GRIFOS OPEN UP AFFILIATIONS
CRITICAL MASS ACHIEVED
This affiliation will serve players of every age and ability. Players in each club will develop as players using a common curriculum. This curriculum has been developed over recent years by the professional staff which will now be known as PA United Grifos (AC PERUGIA).
The program begins at age 4 with the "First Touch" program. This is a fun-filled introduction to the game of soccer. Players then graduate to a series of small sided programs, including the "Kick-Start Program" and the "Euro 4 V 4 Program."
As players develop, they graduate into the "Classic" team level. Each affiliated club will continue to maintain its own classic level teams and for the most part, they will compete in local Soccer Leagues. They will continue to wear their existing club colors, but now thousands of affiliated players will sport the PA United Grifo logo on their uniform.
What is a Grifo? "Grifo is Italian for
Griffin , a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. In antiquity it was a symbol of power, since the lion was known as king of beasts and the eagle was king of all birds."
Players who aspire to play soccer at the highest levels will no longer have to travel great distances to play. They now have a place to train locally with other top players from the area under the supervision of coaches who have played and coached at the collegiate, amateur and professional levels.
With the large player pool created through this joint affiliation, kids will have more opportunity to grow within the system and to play at levels which are appropriate for them. The plan is to use the PA United Grifo staff to further the education of their affiliate coaching staff.
"Our primary goal is to create a place for children of all levels to be able to grow as players," Composto said. "As a club, we found that we were not big enough to address the needs of every level. We now have the critical mass to do this."
Yet, he stressed that the cornerstone in the development of players is to create a positive learning environment which gives developing players the chance to have fun and be creative. Learning in small groups is the best way to accomplish this. So, I guess they have gotten big by concentrating on being small.
Since this announcement, four other area clubs have contacted the GRIFOS to join the affiiation
