BY JOEY HISLOP
Published:
Sunday, February 15, 2009 3:22 AM CST
If youth soccer in Cache Valley was a stock, now would be the time to invest. Not only does Cache Valley boast some of the best youth soccer numbers in the country — top 3 in the nation in per-capita kids playing soccer — but pretty soon there won’t be many places in the intermountain area where your kids can get better coaching and training in the fine art of schooling a defender with a ball at your feet.
That’s thanks in large part to the folks at Infinity Soccer Club, the premiere youth soccer club in the valley and one of the best in Utah.Infinity began in 2008 when The Soccer Academy and Valencia Soccer joined forces to create a soccer club whose vision is to ultimately give kids greater opportunities in the game by raising the level of coaching and training they can receive in the valley.
“We’ve been here for seven months, but soccer’s been here for relatively 20-30 years. ... We’re trying to create a culture in our community that is comparable to the metro areas,” Infinity Soccer Club Technical Director Jeff Ginn said. “Salt Lake has many clubs that focus on the development of the individual player and teams. We want to have that option for our kids here in Cache Valley as well.”
However, even with top-notch coaching and a firm commitment to excellence, it can still be difficult for a person to develop their game quickly when weather is a factor.
As with several outdoor sports, relatively good weather is a necessity for soccer, and for three-to-four months out of the year, Cache Valley is not the most hospitable region on Earth for the planet’s most popular sport.
That’s where indoor soccer facilities come in, and with the help of Utah State University allowing Infinity the use of the Stan Laub Indoor Training Facility, Infinity has procured the ability to help kids sharpen their dribbling skills even when there’s snow falling outside.
“The ability to have Utah State donate or open up their doors for us to get in and utilize their facilities is exceptional,” Ginn said, adding that it draws in not only his own club players, but also the top teams in the state. “It opens up an opportunity for people to come to us instead of us always traveling to them, which is generally the case. ... We (usually) have to travel a lot.
“The facility being open is good for the community, it’s good for the kids and it just provides opportunity, which is nice.”
Ginn, one of three coaches at Infinity, came to Cache Valley from Iowa Western Community College to be a part of the club and help develop the quality of soccer in an area he heavily recruited as a coach. He is joined by Hobson Chavez and Sherri Dever.
For Barbara Klein of Brigham City, volunteer secretary to the Infinity Board of Directors and mother of U10 team member Madelyn Klein, the coaching and game development her daughter is receiving are well worth the time, the drive and the money.
“It’s amazing. ... It’s just neat to see all the techniques and all the skills that they’re teaching ‘em, and all the drills and footwork,” Klein said. “My daughter played AYSO forever and loved it, and she wanted a little bit more.
“There’s a lot of strategy they’re teaching ‘em, a lot of skills that they don’t normally get. ... We’re just very lucky to have these coaches. ... With any sport, when you start to get in depth ... it’s incredible the money that goes into it. But these kids, if they have big dreams and they want to work hard for it ... you want to do whatever you can to help ‘em.”
And it’s already paying dividends. In January, Infinity’s U10 team took the silver medal at the Las Vegas MLK Cup, giving up only one goal all tournament before losing in the championship match in penalty kicks.
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