1024w, https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gulf_Coast_Youth_Soccer_Club_BLACK_FEATURED_Players_First_Licensed_Club_GFX_-_SEsite_large-768x384.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gulf_Coast_Youth_Soccer_Club_BLACK_FEATURED_Players_First_Licensed_Club_GFX_-_SEsite_large.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4579 lazyload\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gulf_Coast_Youth_Soccer_Club_BLACK_FEATURED_Players_First_Licensed_Club_GFX_-_SEsite_large.png 1024w, https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Gulf_Coast_Youth_Soccer_Club_BLACK_FEATURED_Players_First_Licensed_Club_GFX_-_SEsite_large-768x384.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/noscript>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e708437 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e708437\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-059dd1e\" data-id=\"059dd1e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4778b14 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4778b14\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Players First Club Spotlight: Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-052ab28 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"052ab28\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7666ae6\" data-id=\"7666ae6\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5150984 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5150984\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Q: Why did Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club apply for Players First licensing?<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Daryl Miller, Executive Director:<\/strong>\u00a0To be great at anything, you first need a vision or standard for what greatness is and how to measure your progress in achieving it. The Players First criteria align with our visions and aspirations as a club and the license is issued by a neutral evaluator in US Club Soccer. The Players First five pillars of\u00a0Club Development, Coaching Development, Player Development, Parent Engagement &amp; Education, and Player Health &amp; Safety are all important standards for quality that we strive to excel at every day.\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Q: What does it mean for Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club to now be an official Players First-licensed club?<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Miller &amp; Roy Lassiter, Director of Coaching:<\/strong>\u00a0While the Players First license may be a stringent set of qualifications for some clubs to meet, it is also a set of goals and aspirations that players, coaches\u00a0and parents can easily understand how they can benefit from them. The hard part is for everyone involved to be mindful of living up to and pushing forward these ideals every day. From this perspective, it provides clarity of vision, purpose, and educational resources for all members to maintain the Players First culture we believe in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Q: What makes Players First licensing different from other initiatives or programs your club has participated in?<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Miller &amp; Lassiter:<\/strong>\u00a0The foundation of a successful club should be to grow and advance the sport and the players that play it through education and member service. Understanding that every player, parent and coach may be at vastly different levels or stages in their soccer education, how they understand the game and perceive what player development is or isn\u2019t. US Club Soccer\u2019s\u00a0<em>Youth Club Standards<\/em>\u00a0published in 2012 does a great job of providing clubs a tiered set of standards to strive for. The Players First license takes it a step further by validating a club\u2019s qualifications against the stringent requirements to receive it. It also provides tools and resources for continuing education of coaches and parents about what is most important in developing players day-to-day. This was appealing to us and why we chose to apply. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Q: What would you like the parents of Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club to know about what this means to them?<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Lassiter:<\/strong>\u00a0We are here for the players first and foremost! The Players First licensing represents our club&#8217;s continuing commitment to putting the individual needs and best interest of every player at the forefront of all decisions we make. It also aligns with our strategic goal for continuous improvement in all areas of club operations, communication and engagement with members and the communities we serve. While absolute perfection may be unattainable, by aligning with standards and best practices such as Players First we can achieve more faster and provide greater benefits to our players\u2019 long term. Success is a journey, not a destination!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-de35eff elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"de35eff\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a80bf64\" data-id=\"a80bf64\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7970b21 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"7970b21\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-8d59d0b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8d59d0b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f93d6a1\" data-id=\"f93d6a1\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2ec788b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2ec788b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>ABOUT US CLUB SOCCER:<\/h3><div class=\"text clearfix\"><p>A National Association member of the U.S. Soccer Federation,\u00a0<strong>US Club Soccer<\/strong>\u00a0fosters the growth and development of soccer clubs in order to create the best possible environment for players of all ages.<\/p><p>Anchored by\u00a0<strong>Players First<\/strong>\u00a0and its five pillars of Club Development, Coaching Development, Player Development, Parent Engagement &amp; Education and Player Health &amp; Safety, US Club Soccer offers registration, league- and cup-based competition platforms, player identification and a variety of other programming, resources and services.<\/p><p>US Club Soccer is sponsored by Nike and supported by LaLiga through a technical partnership.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/\">usclubsoccer.org<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/playersfirst\/\">Players First<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/usclubsoccer\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/usclubsoccer\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/usclubsoccer\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/usclubsoccer\">YouTube<\/a><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Players First Club Spotlight: Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club Q: Why did Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club apply for Players First licensing? Daryl Miller, Executive Director:\u00a0To be great at anything, you first need a vision or standard for what greatness<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/players-first-club-spotlight-gulf-coast-youth-soccer-club\/\"> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,32,77],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-4577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-news","category-npl"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4577"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usclubsoccer.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=4577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}