The Park City Soccer Club attracts about 650 players a year ranging from age 4 to 18. It’s a year-round program, according to Eli Ulvi, the technical director of the Park City Soccer Club.
“Basically to augment the high school program, as well as the Basin Recreation programs by having a year-round club that's really focused on athlete development, specifically within soccer programming and phases of development,” he said. “So it’s for kids that want a little bit more than recreational soccer, and that’s where the high school gets most of its players is from our programs.”
According to Ulvi, the club works closely with the high school program even sharing a coach who coaches boys and girls varsity teams at the high school as well as a club team.
He said the club is projecting just under 40 teams for this year. For the younger age groups, there might be up to four teams with different skill levels.
“They are placed based on ability and things like that, just to ensure that they're in an environment that makes the most sense for their day-to-day development and training and games and in competition against other clubs," Ulvi said.
Ulvi added that the club hires professional coaches from all over the United States rather than relying on volunteers or parents of the athletes like many of the recreational teams in the area.
“We primarily look at not just the depth of knowledge of a coach in the game of soccer, but also integrity and communication and just being able to motivate young people in the sport,” Ulvi said. “So, yeah, we've worked really hard over the years to attract top level coaches. It's hard to keep them at times because of the cost of living in the area.”
The season cost per player ranges from $625 for the Foundations program to $1,665 for the Competition League. These fees do not include uniforms and players training kits which cost several hundred dollars.
Ulvi said the club works hard to provide a robust scholarship program by running the Park City Extreme Cup, the largest tournament in the Intermountain West, which primarily serves as a fundraiser for families who need assistance.
“We don't turn any athlete away this year, or this past cycle,” he said. “Clubs, put out over $100,000 in scholarship monies for families and for kids. So that's a really important thing close to our hearts in the club to make sure every kid can play.”
Ulvi said the season runs from early July into the fall with breaks for holidays following school calendars and ends in the spring.
Find more information on the Park City Soccer Club here.
