Development Pathway for Jackson Futbol Club and Mississippi Rush

Players are drafted by the coaches.  Skill evaluations may be held to form teams in a fair and balanced method or evaluations from previous coaches taken into account.  All players who register are assigned to a team as long as space is available on team rosters. 

Players benefit from the opportunity for social interaction with other players their own age and physical fitness aspects of the game while also developing better soccer skills.

The JFC Rec-Plus Program for players in Under 8-Under 10 introduces players to the competitive program. The purpose of the program further focuses on player development. Players will participate in 6 sessions of training with the JFC Staff coaches. At the end of training, players could be placed on a JFC RecPlus team for the Fall season. Fall teams begin training after the recreational season ends. Additional games and tournaments are played after team selection. Two local tournaments are played in the fall. Players train twice a week and are loosely placed on fall teams to help maximize development.

In the spring additional training sessions are held and new teams chosen for play. Spring teams are formed more competitively as a pathway to the MS Rush Competitive Program. Players may be placed on an “A” team with the most competitive players in the age group or a “B” team with the next best players in the age group. Teams play additional games and attend 3 local tournaments after team selection. Team training begins after spring break and the recreational season ends.

U12-U14 Recreational Soccer
Focus is on continued player development. Referees are utilized. Play is 9v9 in the U12 age group with a goalkeeper. And in the U14 Age group play is 11v11. More rules are in play as players learn final aspects of the game
Due to low numbers who play recreational soccer at this age, there is generally only one team, so all players are placed together. If there are enough players for two teams, then  players will be drafted by the coaches.  Skill evaluations may be held to form teams in a fair and balanced method or evaluations from previous coaches taken into account.  All players who register are assigned to a team as long as space is available on team rosters. 

Players benefit from the opportunity for social interaction with other players their own age and physical fitness aspects of the game while also developing better soccer skills.

Coaches are parent volunteers as well. It is recommended teams train 1-2 times a week. For the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 season this league encompasses boys and girls in the 2013 and 2014 birth years for Under 12 and 2011 and 2012  birth years for Under 14 which are both combined dual year age group. 

Teams play one game a week for approximately 6-8 weeks for a total of 9-12 games. There are weeks that teams may play 2 games. All games are against other clubs in the area, so dependent on number of teams around the area and the availability will set the number of games to be played. All practices will be at JFC. Some games will be at JFC. Some games may also be in places like Ridgeland, Florence, Pearl, Brandon, Byram and Richland. 

Players in these age groups are eligible to participate in the Rec-Plus program if the interest is there. (similar to All-Stars). 

The Competitive leagues are for those players who want to play and train at a more competitive level. There are up to 3-4 levels of Competition and teams formed per age group. These teams may be referred to as Premier, Elite, Select, Super Elite. MS Rush coaches place players according to skill level during the player tryout/placement process held mid-May each year.

The goal is to put kids in an environment where they compete with and against similar levels of play.

At the U9-U12 age groups teams are community based. Players who played at JFC for recreational will tryout for a Jackson based team. Players who played for Madison recreational, will tryout for a Madison based teams. Players who come from other organizations may try out for the community that suits the player and their family. All MS Rush tryouts are open tryouts and players from all over Mississippi do attend.

At the U13-U14 age group, the Jackson and Madison divisions come together to form teams. Players are chosen based on ability. League play, tournaments and state championships are involved at this level.

Training is run by well-qualified, licensed, and highly trained coaches whose goal is to provide the best soccer environment possible. These teams train twice a week, play friendly games against area competitive teams and play 8-10 tournaments a year split between the fall and spring season. 3-4 may be local tournaments and 5-6 may be out of town/state, generally in distance of no more than 5-6 hours (younger teams may only travel 2-3 hours depending on the team and coach).

Competitive players’ parents sign a contract for the season agreeing to both expectations, financial and volunteer commitments. Approximate costs for a competitive season is $1500-$1700 which is split into payments throughout the year. Final costs are determined by the individual team and is based on number of tournaments attended. All costs with the exception of uniforms are built into this price for the seasonal year. The seasonal year is August 1-May 15 for these competitive travel teams.