Dear Bolts Nation:

These past two months have been like nothing any of us has ever experienced before. The COVID19 pandemic has caused disruption of every aspect of our daily lives. As we wait for further guidance from health officials & Gov Baker regarding the phased re-opening, we want to thank you for your patience and understanding and continued support.

We will keep you updates with announcements like our partnership with Florida Celtic, the launch of the new MLS Elite Platform, Virtual tryouts for players not currently in the club and our series of video chats with Pro players rolls on! This week, we had a great chat with Bolts alum and MLS Atlanta United SuperStar, Miles Robinson . He shared his experience growing up as a youth player with the Bolts, explained the MLS return to play training he began this week, his experience getting drafted at 19, and so much more. We will continue to offer this to our membership. Next week we have former Arsenal player Sean Kelly joining us. (details below)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and we will supply further updates very soon. Please feel free to send us any questions you may have between now and then if you like.

Stay Home, Stay Safe & Stay Healthy!
THE FOUNDATION E-Book Training Guide
On behalf of the Bolts we want to provide you with the Soccer Foundation E-book on YouTube using  this link   that is made up of an extensive series of skills training sessions. 

Without the direction of a coach you can train at your own pace and sharpen your skills based on game specific situations. This book has been put together by Alex Ainscough. Alex returned from playing professionally in Germany and spent endless hours putting this together. To find out more about Alex and what he does go to  www.ainscoughssoccer.com

We hope that this E-book helps you to stay active and keeps your skills sharp.
VIRTUAL TRYOUTS
We welcome players to our club anytime. For players who are not currently in the club, we want to provide this opportunity because traditional in-person tryouts are postponed due to COVID19. The virtual tryout process is described below. Bolts are planning on holding evaluations for players as soon as we have a ‘return to play’ date.

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Please complete the following PROSPECTIVE PLAYER FORM
  2. Download & watch this BOLTS VIRTUAL TRYOUT YOU TUBE
  3. Use this PDF with the schematic & details to set up each drill. VIRTUAL BOLTS TRYOUT – FULL VERSION
  4. Make a video of YOU demonstrating these skills and e-mail it to DAN COLWELL Director of Scouting & Talent ID
OR
upload into this  DROPBOX LINK
OR
upload to your YouTube channel and share the link with us.

Any questions or issues with the process, please  EMAIL US

PROCESS
Video entries will be accepted through June 15, 2020 . Players will be notified via email one of the options below regarding assessment once videos have been viewed.
Final team selection notification will go out no later than June 20, 2020.
Virtual tryout video entries are for any players age 7 to 17.

In order to be as transparent as possible and help expedite the tryout process for both prospective players, email video entries will receive an email response from a Bolts staff member.
The response will include one of these:
  1. PLAYER WILL BE OFFERED A 2020/21 ROSTER SPOT
  2. PLAYER IS STILL BEING CONSIDERED FOR A 2020/21 ROSTER SPOT
  3. PLAYER IS NOT CURRENTLY BEING CONSIDERED FOR A 2020/21 ROSTER SPOT
Top 95 Domestic Youth Soccer Clubs, 8,000 Players, Join Major League Soccer’s Elite Youth Development Platform 

Major League Soccer today announced that 65 former U.S. Soccer Development Academy clubs will join the League’s existing club academies to create a partnership that will transform youth player development in the United States and Canada.

Marco Koolman said, “The Boston Bolts develop exceptional soccer players who are prepared to compete at the highest levels, collegiate, national or professional. This newly formed league provides the platform that challenges players day-in and day-out to be the best. Those with aspirations to become a future MLS all-star are provided a platform to be the best and play against the best to fulfill their dreams. As a founding member it gives the Bolts staff an opportunity to exchange ideas with like-minded professionals who share the same philosophy about player development. It gives us a chance to contribute to the continued growth and development of our elite youth players, to put more domestic talent into the nation’s highest professional league, the MLS, and our national teams.”

CLICK HERE  for a full list of Founding Member clubs

The 65 youth clubs will join the MLS academies as Founding Members of MLS’ elite player development platform. The new platform, which will include more than 8,000 players throughout the U.S. and Canada, will consist of elite year-round competition, as well as player identification initiatives, coaching education opportunities, and additional programming to create the premier player development environment.

Bolts CEO,  Brian Ainscough  said, "I want to thank everyone who worked to make this happen. To invest and put a program together in such a short amount of time is amazing. This is the way soccer pathways work around the world. Top amateur clubs working alongside the top professional clubs to develop future pros and elite college players."

The platform will operate with a groundbreaking governance structure that promotes collaboration, innovation and input across all areas of the soccer landscape. Within the structure, technical working groups will provide recommendations on the platform’s strategic objectives and standards, outline competition guidelines and formats, as well as introduce platform programming. By unifying the elite player development landscape and creating a collaborative structure, the new platform will accelerate and enhance player development in North America.
With a focus on maximizing each player’s potential, the new development platform will not only provide high-level, year-round competition for players, but will provide important programming, education and innovation in the key areas of player development:
  • Player Identification
  • Coaching
  • Environment
  • Personal Growth
  • Community Outreach
 
Strategic objectives and competition format to be created in collaboration with Founding Member clubs.
Chat with the Pros

This week, we had a great video chat with Bolts Alum Miles Robinson . To continue this series, we will have former Arsenal player Sean Kelly on Tuesday the 19th



Sean Kelly, Former Arsenal FC Premier League Youth Captain 

Sean grew up in Ireland, making a name for himself with his hometown team Kingdom Boys. It was not long before he was playing for the National U-15, U-16 + U 17. l As Sean grew much attention, he drew the attention of a host of top clubs including, Liverpool, Tottenham, Celtic. Arsenal beat all the chasing clubs to his signature and Sean signed on a 3 year deal. Such was his influence on the team, Steve Bould made him captain of the Youth team which hosted future European and World Cup winning player Cesc Fabegras. Niklas Bentdner, Armand Traore, Fabrice Muamba, Anthony Stokes among others made the breakthrough to the Premier League from this special youth team. Arsenal's first team in 03/04 went the whole year unbeaten, winning the Premier League ,becoming the now famous Invincibles. The only team who have come close were Liverpool this year before they lost to Watford. Sean made the progress to the reserve team, also taking part in many trainings with the first team at the time who had World Class players such as Thierry Henry, Denis Bergkamp, Robert Pires. Ashley Cole, Lauren and many more famous names.

He will be joining us for a talk through his time at Arsenal, passing along some invaluable advice and answering some questions from all our players who dream of one day playing in that environment.

May 19th 6PM - Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android
The Boston Bolts are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Florida Celtic, which provides phenomenal opportunities for players in and around Tampa Bay, FL. This partnership allows both clubs to share ideologies and club ethos and work together to develop players for the next level by providing a full pathway from recreational all the way to the pro level. 
 
The talented teams at Florida Celtic, comprised of boys and girls, will now play in  Florida Club League One  (formerly known as NPL.) This exciting announcement means that this season the players of Florida Celtic will be competing in a state-level league under the governance of US Club Soccer as well as still providing FYSA affiliation leagues such as FSPL, CDL and USA league.
Jonathan Burns, Florida Celtic Technical Director said, "We are honored to be part of such a prestigious youth organization such as the Bolts. I have known Brian and Marco for many years and they have created a pathway for development that is exemplary for youth soccer in the United States. Together with the Bolts, we look forward to sharing the values and ideology that will, without doubt, benefit the players of Florida Celtic Bolts and also the community that we serve."
St. Michael FC Sand Soccer Tournament
Early Bird Registration Deadline May 16th
Registration fee is $350 per team and full payment must be received by Monday, June 1st for team to be confirmed. Early registration of $300 if paid by Saturday, May 16th. Age groups are set by Spring 2020 season. Shoes are not allowed... Players must play in bare feet or use sand socks. Further tournament rules and details will follow after team registration.  In the event the tournament gets cancelled due to COVID-19, registered teams will receive a guaranteed FULL refund.
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If you have any questions, please contact Tournament Director, Justin Medeiros
Phone: (774) 634-1254