Welcome to the Developmental and Travel Soccer home page.

The Merrick PAL Program is happy to offer once again the Merrick PAL Developmental Soccer Program for young children ready to approach the game at a higher level. We are honored to offer national level licensed trainers to work with your players, teach the game at a level garnered from years of playing professional soccer and to provide extensive experience coaching young children.

Developmental is a special training program designed to complement to our intramural league. It takes the Intramural experience to the next level and is designed for players who want to play more, improve their skills and techniques and who simply love soccer. Players in the Developmental program are eligible to participate in special tournaments and leagues in preparation for Travel Soccer. It is a truly rewarding experience that has already gained the attention of the Long Island Soccer community.

At the helm is Manfred Kapper, a well-known Olympic trainer. He has assembled a veteran staff of former international professional players for our specific needs. All are US and European certified instructors at the highest level.

After listening to parent feedback over the seasons, we have made the following adjustments to the program. We have:

  1. redefined the younger portion of the program for the Kindergarten and 1st graders as the Snoopy Division where both age groups will be combined to learn as one unit.
  2. included additional items into the cost – T-Shirts/jersey and a soccer ball.

We hope this information answers most of your questions. Should you have any additional or specific questions, please do not hesitate to call  Skip Haile at 516-410-3762.  He will be more than happy to review the program and determine if this is the right fit for your child.

All players MUST be part of the intramural program in order to participate in Developmental.