Wayne Soccer Club Direction

Parents,

I just returned from the monthly coaches meeting with some important news, which concerns you as parents. Read the story below and let me know how it affects your son's future with the team.

When the Wayne Soccer Club (WSC) was formed 30 years ago, it was created to compete with Boys and Girls club and the PAL. All organizations had a goal to provide a higher level of soccer than recreational for the better players in town. The organizational was mostly voluntary and fees were pretty low, spent on paying dues to organizations like Northern Counties and referees. It grew and added professional trainers and tournaments but dues were pretty well in line with the other clubs in town.

But there were academies and elite clubs nearby that charged more and provided more training and better tournaments and more games. These clubs have been poaching some of the better WSC players. So the WSC has decided to combat this by becoming an elite club. Rene Moran's U-11 team is an example of what they want the entire club to become. They practice three times a week using Red Bulls trainers. They go to about five tournaments a year, sometimes out of state. They play all winter long. And the parents happily pay about $1200 a year per child.

The WSC is mandating that all teams U-11 and younger, starting in the fall, will follow this model. Note that we are grandfathered in and don't have to do so. But I wanted you to see what is happening so you see the direction the club is taking and how some peripheral actions will affect us. If your child was U-11 or younger in the fall they would have the following schedule mandated by the club:
40 practices a year with a Red Bulls Trainer

• 20 games a year coached by a Red Bulls Trainer
• 12 practices a winter with a Red Bulls Trainer
• 2 tournaments a year coached by a Red Bulls Trainer

Dues for this team would be $950/player

They also have an elite division with an extra 20 practices and full-side winter training for $1,200 a year per child.

This sounds extreme but, since this is a non-profit organization, the kids pay about half what some of the local academies are charging yet receive better services.

Now this is a far cry from what our team and what many of the other WSC teams are accustomed to. This is a much higher commitment of time and money by the parents and a higher level of professionalism in the coaching. If you remember, I did all the winter training and most of the game-day coaching for free. We will end up paying about $600 after you add in the extra training dollars and tournament fees I added to the $425 I collected at the beginning of the year.

Whenever a change like this happens, there is some turmoil. Parents who didn't sign up for this leave and parents who were thinking about leaving the club because it didn't offer this stay. And parents who are searching for this level of play arrive. What will be the net effect? I'm not sure. I hope for the best.

But what does it mean to us? We are not mandated to go this route. It goes against my own coaching philosophy but I'm just one parent. I'd like to find out what you think. Rather than run an anonymous poll, I'm going to ask you to make a comment below this post about what you think of this change and which direction you want this team to go.

So here are your choices:

• Stay the course, play the hand we're dealt, accepting players as we need them and training them at the same level. Dues will be about $600 a year all told.
• Jack up the winter training with the existing players, add game day coaching and charge about $1,000 a year.
• Increase the training to three times a week, add game day training and more tournaments for about $1,200 a year.
• Or some combination of the above.

I know some of our existing players are looking around at other academies to find a higher level of competition and training for their boys. If we don't change, those boys will leave the team.
On the other side of the coin, there are those who don't want to pay $1000 a year per child and will leave if the dues increase.
Either way, I doubt all parents will reach a consensus so we will need to recruit more players after those who are unhappy with the group's decision leave.

I want to do what's best for the team. So please weigh in and let us all know what you are thinking. We have many options, including leaving the club en-masse and joining another club.