February 24th, 2022 - The Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club is pleased to announce the travel tryout schedule, coaching slate, and program highlights for the upcoming 2022-23 season. Travel team tryouts will take place during the months of March, April, and May for all Richmond Kickers teams including Elite Red, Elite Black, Elite White, and Classic. 

Tryouts for the Richmond Kickers U16, U17, and U19 Elite Boys and Girls teams will kick off the tryout schedule on Sunday, March 13th, at Ukrop Park. U16, U17, and U19 Boys Classic tryouts will take place on Sunday, March 27th. The remaining tryout schedule will run from April 25th through May 5th. 

Players interested in joining our club who are unable to attend the tryouts should contact the appropriate Program Director to be evaluated.

Committed to providing an unparalleled soccer experience for club members, fielding boys and girls teams in the U9/10 through U19 age groups. The travel teams are coached by nationally licensed coaches along with current and former Richmond Kickers professional players, with locations throughout the Richmond region.

After an extensive review of the 2021 year, along with careful consideration by Program Directors, we are excited to share several enhancements to our 2022-23 travel program: 

Level Up Training Program:

Level Up is an innovative program designed to unite our club through a unique development environment that focuses on enhancing our EXPERIENCES, LEARNING, and CONNECTIONS. 

Experiences - Level Up will enhance our goal of player and development by conducting training sessions that provide our players and coaches different challenges and experiences outside their traditional team training format.  Through this process players and coaches will be recognized and identified for potential opportunities with different teams and programs.

Learning -  Level Up will improve players and coaches learning by providing opportunities for them to adapt to varying practice situations.  Skill development in soccer is directly associated with a player’s ability to adapt to, and manage themselves in environments that challenge them socially, emotionally, and psychologically.  

Connections - Level Up will allow all players/coaches more visibility to our full-time staff throughout the course of the year.  Level up provides an increased visibility and understanding of our players/coaches which can lead to recognition, and identification for new opportunities.

Ukrop Park & Hensley Park Field Improvements: 

Committed to providing a quality performance environment for our players, extensive upgrades to the club’s playing facilities will begin this summer. Sprinturf will be installing brand new artificial turf along with Brock padding on Ukrop Park fields 1 & 2. In addition, after Earthworks’ successful completion of drainage improvements on Ukrop Park field 5, identical drainage will be installed on Ukrop Park fields 6 & 7, and Hensley Park fields 5 & 6.

Year-Round Goalkeeper Program: 

After rolling out our year-round goalkeeper program, Adrian Clewlow and his ACGK staff, will continue to offer our goalkeepers over 20 sessions per year in addition to their regular team practices. The goalkeeper program also includes player evaluations, age-specific curriculum, and training all designed by ACGK.

Player Evaluations & VEO Camera System: 

Next season player evaluations will provide a more in-depth assessment that includes personalized feedback and a “how to improve” section. Again, this will be provided for all travel players. The club will continue investing in the VEO camera system adding two more systems, allowing staff and coaches to record, analyze, and upload even more matches for players and families.

U10 Elite Teams and U9/10 Mini Festivals: 

The club will continue to offer U10 Boys and Girls Elite teams allowing our players to be matched by ability rather than just age. In conjunction with our new Level Up initiative our classic players will participate in 4v4 Mini Festivals in the Fall and Spring. This will allow our staff the opportunity to monitor and challenge players throughout the year in different environments. The addition of both Elite teams and Mini Festivals further enhances our focus on providing the best developmental experience for every player in the U9/10 program. 

Camp & Technical Training Program:

Back by popular demand and under the guidance of Owusu Sekyere, we will again offer a full year-round program of technical training and camps. Sessions are designed to improve individual skills and take each player’s game to the next level.

Kickers FUTSAL:

Our Futsal program continues to prove immensely popular with our membership (35% increase in player participation this winter season). On the back of our most successful futsal season ever the club will continue to offer Kickers FUTSAL teams for ADP through U16 Age Groups as well as adding a new “Game-Only” format for our U17 through U19 age groups.

Communication - TeamSnap:

TeamSnap will continue to be the communication of choice for our club. The platform will be utilized for program overviews, schedules, weather updates, and important travel team information and updates. 

Program Directors:

Any questions should be directed to the appropriate age and division Technical Director.  The Richmond Kickers Program Directors are comprised of Scott Thomsen, (ADP Director, USSF “C”), Ross MacKenzie, (U9/U10 and Futsal Director, USSF “B”), Michael Burke, (U11-U14 Director, USSF “B”), Andy McIntosh, (U15-U19 Girls Director, USSF “A”) and Mark Stollsteimer, (U15-U19 Boys Director, NSCAA Premier), Owusu Sekyere, (Director of Technical Development and Camps, USSF “C”), and Adrian Clewlow, (Goalkeeper Director, NSCAA Advanced National), under the continued guidance of Leigh Cowlishaw,(Executive Director, USSF “A”). 

The Richmond Kickers Program Directors guide the club through innovative and high-quality youth development programming and excellence in coaching while providing the highest level of customer service and building upon the club’s unassailable reputation for success on and off the field.

Detailed information about the Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club can be found at RichmondKickersYouth.com

Location Information:

The 2022 / 2023 program locations are listed in the links below. Please note the location of your child's program carefully and reference this document for address information.

Age groups not listed in Poor Farm Park should register for our Bryan Park OR Ukrop Park tryouts.

Elite teams train at Ukrop Park and River City.

Tryout Policy:

• The RKYSC open tryout process will be held during March/April/May of each year to select players for the following playing season(Fall/Spring).
• Tryouts are the final stage of the club's evaluation process.  All our players are evaluated over the course of the entire year.  Tryouts are generally used for players we are unfamiliar with (outside of the club).
• The RKYSC tryout process shall be open to all players and shall give equal consideration to each player without regard to race, religion, ethnic or social background, or economic status. 
• Players may be added to a team at any time provided that there are open spots on the roster.
• Once a player is offered a position on a team at a geographic location they will not be considered for another location.
• If a player does not  make a team at a specific geographic location, they can try out at other locations.  

 *The Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club reserves the right to offer a guaranteed spot to any player whom the Program Directors deem qualified prior to the commencement of the open tryout process.*