My daughter has played with Minnesota Thunder Academy (MTA) and Bangu-Tsunami for the past two-plus seasons; she was initially identified as a player who could benefit from the academy-style training (offer by Bangu/MTA), and would be a strong player with Bangu. We hesitantly yet adventurously gave it a try. There was never any pressure to join or make a commitment, but were positively encouraged to go through the tryout process. We went through this, my daughter made the team, and has been there since.
What has made the transition and development possible is the desire and commitment of the program and coaches to develop their soccer players -- as soccer players and growing kids/young adults. Skills are continuously taught, shared, and developed in safe, positive settings. Team concepts are incorporated to further develop soccer strategies, and the success has been very high both at practice and in games.
The players on my daughter's team have had high levels of success on the field; their records speak highly of their development -- at their age level and above. For my daughter, it is important and meaningful (to her) that she be challenged at high levels; MTA provides strong avenues for this -- be it in league, tournaments, international play, and of course training. Additionally, my daughter has made many new friends, and has developed some wonderful friendships. As I write this, she had a team party last night, and some of the girls decided to have a sleepover; they really enjoy being with each other, and MTA has been a great avenue for this. To put this in further perspective, we do not live in the same community as the majority of the team, so it would appear that we are the "outsiders". We are nothing close to that with this team and program. New friends and friendships can only enhance one's life, and it has been a blessing to meet, know, and be with people from MTA.
As for the coaching, we have been blessed with strong values and commitment. Christian Isquiardo has been my daughter's coach this past season. While it was a change in coaches, and there was a level of unsuredness, Christian set forth with his plan for the girls. He has taken the time to get to know them individually and as a team -- on personal and professional levels. As the girls patiently worked with Christian, they soon realized that he was there to best develop their soccer skills and become even better young adults. The season has been extrememly successful record-wise, developmentally, and positively. Even though a goal is to win, it is the training and development that continues to shine as outcomes. There have been many situations that a certain "stronger" lineup would be conventional wisdom, but Christian comfortably and confidently used different girls in vaious positions in game situations. As a coach and parent, I have witnessed the comfort and confidence grow in the girls who have been "given the responsibility and opportunity" to lead their team. This is further proof of the team development, along with the development of each girl's character.
Yet, at the same time, when there were tight situations in games, the team wanted to win, and Christian gave them the best opportunities for this via strategy, skills, confidence, and positive encouragement.
My daughter plays a very high level of soccer, and has had numerous opportunities to play elsewhere in the past and for next season. She and I have both agreed that she would sooner play for Christian and MTA. She appreciates Christian's desire and attitude to this level of play, along with his continued dedication to making her (and the team's) soccer experiences the best possible. Christian works very hard to have the best players/people for the best results -- on and off the playing field.
If you have any questions that I may be able to answer on any of the above, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Rick DuBois
Hudson, WI
