THIS IS CEDAR STARS

WHO WE ARE

A deep passion and love for the sport of soccer, along with a desire to give opportunities to young people, drove George Altirs to form Cedar Stars Academy (CSA) in 2011.

CSA began as a small ambitious club focused on providing the very best coaching, facilities and support to families and players that might not otherwise have an opportunity. The club would quickly find success on and off the field, expanding, growing and opening its doors to all of Bergen County, Northern New Jersey and New York.

Players from all over the tri-state area now travel to Cedar Stars Academy knowing they will be treated with respect and given every opportunity to succeed in the sport, while simultaneously learning valuable life lessons along the way.

THE MEANING OF
CEDAR STARS

The Cedar Tree stands tall 365 days a year and never loses its leaves. It uses its well established foundational roots to grow in size and strength year-round. At Cedar Stars Academy we strive to achieve the same continuous growth by providing our players with the best training, coaching, and facilities.

THE ACADEMY

With more than 2,000 active male and female athletes, Cedar Stars Academy currently has six branches throughout the northeast coast. Two of these branches, Cedar Stars Academy – Bergen County and Cedar Stars Academy – Monmouth County are official member clubs of the MSL Next and Girls Academy programs, which is recognized around the U.S. as one of the top platforms for player development and competition.

Cedar Stars Academy’s has many exclusive partnerships and affiliations with pre-professional, professional international and domestic clubs through President George Altirs and his involvement within the sporting universe.

These pre-professional and professional playing opportunities include exposure to National clubs such as our very own Cedar Stars Rush in the USL 2 and Cedar Stars W League in the USL W League and internationally with MSV Duisburg men and women's teams of the Bundesliga in Germany and HB Køge's mens and women's teams of the Danish top divisions.

Through these affiliations, players that are succeeding within the Cedar Stars Academy program have the opportunity to earn an invite to trail and train with these clubs at their training grounds around the world.

With full development curriculums for athletes U5 – U19, a professional technical staff led by VP Anthony Nixon, and its player development pathway Cedar Stars Academy looks to continue its growth and movement within the academy structure as one of the country’s top programs for development on and off the field by providing every player the opportunity to achieve their soccer dreams.

THE ROOTS (U5-U8)

Our focus and philosophy in The Foundation is based on one main goal: FUN!

We want these young players who are being introduced to professional coaching for the first time to enjoy every minute of training. Our coaches and curriculum are focused on this main goal. Within this, there is always work to be done. At this stage, habits are created and technical skills are taught to each individual player at Cedar Stars Academy. Each player will participate in age-appropriate small-sided games. It is also important to realize results are irrelevant at this stage, and it is the love of the game and the technical foundation that are the main goals.

THE BUILDERS (U9-U12)

As players graduate from the foundation, the coaching and focus are accelerated, and players are pushed to refine their technical skills. The implementation of speed of play and team concepts are introduced. Players have different growth spurts at different times during this stage. Understanding this and knowing that the biggest, tallest, strongest player at the age of 11 won’t necessarily be the same at 17 or 18. Because of this 'The Building Phase' introduces players to several different positions within a team, but the primary focus continues to stay on the individual. It should be noted that results are still secondary and measurements of success include technical ability of both the individuals and the team as a whole, and learning how to play at the right speed - in the right style.

THE ACADEMY (U13-U19)

After graduating through the first two stages of development at CSA, the Academy is the final and most intense program in our club. Philosophically, we continue to focus on the individual’s technical ability, but we add to this focus by working in team concepts. Players begin to learn positions on the field, philosophies and formations, and how the individual fits in to a successful team. Speed of play becomes more important, understanding roles and decisions on the field are emphasized, and the competitive piece is added at a more intense level. Results are tracked, but we are still focused on the individual and not on team results. Again, we believe that with individual success comes team success.