North Carolina FC Youth - Raleigh, North Carolina

James S.

This club is only about money and most of the coaches only care about winning. They may be interested in helping your child build skill but they care nothing about developing your child's character. This is our 3rd year here and every year we witness bullying and jealousy-inspired sabotage between teammates, and the coaches cannot be bothered by it. Most coaches are hardly more mature than the kids they coach. They do not know how to positively motivate kids. They throw tantrums when losing and resort to negative reinforcement to get the kids to perform, which lowers the kids' self esteem and probably contributes to the bullying within the team. My kids are pre-teens and it makes me sick that this is what you have to put up with just so your kid can play competitive soccer. What happened to sportsmanship, character-building, TEAM-building, and most importantly, the fun?

Also, for the life of me I do not understand why pre-teens need to travel upwards of 6 hours one way to play a couple of soccer games. It's lunacy that more local games can't be organized. Why can't we play against Wake FC? I heard it's because no one wants to have their ranking upset by a local competitor. I wonder if it's collusion between the clubs. Life is really too short to sit behind a windshield traveling all weekend for games plus getting to and from at least three practices a week.

Warren D.

This organization needs an overhaul in terms of leadership and coaches. They're a non-profit organization that has aligned itself with the NCFC professional club to market themselves as being professional but in reality (based on multiple seasons) I've discovered they actually are very poorly run by individuals that care about "numbers, i.e. money" rather than kids progressing. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple of coaches that truly care (10%) but they're new coaches that aren't yet jaded by this organization and which typically leave after a few seasons. The other 90% of the NCFC coaches/leaders, both paid and unpaid, do not know who to build kids up in sports - rather tend to break them down - projecting their own feelings of inadequacies or failures they're harboring. We've also tried Wake FC, Triangle United and Carolina Velocity and experienced similar if not worse. No matter what you do, never let a coach or staff talk or act to your youth in a way that leaves a lasting negative mark on them for life. You're paying for a positive and progressive experience; therefore demand such! Do not let these soccer coaches/staff act like they have control over your child or you, I've seen this in the Chatham and Cary region in particular! Too many parents seem to cater into the coaches so that their kid is favored - no one should feel the need to do that. Rather practice with your kid and keep the environment positive and fun, then you'll see them progress!!!

Concluding, for some reason, youth sports in America (at least soccer) results in some of the worst coaches/behaviors I've seen. The same sentiment shared by other parents.

Liane B.

We love the TOPSoccer program and all that NCFC Youth does to ensure everyone can love the game!

Kate

Our family has been involved with the club for five years now (Rec and Challenge levels). Rec was a great introduction to the sport of soccer for both of our kids. Challenge layered in competition, further skill development, a higher time commitment, and a true sense of belonging (once you commit to a team, you stay with that team). I can’t speak highly enough about NCFC Youth and what the programs have done for my son in terms of building confidence, honing decision-making skills, developing leadership skills, and promoting teamwork. (His very best friends are his soccer teammates, and I’m certain they’ll have lifelong connections.) We have been involved with at least five other youth sports programs in Raleigh and haven’t seen anywhere near the level of professionalism and organization that NCFC Youth produces. They go above and beyond with tournaments, Shield Awards, outreach programs (La Liga, TOPSoccer, and DPAL), financial assistance offerings, spring break and summer camps, and skill building series. They provide an opportunity for every level of play and strive for continuous improvement. It’s no wonder they’ve been around for 50 years!!

Hadi

The organization has been the worst I've seen in all the years of putting our child in sports. There seems to be no assigned practice or game day and time.

The practice timing has changed on the day. It's been regularly reduced (even after daylight savings). They change the date of practice, which makes it extremely difficult to plan ahead and consistently with other activities you may want your child in. We were told game days will be Saturday, but a few are on Sunday evening. They change the field for each event (practice and games), and there is no one at the location to guide you to the right field.

They don't seem to have booked any actual fields. The spots my son has been playing in the past month are mostly public first come first serve locations. Some have had uneven and unkept ground, impacting the quality of play.

It's much too expensive for the service offered. I understand the coaches are volunteers, but they should at least have regularly booked fields for the price they charge. Otherwise, using volunteers and free fields, and charging what they do is just theft.

Laks K.

NCFC Challenge group is the same as NCFC Recreation as both teams are coached by parent volunteers! Unless your child is eligible to play in or above Juniors level where professional coaches are used, it's not worth spending time and money. It is fine as long as your child wants to play for fun or you are the parent coach/volunteer keeping close watch on how your child is being set up in team formations, or else they'll end up being sidekicks of other kids!

Darren S.

NCFC has been a great club for challenge level, but their Rec level is a joke. Teams are stacked with higher level players, and the rest are put on a team with no experience. Rec is supposed to be fun for all children, but how can it be fun if you are constantly losing to teams who are obviously higher level. I also get that couches are volunteers, but if you volunteer, actually couch your team! If they can ever find a way to make it more fair for all teams then NCFC might be a good rec club to play for. Otherwise, stay far away.

Luis D. S.

This organization put the volunteers parents to take responsibility of the kids and only one coach for a bunch of kids. You pay for a class where you kid supposed to learn new skills and have fun, that won’t happen in NCFC. Don’t waste your money on that club.