Clarksville Soccer Club shares passion for the sport

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (ESPN CLARKSVILLE) The sport of soccer is considered by many to be the most popular sport in the world. That popularity can also be seen right here at home as many local teams play in the soccer fields of Clarksville-Montgomery County.

One of the leaders in support for the game is the Clarksville Soccer Club (CSC). Travel soccer has been around the community since the early 1980s and three local soccer organizations joined forces to form CSC in 2014. The club now has 26 teams with just over 400 members.

Recently Clarksvillenow.com sat down with members of the club to talk about local soccer. President Marshall Duncan talked about recreational soccer like that with the Montgomery County Soccer (MCSA) Association and emphasized the competitive side of the sport that CSC offers.

“Our path is for kids who have done recreational soccer for a while and want to move on to something more competitive. We offer them a path where competition is involved. There’s competition for them to earn playing time on their team, then there’s competition between their team and the teams they’re playing against,” said Duncan.

The CSC Mission Statement opens by stating that the organization wants to be recognized as the best soccer organization in the Middle Tennessee area in terms of its players, its coaches, its fans, and the Clarksville community.

All of the coaches at the CSC are professionally licensed like Kean Barclay, Director of Coaching for the club. Barclay talked about the importance of development in the game as opposed to winning tournament medals.

“It’s like making sure they are developing their fundamental techniques and learning the game, understanding the game and growing the passion for the game too. We talk about being competitive but we want to have fun, we want these kids to love the game,” Barclay said.

Duncan encouraged anyone with a desire to help and wants to get involved with soccer to contact the club because they are always looking for volunteers to work with the teams, especially for special events like the 2018 Clarksville Soccer Club Winter Classic 5K and Fun Run February 24 at Kenwood High School.

Duncan added that CSC also accepts financial assistance to help the players in the club. He thanked the many sponsors of CSC and volunteers for their support over the years.