Carolina Elite Soccer Academy

What the club offers

Recreation is a volunteer-led program for ages four through nineteen. Teams practice twice on weeknights (Monday–Friday in 5:00–6:30 or 6:30–8:00 windows) and play Saturday games in the CESA Developmental League. Under-six through under-twelve games are at the MeSA Soccer Complex; under-fifteen through under-nineteen and high school prep play at MeSA or Wenwood. Families pick a practice location preference among MeSA, Wenwood, or Brushy Creek in Greenville, with additional recreation hubs in Spartanburg (Duncan Soccer Complex) and Tri-County (Hurricane Park in Piedmont). Uniforms are the official CESA red-and-white kit ordered through the club’s supplier; shin guards are required and players bring their own ball (size 4 for U6–U12, size 5 for U15–U19 and high school prep).

Center of Excellence targets technically and athletically advanced recreational players roughly seven and eight years old who want more training and an introduction to the Junior Academy track. The season runs about ten months with two ninety-minute field sessions per week, a weekend technical hour, and games in CESA recreation and academy leagues, with CESA staff coaching all participants. Evaluation sessions for the following fall typically run in late April, with evaluation opportunities also offered during the season.

Junior Academy supports players moving from recreation toward competitive soccer, with three pool trainings per week, an open training policy for players who want extra sessions, and emphasis on technical growth before full travel placement.

Travel soccer is built around helping each player match ambition to level. The club aims to field multiple teams per age group and gender after annual open evaluations. Training is offered four nights a week; ECNL, ECRL, and Challenge players are expected at least three sessions weekly, and Select teams at least two, each lasting ninety minutes. ECNL teams compete nationally, ECRL teams regionally in the Carolinas regional league structure, Challenge teams target the SCYSA Challenge League, and Select teams target the SCYSA Classic League. Top girls under-thirteen through under-nineteen sides play ECNL in the Mid-Atlantic Conference. Play-up decisions rest with the professional staff after players show readiness to impact an older group, and an open training policy allows players to train across teams inside the program when it supports development.

Beyond core programming, CESA runs club tournaments, hosts major showcase and regional events, and runs camp series from day camps and spring break blocks to summer elite training, five-a-side leagues, and rostered-team preseason work, largely centered at MeSA.

Where the club trains and plays

Primary Greenville practice and game sites include MeSA Soccer Complex (1020 Anderson Ridge Road, Greer), Wenwood Soccer Complex (1967 Ridge Road, Greenville), and Brushy Creek Soccer Complex (4524 Old Spartanburg Road, Taylors). Satellite recreation programming uses Duncan Soccer Complex in Duncan for Spartanburg and Hurricane Park in Piedmont for Tri-County. For weather-related closures, families should use the field hotline at (864) 288-0980 rather than the main office line; that hotline refreshes by 3:00 p.m. on weekdays and 7:30 a.m. on weekends. Facebook pages for Spartanburg, Anderson, or Tri-County carry additional status notes.

Mission, philosophy, and fees

CESA emphasizes individual player focus across every level, from casual recreation through national-track ECNL play, with volunteer recreation coaches supported by professional staff. The competitive structure is designed so teams can play as ambitiously as player work ethic and skill allow, not only at a single fixed level.

Recreation registration fees on the Fall 2025 / Spring 2026 fee table included $120 for a two-day under-six option, $150 for standard under-six through under-fifteen brackets, $150 for under-nineteen fall-only league play, and $425 for the high school prep track coached by CESA staff; registrations after May 13 raised those standard recreation tiers to $165 and high school prep to $475 for that same seasonal window.

Competitive programming separates club fees (paid to CESA on a schedule that includes an initial acceptance payment within forty-eight hours of a roster offer, with remaining club fees payable in full or via automatic card drafts) from team fees collected by each team’s treasurer for tournament travel, coach reimbursements, and team incidentals—often starting with a $100 January team deposit plus a treasurer-built budget for monthly team dues. A January 2026 mid-season fee chart for new Greenville starters showed total club fee commitments such as $480 for Center of Excellence 7U–8U, $702 for Junior Academy 9U–12U, $747 for 12U Pre-ECNL-RL or Pre-ECNL, $615 for 13U–14U Select, $792 for 13U–14U NLSC or USYS-NL, and $924 for 13U–14U ECNL-RL or ECNL, each with $225 due at acceptance and the balance in three monthly installments; Spartanburg, Tri-County, and Pachuca lines use different totals for some age bands. Uniforms run about $270 through Lloyd’s Soccer on a two-year cycle (2025–26 was the second year of the then-current kit cycle). Need-based scholarship applications are available at registration to help with the remaining club fee portion for families who qualify.

How to reach the club

The Greenville office is at 18 Boland Court, Greenville, South Carolina 29615. Office hours are typically 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, closed Wednesday and weekends unless a seasonal notice changes them. The main line is (864) 329-1113; the field hotline is (864) 288-0980. General email is info@carolinaelitesc.com. Registration for recreation, Junior Academy, Center of Excellence, and travel placement runs through PlayMetrics using the program signup paths CESA assigns to each track.