Welcome to the St. Croix Soccer Club!

The St. Croix Soccer Club (SCSC) seeks to develop outstanding soccer players and teams. About 650 players on 45 teams will play for the club in 2008.

The nature of competitive soccer

For those of you who may be new to the Club or to competitive soccer, the SCSC holds tryouts every fall to select teams for the following summer. Tryouts occur in August and October for the following summer’s teams. Click the Sign Up to Play button for information on tryouts.

We abide by the rules of our governing body, the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (MYSA -- www.mnyouthsoccer.org). These rules provide for two skill levels at U9, U10, and U11; three skill levels at U12 and U13; and 4 levels U14 and above. U9s and U10s play with six players per side on a small field; U11s and U12s play with eight players on a mid-sized field; U13s and older play with 11 players on a full-sized field.

The SCSC seeks to field teams in as many of these age/levels as we can – in other words, regardless of your child's skill level, if he or she wants to really learn the game of soccer, you have come to the right place.

Why St. Croix Soccer Club?

SCSC is an “open club” – meaning any players who wish to join our club (regardless of place of residence) will be encouraged to do so, and no preference will be given based on location of residence. Never the less, the large majority (about 80%) of kids who chose to play with the SCSC are from the greater Stillwater or St. Croix Valley area. This allows the club to offer characteristics of a community club and the higher-level opportunities otherwise only available through "super clubs." The SCSC does their best to place every committed player who tries out on a team of the appropriate level. Once on a team, all players have extensive opportunities to develop over the winter and summer months, as we provide winter and summer club training as part of your registration fees.

Our director of coaching Nathan Klonecki leads these programs. He is supported by top-level trainers, most of who have coaching and/or playing experience at the collegiate level or above. Our top-level teams typically train over and above the club training in the off-season months.

The SCSC takes great pride in developing strong players and teams, and then giving them the support they need to continue to grow and improve as individuals and as teams. A nice side benefit to this player/team philosophy is that as players continue to develop together, parents often get to know each other well, with great friendships developing as a result.

The summer season starts in May and culminates with the district and state tournaments at the end of July. Teams also participate in a minimum of two or three weekend tournaments during the season. Our club is part of the MYSA's East district, which means our teams typically travel to away games at locations such as Woodbury, White Bear Lake, Mahtomedi, Hudson, St. Paul, Cottage Grove, and in some cases, River Falls and Eau Claire. Our home games are played at the Lucy Winton Bell Athletic Fields, just south of Interstate 94 before you cross into Wisconsin.

The MYSA also offers a shorter fall playing season. The Club helps interested teams sign up for the fall season, but does not organize tryouts or select teams.

Every year the St. Croix Soccer Club hosts the St. Croix Cup tournament at the Lucy Winton Bell Athletic Fields. More than 120 teams participated this year. Check the St. Croix Cup tab for results.

Recent Successes

To get a sense of our teams' accomplishments, click on the
Club News tab. This year, we placed 12 teams in the Minnesota state soccer tournament (up from five a year ago). Eight of the 12 won their regular-season district league, and the other four won their season-ending district tournaments. Congratulations to our 2007 state champions -- St. Croix Red Devils U15 Boys C1 (now U16 Premier) and St. Croix Ashanti Gold U15 Boys C2 (now U16 C1). We also doubled our number of elite "premier" level teams, and will offer premier teams at U14 Boys, U16 Boys, U16 Girls and U19 Girls in 2008.

As always, please contact me with questions or concerns, and thanks for being part of the Club…we’ve laid a strong foundation for an exciting year of competitive soccer!

Rod Hunter, president – St. Croix Soccer Club

P.S. I encourage every parent to download the St. Croix Soccer Club Parent Handbook for answers to many of the questions you may have about the upcoming season.