Letter from Vice President Aaran Lines

Flash Families,

It is hard to believe that fall is upon us and that we are back at Sahlen Sports Park training and preparing for another year of competitive Flash soccer.

While this year has certainly had its challenges for players, staff and the club, I always try to see the “cup half full”. The mental strength, dedication and sacrifice our players, staff, and families showed during an unprecedented time was unparalleled. The commitment players and families exhibited will no doubt pay off down the road and was integral to their individual and teams’ development. In addition, our club has also grown tremendously over the last 6 months in many ways, including the addition of Flash Fields, adding highly qualified full-time and part-time staff, many new talented young players joining the club, and the addition of U8 teams in both the North and Southtowns, which will help build our club’s foundation.

We are incredibly proud of the addition of Flash Fields to our facilities. A crown jewel for the WNY area, our two full-sized outdoor lit fields with bathrooms, locker rooms and concessions will provide an incredible home for our teams for years to come. Combined with Sahlen Sports Park and the West Seneca Soccer Complex, there is no doubt that our players have access to the best fields and facilities in the country. Be proud Flash Family!

Our goal at the Flash always has and will be to maximize each player’s personal growth on and off the field and reach every player’s potential through our player-first approach, programming and playing platforms. Not only is it important that we provide a safe and supportive environment for players to thrive in and excel, but also to help shape the next generation off the field. As part of our core values, the Flash prides itself on teaching important character traits such as discipline, honesty, hard work and respect while fostering a love for the game of soccer. The Flash emblem stands for excellence and has a long history of success in the game at all levels, and we want to continue to elevate the WNY soccer community at the grass roots level through our players’ and teams’ successes on and off the field.

As we look at the big picture for this year’s landscape, it may be different from what we are used to. We are committed to providing the safest environment for our players to continue to grow as soccer players in a very challenging time, where sport is an incredibly valuable outlet for our players. We appreciate your patience throughout this time as we navigate a different world which includes safety precautions, limited travel, and virtual recruiting with our soon to be installed state-of-the-art video technology from Musco Vision. We are all in this together, and rest assured your support is much appreciated by our staff. Please know our club and staff will always go above and beyond to ensure each player has a first-class experience at the Flash organization.

Regardless of these new challenges, we are all looking forward to an exciting year ahead where we will host competitive matches at our beautiful facilities, see more teams compete at a local, regional and national level than ever before, and embark on developing players in a team setting younger than ever before. Our growth, development, facilities, and club amenities for our players remain at the forefront of our focus as we forge ahead into 2021.

Looking forward to seeing you all around the fields,

Aaran Lines
Vice President
WNY Flash Academy
@aaranlinessoccerschool