The Stafford Springs Soccer Club, or SSSC, is a local organization dedicated to providing a safe environment for the youth of our town to participate in the sport of soccer. The club is affiliated with the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association (CJSA) in the Northeast District in the state of Connecticut, and part of US Youth Soccer (the national youth soccer organizing body). The club operates an
active youth program year round, with fall season participation for ages 4-13 years old for approximately 350 youth and 75 adult volunteers. Additionally, winter, spring and summer programs include high school aged youth for annual participation rates exceeding 400 kids. The club was first formed in 1979 initially with an adult team and operated its first youth team in the Under 14 Boys travel division in the NE district in 1980. The club grew to a half dozen travel teams in the 10-14 year old range for subsequent seasons attracting nearly 80 kids through the early 1980's each Fall. The club blossomed in the late 1980's by initiating younger programs participating in town regularly involving 350-400 kids annually starting in the early 1990's through today. The first Parent's Association was organized by Ken Blanchard, and with assistance from Sue Fisher, Lorraine Holland and Bruce Posocco, helped with much of the administrative burden. Since our inception, we estimate to have seen over 2,000 kids come through the club many of which enjoyed soccer for over 8 years from entry until high school, and others longer as they compete in high school and college. We have stopped counting the second generation soccer players. We are certainly proud of the girls that brought us a state high school soccer championship and three state indoor tournament championships, most of which grew up in the soccer club. We are ever so proud of our local hero, Jeff Braun, who so much loved playing soccer. The club recognizes a significant volunteer contribution annually with its Service Award. The running list of service award recipients is shown below. Without the help of many dedicated volunteers, the programs offered would be unable to operate. Further, we are forever grateful to the generosity and enthusiasm of George Koulisis from the Stafford House of Pizza for his support in getting the early programs going. The club is strictly a non-profit organization dedicated to soccer, using fees and fund raising to support the activities of the program. The club is further supported by the Town of Stafford with an annual stipend for durable equipment, and with outstanding care and preparation of the fields used at the Stafford High School and Stafford Middle School complex. The club was the first in our local district to host a jamboree, organizing the preseason tournament for 8 years in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The club also twice served as host for what has become an annual district fun day tournament for all Under 10 teams, attracting over 75 teams each November. This is certainly not something that would be possible without our great facilities.
