Maplebrook Soccer Club

We've been a part of the club for one year now. Just got done with the first year, with the fall, winter, and spring/summer season. What mainly attracted [us to Maplebrook] was the competition and the emphasis, on equal emphasis, on both the girls and the boys' program, as my daughter was in a previous club where there was not much emphasis on the girls' program. So that's what really brought us to Maplebrook.

Definitely favorite experience with the club has been seeing my daughter and her teammates really become great friends, and our team does a lot of activities together. Meeting the parents, kind of us working together to really raise and grow the girls together as a team in a club. That's, hands down, been the favorite experience, just the camaraderie amongst the girls and the parents as well.

I think definitely the club and the exposure our particular girls team has playing at the national level is the growth in my daughter's confidence. Just the competition level that we jumped up from fall to the spring season, she's been able to see that she can play with girls of any caliber in Minnesota, and I think that's directly resulted from the coaching and the experience and the support that she's received and us as a family have received from the club. In terms of the practice, the coaching, and really the exposure to different tournaments and activities throughout the season, fall, winter, and spring. So it's definitely helped our daughter's confidence.

I love the variety of facilities we have at the club. In winter, we have access to the dome, which allows a lot of time for the girls and boys programs can be able to practice inside. We have turf. We have grass fields throughout Maple Grove. So if there's one field that you're usually on that's not available, there's almost always a field somewhere available. So the facility usage and ability to practice and the many different types of weather in Minnesota has been a huge help.

I would 100% recommend Maplebrook to any friend or family, or colleague. The amount of coaching that's available, the facilities, the skill level, the wide range of skill level, that's available for kids has just been a huge eye opener in terms of what Maplebook offers compared to other clubs. I've actually come on as a coach myself and [when they] asked me and I wouldn't come on unless I was fully committed to it, because just coaching is a big-time commitment. But just seeing what Maplebrook offers to families and kids and the coaches has totally convinced me to come on and my family to commit to Maplebrook.

We've been part of the program for about five years now. My son started out in the rec program and is now in the U11 competitive team. And we really love the aspect that Maplebrook Soccer was local, and it was community-based. It was right near our home within five miles, which was amazing, so it was very convenient for a busy working mom like myself. I also love that it was nonprofit, and they really seemed to be engaged with the community. And I loved just the aspect of their coaching and their mission, and that's really what attracted me to the club in the first place.

Over the last five years, my favorite experience at this club has just been seeing my son grow as a player and as a little human. He started out with not, you know, having too much experience with soccer, but just loving the sport. And he's grown over the years into being just a super confident goalie, and he's kind of found his place within the organization and within his team. My son is very shy, and this has been something that he has been able to really exercise his, you know, another side of his personality. And I see the confidence coming out of him in every single game, and he doesn't shy away from the challenges that our coaches have given him. He's really leaned into, you know, finding a position that just, you know, really interests him. And the coaches, Kat and Coach Ben have just really helped him gain that confidence over the last few years as a goalie.

And one of my the the most favorite experiences that I have to kind of look back on was us participating in the USA Cup last summer. It was such a pivotal point in his soccer adventure here and [his] journey [to be] able to punt that ball for the first time and being really good at it, the encouragement that not only the parents on the sidelines gave as well as the other opposing team as well as the the coaches was just amazing. And I love seeing him happy and excelling, but it's really just about him having fun and his growth. And he's done that over the last five years, and I really attribute that to this organization.

Maplebook has really impacted my son in many different ways, but the biggest is the growth in himself and the confidence that he's gained over the last five years in his ability to be able to be a team player and a team member, and find something that he really enjoys and has fun doing. And he looks forward to the consistency every week of being able to go to practice, the games that come up, the mini camps, and the summer camps. Everything that Maplebrook has offered, and continues to offer him to be able to grow his soccer skills has just really created a confident, strong little human. And I feel like, you know, every day that confidence continues to grow.

Maplebrook has done an excellent job in securing safe and top-notch facilities for these kids to be able to play for all seasons of the year. You know, in the winter, we're at the dome. The Maple Grove Dome is super well maintained, and the ability to have something that's climate controlled through cold and winter days and be able to have these kids still practice has been amazing. And then through the spring and summer, abilities to be able to use the city of Maple Grove's, you know, parks and then FAF. The Fernbrook Athletic Fields are absolutely remarkable and [we] feel so lucky to be able to have that artificial turf for them to be able to practice on and play games. And I think they've done an excellent job in securing really safe spots that are really convenient for the community and for these parents, like myself, to be able to utilize throughout the year.

I would recommend Maplebrook all day long to really anybody that is interested in having their child participate in soccer. My experience has been just such a positive one over the course of the last five years. So positive, actually, that I joined the board in 2024. So I started out, you know, as a parent, and then moved into a kind of team manager role as well. And then, last year, I started to be a board member, and this has just been such a positive aspect of my life, but also my son's life as well. And the skills he's gained is just unmatched, and I find that the resources that Maplebrook provides. For example, you know, my son's a goalie, and he has access to Cat. And she has practices that are above and beyond our normal practices, and he gets the ability to be able to work one-on-one with her to gain better skills, and he really enjoys it.

They offer so many opportunities through their summer programs, through the fall and spring programs, that there's kids from all over our community that participate, and I love that aspect of every child is important. And they really do care about the kids that participate here. And so, yeah, I would recommend Maplebrook to really anybody.

I've been coaching with Maplebrook for a little less than a year. And one of the reasons that I decided to check it out was location, but also the main reason was the opportunity for growth. Starting at the rec division, you get to see a little bit of the fun, a little bit of the skill, and a little bit of the game atmosphere. But then as you grow, and as your children grow, you have opportunities to advance into club ball, and be part of the program as a whole.

One of my favorite parts of the rec program has been being a tiny part of these kids' lives and their journey within athletics and the sport, and being able to guide them and give them a little fun along the way. Being able to see their faces as they arrive and how excited they are to learn and play, has been fantastic. For my son, he's excited to go and has made some new friends. And it just warms my heart and to be able to be a little tiny part of that, joy and passion for these young boys.

I have loved coaching at Maplebrook and one of the things that it has done for me is reignite this passion and joy in teaching youth and showing them that athletics are more than just putting a ball in a goal, or stopping the ball. It's more than running up and down a field. There's so much more to athletics and to sports and to the game than just the physical act of winning or losing or getting out there and playing. And so it's been really fun to be able to tap into that again. And I. As a parent, to be on the field with my son, to be able to engage with that has been so fun as well. So, that has been a joy along the way.

When we started with Maplebrook we were in the dome in Maple Grove, and that was so fun. It's such a great facility to be able to continue practicing throughout the winter. When we transitioned to the outdoor fields, I was surprised with how well maintained they are and how great the facilities are for the boys to play on.

I would highly recommend that you check out Maple Brook Soccer Club. It's been a great experience for me as a parent and coach, and it's been a great experience for my son as a rec player.