June Newsletter 2026

Welcome to the Kings Hammer June Newsletter! This edition features, Kings Hammer Family Night, Summer Event Series, Skills & Finishing Camp, NKY U13/U14 Supplemental Tryouts, Fall Juniors Registration Open, Academy Girls at Nationals, Featured Education: “A Letter from the Technical Desk: When the Moment Gets Loud”, 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.

Save the Date: Kings Hammer Family Night is August 22nd

Save the Date! We’re excited to announce that our Kings Hammer Night with FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium is set for August 22nd! Kick off the upcoming 2026-2027 season with an opportunity to meet your new teammates and coaches while we come together to cheer on FC Cincinnati!

FC Cincinnati vs Seattle Sounders – Sunday, August 22nd – Kickoff at 7:30pm

Kings Hammer Family Night Highlights include:

Discounted Tickets
Pre-Match in Washington Park
On-Field Activations Raffle

Join your teammates and Kings Hammer Staff for an awesome night of soccer with friends and family. Find all the information you need through your PlayMetrics communication from the club or click here for more info!

Summer Event Series at Town & Country

We’re excited to offer a variety of opportunities for players U8-U12 to stay active, improve their skills, and enjoy the game this July. From technical training sessions to free community nights, there’s a place for every player.

Come train, play, and connect with fellow athletes at our Kings Hammer Summer Event Series.

Wednesday Night Pick-Up: Wednesdays 6-8pm July 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, & 29th
Friday Technical Training with the Director: Fridays Boys – 10-11am, Girls – 11am-12pm July 10th, 17th, 24th, & 31st
Girls Night Out: Saturday, July 18th 5-8pm
Boys Night Out: Saturday, July 25th 5-8pm

Want to join in on the fun with your friends and teammates this summer? Click here to register now!

Skills & Finishing Camp: July 13th-16th

2026 Summer Camps wrap up with our Skills & Finishing Camp July 13th-16th. The camp is offered for players U8-U14 at two locations: Mason Early Childhood Center from 5:30-7pm & Town & Country from 6-8pm. This camp focuses on ball mastery, creative dribbling, passing precision, finishing and 1v1 dominance. Players will develop their individual technical skills in a challenging yet fun environment.

Click here to register now!

NKY Academy Boys & Girls U13/U14 Supplementals

Our NKY Academy Program is holding Supplemental Tryouts on July 7th & 14th from 6-7pm at Town & Country for boys & girls U13/U14. If you know someone that is still looking for a team, be sure to pass this information along!

Click here for more information and to register!

If you know someone that is interested in a different location or age group, please have them fill out our contact form by clicking here!

Fall Juniors Registration Now Open!

Kings Hammer Juniors is a fun, introductory soccer program for players ages U6–U8. The Fall Session will run August 10th-October 5th in Northern Kentucky at Town and Country in Wilder, Ky and/or Four Seasons Marina in Ohio and in Cincinnati at Warren County Sports Park and/or Mason Community Schools.

COED U6

60-Minute Session: 30 min: Game-based technical training focused on ball mastery & 30 min: Small-sided games (4v4 or 5v5, no goalkeepers)
Program Schedule: Weeks 1–2: Complimentary 60-minute introductory sessions & Weeks 3–8: 30-minute training followed by a 30-minute game.

U7–U8

Weeknight: 45–60 minutes of team training focused on skill development and teamwork & Weekend: Formal match play (typically 4v4 or 5v5 with a goalkeeper).
Program Schedule: Weeks 1–2: Complimentary Friday clinics for registered and prospective players & Weeks 3–8: One weeknight training session and one weekend game each week.

Click here to register today!

2011 & 2012 Girls Academy Teams Reach Round of 16 at Nationals

While the season might have come to a close, there is much to be proud of with our 2011 and 2012 Girls Academy teams!

Both teams advanced to the round of 16 at Nationals, with both teams missing out on advancing in penalty shootouts. A tough way to go out, but a lot of excitement and growth out of both teams, with lots of college, USYNT and professional scouts in attendance!

2011 Girls Academy Aspire Playoffs

A special season for a special group! Congratulations to our 2011 GA Aspire ladies on a fantastic year. While the playoffs didn’t go quite as planned, our girls should be proud of their season as a whole. A 17-4-2 record across the entire season with big wins on & off the field. Great job ladies on a great year!

Premier SuperCopa Championships

Our KH Pre-Elite NKY G14-1 and KH JR Cincy G17-1 teams traveled to Florida to compete in the Premier SuperCopa Championships! Our 2014 squad put together an outstanding run, advancing to the semifinals. We’re incredibly proud of both teams for representing our club and competing against some of the top talent in the country. We can’t wait to see what both groups accomplish next season!

Kentucky Youth Soccer Association Challenge Cup Champions

Closing out the 2025-2026 season in style! Congratulations to our Pre-Elite NKY B15-1, G15-1, G15-2 and G14-2 teams on winning Kentucky Youth Soccer Association Challenge Cup Championships! Additionally, a big congrats to our Pre-Elite B14-2 squad on finishing as finalists!

We’re proud of all our players and coaches who put in hours of hard work to reach this point! Job well done!

Elite Girls Receive Call Ups!

Congratulations to Aniah Zembrodt on receiving an invitation to the US Soccer Youth National Team U15 Girls National Team Domestic ID Camp and Gretchen Lawrence on receiving an invitation to join the upcoming US Youth Futsal National ID Trials.

Great work girls!

From The National Technical Desk: When the Moment Gets Loud

Monday night I watched something happen that I want every one of you to understand, because it is not really about soccer. It is about pressure, and what pressure reveals.

Germany and Paraguay went to penalties in the round of 32. You know the setup. Sudden death, lights, a packed stadium, German fans loud behind the goal, the whole weight of the tournament sitting on one ball and one moment. Paraguay was the underdog. Ranked 34th in the world, walking into a shootout against a four-time World Cup champion that had won six straight shootouts in major tournaments. By every measure, the moment belonged to Germany.

And then the moment got too big for them.

Watch the last two German kicks if you have not already. You can see it before the ball is even struck. The walk to the spot gets quicker. The setup gets shorter. There is no breath, no pause, just get it over with. One shot sailed over the bar. That is not a technical failure. That is a player whose mind got there before his body did. Pressure does that. It speeds everything up when what you actually need is to slow everything down.

Then Paraguay’s José Canale stepped up for sudden death. A guy who had not even started the previous two matches. No reputation riding on this kick, nothing earned yet, nothing to fall back on except himself in that moment. And he did the opposite of what we had just watched. He took his time. Big breath. Set the ball exactly where he wanted it. And buried it, ice cold, with an entire stadium of German fans screaming behind that goal.

That is the difference. Not talent. Not even experience, since this kid barely had any at this level. The difference was what each player did with the half-second before contact. One group let the moment speed them up. One young man slowed the moment down.

Why this matters for development, not just performance

I want to connect this to something I believe deeply about why youth soccer, played the right way, builds people for the long run. This game puts you in pressure spots over and over, in front of people, with a result attached, starting when you are eight or nine years old. A missed penalty in a U10 game does not end a career. But it teaches a nervous system how to handle a moment when something is on the line. It teaches a kid what it feels like to fail in public and walk back to the line anyway. By the time that same kid is grown and standing over a penalty with the world watching, or sitting across a table negotiating a job, or making a decision under real pressure in any field, the body already knows what to do with that feeling. It has practiced it a hundred times in cleats on a Saturday morning.

That is the long-term gift of this sport. We are not just building better players. We are building people who have learned, early and often, how to breathe through pressure instead of being run over by it.

What it means to be Kings Hammer

This connects directly to Relentless Action. Relentless Action is not just sprinting back on defense or winning second balls. It is staying present when the moment gets loud. It is the discipline to slow yourself down when everything around you is speeding up. Canale did not out-talent Germany last night. He out-composed them. That is a skill. It is trainable. And it is exactly the kind of decision-making and mental toughness we are building into every player who comes through our program.

So here is what I want you to take from this. Pressure is not your enemy. It is the thing that will eventually tell you who you are. The work we do here, every training session, every tough rep, every moment we ask you to perform when it is uncomfortable, is preparing your mind for the night when the ball is on the spot and everyone is watching. When that moment comes for you, I want you to be the person taking the deep breath. Not the person rushing to get it over with.

Bring the Relentless Action.

– Bronson Gambale, KH National Technical Director

GK Union Save of the Month

May closed out with some great saves as Allie and Rowan from KH Cincinnati kept the opponent out of the net with two brilliant stops!

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 upcoming 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.