Location: Burlington, Vt.
History: Formed in 1986 with one girls team; merged in 1993 with Spirit of Vermont.
Championships: Many state cup champions.
Most famous player: Jen Carlson (University of Connecticut).
Number of players: 439.
Number of teams: 25 boys and girls, U-10 through U-19.
Number of coaches: 6 senior staff coaches; 25 head coaches; 25 assistant coaches.
Cost to play: $500 per year.
Coaching salaries: Staff coaches can earn up to $5,000 per year; head coaches, $2,750; assistants, $600.
Club philosophy: ''To give the youth of Vermont the chance to play the best competition available, and develop to the highest level possible.''
Facilities: Owns and operates indoor facility; recently broke ground for 12-field complex to be ready by mid-summer 2003. ''Right now we use whatever we can.''
How you find good competition: ''We travel. We play in a New England premier league; some teams play in the Super-Y League. We go to lots of out-of-state tournaments and run our own at Middlebury College to bring in great teams from the Northeast.''
Club's biggest strength: ''Our coaching staff. Coaching director Roy Patton is the University of Vermont varsity coach. Dave Saward of Middlebury has also done a lot for us.''
Club's greatest challenge: ''Demographics. The small number of people in the area impacts the level of competition, and because our kids are the best athletes, they play on all their school sports teams. But we've learned to live with that and feel our kids are well-rounded because of it.''
Club's most recent issue: ''Finding field space.''
Biggest rivals: Clifton Park (N.Y.), Oakwood (Conn.), Seacoast United (N.H.).
Sponsors: Diadora, New Horizons sports store.
Fund-raising: Nordic Spirit discount card with 20 local vendors.
Contact information: www.nordicspirit.org. Club director Trevor Squirrell: tsquirre@sover.net.
Interview with Mickey Wiles, president