NEFC
NEFC (New England Futbol Club)
Background
New England FC (“NEFC”) is one of the largest and strongest clubs in New England, having a professional coaching staff and state of the art soccer facilities. There are more than 2,000 players in the club.
NEFC has won six National Championships during the last two years including the US Club Soccer NPL, US Club Soccer National Cup, and US Youth Soccer national titles.
NEFC’s first official season was Spring 2009. In May 2009 the New England Eagles FC and FC PUMA merged clubs and became NEFC while at the same time expanded into the greater metro-west area and the South Shore of Massachusetts.
[The New England Eagles FC was founded in 1992 as Tri-Valley United, “TVU”. In 2002 they merged with the Eagles and changed their name to The Tri-Valley Eagles, “TVE”. TVE merged again in 2006 with Spirit of Massachusetts and were renamed the New England Eagles FC. FC Puma was founded in 1998 and grew to 17 boys and girls NSL teams competing in the age group U10-U18. In May of 2012 NEFC merged with Grasshopper FC (GFC) operating under the name NEFC.]
Players in NEFC can develop from an early age right through high school and stay within the club. With more than 100 soccer clubs in Massachusetts, players often shift between clubs and lose a great deal of continuity – under the NEFC umbrella players can develop as they advance and learn to play at a higher level.
NEFC is a very competitive and intense club. In May of 2014 NEFC and Black Watch Premier Soccer Club merged. This latest merger makes them one of the largest youth soccer clubs in New England with over 2000 players. NEFC teams play in the Northeast Soccer League (NSL), Region 1, and New England Premiership (NEP).
In December 2105 NEFC announced a “partnership” with Boston Breakers. This brings more than 75 girls’ teams into the Breakers Family.
Club Composition
NEFC encompasses eight (8) regions in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
- Central
- Metro Boston
- Metro North
- Metro South
- New Hampshire
- North Shore
- South Shore
- Southeast
NEFC trains at numerous locations throughout each of these regions which allows for convenient accessibility for players/parents.
With more than 100 teams they provide the opportunity for players to train and compete under the NEFC umbrella over a vast geography.
Club fees are ~ $2,500 and increasing; uniforms are on a three year cycle; tournament fees are high and certainly expect to pay handsomely for travel expenses; some of the elite / premier teams travel to Florida, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, etc.
[redborder]NEFC is a big business; critics say they bring in kids with the intent on developing them only to replace them a few years later with more talent; not unusual as they need to support the premier teams both financially and with a greater talent pool. Many believe the lower teams do not get the same treatment as higher-up teams; unless your kid is an Elite or Premier player you may get lost in the shuffle, have 2nd rate coach(es) and have games and practices moved around to accommodate the Elite/Premier teams.[/redborder]
Coaching
Most parents identified coaching as a very critical part of the NEFC experience. Some parents find the coaches to be open and candid and who modeled the behaviors they valued were generally pleased with the experience regardless of their child’s role on the team.
On the other hand, some find the coaches to be unavailable, unwilling to talk, or immature in their management of players and had a lot to say about their disappointment with the competitive soccer experience.
Take the time to speak with the coach either before or during tryouts. Some NEFC coaches are more accessible than others. The coach may be willing to speak with parents at anytime. The coach may establish specific times to talk or specific times when they are not available, such as before games and practices.
Find out how accessible your child’s coach will be to you throughout the year.
Understand their views on playing time, discipline, positions. Understand their expectations around practices, tournaments, and off season activities. Academic demands can create conflicts with soccer practices on school nights. Special school events and projects can create conflicts on weekends.
Watch how the coach runs practice sessions. Are you satisfied with the level of organization, do the players seem to be having fun, are they active and moving and not standing in line waiting a turn, when the coach gives instructions are they clear and specific? Ask other parents about the coach.
Youth Programs
What used to be called the Youth Academy is now the Regional Development Center. This program is a priority for the club as it is part of a long term development plan, providing players the opportunity to maximize their potential. There are 3 different age groups:
- Grasshoppers (U5-U6)
- Pumas (U7-U8)
- Eagles (U9-U10)
There are no tryouts and no players will be cut.
Players train in small groups based on play level and age; this is designed to be fun, but challenging, allowing young players to advance their skills and playing ability.
These are not cheap and range from $250 for a one day seasonal to $1,050 for full year.
Soccer Speed and Agility Clinics
NEFC offers multiple soccer-specific speed and agility clinics. These programs provide a great balance of teaching proper technique to help prevent injuries (e.g. running form, how to turn and explode with your first step, and ladder footwork) and improving individual performance in preparation for the spring season. Cost is ~ $125.
Futsal – there is no formal structured program; depends on the coach / team you’re on. Not a big deal to some as you can always join one of the many futsal leagues that exist.
Tournaments
NEFC hosts the The Massachusetts Fall Classic held in October (Columbus Day Weekend); unusual concept as just for town and intramural/recreational teams only; at Progin Park in Lancaster. The club also has a preseason tournament in March of each year. NEFC hosts an annual NEFC Preseason Tournament; separate ones for boys and girls.
This tournament is one of the top rated tournaments in the area. Games are played on turf and takes place at the youth soccer complex in Lancaster and other locations in the area – you may have a bit of way to travel as this is really spread out!
Facilities
Indoor
NEFC is affiliated with Fore Kicks Sports Complexes located in Marlboro, Norfolk and Taunton. These state-of-the-art facilities are comprised of synthetic indoor turf fields and futsal fields.
Additional facilities available to NEFC at Fore Kicks include fully outfitted weight rooms and aerobic facility, training classrooms, team meeting rooms and shower facilities. Ceiling mounted cameras over each field area allow for coaches to record practices or games for use as an additional training tool.
Outdoor
The Marlboro Fore Kicks location has two synthetic turf game fields fully lighted. Additional outdoor training/game fields for NEFC are:
- Carter Brooks Elementary School – New Bedford (212 Nemasket St., New Bedford, MA)
- Berlin Memorial School – Berlin (34 South St., Berlin, MA)
- TEAMWORKS Somerset – Somerset (732 Lees River Ave., Somerset, MA 02725)
- Bishop Connolly High School – Fall River (373 Elsbree St., Fall River, MA 02720)
- The Omniplex – Fall River (Front St. Fall River, MA)
- Friends Academy – Dartmouth (1088 Tucker Rd., North Dartmouth, MA 02747)
- Dartmouth Regional Park and Trails – Dartmouth (443 Old Fall River Rd., Dartmouth, MA 02747)
- Marshall Street Fields – Holliston (150 Marshall St., Holliston, MA 01746)
- The Fields at Progin Park – Lancaster (512 Old Union Turnpike, Lancaster, MA 01523)
- Fore Kicks Sports Complex – Marlborough ( 219 Forest St., Marlborough, MA 01752)
- Oak Grove Fields – Millis (410 Exchange St, Millis, MA, 02054)
- Fore Kicks Sports Complex – Norfolk (10 Pine St., Norfolk, MA 02056)
- Fore Kicks Sports Complex – Taunton (223 Fremont St., Taunton, MA 02780)
- Freeman Centennial School – Norfolk (70 Boardman St., Norfolk, MA 02056)
- Pond Street – Norfolk (33 Pond St., Norfolk, MA 02056)
Website
-
- NEFC’s website is clean and crisp and very easy on the eye – basic blue and red team colors.
- Good information on the history of the club and how it was formed.
Pretty good club, I don’t really like it, but it has made me better
Great club, looking forward to tryouts in the U15 Boys age group
Excellent club, my U13 boy is really enjoying himself. Great coaching.
Good club but tough. Tends to be very focused on developing the top players and then less attention given to developing players. Very good experience for younger kids. Tougher environment for older kids. If your kid is a top player and need to be pushed hard it is a good choice. If your son doesn’t like ‘tough love’ look elsewhere. Have had kid in program and know others with sons in it and quite a few others who quit.
great coaching top rate club
FC Puma camp was one of the best summer camps for my child. Afterwords i signed them up for NEFC and have been happy with her progress since.
Do people get cut from the U15 teams?
Big supporter of the club, my kids love it. I only paid $1800 for the year, not sure where the $2500 comes from.
This is my daughter’s second year with NEFC. Our experience has been mixed.
On positive side, it is a deep program. There are many good coaches and a few truly excellent coaches. However, not every coach is good fit with every kid (true of every club), so the experience will depend very heavily on the combination of coach and kid. Some coaches have a more aggressive attitude that may not mesh with kids who don’t have a thick skin. Other coaches have a much more positive and laid back approach. With the size of the club, it may be possible to switch teams within the club if the coach/kid mix doesn’t work on the first try. Coaches generally stay with the same kids from U9 through U13 or U14, but this isn’t guaranteed as coaches can leave, change clubs, etc. This provides nice continuity, generally speaking. The organization’s general coaching philosophy is technical first, tactical later, focusing on player skills development, ostensibly over winning The facilities and logistical organization are generally very good. Starting this year, most of the teams compete in the New England Premiership (NEP), which I feel is a more competitive league than MAPLE, at least in the upper divisions. Some of the elite teams compete in the NYCSL as well.
On the down side, the size of the organization and their goals for growth tend to result in coaches being overbooked. Most coaches have 2 teams, and many have 3. Since the NEP covers a larger geographic area than MAPLE, this can result in occassional game conflicts in which a team can be left with a substitute coach. This is not an ideal situation and I would much prefer that either a) every coach had one team, or 2) every team had two coaches. Neither is currently the case, and that seems unlikely to change. The geographic coverage of the NEP also results in further travel than would generally occur for teams in MAPLE. The heavy focus on technical over tactical is somewhat bothersome for two reasons. First, the implementation is spotty. Some coaches provide significant tactical coaching (especially the United teams), while others do not. Second, if a team does focus exclusively on technique, they tend to have trouble in games against teams that have more tactical training. The commitment to development over winning is more theoretical than real as you move up the talent scale. At United levels, the company line is the same, but the coacing is heavily focused on winning. At levels below that, the company line seems more accurate, development over winning.
Bottom line, our experience has been more positive than negative. NEFC offers a lot of opportunity for players to get training and touches. In fact, there are probably more opportunities than time allows (that is certainly true for us). My daughter’s current coach is a great fit for her and her teammates (and their parents) are a great group. I do recommend NEFC, but I also recognize that the sometimes big-business feel of the club is not for everyone. If you prefer a small-club feel, you should look elsewhere. If you can handle the large-club feel, and you want your child to have lots of opportunity for training, NEFC is a good place to look.
Bad experience,
My daughters coach spent more time playing with his phone and drinking his coffee than actucally coaching the team….
Plus he constantly Would arrive late to the games
Sorry your daughter was cut from the team.
This always happens with that Coach. He should work on his own conditioning. Put down the latte for a smart water…. Get off your phone and teach tactics
Funny part is a lot of people know who this is!
funny part is this coach controls all of nefc in the southcoast region… needs to speak up and train the kids on his roster and less worry about scouting others palyers who haven’t sank a good $$$$ dime in his pocket..
Coaching is a complete mess.. too busy on his samsung and flopping his sandals in 30 degree weather
GREAT club; love the facilities as so many for just about any area in state, they have a great name in club soccer as they are just so big and competitive. Amazed at how big NEFC is the more you get to know it.
Curious what is the best team to be on for the upcoming U14 teams. Are there premier in every region. Would be new to the club and just confused on which way to turn for tryouts. So on top of the annual fee of 2500.00 you have to pay for all other tournaments as well? No tournaments are included?
Huh? You rated the club and know nothing about it. Pure genius!
The coaches are great at NEFC. The facilities are pretty nice. i would recommend this to anybody!
NEFC is an amazing soccer club!
I was not impressed when my daughter’s great coach retired, the club assigned an inexperienced coach and made no effort to mentor her. The team had only 2 more years of high school left. I really felt they were just doing what they could to keep the money coming in, This division one Maple team was obviously less regarded than the region 1 “stars” and nobody cared if that team picked the pocket of the D1 team when they needed players leaving the Maple team under manned.
The new coach was well liked by the girls but she really wasn’t very good at strategics, adjustments or recognizing the particular strengths of players so there was a lot of frustration. If NEFC had provided a senior coach to work with the team and the new coach I think everyone would have benefited.
Good club overall and you get, I guess, waht you put into it; can be expensive with tournamanets and traveling. they do tend to move coaches around.
A top coach just quit to go to Scorpions and another coach had to fill in for him leving her team high and wet. Just be careful.
I have heard good and bad about this club. I am interested in signing my son up but have heard that there is a coach that was charged with assault. I know I don’t want my son involved with someone like that.
How can you rate coaching without having a kid in the program? Charged with assault and convicted are two very different things. I have no idea who or what you are referring to but based on your post you don’t either.
I think this is a great club also; we have two kids in NEFc (u12-u14) and find it very competitive and as tough as you make it; lots of tournaments at JUST the worst times of the year but I get that’s club soccer for any good club!
My daughter has been with the club three years and we love it. Coaching from the youth academy on has been great! They have additional weekly technical and speed agility training which is included in the price. My daughter has continued to develop as a result of the great training she’s received! In addition, the facilities in both Marlboro and holliston are first class! Highly recommend NEFC!
I’ve had, at one point, 3 daughters in the club and they LOVED it; got out as much as they put inot it and it was a great experience. Club is very committed to those who are serious but still entertains those who may be less into it. Would highly recommend NEFC!
Awsome but bad club
Have no idea what THAT means; had noting but positive experience with this club, very dedicated to advancing youngsters!
Some great feedback on NEFC; well established club with very dedicated staff/coaching.
You may find helpful an article I wrote here on MassClubSoccer that highlights the NEFC. Please see the article here:
https://massclubsoccer.com/5-best-soccer-teams-in-mass/
Peter
I would not letting anyone I know join this club. The metro north director knows his soccer but is a blatant bully and just not a nice person. Not what I prefer my child around – this is in regards to the older groups.
As for the youth academy, the coaching is weak and lazy, not much different than town soccer and limited instruction.
I am currently involved in the club but not for another season. Very disapointing experience overall
Amazing! Best club ever! Coming from many other clubs and this is the only one ,the family could stay with!
Only 3 reviews? We are very happy with NEFC and love the coaches and the club overall. Could not find a better soccer club!