Who We Are

CESA (Carolina Elite Soccer Academy) was created in order to offer more opportunities to youth soccer players than has been available previously in South Carolina and in most regions of the Southeastern United States. CESA now offers a wide range of services ranging from highly competitive Region III Premier League play to our highly affordable in-house recreational league that includes not only CESA’s players but also recreational teams from around the South Carolina upstate area. CESA was created and exists to provide the best possible service to its players, regardless of whether the player is a highly ambitious national team player or a casual recreational player seeking to keep fit and have fun.

The two clubs that merged to form CESA, St. Giles United and Greenville Futbol Club, were at the time of the merger the second and third largest clubs in South Carolina, respectively. More importantly, these two clubs had proven success in providing competitive and recreational services. Since 2000, the two constituent clubs have together won over half of all state challenge cup championships (the highest level of competitive youth soccer in the state of South Carolina). CESA is now the largest youth soccer club in South Carolina and has its sights set firmly on fielding teams that are regionally and nationally competitive.

The heart and soul of our club is our focus on each individual player and our desire to spread our passion for youth soccer throughout our state and beyond by involving as many people as we possibly can in our programs. The scale of our club allows us to offer higher value and yet more affordable recreational team play. Our volunteers that coach in our recreational program are trained by and have access to the highest quality coaching staff in the Southeast. This means that a child entering our recreation program receives better training than is available elsewhere. And children involved in our recreational program that wish to play in a more competitive environment are given the opportunity to play for our wide range of competitive teams. Because the ambition and interest of each child differs, we offer three levels of competitive play at each age group: classic, challenge, and premier. Every team in our competitive league is given the chance to play as competitively as their ambition, work ethic, and skill allow - in other words, we have classic teams playing in the South Carolina Challenge League and we have challenge teams playing in the Region III premier league. So whether the intent of a player is to just have fun and learn more soccer, or to make their Junior Varsity or Varsity school team, or to star on their school team, or to eventually play college soccer, or to make the regional team, or even to make the United States National Team or Olympic Team - we have the programs to help that player achieve her or his best.

For more information on any of our programs, please see the appropriate sections on this web site or use the contact information available on this web site for more information.