News

North Meck SC & CASL Form Strategic Alliance

Date Posted: 10/5/2009

Printer Friendly Version

Cornelius, NC-May 5, 2009: North Meck Soccer Club (NMSC) and Capital Area Soccer Leagues (CASL), both of North Carolina, signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the formation of a strategic alliance. The alliance joins two inaugural US Development Academy Clubs, putting both NMSC and CASL at the forefront of player and club development. This exclusive partnership will oversee a broad variety of soccer activities which will include the following areas: tournaments, player combines, camps, clinics and coaching seminars.

Thomas Finlay, Executive Director of NMSC, states that “We are excited to align ourselves with one of the top soccer programs in the United States. CASL’s wealth of experience with not only player development but also tournaments brings much to the table. Both clubs will strive to create an environment that will foster the best player development possible, ultimately allowing for the successful culmination of a more efficient and effective soccer program. In that regard, CASL Showcase Soccer Series will give our NMSC girls access to Showcase Tournaments. This will allow for a demonstration of talents before top college coaches. That being said, competition at the highest levels will only make our players, coaches
and the club improve at a faster pace.”

CASL CEO, longtime former men’s soccer coach at Davidson College and the coach of North Mecklenburg Youth Soccer Association’s (now NMSC) first classic team in the mid 1990’s, Charlie Slagle said, “CASL is pleased to partner with North Meck Soccer Club. Both organizations have similar philosophies on how the game of soccer should be presented and
taught to youth athletes. CASL looks forward to working with North Meck Soccer Club with the development of their tournaments and other shared ventures. I feel it is a win/win situation for both organizations and the synergy produced will be good for the game.”

NMSC and CASL will co-hosttwo soccer tournaments in the North Mecklenburg area. Kicking off the 2009-2010 soccer season will be a pre-season tournament in August with another tournament in early February. The champions and/or finalists from this pre-season tournament, along with NMSC’s top teams, will gain automatic entry into the renowned CASL  visitRaleigh.com National Soccer Series, presented by the Chelsea Football Club Showcase and Shootout Soccer Series. The tournament has the well-earned reputation as theshowcase tournament of the year for the Elite girls program providing NMSC girls soccer with a wonderful growth opportunity. This is an annual event held in Raleigh, North Carolina attracting
top-quality teams from throughout the southeast as a kick-off to their league play.

In conjunction with the tournament series, NMSC and CASL have aligned to work on elite player combines for the boys and the girls Senior Programs at both Clubs. CASL will host the Girl’s Combine in late January 2010. A few select teams from around the country will be invited to showcase their talents before top college coaches. NMSC will host the Boy’s Combine
in February 2010 during their tournament as part of the Boy’s Showcase Division.