Cougar Soccer Club provides a complete player development pathway from age 3 through high school. Whether your child is learning their first soccer skills or competing at a high level of travel soccer, our professionally trained coaches create a positive environment focused on development, teamwork and a lifelong love of the game. Serving Maplewood and South Orange families since 1965.
Cougar Soccer Club is part of New Jersey Youth Soccer and follows the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) age groups. These age groupings generally follow the school year ages for children in New Jersey. Please reach out to the club if you have specific questions about how your child fits in these age brackets. At the discretion of the Cougar Soccer Club, players may play up (play in an older age group), but they cannot play down beginning with U9 due to US Soccer / NCSA league rules.
The Cougar Pathway: Mini-Kickers → Kickers → Rec Academy → Travel → High School Travel
Find your child's grade below to see their level and program.
| Grade | Program | Tryout | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-K 3, Pre-K 4 | Mini-Kickers | No | Separate Fall, Winter, Spring seasons |
| Kindergarten | Kickers | No | Separate Fall, Winter, Spring seasons |
| 1st–2nd Grade | Rec Academy | No | Separate Fall, Winter, Spring seasons |
| 2nd Grade | U8 Select | Yes, Spring | Full year (Sept–June) |
| 3rd–8th Grade | Travel | Yes, Spring | Full year (Sept–June) |
| 9th–12th Grade | High School Travel | Yes, Spring | Winter/Spring |
Our youngest players are introduced to soccer through fun games and activities that develop motor skills, build self-confidence and social skills. Mini-Kickers meet for a single session on Saturday mornings, led entirely by our professional ESA trainers. All practices are coed. Mini-Kickers is offered in the fall and spring as separate programs. Registration occurs from late June through August for the Fall season and from late December through March for the Spring season. Winter skills clinics are also available with registration opening in October.
Kickers build on the basics with one weekday practice plus Saturday morning scrimmages. Players develop ball-handling skills and an early understanding of the game in a fun, supportive environment. Coed and girls-only practices are available. Kickers is offered in the fall and spring as separate programs. Registration occurs from late June through August for the Fall season and from late December through March for the Spring season. Winter skills clinics are also available with registration opening in October.
The Academy program is the last age grouping leading into Cougar Travel Teams, and includes U7 and U8. Our Academy players continue to build on the fundamentals of the game with the introduction of a team format for practices and games. Players build confidence through team play while learning positions, game awareness, sportsmanship and decision-making in a supportive environment.
Training sessions run by ESA trainers are one hour long and twice a week. On Saturdays, teams play 4v4 games against other Academy teams. The games are refereed by the same trainers the players practice with during the week, and supervised by volunteer Parent Coordinators. Rec Academy is offered in the fall and spring as separate programs. Registration occurs from late June through August for the Fall season and from late December through March for the Spring season. Winter skills clinics are also available with registration opening in October.
For second-grade players seeking a more competitive experience, U8 Select provides an early introduction to travel soccer. Players who are not selected for U8 Select may continue their development within Rec Academy.
Players must try out for our U8 Select team and will practice as a team for 90 minutes twice per week in addition to a skills clinic on Friday. Players compete against other clubs in 4v4 games on the weekend. The U8 Select program is an annual commitment — players play together from September through June.
Cougar Travel teams are competitive, talent-based teams for boys and girls ages 8–19, where players must try out and be accepted to the program each year. Tryouts are held in the Spring and the program is open to all players. Travel teams play in the Northern Counties Soccer Association, and away games are generally played within 30 miles of Maplewood and South Orange.
Cougar Travel soccer is geared to players who wish to make a higher commitment to their personal soccer development and level of competition. Playing for a Travel team is an annual commitment to team practices throughout Fall, Winter and Spring, and league games in Fall and Spring.
Establish a program for families willing to make a full-year commitment to a Fall and Spring soccer season. Learn understanding of the game of soccer. Develop ball-handling skills, awareness of the game, physical level of play and commitment to the sport at their own level. Play in a competitive youth travel soccer league.
Ages 8 to 19, trained by Elite Soccer Academy (ESA). Two 1.5-hour practices per week (days and times announced after team selection) and 10 league games per season. Boys play games on Saturdays in Fall and Sundays in Spring; girls play games on Sundays in Fall and Saturdays in Spring. All teams practice indoors in the winter. Preseason training camp is held the last week of August. Tryouts are held every Spring, and all new and returning players must try out each year.
During the winter and spring our high school travel teams train and compete in NCSA and tournaments to further develop their skills and stay sharp in the high school offseason. Our club was founded by legendary Columbia soccer coach Gene Chyzowych as a way to improve the skills of his high school players. We continue that tradition today with an affordable option that builds skill and teamwork.
Tryouts are held every spring, and all new and returning players must try out each year. Dates, times and locations are announced each spring and posted here and on TeamSnap. Player Placement exists to place every player at the most developmentally appropriate level of play, so that they can be successful where they land.
All players must register for tryouts so that the club can determine intent to play. Players who are injured, or who have a schedule conflict on one or both tryout dates, are still required to register.
No player is judged on a single night. Evaluations combine assessments from your child's ESA trainer over the course of the full year with two tryout sessions of 1.5 hours each. Because ESA assigns the same trainer to an age group across fall, winter and spring, the club has a consistent, independent view of each player's development across multiple teams at the same age.
Players continue to be evaluated throughout the spring season in regular games and tournaments. The tryout sessions are also the opportunity for players new to Cougar Soccer Club, and for younger players entering the Travel program for the first time, to be evaluated.
The Player Placement committee meets the week after Memorial Day weekend to review evaluations and determine appropriate team sizes. Families are then told one of three outcomes: your player has been placed on a team, in which case a commitment is required within three days of being notified, followed by registration; your player has been placed on a wait list, and may be offered a place if others do not commit; or placement on a team was not available.
Cougar Soccer Club makes every attempt to find a team for every player who has shown intent to play. The number of teams the club can field for a given age and gender depends on how many players register, roster slots available, how many families commit once offered a place, and players moving out of Maplewood and South Orange.
US Soccer sets the number of players on the field by age group: U8 and younger play 4v4, U9 to U10 play 7v7 (maximum roster size is 14 on game day), U11 to U12 play 9v9 (maximum roster size is 16 on game day), and U13 and older play 11v11 (maximum roster size is 18 on game day).
Once placement is settled, registration is completed in TeamSnap, along with uniform fitting and uniform ordering — all in June.
Cougar Soccer Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. No child will be turned away due to financial reasons. Payment plans are available for all families and financial assistance is available by request. Please email CougarSoccerClub@gmail.com if you need financial assistance.
| Mini-Kickers (U4–U5) | $250 |
| Kickers (U6) | $350 |
| Rec Academy (U7–U8) | $425 |
An additional pass-through field fee of $20 (MapSo residents) or $40 (other towns) will be added at checkout.
| U8 Select | $1,500 |
| U9–U14 Travel | $1,900 |
| High School | $1,200 |
Travel fees include professional ESA training in the fall, winter and spring, league play, and preseason camp. This charge includes a full uniform kit, referee fees and tournaments. An additional pass-through field fee of $20 (MapSo residents) or $40 (other towns) will be added at checkout.
Contact us and we'll help determine the best fit based on your child's age, experience level and goals.