Save Alpharetta Ambush Soccer

The Alpharetta Ambush soccer program is administered by the City of Alpharetta. The team has achieved great success in the 9 years since DOC David Eristavi has managed the program, with many successful young players moving through Rec leagues to Academy to Select to RPL3. Eighty percent of players from top Ambush teams have even been offered soccer scholarships, many at NCAA Div. 1 schools.

The Ambush club is well known in the soccer community due to this success and has attracted top trainers who coach top Alpharetta talent.

During the 2007/08 season, the City of Alpharetta changed the residency requirement for Ambush teams from 50% for the entire program to 50% per individual team. This ruling has already had a detrimental effect on the Ambush Club and its residents.

Imposing a 50% residency requirement per individual team creates instability, including those who meet the requirement, as they are left with uncertainty from year to year about their team's status. The uncertainty has and will continue to lead to defections to other clubs.

We believe Alpharetta residents benefit by having a high-calibre youth soccer club by:
- Generating interest for youth soccer at all levels including Rec;
- Providing Alpharetta residents with a top-notch club and high-quality teams for their youth players to participate in;
- Adding to the great schools and programs that attract people to Alpharetta;
- Having players act as ambassadors for the City of Alpharetta;
- Teaching life skills on and off the field;
- Creating a stronger Alpharetta community for youth and adults;
- and thereby increasing housing values

We support the City's desire to be good stewards of residents' resources, and believe this can be achieved while still creating greater stability for the Club by enforcing the 50% residency requirement to the Ambush Club as a whole vs. individual Ambush teams.