The goal of our HFC Competitive Boys Program (also known as "Classic") is to provide talented young athletes, who possess a strong interest in soccer training and competition, an environment that will allow them to reach their maximum potential in the sport. We offer the highest level of soccer training available to youth in Western North Carolina and employ the best coaching staff available. The majority of our coaches have played soccer at the collegiate level or higher and hold coaching licenses from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), United States Youth Soccer (USYS) and United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as NSCAA). Coaches in the older age groups commonly have collegiate coaching experience.

Birth Chart | 2025/26 Season

As mandated by US Soccer, all HFC programs are based off of birth year, not player age or grade level. 
Season Ending Spring 2026 - Birth Year = HFC Division

Team Tiers | Boys Breakdown

1. ECNL | U13-U19

Our top tier teams from the U13-U19 age groups will compete in the Mid-Atlantic ECNL conference. Boys selected for an ECNL team will be expected to train x4 per week when in season. Players selected in this program will start late July* and continue through to early May. We anticipate ECNL league games to begin for the U13/U14 teams after Labor Day in September and continue through April/May. Based on last year’s ECNL Mid-Atlantic Conference schedule we anticipate ECNL League games to begin for the U15-U19 age groups in late October/early November. Those schedules will not be released until later in July. All teams compete on the same day, same venue and within a few hours of each other. 
*U15-U19 Boys full time training start date TBD.

2. ECNL Regional League (RL) | U13-U19

Our second tier teams from the U13-U19 age groups will compete in the Carolinas ECNL RL conference. Boys selected for an ECNL RL team will be expected to train x3 per week when in season. Players selected in this program will start late July* and continue through to early May. We anticipate ECNL league games to begin for the U13/U14 teams after Labor Day in September and continue through April/May. U13/U14 age teams play each team within the league 3x each. Usually 8-11 games in the fall season and the remaining 11-14 games in the spring season. U15-U19 age teams play each team in the league 2x (once home and once away). Typically these age groups begin their season in late November and it ends in early May. All teams compete on the same day, same venue and within a few hours of each other. 
*U15-U19 Boys full time training start date TBD.

1/2. Pre-ECNL | U10-12

In our U11-12 age groups, we pool our top two teams together. The teams will assigned a head coach, and an assistant coach, with the expectation to train x3 per week. U11/12 age group uses  9v9 game model. Players selected in this program will start late July and continue through to early May. Throughout the week, the team will train together as a large group (24-26 players x 2 coaches) and then for weekends will split into two teams. When the teams are split on weekends, they will typically be tiered, but will also encounter match ups where the teams are balanced. Games will be played throughout the Fall - Spring  vs other Pre-ECNL clubs within the region. When travelling for a game, both ages (U11/12) and teams will travel and compete on the same day, at the same venue.
U10 Pre-ECNL is also a training pool, this group will consist of 18-20 players who are invited from our Academy program. U10 age group uses 7v7 game model. The group are expected to train x3 per week, and will start late July and continue through early May. The training set up will be the same for this group, all players will train as one big group, with their two coaches. When it comes to games, all games will be friendly match ups with no standings in play. The games will be a mixture of balanced and tiered games vs clubs within our region. 

3. NCYSA | U11-19

In all age groups our NCYSA teams will be our third and below tier. Each team will be named after the league in which it competes, for example, if a HFC 2012 Boys team compete in the second division of NCYSA, they will be called: HFC 2012 Boys Classic 2. Teams will placed in a division in accordance to the ability of the team, decided by both the Boys Directors, and the teams coach. One coach per team. Each roster size will differ depending on the game model within the age:
- U11-U12 = 9v9 Game Model (average roster size (12)
-U13-U19 = 11v11 Game Model (average roster size 16)
Roster size will fluctuate across different teams. 

U11-14 age groups:
Season will begin late July and end early May. The year will consist of two seasons within NCYSA: the first will go from August-November, the second will go from January-May. During this time frame, your designated coach will schedule all league games throughout the season. On average, each team will compete in 6-9 league games throughout the season, with a mixture of both home and away games within the region. 

U15-19 age groups: Season will begin early January and end early May. The NCYSA season will go from late January-May. During this time frame, your designated coach will schedule all league games throughout the season. On average, each team will compete in 6-9 league games throughout the season, with a mixture of both home and away games within the region. 

Training | Locations

Asheville based teams will train primarily at two locations:  Buncombe County Sports Park (BCSP) & John B Lewis Soccer Complex (JBL)*
*Due to the Helene disaster and the current loss of JBL, during Spring 2025, the competitive program has utilized two main complexes for training and games: Buncombe County Sports Park (BCSP) & Carolina Day (SGRO)

Hendersonville based teams will train at the AAC 

Training | Time Slots

Teams will typically be allotted a training time slot that will remain the same each night throughout the entire season. In some cases, due to the current field shortage, teams maybe across different time slots on different days. On average, our younger teams will occupy the earlier time slots, with the older boys occupying the later time slots. 

Early Slot - 4.30-6pm
Middle Slot - 6-7.30pm
Late Slot - 7.30-9pm

Games | Locations

Games are primarily played on weekends and could occur on a Saturday or Sunday. In some instances, your team could be scheduled for a double header and play both days, or in alternate scenarios, two games in one day. Coaches may schedule like this in particular way when travelling to further away games to eliminate the need for additional travel dates. 

Home games take place at Buncombe County Sports Park, Carolina Day (SGRO) or John B Lewis Soccer complex* for all teams. *Pre-Helene, we hope to return one day in the future. 
Away games usually consists of about 3-4 games in the Charlotte area for our youngest Pre-ECNL/NCYSA teams while our oldest NCYSA teams could travel as far as Raleigh. 
- ECNL away games will see our teams travel to; CLT, Raleigh, Wilmington and VA for league games. 
- ECNL RL away will see our teams travel to; CLT, Raleigh, and Wilmington for league games. 

Each team typically participates in 2-3 tournaments per season as well. The amount, and the location of these events will differ based upon the level and age of your team.

HFC is proud to say that every year we have numerous players who graduate from HFC and go on to play college soccer. Our players, and families have access to our college recruiting coordinator throughout the season and he is available to both advise and aid players however needed during their recruitment journey.  Players will have access to both Sports Recruit, and Hudl to help with their collegiate aspirations. 

Each HFC high school aged team will get access to Hudl cameras throughout multiple games in the season. Our ECNL, and ECNL RL teams will record all games, with some even being live streamed that can be shared with college coaches. Once a player has a game recorded, the player can access their own Hudl account and create numerous highlight reels from either an individual game, or a series of games. The footage can then be shared with college coaches that are interested in recruiting you as well as being uploaded to your sports recruit page. 

Click here for all information related to college recruiting (including a list of our past HFC player college commitments)