Industry Youth soccer Headquarters New York City | Founder Gustavo Szulansky | |
Area served New York metropolitan area
Los Angeles metropolitan area
Greater Boston
Miami metropolitan area
Chicago metropolitan area
Washington metropolitan area
Philadelphia metropolitan area
Greater Austin
Greater San Antonio
San Diego County
Orange County, California
San Francisco Bay Area
London Key people Gustavo Szulansky (President)
Sarah Natchez (General Manager)
Dean Simpson (Director of Programs)
Mark Nerkowski (Director of Operations)
Toby Tenenbaum (Managing Director, Stars Premier) Services Youth soccer development
Afterschool programs | ||
Super Soccer Stars is an American youth soccer development program active in the metropolitan areas of New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, and Chicago. The organization was founded in 2000 by Argentine native Gustavo Szulansky.
Contents
Overview
Gustavo Szulansky, a native of Argentina who moved to New York City in the 1980s, founded Super Soccer Stars in 2000. The impetus to establish the organization came the year before when Szulansky offered to assist with his seven-year-old son's youth soccer team and found that the children did not know the basic fundamentals of the sport. In his view, "the coaches and instructors lacked a sincere interest in their students and that kids were left unprepared to play in a real soccer game." He thought he "could do it better with more care, affection, and professionalism."
Today, the program holds 1,400 weekly classes in seven states, and is active in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, and Chicago. In the New York metropolitan area alone, 10,000 players participate in the program weekly. In 2014 Super Soccer Stars will also be expanding to Washington D.C.
The company employs around 30 full-time staffers, and has over 300 coaches, many of whom work part-time. Super Soccer Stars's flagship facility in the Upper West Side of Manhattan has an indoor turf field.
Super Soccer Stars
Super Soccer Stars is the flagship program, with classes "based on age-specific curricula created by a combination of early childhood, soccer, and behavioral specialists."
Super Soccer Stars Premier
Super Soccer Stars Premier is "an advanced soccer development program for players aged 5 and older." The program is separated into two distinct components: a development program and a travel program. NY Stars Premier has 20 travel teams in the U8-U14 age groups.
Kick & Play
Kick & Play is a parent-child pre-soccer and movement program specifically designed for toddlers between 12 and 24 months. The instructors at Kick & Play, along with the puppets Mimi & Pepe, help kids to engage in physical activity in a fun way.
Shine
The Shine Program is a soccer program for children and adults with special needs. There is a low player-to-coach ratio in order to provide "continuous support and personal attention" to participants.
Philanthropic activities
Super Soccer and US-Africa Children's Fellowship (USACF) announced a partnership in 2009. Since then, Super Soccer Stars has held an annual drive during the American holiday season to collect T-shirts, equipment, and soccer balls to donate to USACF-sponsored partner schools in Zimbabwe. In the summer of 2010, 2012 and 2013, in partnership with USACF and Round Star Foundation, Super Soccer Stars sent members of its coaching team to visit these partner schools in rural Zimbabwe and teach soccer to hundreds of school children. In November 2013, Super Soccer Stars partnered with Round Star Foundation and the Ministry of Education in Brazil to send a group of coaches to Iraquara, Bahia to implement a 7-day "Building Soccer Bridges" teacher training and coaching education program.
In the summer of 2009, Super Soccer Stars hosted an event at its New York City facility for the "Don't Play With the Flu" national health awareness campaign featuring U.S. women's national soccer team players Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain. Hamm and Chastain participated in a coaching clinic in which they taught children about soccer and flu vaccinations.