Latest News including tournament times

Great job coming from behind to tie up the game on Sunday! Roberto and David both had great goals. Our defense was solid except for two great goals by their top players. Too bad about Jake getting two yellow cards. Hopefully there is no suspension involved, I'm waiting to find out. But the team showed me they can come from behind and stay strong in the stretch. And our boys didn't let themselves get pushed around. We gave back as good as we got. The extra substitutes really helped in the last two games.

We are still in second place in the flight. Clarkston, the team we tied last week has a record of 5 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie. We have 4 wins and two ties. They have played one extra game. But we end the season strong. Our boys will have come off a tournament and finish with a three game home stand. We play the teams in 3rd and 4th place and the team one from the bottom.

What does this all mean? Our destiny is in our hands. If we win each game, we finish in first place because Clarkston will have one loss and one tie versus our two ties. We win on points. So let's focus on that.

I have the tournament schedule. Here is the link.  We definitely play on Saturday at 10:00 AM and 3:30 PM. The semifinal game depends on how we do in the first two games but will be on Sunday at 9:15AM, 10:30 AM or 1:00 PM. The final game is Sunday at 6:00 PM but only if we win every  game prior. Hopefully there is little conflict with baseball and we can have most of the team there. If not, we'll be playing short and everyone will get plenty of playing time.

Regarding the end of the season and moving into next year, here is what I know. All but one of the parents I have spoken to has voted to stick with the status quo and keep paying $500 - $600 per child and not using the extra trainer time. Jarib would prefer to pay more for more training. Jack and Liam, Ned and Nayef, Sam, Roberto, David, Brandon, Freddy, Zaeem and Sebas all prefer the status quo. I have yet to speak with Joey, Jake, Joel, or Dario about their plans.

So, the most likely scenario is that we continue in the fall with the status quo and those players who wish to get more training either get it on their own or play also for another team or join an academy-style team. I hate to see this team broken up but I knew that this choice would likely make some people unhappy. I was willing to go with the majority and it looks like that is the status quo. I'll be looking to speak with the last few parents about their choice today if practice is on.

Speaking of practice, I think I've been too quick to pull the trigger on cancelling practice in the past and will not make that decision prior to 3PM from now on. As I type, the rain has ceased and we still have a chance. With the practices we have canceled, I don't think I'll need to ask any more trainer money from the parents who paid extra in the fall, perhaps a little from those who joined in the spring.

I'd like to host an end-of-season party at my house after our last game. It is an 8:30 AM Sunday game at Barbour Pond so we could all go straight over to my house after the game and let the boys swim and have brunch. Hopefully we'll be distributing trophies at the same time. (I'm not sure when we get these) If that's too early and you need to get the boys to church, I understand and we could host an afternoon party, though this will be tougher for those who live out of town. I'll put a poll about this to the left, please vote on your preference.

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.

Third Game. Another excellent win!

Congratulations boys. We all pulled together and and won a good game. The scoring was spread around three different boys and our defense shut them down completely. We were so far ahead I decided to pull the starters and give lots of playing time to the new boys. It was great to see Freddy in offense, Nayef taking shots on goal, Ned in at stopper and Brandon trying out defense.

I hope I didn't give anyone a heart attack when I pulled Jack out of sweeper but I figured by then we had the game in the bag and it was time for him to try out the bench.

The whole team was there so substituting people in and out was a challenge but it was made easier by the boys getting leg injuries one after the other. Liam started out with a sore leg, Joel hurt his, then Jake, then Sam. I hope you all take the next few weeks to heal up.

Jake getting carried off after being taken down from behind.

Tiago got a chance to see the boys in action and will use the knowledge to direct his training efforts.

Tiago, our new trainer.

The Red Bulls Organization has provided us with our new trainer, Tiago. He met all the boys with the exception of Jake and Sam on Friday so that was a great start. The boys seemed to like him, he seemed organized. Here's his background. He has:
- played soccer for over 20 years at various competitive levels
- worked for Red Bulls for about a year
- his NSCAA GK level 1 and NSCAA Junior V Licenese
- coached the past two years girls varsity at Morris Tech in Denville Township  NJ
- a BA in Business Management from Berkeley College
- been coaching for 4 years now, working with various age groups from U9 to U18
Tiago is currently in the process of obtaining his MBA from Montclair State University

I have estimated his training schedule to be 20 practice sessions and two game-day training sessions. That should use up all our training money, including the extra we collected in the fall. 

I'd like him to attend the next game day so he will have had a chance to assess the boys outdoor in practice before he sees how they do in the game. That should allow him to make any adjustments he requires in the practice schedule. Then we'll have him observe another game after that to see how his adjustments are working.

One of the questions I'll be asking you is if we want Tiago to attend more game days and if you're willing to pay for that. It costs $113 a game, so that's about $7 per game per child. Let me know your thoughts on that.

Getting ready for the new season

Great news! We managed to recruit four new players to join us for the spring season, bringing our roster up to 15. This should allow us to play games with substitutes and even having a full team when baseball games compete with soccer games. And knowing when the games are scheduled may allow us to reschedule some games when they do conflict with baseball. We also still have the option of bringing up to three players from Rene's team when we have the need.

Welcome to the four new players: Jarib, Brandon, Nayef and his brother Ned.
I received all their paperwork and we are hopeful that their uniforms will arrive in time for Sunday's game. If not, I'll be scrambling to find some substitute uniforms so let me know if you have any spares around that we can jerry-rig.

The situation with the trainers is still in flux. Red Bulls trainers must be used but they are not available this week! Outrageous! I managed to convince them to bring one to our last indoor training on Friday so that he can help us prepare for the first game and we meet him there. All I know at this point is that his name 'might' be Andrew. Try to all be at practice Friday so that we can set line-ups.

Fortunately Leo was able to come through for us in the pinch and train our boys today and Wednesday. Apparently we also have to deposit the entire estimated training fees for the season in our account with WSC soon. There is already $1,750 in there from dues collected in the fall and this spring and I have $635 extra money between what I collected from you last fall minus the extra from the tournament. I'll calculate it out and let you know what we owe. (It shouldn't be much)

See you all at practice on Wednesday. Might be nice for some of the long-term players to bring a parting gift for Leo for his years of service.

Coach's Meeting News

I attended the coach's meeting last night and heard some interesting news. The good, the bad and the ugly.

First, the good:
Rene provided me with a new player who will hopefully try out with the team on Friday by the name of Nayef. Let's welcome him to the team.
Rene also promised me three players who will practice with his team but can also practice with us if possible and play for us unless there is a conflict. Their names are Ryan, Joe and Matthew. Hopefully we'll see them at practice soon also.
That brings our roster to 16 if they all work out. That should get us through the days when baseball costs us three players.
Schedules for Spring season come out next week

Now the bad:
Nobody U-12 showed up to the specialized tryouts on Sunday. So thanks to Dario, Joel, Zaeem and Liam for coming and I hope they enjoyed the extra hour of practice time but we didn't get any new players from here.
WSC has not yet received permits for the outdoor fields so we cannot practice there yet. Though I'm thinking about using the field behind my house for some informal practices that won't get us in trouble with the school district. Let's talk about it on Friday.

And finally the ugly:
WSC has signed a three-year contract with Red Bulls giving their organization exclusive rights to train our boys. I was not consulted on this decision and was shocked and dismayed by it. That means he effectively fired Leo who has been with us from the inception. I am understandably upset about this.

The details are that the $1750 dedicated to trainer fees for the spring MUST be spent on Red Bulls trainers.
I did collect a little extra in the fall to cover extra trainer fees so we could use the $400 odd on Leo. I'll talk to him about if he even wants to do this.

Parent's meeting tonight

Thanks for all your votes and messages from those who couln't attend either day. See you all at my house tonight for a parent's meeting.

7PM at
41 Coventry Road
Wayne, NJ

Agenda:

• Who's playing in the spring?
• Who's playing next year?
• When is indoor winter practice?
• Who will train the boys during indoor practice?
• What do we want to do about a winter indoor tournament?
• What do we have remaining for trainer fees?
• How much do we want to spend on trainer fees in the spring?
• Do we want to continue to pay for game-day training?
• Do we want to play in a spring tournament?
• Who can assist Bruce in some of the coaching duties?
• Any ideas on recruiting more children?

Extra Trainer Dollars

Thanks to all the parents who paid the extra trainer fees. Josephine collected $1,650 so far.
That pays for the $990 extra training costs for Julio and will also cover the $97.50 Leo will charge us on Monday assuming weather cooperates for the final practice session before the winter session starts.

That will leave me with a little over $560 in extra training fees available for next season. I also expect to get money from two more of the parents. I'm not sure about Damien or Justin's situation so I'm not expecting money from them at this point.

We can discuss the money in more detail at the parent's meeting.

Since this extra training comes out of our pockets, that's why you have to make the checks out to me rather than Wayne Soccer Club. I just received an e-mail from Doug Struyck, the efficient treasurer of the club and he has told me that he does indeed keep separate funds available for teams in this case. We can discuss doing this at the meeting and see if we want to burden him with this as well or account for it ourselves outside of the club's system. (He didn't like my little joke about the donation, by the way. I didn't mean to imply that they would do anything inappropriate. I just figured it would be an un-needed complication.)
If you want more details of this money, look to your right and click on the link called practice attendance to see money going in and coming out. I'm no accountant so don't make fun of my system, it works for me. Also, click on the roster to see who paid what.

Trainer money, Practice next two weeks and winter practice

Parents,

We have been using a lot of trainer time this year, more than budgeted by the club. They budget $1,750 for the fall season and we have used more than this. By the end of the fall session we will have spent $2,955 on training. Next spring should be similar and we haven't even talked about the winter training schedule yet.

The good news is that the boys have been improving due to all this attention and, as you can see from the chart at the bottom of this blog, most boys have been taking advantage of the training. The bad news is that this extra money will have to come out of our pockets. If we had put in a better showing at the dinner dance, we would have some extra money to pay for the extra training but we didn't even make our quota of filling a table. Only Kathy and I are going so far.

Bottom line: I need to collect another $150 per child to pay for the extra training bucks and we'll have to do what we can to use less professional training in the winter and spring. Perhaps if a parent can help me on the sidelines I can do away with most of the game-day training. And I am always happy to have a parent lead the occasional practice day to focus on something they want particularly for the boys to learn. Perhaps winter training would be perfect for that. I'll return whatever we don't use or ask for a little more near the end of spring season to make up the shortfall.

Josephine has graciously volunteered to collect the money in check form. Please give them to her at the next game. Make the checks out to Bruce Fieggen so that I can pay the trainers directly.

I set up two last practices for the boys under the lights this season. They are on the calendar and are Wed 11/16 and Mon 11/21 from 5:00 - 6:30 at Barbour Pond 1 or 2. That is the grass field.

Also, the club has set up six sessions of winter practice at Turf City starting Feb 17th from 4:00 - 5:00 PM. These are Friday afternoons. This will appear on the calendar shortly.