$$$$$$

[Unregistered]

Too many clubs. Too many money hungry DOC's and BOD's. I Just do not get why FYSA does not close down clubs that do not have enough teams. I.E. Tropical, Margate, Hollywood, Mako etc.

What I mean is have 3 clubs, 3 in Broward, 3 in Dade, 3 in Palm Beach. Then we would have
truly competitive tryouts, only the best would make it right? We have the most clubs anywhere and I read about all the "DOC's" making $75-100k a year from what? Our money?
lol

With the infusion now of FC Bescola, FC Bayern Munich, Tottenham, and the latest I am hearing and it is coming... yes Real Madrid! Not what was here and now at Pinecrest. The original "Real Madrid Academy", why would you go to play club or go to the "local DA's"?

One thing is 4 sure the landscape is going to change, and very quickly.

[Unregistered]

Too much money so decrease options? Did you even economics 101?

[Unregistered]

Too many clubs. Too many money hungry DOC's and BOD's. I Just do not get why FYSA does not close down clubs that do not have enough teams. I.E. Tropical, Margate, Hollywood, Mako etc.

What I mean is have 3 clubs, 3 in Broward, 3 in Dade, 3 in Palm Beach. Then we would have
truly competitive tryouts, only the best would make it right? We have the most clubs anywhere and I read about all the "DOC's" making $75-100k a year from what? Our money?
lol

With the infusion now of FC Bescola, FC Bayern Munich, Tottenham, and the latest I am hearing and it is coming... yes Real Madrid! Not what was here and now at Pinecrest. The original "Real Madrid Academy", why would you go to play club or go to the "local DA's"?

One thing is 4 sure the landscape is going to change, and very quickly.

I certainly hope it does change. You have too many FYSA clubs charging close to $100 a month for very very low quality training. People are willing to pay if the quality is there. Your typical FYSA club is built on the idea that the parents are clueless when it comes to soccer. They provide them with poor training and no one knows the difference. This is changing very very fast and I think the average FYSA club will be losing lots of money if they don't start providing top training and development to their kids.

[Unregistered]

Too many clubs. Too many money hungry DOC's and BOD's. I Just do not get why FYSA does not close down clubs that do not have enough teams. I.E. Tropical, Margate, Hollywood, Mako etc.

What I mean is have 3 clubs, 3 in Broward, 3 in Dade, 3 in Palm Beach. Then we would have
truly competitive tryouts, only the best would make it right? We have the most clubs anywhere and I read about all the "DOC's" making $75-100k a year from what? Our money?
lol

With the infusion now of FC Bescola, FC Bayern Munich, Tottenham, and the latest I am hearing and it is coming... yes Real Madrid! Not what was here and now at Pinecrest. The original "Real Madrid Academy", why would you go to play club or go to the "local DA's"?

One thing is 4 sure the landscape is going to change, and very quickly.

Why do you think FC Bayern Munich, Tottenham, and Real Madrid Academy come here?

Because of all the money parents are willing to pay to have the next superstar!

[Unregistered]

Too many clubs. Too many money hungry DOC's and BOD's. I Just do not get why FYSA does not close down clubs that do not have enough teams. I.E. Tropical, Margate, Hollywood, Mako etc.

What I mean is have 3 clubs, 3 in Broward, 3 in Dade, 3 in Palm Beach. Then we would have
truly competitive tryouts, only the best would make it right? We have the most clubs anywhere and I read about all the "DOC's" making $75-100k a year from what? Our money?
lol

With the infusion now of FC Bescola, FC Bayern Munich, Tottenham, and the latest I am hearing and it is coming... yes Real Madrid! Not what was here and now at Pinecrest. The original "Real Madrid Academy", why would you go to play club or go to the "local DA's"?

One thing is 4 sure the landscape is going to change, and very quickly.

some clubs work on volunteer basis pal.its not all about the $$$ .

[Unregistered]

Too many clubs. Too many money hungry DOC's and BOD's. I Just do not get why FYSA does not close down clubs that do not have enough teams. I.E. Tropical, Margate, Hollywood, Mako etc.

What I mean is have 3 clubs, 3 in Broward, 3 in Dade, 3 in Palm Beach. Then we would have
truly competitive tryouts, only the best would make it right? We have the most clubs anywhere and I read about all the "DOC's" making $75-100k a year from what? Our money?
lol

With the infusion now of FC Bescola, FC Bayern Munich, Tottenham, and the latest I am hearing and it is coming... yes Real Madrid! Not what was here and now at Pinecrest. The original "Real Madrid Academy", why would you go to play club or go to the "local DA's"?

One thing is 4 sure the landscape is going to change, and very quickly.

I get where you are going and agree for the most part but I think it is just more complicated than that. To get where you are talking about I think we have to change the concept of the club.

Currently, everyone with enough money can play "travel" soccer. So we end up with tons of mediocre teams traveling all over the place to play in tournaments. In South Florida anyway, there are enough average players to put several fairly equal teams together and play a meaningful season. This could be done at a more reasonable rate partially because you would eliminate unnecessary travel expenses but it can also be a "standard" club level and registration could be lower. You would have the opportunity to keep more players playing longer under this scenario because they wouldnt get pushed out like they do in the current system where coaches are always looking to bring in new players to make their team better. This would be run more like rec in that it would be about development. Under this approach a club could also pool resources since the main priority isnt to go win the Super Duper Showcase. The best trainers could work with all groups and not just one team. As players develop they would have the opportunity to try out for the next level.


Those kids who are more "elite" would compete in an entirely different division. This is where the number of teams should be limited as not to dilute the talent and they would need to travel more because there are fewer teams. The additional participation at the lower level could help fund the club as a whole so it may cost more than the lower division but not ridiculous.

And maybe there would need to be an additional layer but the point is to have players playing at their ability level and cut down on expenses by not making everyone think they are elite. This would also cut down on the number of clubs because it only works if the numbers are up. So you would have fewer, larger clubs.

Unfortunately it wont happen because everyone wants the glory for themselves. It's all about the money but its also all about the glory. If we were doing this for the kids we would create a program that benefits the kids more. We would find a way to make it more affordable and offer better opportunity for development, fun, and high level competition for those who are at that level. On the subject of paid DOC's, I guess I just dont get it. Some of the larges recreation sports programs in the country are run by volunteers. It doesnt take a paid person to direct coaches. Most of them dont actually institute a curriculum or philosophy anyway, they are merely recruiters. They are in sales more than soccer. I dont mind seeing a small stipend for quality coaches but dont see it as necessary either. We have just created a model where the best coaches are going where they can get paid. Wrong model.

[Unregistered]

I get where you are going and agree for the most part but I think it is just more complicated than that. To get where you are talking about I think we have to change the concept of the club.

Currently, everyone with enough money can play "travel" soccer. So we end up with tons of mediocre teams traveling all over the place to play in tournaments. In South Florida anyway, there are enough average players to put several fairly equal teams together and play a meaningful season. This could be done at a more reasonable rate partially because you would eliminate unnecessary travel expenses but it can also be a "standard" club level and registration could be lower. You would have the opportunity to keep more players playing longer under this scenario because they wouldnt get pushed out like they do in the current system where coaches are always looking to bring in new players to make their team better. This would be run more like rec in that it would be about development. Under this approach a club could also pool resources since the main priority isnt to go win the Super Duper Showcase. The best trainers could work with all groups and not just one team. As players develop they would have the opportunity to try out for the next level.


Those kids who are more "elite" would compete in an entirely different division. This is where the number of teams should be limited as not to dilute the talent and they would need to travel more because there are fewer teams. The additional participation at the lower level could help fund the club as a whole so it may cost more than the lower division but not ridiculous.

And maybe there would need to be an additional layer but the point is to have players playing at their ability level and cut down on expenses by not making everyone think they are elite. This would also cut down on the number of clubs because it only works if the numbers are up. So you would have fewer, larger clubs.

Unfortunately it wont happen because everyone wants the glory for themselves. It's all about the money but its also all about the glory. If we were doing this for the kids we would create a program that benefits the kids more. We would find a way to make it more affordable and offer better opportunity for development, fun, and high level competition for those who are at that level. On the subject of paid DOC's, I guess I just dont get it. Some of the larges recreation sports programs in the country are run by volunteers. It doesnt take a paid person to direct coaches. Most of them dont actually institute a curriculum or philosophy anyway, they are merely recruiters. They are in sales more than soccer. I dont mind seeing a small stipend for quality coaches but dont see it as necessary either. We have just created a model where the best coaches are going where they can get paid. Wrong model.

How would you make it more affordable and offer a better opportunity? By utilizing volunteers? Haven’t you seen all of the threads about Daddy coaches? We already have elite teams and elite leagues, thanks to elite parents. If it is truly about development then you have to allow kids to develop at different rates. The player who is one of the weaker players at U-12 may be one of the stronger players at U-14 and you do that by playing against better competition. They mature and develop at different times.
I don’t know about your DOC but ours earns his money. He’s out there 5-6 days/nights a week, dealing with crazy parents and working with our coaches. Which of the largest recreational organizations in the country do you know of that are run by unpaid volunteers? That may work for baseball and football, but it won’t work for soccer because the majority of the parents didn't grow up playing soccer and wouldn't know where to begin

[Unregistered]

How would you make it more affordable and offer a better opportunity? By utilizing volunteers? Haven’t you seen all of the threads about Daddy coaches? We already have elite teams and elite leagues, thanks to elite parents. If it is truly about development then you have to allow kids to develop at different rates. The player who is one of the weaker players at U-12 may be one of the stronger players at U-14 and you do that by playing against better competition. They mature and develop at different times.
I don’t know about your DOC but ours earns his money. He’s out there 5-6 days/nights a week, dealing with crazy parents and working with our coaches. Which of the largest recreational organizations in the country do you know of that are run by unpaid volunteers? That may work for baseball and football, but it won’t work for soccer because the majority of the parents didn't grow up playing soccer and wouldn't know where to begin

It wont work for soccer because we have created this artificial "need" for paid volunteers. You make it more affordable by eliminating unecessary expenses such as a DOC where one is not needed and unecessary travel to tournaments.

The point of what I am saying is the vast majority of players involved in clubs right now are not at a level where they need a DOC or many other expenses that exists. And running around listening to crazy parents is earning money? Come on. Its a scam. The parents volunteering in those sports you mention dont have a clue either but it works. A proper volunteer board of directors can set up a philosophy, rules, etc. And coaches are paid seemingly through registration fees but every team we have played on has coaches fees too? It's a model that we all fell for and no one is going to convince me it is necessary especially considering the level of play. Its about money.

There will never be enough quality coaches in any sport to make sure all kids get an opportunity to be trained by someone with knowledge if we dont start sharing resources and stop worrying about creating a great team. Since we have been involved in club soccer all we have ever heard was how great that team would have been if they could have kept those kids together or if they hadnt lost their coach etc. Good training and playing at a level that challenges the player is what makes them better. Playing better competition is a vague, meaningless statement. By having a wide variation in the level of play, those better teams are forced to play teams that do not challenge them. Counterproductive approach.

And yes, to have large numbers of kids involved you are going to have to live with daddy coaches and coaches that arent of the highest quality. But if you take your very qualified coaches and have them work with those teams, including the coaches, you have the opportunity to raise the level across the organization instead of one team. And by creating proper levels of play, you have the ability to retain more players longer which helps reduce the cost across the board.

Or you can go on thinking spending thousands of dollars a year to play a sport makes sense and find ways to justify it. It doesnt make sense but unfortunately we are trapped in a bad system.

[Unregistered]

It wont work for soccer because we have created this artificial "need" for paid volunteers. You make it more affordable by eliminating unecessary expenses such as a DOC where one is not needed and unecessary travel to tournaments.

The point of what I am saying is the vast majority of players involved in clubs right now are not at a level where they need a DOC or many other expenses that exists. And running around listening to crazy parents is earning money? Come on. Its a scam. The parents volunteering in those sports you mention dont have a clue either but it works. A proper volunteer board of directors can set up a philosophy, rules, etc. And coaches are paid seemingly through registration fees but every team we have played on has coaches fees too? It's a model that we all fell for and no one is going to convince me it is necessary especially considering the level of play. Its about money.

There will never be enough quality coaches in any sport to make sure all kids get an opportunity to be trained by someone with knowledge if we dont start sharing resources and stop worrying about creating a great team. Since we have been involved in club soccer all we have ever heard was how great that team would have been if they could have kept those kids together or if they hadnt lost their coach etc. Good training and playing at a level that challenges the player is what makes them better. Playing better competition is a vague, meaningless statement. By having a wide variation in the level of play, those better teams are forced to play teams that do not challenge them. Counterproductive approach.

And yes, to have large numbers of kids involved you are going to have to live with daddy coaches and coaches that arent of the highest quality. But if you take your very qualified coaches and have them work with those teams, including the coaches, you have the opportunity to raise the level across the organization instead of one team. And by creating proper levels of play, you have the ability to retain more players longer which helps reduce the cost across the board.

Or you can go on thinking spending thousands of dollars a year to play a sport makes sense and find ways to justify it. It doesnt make sense but unfortunately we are trapped in a bad system.

I guess there are probably more major differences in the way clubs operate across the state than I had assumed. We are a fairly large club, (30 travel teams) for a non-merged, one campus club, with a large rec program. Our fees range from $600 to $800 depending on the age and we have teams in PLE, FPL and FSL. The registration fees (club) pays the coaches’ salaries and there are no additional team fees paid to the coaches (you are not allowed to pay for additional individual training with your coach). Travel fees are separate and are paid by individuals depending on which tourneys a team attends. We have to travel more than most because of our location and each team does its own fundraising. Our team did enough fundraising last year so that no one paid any money out of pocket for tourney fees, coaches travel expenses, etc. If I were in a situation where I was paying thousands of dollars each year – then I would probably agree.
Playing better competition is hardly a vague, meaningless statement. You make that very point in your next sentence. Using your premise, a kid on the second or third team would never get off that team.

[Unregistered]

I guess there are probably more major differences in the way clubs operate across the state than I had assumed. We are a fairly large club, (30 travel teams) for a non-merged, one campus club, with a large rec program. Our fees range from $600 to $800 depending on the age and we have teams in PLE, FPL and FSL. The registration fees (club) pays the coaches’ salaries and there are no additional team fees paid to the coaches (you are not allowed to pay for additional individual training with your coach). Travel fees are separate and are paid by individuals depending on which tourneys a team attends. We have to travel more than most because of our location and each team does its own fundraising. Our team did enough fundraising last year so that no one paid any money out of pocket for tourney fees, coaches travel expenses, etc. If I were in a situation where I was paying thousands of dollars each year – then I would probably agree.
Playing better competition is hardly a vague, meaningless statement. You make that very point in your next sentence. Using your premise, a kid on the second or third team would never get off that team.

What you describe here sounds like what I envision it should be. It's not like that in South Florida at all. More like the wild west.

My comment about playing better competition was uncalled for but I think we actually see it the same. Competition should be challenging enough to push them to improved but also be on the field enough. When there is a big disparity between teams, one team gets the benefit of playing better competition and the other gets the opposite.Of course there needs to be enough teams at an age group and given level for this to happen. And as you mention, there needs to be a mechanism for players to move up.

I am probably in the minority but I think the ideal situation is for the rec and competitive programs to work together.

[Unregistered]

What the f*** happened to soccer being about having fun while building character?

[Unregistered]

It wont work for soccer because we have created this artificial "need" for paid volunteers. You make it more affordable by eliminating unecessary expenses such as a DOC where one is not needed and unecessary travel to tournaments.

The point of what I am saying is the vast majority of players involved in clubs right now are not at a level where they need a DOC or many other expenses that exists. And running around listening to crazy parents is earning money? Come on. Its a scam. The parents volunteering in those sports you mention dont have a clue either but it works. A proper volunteer board of directors can set up a philosophy, rules, etc. And coaches are paid seemingly through registration fees but every team we have played on has coaches fees too? It's a model that we all fell for and no one is going to convince me it is necessary especially considering the level of play. Its about money.

There will never be enough quality coaches in any sport to make sure all kids get an opportunity to be trained by someone with knowledge if we dont start sharing resources and stop worrying about creating a great team. Since we have been involved in club soccer all we have ever heard was how great that team would have been if they could have kept those kids together or if they hadnt lost their coach etc. Good training and playing at a level that challenges the player is what makes them better. Playing better competition is a vague, meaningless statement. By having a wide variation in the level of play, those better teams are forced to play teams that do not challenge them. Counterproductive approach.

And yes, to have large numbers of kids involved you are going to have to live with daddy coaches and coaches that arent of the highest quality. But if you take your very qualified coaches and have them work with those teams, including the coaches, you have the opportunity to raise the level across the organization instead of one team. And by creating proper levels of play, you have the ability to retain more players longer which helps reduce the cost across the board.

Or you can go on thinking spending thousands of dollars a year to play a sport makes sense and find ways to justify it. It doesnt make sense but unfortunately we are trapped in a bad system.

All DOC are making a ton of$$$$

[Unregistered]

How would you make it more affordable and offer a better opportunity? By utilizing volunteers? Haven’t you seen all of the threads about Daddy coaches? We already have elite teams and elite leagues, thanks to elite parents. If it is truly about development then you have to allow kids to develop at different rates. The player who is one of the weaker players at U-12 may be one of the stronger players at U-14 and you do that by playing against better competition. They mature and develop at different times.
I don’t know about your DOC but ours earns his money. He’s out there 5-6 days/nights a week, dealing with crazy parents and working with our coaches. Which of the largest recreational organizations in the country do you know of that are run by unpaid volunteers? That may work for baseball and football, but it won’t work for soccer because the majority of the parents didn't grow up playing soccer and wouldn't know where to begin

Daddy coaches. Who cares. John Elway's dad coached him (NFL Hall of Famer), Steve Alford's dad coached him (former NBA player and UCLA's basketball coach), Jeff Kent (former MLB player) coaches his kid in college. As long as the coach is experienced, good and fair, it doesn't matter. Too many of these no daddy coaches comments come from intimidated coaches who just say that there should be no daddy coaches.

Yes, there are bad daddy coaches, just like there's just bad coaches. Who won't want their son to be taught batting practice from Jeff Kent, how to play quarterback from John Elway, or how to be a goalie by Tim Howard. Right now, my daughter is being coached by a very good daddy coach, who I have no problem with. The alternative was a pain in the rear end coach who is slowly destroying the team. I just want a good coach, I could care less if he's a dad or not.

[Unregistered]

Daddy coaches. Who cares. John Elway's dad coached him (NFL Hall of Famer), Steve Alford's dad coached him (former NBA player and UCLA's basketball coach), Jeff Kent (former MLB player) coaches his kid in college. As long as the coach is experienced, good and fair, it doesn't matter. Too many of these no daddy coaches comments come from intimidated coaches who just say that there should be no daddy coaches.

Yes, there are bad daddy coaches, just like there's just bad coaches. Who won't want their son to be taught batting practice from Jeff Kent, how to play quarterback from John Elway, or how to be a goalie by Tim Howard. Right now, my daughter is being coached by a very good daddy coach, who I have no problem with. The alternative was a pain in the rear end coach who is slowly destroying the team. I just want a good coach, I could care less if he's a dad or not.

agree if a coach has a kid that plays on another team he's still a daddy coach

[Unregistered]

What the f*** happened to soccer being about having fun while building character?

Yep!!!