For Immediate Release - Friday, March 20, 2020
Media Contact: Jef Thiffault, FC Copa Director of Club Development & Communications
jef.thiffault@fccopa.com / 732.662.5202 x205
METUCHEN, NJ - FC Copa Academy today announced the creation of a Virtual Training Portal for its current players to continue their development during the social adjustments required by the coronavirus outbreak. The Virtual Training Portal is an e-learning, one-stop shop where all current FC Copa players can utilize all that is offered through FC Copa in an online setting.
“FC Copa strives to offer a best in class experience, and we remain committed to staying engaged with our players by offering opportunities for soccer training and learning until we are able to come together again on the field as a group.” said FC Copa President and Executive Director of Coaching Roberto Aguas. “We have worked very hard with our staff in a short period of time to launch this comprehensive Virtual Training Portal, yet we are confident that our FC Copa players will continue to take advantage of the Portal’s services once this period that has necessitated its creation has passed.”
FC Copa have partnered with top industry resources to offer a very unique experience for its players through the following programs.
TACTICAL VIRTUAL LEARNING via CANVAS Via our virtual platform FC Copa players will receive a weekly tactical education, which will include video analysis and assignments online. Our goal is to educate FC Copa Academy players to make better tactical decisions in matches and become overall well-rounded soccer players. ABOUT CANVAS: Canvas is the World's Fastest-Growing Learning Management Platform. Our mission is to help teachers innovate and students succeed. We designed Canvas to empower teachers and engage students and then get out of their way—an approach embraced by institutions across the globe. Canvas makes education more efficient, effective, and all-around awesome for you.
TECHNE FUTBOL INDIVIDUAL SKILLS TRAINING
Through our partners at TechneFutbol, FC Copa Academy players will find tremendous value in the innovative training program that can be utilized as a supplement to their technical training and encourages players to take control of their individual development. FC Copa will be able to chart each player’s technical development through this innovative online technical program. With age and skill specific drills that players may do on their own, we will be holding friendly competitions for players to go head to head within their teams and the entire club. ABOUT TECHNE FUTBOL: Techne Futbol is a training system that enables players to delve into the process of mastery with the soccer ball. “Techne” is a word that comes from Ancient Greek, meaning craftsmanship, craft, or art. The Training System is delivered via a user-friendly app. It provides female and male players of all ages and levels with a weekly training session and allows them to track their process, connect with a community of like-minded training partners, and compete with peers on leaderboards. The Techne Training System was designed by professional soccer player Yael Averbuch.
COPAFIT ONLINE FITNESS PORTAL Director of Strength and Conditioning Matty Berman will publish a weekly video and instruction section on the portal for all our players to keep up their fitness. We are encouraging our players to follow the workout once, twice or three times a week. ABOUT COPAFIT: CopaFit is designed to cover all fitness aspects within the game of soccer while teaching the fundamentals of body mechanics. Create a fun and competitive environment to increase a player's fitness, improve a player's soccer movements (focus on speed, agility, change of direction and explosiveness)
ACADEMIC GUIDANCE
Our Director of Academic Guidance, Lori Berman, remains in touch with players to conduct routine counseling sessions remotely. Since FC Copa players are working on schoolwork at home during the upcoming weeks, we have invited them to schedule meetings through phone call or facetime to review report cards from the first half of the year.
COLLEGE FIT FINDER
At FC Copa Academy we pride ourselves in having assisted over 325 players in their collegiate placement. We are excited to start a new partnership with College Fit Finder, (CFF), an innovative online platform specifically geared to make the college recruitment process more streamlined and manageable. The College Fit Finder provides our players with a competitive advantage over a typical student-athlete navigating the recruiting process. FC Copa is committed to not only player development, but truly being a catalyst in helping our players fulfill their dreams of playing collegiate soccer and accessing higher education. ABOUT COLLEGE FIT FINDER: This comprehensive system allows for individuals to take ownership of their future by equipping them with tools necessary to find a home at the college level. The College Fit Finder will provide uniformity to the club's recruiting efforts and will allow the staff to take a much more detailed approach in helping our athletes throughout the process.
SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE
Since our players are not able to have organized practices, FC Copa has launched a skills social media challenge to continue to encourage everyone to touch a ball and to have fun while doing it. Videos with the hashtag #TheCopaWay will be reposted with weekly highlights selected. We are also engaging people in the soccer community to encourage our #PlayAtHome campaign through short PSA videos aimed at our players. FC Copa will be increasing its engagement through all of its channels.
GOOGLE HANGOUTS
As part of this virtual education we will also have each team’s coach continue to interact with all our players twice per week, not unlike our training schedules, but through online meetings via Google Hangouts. During these team meetings, we have been able to reinforce the programs within the VIRTUAL TRAINING PORTAL It’s a good opportunity for everyone to see each others’ faces and interact with each other.
ONLINE SEMINAR SERIES
Our seminar online series will be presented weekly. The goal is to cover multiple topics from mental toughness development to time management. The schedule and information will be available starting next week and can be accessed via the link below.We look forward to continuing serving our players and families with continued education.
COPA CARES
It is our goal to be here for you during these unprecedented times. We know all of us as an FC Copa Academy family have different challenges which we are dealing with. If there is anything that you need or if you find yourself requiring assistance in any way, please connect with us, we will do anything in our power to assist you. Please use the button under the Copa CARES program on the VIRTUAL TRAINING PORTAL to connect with us privately.
Since its inception in 2004, FC Copa Academy has appeared in 26 state, 19 regional and 7 national finals & championships while having one of the highest college placement rates in the country, both soccer and academic, having placed over 325 students into 153 collegiate programs and developed over 24 professional and national/international team players.
FC Copa is interested in collaborating and offering best practices to all stakeholders in the soccer community. Should other clubs or service providers wish to discuss FC Copa’s Virtual Training Portal in more detail, please be in touch as follows: Jef Thiffault, FC Copa Director of Club Development and Communications | jef.thiffault@fccopa.com | 732.662.5202 x205 | www.fccopa.com
About FC Copa Academy www.fccopa.com
FC Copa Academy is a professional soccer organization founded in 2004 which has appeared in 26 state, 19 regional and 7 national finals & championships while having one of the highest college placement rates in the country, both soccer and academic, having placed over 325 students into 153 collegiate programs and developed over 24 professional and national/international team players. We are a soccer family consisting of over 750 members from the ages of 5 to 19 that come from all areas of NJ, NY, and PA with locations at Rutgers University (Piscataway, NJ), Sportika Sports (Manalapan, NJ), Millstone United (Millstone, NJ) and Aviator Sports (Brooklyn, NY). We are a year-round soccer development program assisting players in reaching their greatest potential. The focus is on educating the complete player with a knowledgeable and caring staff. FC Copa Academy teams compete in premier level leagues, tournaments, showcases, and competitions locally, regionally and nationally. FC Copa Academy fields both boys and girls teams in each age group from U7 through U19 and beyond. In addition to the youth academy, FC Copa Academy provides a pathway into the college, semi-pro and professional levels via its New Jersey Copa FC collegiate programs (U20 and U23) all the way to the UWS (women) team.