April Newsletter 2025

Welcome to the Kings Hammer April Newsletter! This edition features Kings Hammer Tryouts 25/26, Two Fantastic Weekends at Blue Chip Showcase, Academy North Ladies Dominate at Crossroads Showcase, and more! If you have a player, coach, or team to be highlighted in future newsletters, please send photos and stories to info@kingshammer.com. Each newsletter will be posted on our website as well as our social pages.

Kings Hammer Tryouts 25/26

Tryouts for the upcoming 25/26 season will be held May 1st through the 15th. Have you registered yet? For more information on our programs and to register, use the links below:

Elite

Greater Cincinnati Boys (U13-U19)

Greater Cincinnati Girls (U13-U19)

Academy

Cincinnati (U13-U19)

Northern Kentucky (U13-U19)

Pre-Elite

Cincinnati (U10-U12)

Northern Kentucky (U10-U12)

Pre-Academy

Cincinnati (U10-U12)

Northern Kentucky (U10-U12)

Juniors

Cincinnati (U7-U9)

Northern Kentucky (U7-U9)

Click here to register now!

Introducing the Enhanced Pathway

Kings Hammer is thrilled to introduce an enhanced player pathway for the 2025/2026 season, designed to provide every athlete with a clear, transparent, and elevated experience. Our commitment to player development includes an all-inclusive pricing structure and licensed professional coaches for every team. Below, you’ll find an overview of the player pathway, along with a link to a PDF detailing each program.

Click here to view the 2025/2026 Program Offerings

2025/2026 Elite League Announcements

We’re excited to share the league placements for our 2025/2026 Elite teams!

Our Boys Elite teams will compete in MLS NEXT and the National Academy League (NAL), while our Girls Elite teams will take the field in the Girls Academy and the Girls Academy Aspire league.

We’re proud to provide these high-level opportunities for our players as they continue their soccer journey with us. The season can’t come soon enough—we’re ready to get started!

Elite and Pre-Elite Coaching Slate and Fees Available

We’re so excited to announce our Elite and Pre-Elite coaching slates for the 25/26 season.

Elite and Pre-Elite Program 25/26 Pricing

In addition, Elite and Pre-Elite Program Pricing for the 2025/2026 season have been posted. Please click the links below and then navigate to the ‘fees’ tab. Pricing for the Academy, Pre-Academy, and Juniors Programs will be announced shortly.

Elite

Pre-Elite

Kings Hammer GK Union Welcomes Garrett Loehr and Anna Rexford

As Coach Lou moves into his new role as National Director of Goalkeeping, we’re super excited to introduce you to our Greater Cincinnati Elite Goalkeeper Director, Garrett Loehr, and our Cincinnati/NKY Goalkeeper Director, Anna Rexford.

Garrett Loehr is coming aboard as our Elite Goalkeeper Director and brings with him a wealth of experience as both a player and a coach. Check out the video below to learn more about him. We’re hyped to have you on the team, Garrett!

We’re also ecstatic for Anna Rexford to move into the role of Cincinnati / NKY Goalkeeper Director. Anna is eager to elevate the level of play for all of our goalkeepers while fostering the community environment in our GK Union. Watch the video below for more about Anna!

Welcome to the team, Garrett and Anna! Congratulations on your promotion, Lou!

Inspiresport Announces Partnership with Kings Hammer

Inspiresport is delighted to announce a new partnership with Kings Hammer Soccer Club. As part of this agreement, inspiresport will serve as the Exclusive Travel Partner for Kings Hammer, providing extensive international travel opportunities for individuals and teams within the club’s ecosystem.

By leveraging inspiresport’s expertise in international sports travel and its access to elite clubs, Kings Hammer members will benefit from exclusive travel programs that enhance their athletic and personal development. This partnership aligns with both organizations’ commitment to nurturing young talent and fostering growth in youth sports.

Click here to read the full press release!

Kings Hammer Players get Called Up!

Congratulations to Kings Hammer Cincinnati’s own Aniah Zembrodt, Aubrey Blakely, and Parker Goetz! On April 14th, U.S. Soccer publicly announced the 80 girls who have been invited from across the US to the USYNT Central Region Talent ID Mini-Camp in Austin, TX. After attending a handful of local USYNT ID camps, Aniah, Aubrey, and Parker were selected to participate. These ladies are tearing it up on the pitch and bringing the heat this season as a part of our KH Elite G11 team.

Click here to read the full article!

Congratulations on this incredible achievement, ladies. We are so proud of you!

Two Fantastic Weekends at Blue Chip Showcase

This month, Kings Hammer Cincinnati hosted the 2025 Blue Chip Showcase. Each weekend, our incredible Kings Hammer teams, as well as top teams from across the country, showed up and gave it their all in front of attending college coaches and talent scouts. Check out the videos below to see some of the highlights from these awesome weekends at Blue Chip Showcase! Thank you to all of the teams, college coaches, staff and volunteers that made this event such a success.

Catch the Last Episode of Kings Hammer Healthy Habits!

It’s the final exam! We’re putting your Injury Prevention knowledge to the test on the 6th and final episode of Kings Hammer Healthy Habits presented by OrthoCincy. You can catch this one, and all the previous episodes, on our Facebook and Instagram pages. See your friends and teammates test their health knowledge and play along at home!

Academy North Ladies Dominate at Crossroads Showcase

Don’t mess with these girls! At this years’ Crossroads of America College Showcase, 3 of the 5 KHA Cincinnati North teams that attended went undefeated for the weekend! Shout out to our KHA Cincinnati North G08, G07 and G06/07 teams on your incredible performances at Grand Park in Indy. Way to go, ladies!

Bringing Home Gold from Midwest Spring Turf Challenge

Earlier this month, we had a handful of teams travel to Indiana for the Midwest Spring Turf Challenge at Grand Park. Congratulations to our KHA Cincinnati North G11 and G12 teams on being named finalists, and a special congratulations to our KHA Cincinnati North B13 team on their championship win! Nice work, everyone!

April Education: Navigating the Stress of Tryout Season

First, a reminder that Kings Hammer players at all levels, and in all programs, are engaged in season-long evaluation. This statement may have been seen previously by many families. It certainly will continue to be stressed, not only during the Tryout and Team Selection period, by throughout a Kings Hammer player’s time with the club.

“Every practice and game are moments for the coach, and other coaches within the program to identify each player’s areas of strength, areas for development, personality traits, and additional characteristics. While the tryout sessions are valuable for comparing new players to our current rosters, and for getting final comparisons between similar KH players, Team Selection decisions will be based on season Player Tracking, Player Report Cards, and Team Depth Charts established throughout the 2024-2025 season. Eighty minutes of a tryout will not outweigh a full year of exposure.“

But, as we head into this years’ tryouts, here are some strong recommendations to keep in mind from Melissa Jacobs with the Good Game.

Taking a look at “Lessons From a Long Week of Tryouts” by Melissa Jacobs

The First Rule of Tryouts … Don’t Talk About Tryouts
Don’t Blame the Coaches if You’re Disappointed
Understand Coaches Are Piecing Together a Puzzle

Click here to read the full article on our Education page!

Volunteer with Us at Crown Challenge!

Hey Kings Hammer families! Crown Challenge is coming up on May 10th – 11th and we are still in need of a lot of volunteers to help at McClure, Voice of America Park and Warren County Sports Park. As a reminder, all parents are asked to volunteer four hours per child for the season. If you have already volunteered this season, thank you for your time! If you have not, please check your PlayMetrics communications from us to sign up for your preferred location and time. The volunteer duties are very easy. If you have middle school or high school students that need volunteer hours, we would love their help as well.

Thank you for your help and ensuring our event runs smoothly!

GK Union Save of the Month

As the weather is starting to heat up, so is our GK Union! From a triple save in traffic, to a PK save with a result on the line, Kings Hammer Cincinnati’s Sophia F & Logan W stepped up to help their teams! Congratulations on being our March Save of the Month winners!

Did you make an incredible save or a game-saving block? We want to see them! Post your best saves in the Kings Hammer GK Union Facebook group. Be sure to share throughout the spring season and YOU could be selected for our Kings Hammer Save of the Month! GK Save of the Month winners will be announced the Friday of the first full week of the following month.

Monthly winners will be posted on the Kings Hammer social pages and on the GK Union page.

BRAND NEW KINGS HAMMER FAN GEAR

Kick off 2025 with some awesome new merchandise! We’ve added new fan gear to our Kings Hammer Shop that you’re sure to love! Now with extended sizing, we have Kings Hammer t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and more available at shop.KingsHammer.com. Check it out now!