Getting A Kick-Start
By Dan Wright, Daily News-Record
The Harrisonburg Soccer Association has hired its first full-time employee.
Jason Moore, an Eastern Mennonite University graduate, is the soccer club’s first paid staff member.
Moore, 32, will oversee development of coaches, help with fundraising and expand the reach of the program.
“We want to put together a development plan,” Moore said. “We’re a quality program but we don’t have the number of kids in the club to compete statewide.”
Jason Moore is the new director of coaching for the Harrisonburg Soccer Association. Moore, the association’s first full-time hire since its inception in 1995, will help lead the club in a new direction. (Photo by Thomas J. Turney)
Plans include an indoor soccer league, a foot skills program for younger kids and getting college coaches involved, Moore added.
The Harrisonburg Soccer Association, a nonprofit, privately funded league, has about 600 youth ages 6 to 18. That’s small compared to other programs such as Loudoun County, which has 15,000 kids.
Founded in 1995, Harrisonburg’s program is relatively new, while Loudoun formed its soccer club in 1978.
Moore wants to take Harrisonburg’s soccer club to a new level.
“We’ll not only provide the kids with a place but also with quality coaches,” Moore said. “Player development is a greater priority.”
New Name
The club plans to change the name from Harrisonburg Soccer Association to something that has yet to be determined, said J.M. Snell, the club’s vice president of recreational soccer.
“We’re soliciting ideas from members,” Snell said. “The new name will probably reference the Valley as opposed to Harrisonburg.”
The club should announce the new name early next year, he added.
Snell, like a number of other adults involved in the club, didn’t play soccer as a youth, but he sees the game’s appeal growing.
Local high schools began adding soccer in the 1980s, according to Ted Erickson, Harrisonburg High School’s varsity soccer coach, and the sport has grown significantly over the past decade.
“Kids are watching soccer on TV and seeing professional players,” Erickson said. “They’re able to go out and see a high school or college team play.”
EMU, James Madison University, William & Mary and the University of Virginia have good soccer programs and kids notice, he added.
The Valley also has seen growth in soccer camps, including those at JMU and EMU, he said.
“That presents a lot of opportunities for kids in the area,” Erickson said. “And kids are taking advantage of those opportunities.”
Moore has coached soccer in college, high school and clubs.
He helped start the women’s soccer program at EMU in 1999. He led the Eastern Mennonite High School girls’ soccer team to a perfect 18-0 record and conference championship in 2004. And the Blue Ridge Conference named him coach of the year for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
He is assistant coach with the JMU women’s soccer team.
Moore’s job with the Harrisonburg Soccer Association will involve kids who play for fun and exercise and those who want to compete, said Todd Dofflemeyer, vice president of the club’s travel team.
“We play in a league that includes Charlottesville, Culpeper and Winchester,” Dofflemeyer said. “We want to teach them the basics and teach it right so they don’t have to unlearn things later on.”
The quality of soccer in the Valley is improving, according to Jason Tate, the club’s president.
High school teams are advancing to regional tournaments and players are getting opportunities to play beyond high school, Tate said.
“If a kid wants to play soccer in college, we should be able to help,” Tate said. “That’s one measuring stick of how the program is progressing.”