The Craft Center of Excellence

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Introducing the Craft Center of Excellence - America's first Full-Time Soccer Academy exclusively for girls.

In August 2025, the Craft Center of Excellence at Valley Christian School will train 16 Elite athletes every school day from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM. Then from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, “Crafties” will receive an Elite education as part of Valley Christian School.

Craft is for DREAMERS with a vision of playing professional soccer.

Craft is for WORKERS who push their teammates to be their best.

Craft is for BALLERS who play with boldness, creativity, and swagger.

The Center of Excellence

Overview

The Craft Center of Excellence (CCE) is America’s first all-girls full-time soccer academy. Launching in August 2025, the CCE will be for 6th-8th grade girls, and will expand to 6th-12th graders in August 2026. 16 elite players will make-up our first cohort with the program expanding each year. All players will remain on their club teams, while training at the COE. Craft is not affiliated with any club and works with club coaches for player development.

CCE student-athletes will accelerate their development with a fully integrated program including daily soccer training, integrated strength training, and full-time in-person teaching. Each player will follow their individualized learning plan built in combination with Craft staff, parents, club coaches, and the player. With a coaching ratio of 1:5 players, each player will focus on the technical details required to maximize their unique strengths.

“ATTACK ALL DAY, EVERYDAY” is Craft’s motto. We believe that every player, regardless of position, must be an attacking threat. Unfortunately the women’s game is more risk-averse than the men’s game. Women’s soccer has less shots, less goals, more passing, and less duals. Craft players standout because they reject these trends. The Craft development methodology emphasizes attacking fundamentals → Dynamic dribbling, ball-striking, small-space creativity, finishing, aerial prowess, and off-the-ball movement.

The most difficult part of soccer is scoring goals. At Craft, every player takes 50-100 shots a day. We believe ball-striking is ball-mastery. We want every player to develop shooting muscle-memory and finishing calmness.

Philosophy

Finally, Craft is a technology-first program. Part of the reason Craft players develop faster than their peers is that we use data to objectively monitor their progress. We use technology to assess ball-striking velocity, completed passes, increasing attacking runs, top dribbling speed, weaker foot progression, winning 1:1 duels, and passing accuracy.

Valley Christian School

Valley Christian School is located in the beautiful rolling hills of Dublin, California. While Craft is exclusively for young women, Valley Christian School is coed for K-12 students.

The Valley Christian School community offers some unique advantages for Craft soccer players:

Small Grade Sizes: With 35-45 students per grade, Valley ensures that every student gets the necessary attention to excel academically. Whether it’s managing learning disabilities or taking advanced courses, Valley's size enables flexibility.
Customized Learning Plans: Elite soccer players have unique travel demands that can make academic development challenging. Valley teachers adjust to ensure students aren’t falling behind.
Other Sports: Craft supports players playing other sports. At Valley, starting in middle school, students can also play flag football, cross country, volleyball, basketball, and softball.

for more information Please visit https://www.valleychristianschools.org/

Tuition for Valley is $21,600 per year

A Day In the Life

Craft Schedule Details

168 Days of Instruction. Craft trains every school day.
7:20a-8:15a → “0” Period.
8:15a-9:05a → Advanced PE.
There will be showers on-site.
Craft trains rain or shine.
Every player receives a "360 individual Growth plan".
FIFA11 Warm-Up (proven to lower injuries by 40%).
Monday & Friday are low intensity.
No traditional homework.
Athletes will get graded in Advanced PE.
Monthly testing to measure progress.
Occasional video analysis to sharpen tactical acumen.
Valley's Middle School soccer season is a 6-week season in the spring.
Periodization: Craft training intensity adjusts to the club soccer schedule.

Health IQ - The Best Ability Is Availability

"Women are not small men" (Emma Hayes). Women's brains, biomechanics, injury risk, and health are different from men. by focusing exclusively on young women, craft optimizes every facet of development with their unique physical needs in mind. nutrition, strength training, workload management, and recovery are all uniquely tailored for our young women.

Influenced by Experts - Craft's curriculum has been reviewed by pediatricians, orthopedic doctors, school counselors, nutritionists, and club soccer directors.
Pulse - Craft's proprietary tech platform that ingests performance & health data. players are provided Cityplay trackers and Whoop wearables for every athlete to monitor and adjust their workload on a daily basis.
Form over Force - The long-term health of female athletes is more influenced by balance, coordination, and stability than explosiveness and force. 2-3x's a week, craft athletes go through guided strength training with a particular focus on reducing ACL AND OTHER soft tissue injuries.
HIGH-TOUCH/LOW-INTENSITY - Efficient development means we maximize the amount of touches ON THE BALL with as little load on a players body. We reduce the number of intense turns, intense sprints, and overall mileage while getting every athlete over 10,000 touches per day.

How To Apply

The 2025 cohort will have 16 players, with 9 slots remaining.

Here is the 5-step admissions process for the Craft Center of Excellence:

Craft CCE Application - The application requires 2 full game films and a 1-3 minute video essay from the player.
Schedule a Valley Christian Tour - Valley is pleased to welcome parents and students on campus for a tour.
Request a Valley Christian Shadow Day - Potential players will shadow a Craft player in their grade for a day.
Fill out the Valley Christian Application - Once you're accepted into the CCE, you then fill-out the school application.
Request the Financial Assistance Form - Valley Christian provides financial assistance based on need.

The Craft Center of Excellence

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The Center of Excellence

Overview

Craft Parent Night