Elite Academy: Expanding the Player Pathway at HPFC Last week, Highline Premier FC begins its transition into the Elite Academy League (EA), adding a national competition platform within our 11v11 boys pathway. Following recent tryouts, our first EA teams have been formed. Beginning Fall 2026, selected 11v11 teams will compete in Elite Academy as their primary league competition, while other teams across the club will continue participating in RCL and WPL based on developmental fit. Our approach remains consistent: place players in leagues and environments that help them grow with the goal being meaningful challenge, strong coaching, and the right level of competition at the right time in a player’s journey. Building the Right Environment As players move into the 11v11 phase, the game demands more from them. Matches become faster, decisions carry greater consequence, and development depends on facing opponents who stretch players technically, tactically, and mentally. Elite Academy adds another layer to the pathway we have been building. It allows players ready for a higher competitive standard to remain connected to their club and community while experiencing broader competition opportunities. This step reflects years of preparation. The move to Hudl video analysis, continued investment in coaching education, expanded training expectations, and improvements to match environments were all part of building a foundation capable of supporting a national platform. EA is not a shift in philosophy. It is an extension of work already underway over the last three years. Travel and National Opportunities Most EA league matches will remain regional against familiar Pacific Northwest opponents. Teams that qualify will have opportunities to participate in centralized national playoffs, which require travel, along with participation in national showcase events built into the EA game calendar. In addition, through EA events and Capelli-supported platforms, players who choose to pursue collegiate soccer will have structured opportunities to be seen by college programs while continuing to develop within their home club environment. Where This Fits Within the Club Elite Academy will serve selected 11v11 boys teams whose development aligns with that level of competition. RCL and WPL continue to remain essential parts of our structure, ensuring every player has an appropriate competitive home. On the girls side, the goal is the same but the steps are slightly different. Next season, our girls teams will continue competing within current league platforms. As participation and depth continue to grow, coaching leadership will evaluate future opportunities in platforms such as Girls Academy, Elite Academy, or other national pathways when they can be supported sustainably. Under the leadership of Marissa Villegas, Alex Dixon, and our coaching staff, the focus remains on strengthening the girls program by growing participation, retaining players, and building continuity across age groups. Looking Ahead EA League play begins next fall, giving teams time to prepare for scheduling, travel expectations, and competition standards. Additional information will be shared directly with participating families as details are finalized. Highline Premier FC continues to grow with intention. Every decision is guided by a simple principle: provide players with a challenging, supportive environment where they can improve, compete, and stay connected to the community that raised them in the game.

Curriculum Corner: Playing with Discipline & Purpose As teams move deeper into the spring season, March training shifts toward sharper decision-making and intentional movement across all age bands. With league play reaching important stages and players preparing for the final stretch before tryouts, this month’s curriculum emphasizes how players support one another, manage possession, and stay disciplined within the game. Across HPFC, players are working on creating better angles, recognizing moments to speed up or slow down play, and understanding how individual decisions influence team success. This month’s core value, Discipline, shows up not just in effort, but in positioning, timing, and consistency. 🧭 Why This Matters Soccer rewards players who think ahead. March’s focus helps players move with purpose, make quicker decisions, and stay connected as a team in possession and transition. 🏠 For Parents: What You’ll Notice This month, you may see: Players moving earlier to support teammates before receiving the ball Increased emphasis on passing angles and spacing Coaches reinforcing communication and positional discipline Faster ball movement paired with calmer decision-making Training activities that connect small-group play to full-team concepts  Discipline at this stage means understanding roles within the team and making consistent decisions that help everyone succeed. ✏️ Homework & Habits Looking to reinforce this month’s learning at home? Try these simple activities: 7v7 → Triangle Passing: Set up three cones in a triangle. Players pass and move immediately after releasing the ball, focusing on creating new angles for the next pass. 9v9 → Receive on the Move: Pass the ball to your player while they jog forward. Encourage receiving across the body and continuing into space with the first touch. 11v11 → Scan Before Receiving: Before each pass, have your player check over both shoulders and call out a direction before receiving. This builds awareness and faster decision-making. These quick 5–10 minute activities reinforce habits players are practicing during training sessions. For more information about our curriculum, please contact Director of Coaching Alex Dixon at a.dixon@highlinepremier.com. Let’s continue building disciplined habits together as we move into the final stretch of the season.

Highline Premier FC is excited to welcome Marissa Villegas as the club’s new Girls Director of Coaching. A Greater Seattle native, Marissa brings a strong commitment to expanding opportunities and pathways for girls in soccer, along with a blend of coaching experience and professional leadership. Following a national search that included conversations with candidates from outside the club, Marissa stood out for her alignment with HPFC’s values, her connection to the local soccer community, and her readiness to help lead the next chapter of our girls program. The Girls Director of Coaching role is designed to provide focused leadership for our girls program by supporting coaches, strengthening alignment across age groups, and ensuring a clear, consistent development experience for players and families. This role is also central to growing opportunities for girls in the game, including supporting and developing female coaches, reinforcing a positive and competitive culture, and continuing to build pathways that allow players to grow within their local community. Marissa is well positioned to lead this work at Highline Premier FC. She combines on-field coaching experience with the ability to evaluate programs, build relationships, and follow through on ideas. She is a co-founder of USL W League side West Seattle Rhodies FC and served as Chief Marketing Officer during the club’s inaugural season, experiences that reflect both her leadership capacity and her investment in the local soccer landscape. Marissa holds a US Soccer D License and is currently on track to earn her C License, including participation in the women-only US Soccer C License course at US Soccer headquarters in Atlanta. In her role at HPFC, Marissa will work closely with coaches, families, and players to strengthen the girls program, advocate for individual and team development, and foster a staff culture rooted in accountability, joy, and love for the game. We are excited for Marissa to step into this leadership role and look forward to the impact she will have on our girls program and the broader HPFC community. 

2026 marks 30 Years of soccer at HPFC. One Badge. Thousands of Stories. It’s hard to look at these photos without smiling. Different uniforms. Different years. Same community. For decades before that, teams like Aviation West and BC Stars filled these fields with kids who loved the game and families who made it all possible. In 1996, two programs — the Highline Heat and the Highline Eagles — came together under one banner. But soccer in Highline didn’t start there. You can see it in every frame — the joy, the effort, the friendships that didn’t stop when the season ended. That’s what we’re celebrating this year. 30 years of players who wore the badge. 30 years of volunteers who built the scaffolding. 30 years of belonging to something that matters. We hope these photos bring back memories, spark a few conversations, and remind you that no matter when you played, coached, or cheered — you’re part of the story. As we start the year, know that there’s more to come. More ways to celebrate, reconnect, and reflect.

January training marks a return to sharper tempos, tighter touches, and stronger habits. As the second half of the season begins, players across HPFC shift into a new cycle of work that emphasizes defending with urgency, creating pressure, and responding quickly in transition. This month’s curriculum themes include individual and team defending, possession under pressure, and reactive decision-making — the ingredients that separate teams who compete from teams who control. January also builds on player feedback from this season’s mid-year survey: our families want training that’s clear, intense, and tied directly to what happens on game day. This month does exactly that. 🧭 Why This Matters To win the ball and keep it, players must be brave, smart, and ready. This month, players will: Improve defensive body shape and footwork Learn when to press, delay, or drop off Work on first-touch quality under pressure Make quicker decisions after turnovers Connect as a group, especially when defending together Each session is structured to help players understand the “why” behind defending — not just chasing the ball, but recognizing shape, timing, and support. Defending becomes a team effort when players are taught how to do it with intention. 🏠 For Parents: What You’ll Notice Expect to see: More small-sided scenarios with defensive roles Coaches focusing on recovery runs and first steps Players being coached on “pressing cues” — when and how to win the ball back Less standing around, more live-action reps High energy, focus, and a growing sense of urgency Our goal is to help players play faster without rushing — building the confidence to control chaotic moments. ✏️ Homework & Habits Looking to support your player at home? Try these simple activities by age band: 7v7 → 1v1 Closeouts Have your player start 5–7 yards away and close space quickly before slowing down and mirroring your movement. Focus on body shape and balance. 9v9 → Defensive Reaction Game Toss a small ball left or right — your player must shuffle quickly, touch a cone, and return to center. Build habits for fast recovery and lateral movement. 11v11 → Transition Touches Play a pass to your player, then immediately shout “switch” or “go forward” — they must react and play accordingly. This encourages quick decisions under pressure. These drills take 5–10 minutes and reinforce our training goals in a low-pressure setting. For more about this month’s curriculum, contact Director of Coaching Alex Dixon at a.dixon@highlinepremier.com .

Curriculum Corner: All Formats, Just Play  This month, our entire club, from 7v7 to 11v11, is centered on games-based learning. The emphasis is simple: PLAY . Technical Focus : All major ball skills Tactical Focus : Game scenarios and decisions Physical Focus : Movement, agility, and game fitness HPFC Core Value : Fun! 🎉⚽ We know the weather is cold, attention spans are short, and the holidays are near. That’s why December is designed to keep players moving, engaged, and enjoying the game while still developing core skills through small-sided games. Let them play. Let them learn. Let them love it.

As we close the book on 2025, it’s clear this has been a year of growth, connection, and a shared commitment to building something special together. From record player counts to expanded programming, our progress wasn’t just about numbers. It was about staying true to who we are and the values that shape our club. 📈 Biggest Year in Club History This year, we reached our highest player and team counts ever, ending the calendar year with 472 players and 38 teams, including expanding further for high school aged players and teams. That growth is thanks to the trust our families place in us, and the effort of our coaches and staff who show up week after week to serve our community. This matters especially as just a few short years ago, we had no high school-aged teams or players. Now, as our younger players grow and age up, those older players are who our youngest ones can look to and dream to be. HPFC remains committed to matching that momentum with continued investment in programming and support. 👧 Just for Girls — A Weeklong Celebration of Belonging This year also marked the fourth year of our Just for Girls initiative and the biggest version of it yet. What began as a weekend back in 2022, has grown into a week-long celebration, designed to build connection, confidence, and community among our girls players. This year, we even moved the event to June more and had more than 150 players participate in mixed-age scrimmages, technical sessions, and fun-filled activities, capped off by a match night with Rhodies FC, our local USL W League partner. In 2025, we also expanded Just for Girls into the fall, hosting two free clinics (with more coming in spring). As the program continues to grow, so does our commitment to creating a space where girls feel seen, supported, and empowered. Our goal is simple: to make sure every girl at Highline Premier knows she belongs, and has role models to look up to both on and off the field. 🤝 Community First: Events That Brought Us Together We started the year marching proudly in the West Seattle Grand Parade and ended as we welcomed again 160 WSSC and HSC players to the HSA Stars Jamboree. Inbetween, we packed donation bins during our cleat and food drive, and we cheered for Huskies and Redhawks as a club at college games and so many more community events. We reimagined our goalkeeper pathway, not just for our players, but for the community too. With free clinics for WSSC keepers and expanded sessions for our own, we showed what creativity and accountability can look like when you're focused on service. And in 2026, we’ll go even bigger hosting events around the FIFA World Cup and celebrating 30 Years of Highline Premier FC soccer. 🧤 Coaching + Curriculum: Building the Culture We Want In early 2024, we launched a clubwide curriculum, developed by our then-Technical Director Alex Dixon (now Director of Coaching), with one simple goal: create a consistent foundation across all teams, rooted in our playing style and values. At the time, we kept it intentionally broad. Coaches and club leaders knew that trying to do too much too quickly could overwhelm players and staff. So we started with shared principles. This year, we expanded to age-band-specific frameworks for 7v7, 9v9, and 11v11 training that balances technical and tactical goals with the developmental needs of each stage. Coaches have continued to meet monthly, leaning into shared discipline, refining our feedback loops, and modeling what it means to coach the Highline way. What’s next? We expect to go even deeper with even more targeted resources for player development. That future is still taking shape, but the direction is clear. This foundational work isn’t just preparing players, it’s preparing us. And with our move to the Regional Club League, we’re now competing in the highest league in Washington Youth Soccer, measuring our growth against clubs like Crossfire and Seattle United. Every step forward in this process reflects Effort, Accountability, and a shared commitment to long-term growth. 💸 Financial Aid Fund: Supporting Access at Every Level We set a goal to raise $100,000 in this year’s auction and we hit it. This was our most successful fundraiser ever. Proceeds support our Family Assistance Fund, keeping high-level soccer accessible to anyone in our community. Thanks to those efforts, we can continue to offer up to 75% tuition coverage for eligible families. We’ve also expanded financial aid to include team fees and uniforms. That’s Accountability in action backing our mission with real support. 🛟 Safety, Belonging, and a Culture of Care For years, families have asked: Do we have AEDs on site? Are coaches CPR certified? This was the year we were finally able to say, Yes! We’ve updated our Emergency Action Plan (EAP), available in the Parent Resources tab on PlayMetrics, to now include AED locations at Evergreen High School, Walt Hundley Playfield, and Moshier Park. Glacier Middle School scheduled to join in 2026. For the first time, we can confidently say those life-saving devices are in place. We also partnered with the American Red Cross to certify all staff in CPR and emergency response, completing a long-time goal. And we matched that training with the deployment of enhanced first aid kits across our field hubs. 🎯 Final Word: Thank You This year, we didn’t just grow. We leveled up. From player safety to curriculum depth, from girls’ programming to community connection, every step reflected our core values: Effort, Accountability, Discipline, Respect, and Creativity. We’re building a club that’s built to last. Here comes 2026. Year 30. Let’s make it count. Highline on 3! 1, 2, 3, Highline FC huh!

As winter settles into the Pacific Northwest, Highline Premier FC shifts into our cold‑weather operations mode. Player safety is always the priority, and this article is meant to give families clarity on how we make decisions, what to expect, and how you can help keep your player safe and comfortable all season long. How Highline Premier FC Makes Weather Decisions We monitor cold weather through a combination of methods including: Wind Chill Temperature (WCT) guidelines Zelus weather monitoring Real‑time updates from our field partners at Highline Public Schools, Seattle Parks, King County Parks, and City of Burien Parks Cold weather decisions consider actual temperature, wind chill, field conditions, and the ability to safely travel to and from the field. Here’s how we interpret WCT: Below 0° WCT: Activities canceled or moved indoors 1°–15° WCT: Frequent warming breaks required; indoor alternatives strongly considered 16°–24° WCT: Additional protective clothing required 25°–30° WCT: Normal activity with extra precautions Above 30° WCT: Standard operations When conditions look concerning, we communicate early and often through PlayMetrics, email, coaches and team managers. Who Makes the Call? Understanding Field & Game Protocols Cold weather affects training and matches differently. Depending on the situation, several groups may step in to determine whether play can proceed: Multiple authorities may cancel or postpone a practice or match: HPFC Leadership: Monitor weather and field conditions constantly and update coaches immediately when a decision is made to cancel or postpone. Field Vendors (Schools or Parks): Turf with snow is automatically unplayable. Frozen surfaces and flooding may close a field at any time. WPL or RCL: May cancel across the board if region‑wide playing conditions or travel becomes unsafe. Referee: Once teams arrive onsite, the referee has full authority to delay, pause, or cancel a game. Coaches: If both teams agree conditions are unsafe, the match can be postponed, but it must be documented. If a referee is present, they must acknowledge the decision. How Families Can Help Keep Players Safe Even with great field partners and monitoring tools, the most important voice in cold weather safety is yours. Dress in Layers A strong cold‑weather setup includes: Base Layer: Moisture‑wicking (avoid cotton) Insulating Layer: Fleece or similar Outer Layer: Waterproof, wind‑resistant shell Accessories: Hat, gloves, neck gaiter, extra dry socks Stay Dry Moisture is the enemy of warmth. Pack an extra pair of socks Change out of wet clothes immediately Keep gear in dry bags or trash bags Bring blankets, jackets, and warm drinks for the sidelines Hydrate Cold weather masks dehydration. Encourage water breaks Warm water in insulated bottles works well Communicate Early If your player: Is too cold Feels unwell Can’t safely travel…please keep them home and update your RSVP in PlayMetrics so coaches can adjust their plans. Bottom line: If you don’t feel it’s safe for your child, we support that decision every time . Cold weather is part of our environment, but safety always comes first. We’ll communicate clearly, follow established guidelines, and do everything we can to provide a safe and fun soccer experience. And if at any point you feel conditions are unsafe for your child, please keep them home and update PlayMetrics. We’ll support your decision every time. If you ever have questions about weather calls, field closures, or safety protocols, just reach out. We’re here to help.

As we move into November, our players are being challenged to raise the intensity and refine the details. With WPL Fall play finishing, High School Boys State Cup underway, and the RCL season’s rhythm established, this month’s club-wide themes focus on movement off the ball, defending as a unit, and bringing maximum Effort to every moment — a core value across all teams at HPFC. Players are learning that effort isn’t just about working hard, it’s about moving with intention, supporting teammates before the ball arrives, and staying connected in and out of possession. 🧭 Why This Matters Soccer demands more than technical skill. The ability to read the game , support others, and respond under pressure separates good players from great ones. In November, players will: Learn to move in advance of the ball to create space and angles Practice turning under pressure and switching play with longer passes Strengthen communication in team defending — pressure, cover, and balance Build physical strength and agility with bounding, leaping, and skipping drills Embrace Effort as a non-negotiable: showing up fully, every session From first touches to full-field transitions, November’s work builds a foundation for how we play — together, committed, and alert. 🏠 For Parents: What You’ll Notice This month, you might notice: Players checking their shoulders more often before receiving More movement off the ball to give teammates options Coaches emphasizing team shape and vocal leadership in defending A heavier focus on speed of play and field awareness You may also hear coaches referencing defensive cues like "cover the gap" or "show inside" — signs that players are developing a deeper tactical understanding. ✏️ Homework & Habits Want to reinforce this month’s learning at home? Here’s a simple activity by age band: 7v7 → First Touch to Space Set up a cone 5–10 feet away. Have your player receive the ball and push it toward the cone with their first touch, then dribble through. Focus on movement before the ball arrives. 9v9 → Passing to Switch Play Create a mini grid with four corner targets. Have your player receive the ball, turn, and pass diagonally to the farthest corner. Add a time limit to mimic decision-making under pressure. 11v11 → Shadow Defending Partner with your player and have them mirror your movements for 30 seconds at a time. Focus on footwork, distance, and body shape —core skills for team defense. These 5–10 minute activities help build habits that translate directly to the field. For more information about our curriculum, please contact Director of Coaching Alex Dixon at a.dixon@highlinepremier.com. Let’s finish summer strong and step into fall sharp, united, and ready to play.