Our Why

For more than two decades, Aztec Soccer Club has been a mainstay in the soccer club industry  in towns and communities north of Boston.

From day one, Aztec Soccer has focused on training individual players to be the best soccer players, people, and leaders they can be. Our experienced and dedicated coaching staff shares a collective focus on instilling a passion for the game in even our youngest players and fostering long-term development and a lifelong love for the game. Off the field, we focus on teaching core values that impact the overall character of each individual player.

Commitment ✭ Passion ✭ Respect ✭ Community ✭ Positivity ✭ Resilience

Aztec currently has one of the largest full-time staffs in the region and boasts more than 75 teams - including two that captured national championships in 2022 - as well as a U23 program that draws more than 60 players every summer.

Our Mission & Core Values

Mission: Aztec Soccer focuses on training individual players to be the best soccer players, and people, they can be. Our experienced and dedicated coaching staff instills a passion for the game in even our youngest players, to help foster long-term development and a lifelong love for the game. Off the field, we focus on teaching core values that impact the overall character of each individual player.

Core Values: As a club, we realize that our actions and words send a message about what is important. We aim to run a program in which the following core values are constantly emphasized. We strive to instill these values in our players in such a way that they ultimately learn from their soccer experiences that there is depth to life and sport beyond merely winning or losing.

Commitment: Towards the complete journey
Passion: Playing and teaching the game
Respect: All voices
Community: Built on trust
Positivity: Creating an inclusive environment
Resilience: Building strong character

Our History

Here is a brief summary of the history of Aztec Soccer Club. The club's history is steeped in more than two decades of tradition (unique for Bay State based clubs) and excellence and has been at the forefront of nearly every major advancement and development in local club soccer dating back to 2000.

1987: Club soccer was introduced in Massachusetts

2000: Aztec Soccer club was officially formed

2005: The Soccer Tots program launched, a program aimed at providing soccer skills programs to players under the age of 6. This program would effectively give the club a developmental pathway from age 18 months to post high school.

2006: Aztec founded the Aztec Boston team that competed in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Eastern Atlantic Division. The team played its final season in 2009.

2007: A merger between New England Soccer School and Aztec Soccer resulted in the formation of New England Aztec

2008: Aztec was one of founding member clubs of the New England Premiership

2011: Aztec teams were accepted into the NPL division of the New England Premiership

2018: Huntwicke Capital Group (HCG) purchased Aztec Soccer as part of HCG's commitment to investing in the local North Shore community.

2018: HCG and Aztec formed an official partnership with Skillz Check Soccer Academy and named Mo Keita the technical director of Aztec Soccer Club.  Subsequent and significant full-time hires included Mo Souisse (Performance Director), Winston Haughton (North Region Director), Oli Gunnarsson (Director of Operations), Ashley McGown (Junior Girls Director), and Eric Slack (Assistant Director of Operations).

2019: Aztec introduced regional expansion and introduced Aztec Boston, Aztec New Hampshire (now Aztec North), Aztec Padova and Aztec Azzurri. The club also formed a partnership with Maximum Velocity FC (based out of New Hampshire).

2021: Aztec enjoyed unprecedented success in New England Regional Cup play that included: 6 New England Regional Cup Semifinalists, 4 New England Regional Cup Finalists, 2 New England Regional Cup Champions, and 1 National Cup Champion.

2022: Aztec hosted its first-ever major regional Showcase - Aztec Spring Showcase & Invitational - which drew more than 250 teams over two weekends.

2022: Aztec joined the New England Club Soccer League (NECSL) and USYS New England Conference.

2022: The Aztec Girls 2008 Impact team captured the 2022 National Cup title; the Aztec Girls 2007 Impact team captured the 2022 Girls NPL national title.

2024: Aztec plans to launch a not-of-profit foundation to support financial-based need and scholarship programs.

2025: Aztec plans to purchase, build or co-operate a facility to be called the "home of Aztec Soccer".

Club Philosophy

Good on field coaching inspires learning. Every standard discussed below is an attempt to capture some of the choices that coaches make in order to bring about learning of the game. The words “awareness, mindfulness, and purposefulness” are qualities that could be observed in the listening, seeing, speaking, and all other actions of the coach and the players in a session where players are active learners who are growing in their technical skill set, psycho/social development and tactical knowledge. Below are summarized standards in four categories:

• Player’s Practice Experience
• Awareness of the Player
• The Demeanor of the Coach
• Promoting Citizenship and Community

These standards are not an attempt to capture all the aspects of good coaching practice but are restricted to those areas of coaching that an observer(s) can realistically hope to get a sense of in a few on field visits. Therefore, other efforts in service to Aztec such as overall planning for the coaching content over the course of a season/year, use of professional development opportunities, timeliness of returning inquiries to players and their parents, session planning, tournament planning, Aztec club work in general, collaboration with colleagues and other duties are not addressed as they are not accessible to the observer(s).

The club also brings in outside coaches and industry leaders to consult with Aztec coaches and even lead training sessions. This type of collaboration and best-practice learning helps to enhance the training sessions and introduce new concepts.

Club Methodology

A club must have a methodology because it is the methodology that is the foundation of the connections between age groups, the link between learning across age groups, and the common bond between coaches at different age groups. A methodology is fundamentally what transforms a group of teams wearing the same jersey at different age groups into a club with a learning trajectory that consistently goes up and to the right from age to age.

The club philosophy and methodology is reinforced through internal and external education programs. Internal coaching seminars are conducted and led by the club's technical directors. Industry experts and specialists are brought in to conduct workshops for directors and coaches. The club has also made a commitment to helping to fund and support advanced educational opportunities and licensing.

Our Facilities

Aztec Soccer Club is fortunate to have access to a wide range of training facilities which allow our professional staff to provide a comprehensive training curriculum to our players year round. By implementing a variety of training surfaces, our players benefit from a diverse training curriculum that better prepares them for future soccer challenges. From outdoor stadiums, to expansive grass fields to indoor turf to futsal courts, our players have convenient access across all regions.

Click here to learn more about our facilities.

Our Growth

Since 2019, Aztec has expanded through the introduction of two new regions – Aztec Boston and Aztec North/New Hampshire – and now services players from more than 100 towns across two states.

Central Region - Focused on players throughout Essex County and into parts of Middlesex County including towns such as Peabody, Georgetown, Wenham, Beverly, Middleton, Rowley, Nahant, Swampscott, Boxford, Topsfield, Danvers, Rockport, Essex, Swampscott, Saugus, Marblehead, Stoneham, Lynnfield, Wakefield, North Reading, Ipswich, Newburyport, Salem, etc.

Boston - Training focused on players located throughout Middlesex County and Merrimack Valley and towns north of Boston such as Andover, Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Wakefield, Winchester, Melrose, Lynn, Reading, Somerville, Stoneham, North Andover, Malden, Saugus, Wakefield, Waltham, Woburn, Wilmington and Winthrop.

North/New Hampshire Region - Training focused on players located throughout Northern Massachusetts and into Southern New Hampshire in towns such as Chelmsford, Lowell, Lawrence, Dunstable, Groton, Methuen, Westford, Pepperell, Tyngsboro, Londonderry (NH), Hooksett (NH), Hudson (NH), Pelham (NH), Windham (NH), Hollis (NH), Merrimack (NH), etc.

Our Coaches & Leadership

The Aztec Soccer Club has a 21-year history of providing club soccer and player development programs for players – boys and girls – ages 4 to 23. The rich culture at Aztec has been an ideal and proven training ground for players to improve technical abilities under professional coaching direction and follow a defined developmental pathway from youth to junior to senior to college and even professional levels.

Aztec Soccer Club has a strong and experienced professional coaching staff, many of whom are either current or former collegiate coaches.

Click here to view a list of our incredible coaching staff.

Aztec Player Recruitment

Aztec Soccer is dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of home-grown players produced by the program. The objective is to develop players from the youngest ages and use coaching methods as well as tracking and data analysis to ensure that players are moving vertically through the pathway. It also aims to create effective regional and national talent identification and recruitment programs. Here are methods that are currently utilized to accomplish these goals

• Active involvement between coaches and players
• Regular meetings and communication between age group coaches and directors
• Mandatory player evaluations and meetings with players and parents.
• Dedicated college and recruiting advisors on staff to oversee the placement of players in collegiate programs and/or national development programs.
• Technical directors to oversee and be responsible for the measurement of technical development of players beginning at the junior academy levels.
• Active recruitment of new players
• Maximization of players enrolled the junior academy (U8 and U10) age divisions
• Development of training schedules that allow coaches to maximize the coaching time with players