Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 10th Annual Emerald Coast Rush Season Kickoff on August 3. The Annual Kickoff gives our families an opportunity to hear about the direction of the club, learn about programs and opportunities available to

our players, receive important updates for the upcoming season, and meet as individual teams before practices and games begin.

For families who were unable to attend, below are some of the highlights and important information presented during the evening.

Emerald Coast Rush: Continuing to Grow & Evolve

Emerald Coast Rush has continued to evolve throughout its nearly 20-year history—from the merger that created Emerald Coast United in 2007, through our FC Dallas affiliation, and now as a member of the growing Coastal Rush family. That same willingness to improve continues today, both on and off the field.

Highlights discussed at Kickoff included:

• Twin Oaks Field Improvements: Tremendous progress has been made over the past year through investments in seed, fertilizer and field maintenance, along with hundreds of volunteer hours led by Coach John Benne and Coach BradMatherne.
• Continued Facility Improvements: Future projects include additional field improvements, west-side lighting, new goals and equipment, Blue Kick Wall enhancements and exploration of a future futsal court.
• Player Scholarship Program: Emerald Coast Rush will continue providing financial assistance to help make competitive soccer available to players and families who need additional support.
• Club Partnerships: ECR continues to work with organizations including Coastal Rush, Florida Youth Soccer Association, U.S. Club Soccer, SNAP Soccer, Sports Office 365, The Florida Soccer School, Traveling Teams, SkillMasters and others to provide additional resources and opportunities for our players, coaches and families.

Celebrating Our College-Bound Players

One of the special moments of the evening was recognizing seven longtime Emerald Coast Rush players continuing their athletic careers in college. Asher Nelson, Cam Pearson and Jesse Rodriguez are continuing their soccer careers at the United States Sports Academy; Colton Cook at Holmes Community College; Chase Gerdeman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; and Paul Richard at Florida Polytechnic University. Asa Loicano, another longtime ECR soccer player, will compete in pole vault at Grand Canyon University.

Coach Patrick Connelly also shared his experience coaching many of these players over the past seven years. His message highlighted something bigger than wins and losses—the relationships, personal growth and life lessons that can develop when players, families and coaches spend years together through club soccer.

Player Development & the 2026–27 Season

Director of Coaching Dalton Healy outlined the clubs continued emphasis on creating an environment where players develop both as soccer players and as people.

The ECR player-development approach progresses with the age of the player:

• 7v7 – Age of Fun: Building a love for the ball and the game.
• 9v9 – Age of Technique: Developing the technical foundation players need as they progress.
• 11v11 – Age of Understanding: Adding greater tactical understanding and awareness of the complete game.
• Core Values: Coaches will incorporate weekly core-value discussions into the player-development environment.
• Coaching Education: ECR continues investing in its coaching staff through education, collaboration and programs such as Coaches Voice.
• SkillMasters: A new player-development and assessment resource will provide additional testing and benchmarking opportunities.
• Coastal Rush Academy Support: Coastal Rush Academy Director Coach Mohammed El-Zare will visit Emerald Coast during the season to work directly with players and coaches.

Games & Competition

The goal is to provide teams with a variety of appropriate competitive experiences rather than relying exclusively on traditional tournaments.

The 2026–27 calendar includes approximately 12–15 games per season, along with club friendlies, SNAP Soccer Playdates, Coastal Rush interclub events, tournaments and special player-development events. Six of eight eligible ECR teams are also participating in the N1 League this season,

providing a more structured league environment and additional meaningful competition.

Coaching Education & Development

Emerald Coast Rush continues to invest in the development of our coaches as well as our players. Coaches Ross Drown and Nyasha Mukumba Dzvanga attended the International Coaching Symposium through ECRs partnership with The Florida Soccer School. They had the opportunity to learn from coaches and soccer leaders working at professional and international levels and bring those ideas back to the ECR training

environment. Their message to families was encouraging: many of the player-development concepts being taught at the highest levels of the game are the same principles ECR is working to implement within our own club.

Home Tournaments & Club Support

Our two home tournaments continue to be important events for Emerald Coast Rush:

• Destin Soccer Rodeo – October 3–4, 2026
• Emerald Coast Cup – April 24–25, 2027

These events are significant club fundraisers and require support from our membership. Families should watch for volunteer opportunities as each tournament approaches. ECR also continues its reciprocal tournament partnership with ASG Warner Soccer Club and the ASG Capital Cup in Tallahassee, scheduled for May 15–16, 2027.

The Coastal Rush Player Pathway

Our partnership with Coastal Rush continues to create additional opportunities for Emerald Coast players.

Coastal Rush now includes 3,000+ players, 10 clubs and seven satellite locations, creating opportunities for interclub competition, guest playing, Train at Home programming, showcase teams, Rush Select and ECNL Regional and National League

competition.

Emerald Coast participation in Coastal Rush NL and RL teams has grown significantly:

• 2024 – 7 ECR players
• 2025 – 23 ECR players
• 2026 – 43 NEW ECR players

Coastal Rush has also experienced significant competitive success, including ECNL Regional League championships and the promotion of the Coastal Rush boys program into the ECNL National League for 2026–27. The goal is to provide players with a pathway that allows them to train and develop at home with Emerald Coast Rush while accessing additional opportunities when they are ready for them.

NEW FOR 2026–27: Communication, Team Management & Team Fees

One of the most important portions of this years Kickoff was the introduction of Emily Mattes, Coastal Rush Admin Manager, and several administrative changes being implemented for 2026–27. These changes are intended to improve communication with families, better organize

individual teams and continue integrating Emerald Coast Rush within the Coastal Rush system.

Meet Emily Mattes – “Manager of the Managers”

Emily will work directly with ECR Team Managers and serve as an administrative liaison between managers, coaches, club leadership and Sports Office 365. A major reason for the additional administrative support is feedback received from families regarding the need for better and more consistent communication. In simple terms, families should continue communicating with their Team Manager for normal team matters. Managers will work directly with Emily when additional administrative assistance or information is needed.

Families may also contact Emily directly when necessary at Emily@CoastalRush.com or 850-776-9597.

Please do not use Heja to contact Emily directly. Because Emily participates in numerous team groups throughout Coastal Rush, email is the best method for contacting her and receiving a timely response.

Heja – Our Team Communication Platform

Emerald Coast Rush teams will use Heja for team communication and organization during the 2026–27 season.

Heja provides:

• Team and club communications
• Coastal Rush global announcements
  
• Practice, game and event schedules
• Calendar syncing
• Player availability and RSVPs
• Team fee collection
• Communication between coaches, managers, players and families
• Families should RSVP through Heja for practices, games and other team events.
• This allows coaches to know player availability in advance and plan training sessions appropriately.

Parents are also encouraged to add players who have their own mobile devices. This helps older players begin taking responsibility for their own schedules, field locations, uniforms and other team information. When a player is connected to a parent account, parents can also monitor communications involving their child within the app.

Understanding Club Fees vs. Team Fees

This is an important change for 2026–27. There are now two different types of fees families should understand:

CLUB FEES

These are the registration and program fees paid directly to Emerald Coast Rush.

TEAM FEES

These are separate fees based upon the Coach Travel & miscellaneous expenses associated with your players individual team and are paid through your Team Manager/team account.

Each Team Manager has created an annual Team Budget with guidance from Emily Mattes. Because schedules, tournaments, travel requirements and other expenses vary from team to team, Team Fees will also vary by team.

What do Team Fees cover?

A primary component of the Team Budget is coach reimbursement. When a coach travels with a team, eligible expenses can include items such as:

• Coach travel/gas reimbursement
• Coach meals
• Coach hotel expenses when overnight travel is required
  
• Other approved expenses associated with the individual teams activities

Rather than these expenses being paid from a general club account, each teams budget is designed to support the expenses generated by that particular teams schedule and activities.

Why the change?

The goal is to create a more transparent and equitable team structure. Families are paying for the activities and expenses associated with the team their player participates on. A team that travels more frequently or participates in different events may have different expenses than another ECR team. Therefore, there is not one universal Team Fee for every Emerald Coast Rush player.

Your Team Manager will communicate your teams budget, Team Fee and payment information.

Relay – Individual Team Accounts

Another important administrative change is the use of Relay for individual team accounts.

Each team has its own account managed through the Coastal Rush system. Team Fees collected from families are directed to the individual teams account rather than the Emerald Coast Rush general operating account. Those funds can then be used for the expenses included within that teams approved budget, including coach reimbursement.

The new structure provides:

• Individual team accounts
• Greater organization of team funds
• Easier transactions and fee collection
• Better alignment between the families participating in team activities and the expenses generated by those activities

Rush Fest & Additional Player Opportunities

Emerald Coast players continue to participate in opportunities available through the worldwide Rush Soccer network. Kamden Benne and Austin Matherne represented Emerald Coast Rush at Rush Fest in Denver in July 2026, an annual Rush Soccer experience for rising U13 players.

Current U12 families should watch for information regarding the pathway toward Rush Fest 2027 and other Coastal Rush evaluation and training opportunities throughout the year.

2026–27 Emerald Coast Rush Board of Directors

The Board of Directors for the 2026–27 season is:

• Josh Jones – President
• Brad Matherne – Vice President
• Micah Krider – At-Large
• Louis Richard – Executive Director

Questions Throughout the Season?

Communication is an important priority for Emerald Coast Rush this year. Your Team Manager and Head Coach should remain your first resources for team-specific questions. For general club questions or when you aren't sure whom to contact,

reach out to: Info@EmeraldCoastRush.com or call 850-238-3041

We appreciate everyone who attended our 10th Annual Kickoff and all of our families who are part of Emerald Coast Rush. We look forward to another great year of development, competition and opportunities for our players throughout the 2026–27 season.