Soccer people just don't work together!!!

Having made a choice 2 years a go to start the transition from being a soccer coach to an Administrator has been a very difficult task. Starting a club like many of you know can be very challenging especially if you are not in an area where there is a soccer history. But, having said that, it seems to me that soccer clubs seem to be popping up every single day around the country. No longer are parents the ones starting these new clubs because soccer in America has evolved to the point where more former soccer players are getting involved with the nature of the business, therefore, it poses the question, can soccer coaches be business people?

Back in the 1980s when soccer really started taking off in America, we saw soccer coaches turned administrators who had the capability to develop soccer tournaments and clubs that generated a large amount of revenue. Due to the soccer coach's expertise and connections, he or she had the ability to work with many coaches around the world and their seemed to be one common goal in mind, help build soccer in America. Back in the 80s those coaches really did a great job by helping to set the groundwork of soccer in America and modern day coaches want to follow in the same step as their predecessors but many have been incapable of doing so because they just don't want to work together.

Having seen two sides of the soccer industry, one as a coach and the other as an Administrator, it is safe to say that very similar to how clicks are formed in high school, clicks are also formed in the soccer industry. In fact, it is safe to say that these same clicks are formed in other businesses, in the workplace, and even in family life. But to me, clicks have no room in the sport of soccer and the reason why these clicks happen is because soccer coaches and administrators have forgotten the reason why they got involved with soccer in the first place. They have forgotten that it isn't about business and making money for one's club as much as its about building and forming relationships across the country.

Last month I met with the President of a club in the Baltimore area and he told me straight to my face that he would not have returned my email and set up a meeting if our club were drawing players from the Baltimore area. This President had been a local soccer player for many years and still had aspirations to pursue soccer overseas, but his attitude proved more evidence as to why soccer people don't work together. Instead of him looking to build a relationship and partnership with me and my club, he decided that he wanted to take over many territories in and around the Washington-Baltimore area and expand into areas that he had no idea about. At the time I recommended to him that instead of thinking like the mouse from Pinky and the Brain, that he focused on forming partnerships with non-compete/stipulations. 

Anyhow this is just one of many examples of soccer coaches not wanting to work together. As a country we should put our egos aside and work towards a common goal to produce great youth soccer talent so that one day we can produce our country a World Cup. But this may never happen because everyone wants to take credit.

The forgotten Youth Soccer pupils: The parents

US Youth Soccer and the state associations worry so much about providing soccer licensing courses for paid coaches and parent coaches that they have totally forgotten about courses for the forgotten pupils on Saturdays and Sundays, the parents. Soccer parents are always receiving lame articles from their coaches and teams managers virtually telling them “what to do” and placing emphasis on not coaching their children from the sidelines, not getting into public confrontation with other parents, officials or coaches, getting their children to practice and games on time, praising their children when they do right and not focusing on their wrongdoings, and remembering that soccer is just a game. But, the parents wouldn't have to focus on the negatives of the five points previously stated if only they knew what the heck they were looking at. It is safe to say that 85% of U.S. youth soccer parents do not know much about soccer and during games there is no one to teach them, unless of course a parent on the sidelines who claims to have been a top youth player in England, a Fulham FC schoolboy, or have played for the Cameroonian National Football team, but, yet still don't know the basic soccer rules. Anyhow, I digress.

State Soccer Associations owe it to the parents to find a way to educate them. Soccer has become extremely competitive among youth and we have seen vast improvements among clubs. Yet, it is not the Technical Director or Director of Coaching’s job to teach the parents what to look for in a game of soccer and how they can be a better parent as their child develops a greater knowledge for the game. If the state associations offered classes for parents to help them to improve their understanding of soccer, this would lead to progress about the forgotten pupils in the club. Yet, the question remains who in the state’s associations are knowledgeable to teach the parents? Is the state willing to only charge $35 for a course and take the registrants out to soccer games that their kids aren’t participating in to teach them what to look for in a game? Do the parents even care, or would most prefer to complain about a coach or organization when their child isn’t getting much playing time, not developing as a player fast enough (because he doesn’t spend time with the ball on off-days), or when the team is losing?  

These questions remain unanswered but must be addressed. The soccer sidelines are getting a lot worse and it seems that parents are at their worse, screaming instructions, and making negative comments to their children between the ages of U-9 –U-15. Parents yelling from the sidelines has hurt player development and if the state’s really want to focus on player development then they must STOP, all of the negatives that affect player development. But yet they leave it up to the clubs to not only operate financially, develop the players, develop each individual team,  but also the clubs, and still turn around and teach their parents what to look for in soccer games and practices to encourage their children more positively. A club’s focus on player development and operating financially are the duties of the club, but, we can’t also provide parent education by pleasing, in a club of 250 players, nearly 500 parents. Its unmanageable and too tough. The associations want the clubs to leave it up to the parent manager to restore order to the sidelines, but, restoring order isn’t enough, education is what’s important. But, the associations must invest, but as long as most of them continue to operate as high profit earning small businesses, well, the parent will continue to be the forgotten pupil weekend in and weekend out.

Why the older youth coaches refuse to mentor the younger youth coaches

Ahhhh...fresh out of college, can't find a job, don't feel like or tired of working in a restaurant, where do you go to make a supplemental income? Coaching youth soccer. But, who is there to help you to get a youth coaching job? Your parents who told you how much you didn't do well in some of your youth soccer games growing up? No. Your former club? "Oh, no we only hire coaches worse than the Director". A former high school teammate who is now working with one of the top clubs in your area? No. Well, what about your former youth club coach? Absolutely not.

So, who do you turn too?

Everyone wants the opportunity to work with a high budget soccer club in their area and to earn $7,000 a season coaching youth soccer. But, unless you know less about soccer than the coach who brought you in, you can forget a career in youth soccer.

There has been many coaches who have been involved with youth soccer in America for 30-40 years with no intentions in leaving the sport as parents continue to dump thousands and thousands of dollars into their pockets every year. Are these veterans the best coaches for youth soccer in America? Questionable, but one thing is for sure, these coaches have found a way to make money from parents who produce generation after generation of youth soccer players in their communities, without any intention in teaching the younger coaches how to reach their business/coaching heights.

Most youth soccer coaches tend to follow the money no matter where it is even if that means leaving the Washington, DC area and moving to Seattle, Washington where there now seems to be an abundance of soccer supporters (Seattle Sounders's attendance was the highest in Major League Soccer @ 38,000 people) and tons of Director of Coaching opportunities available at high budget clubs. Many of these coaches who move from one state to the other, aren't interested in developing players, a club, or a community. As a young coach, I would love to learn various styles of soccer, however, everytime I reach out to a coach in my area he refuses to help for fear of me being better than him, the kids and parents liking me more, and taking business away from him. I have always believed that no matter what business or circle you are in, you must not be the smartest person because how else are you going to get better especially if the competition no longer meets your level of performance?

As North Americans we are probably considered the most open citizens in the world to various cultures, ethnicity, and beliefs, but when it comes to the youth soccer coaching business, no one seems to be open enough to help not even the State's Technical Directors, because they too feel threatened by one's youthfulness, knowledge, and different point of view. Young coaches in clubs with Directors of Coaching aren't helped neither, because in most clubs that are portrayed as high level, the DOCs tend to hold USSF "E" and "D" licenses. Due to their low licensing "status" they too feel threatened. When you ask these coaches what they are doing to improve their teams speed, agility, or technical skills, most will tell you "I don't want to give away my secrets [because I don't trust you]". Growing up playing youth soccer I always thought that every coached helped one another, but now as a Director of a club that I founded, I totally see that isn't the case. So, then who do you turn too? Coaches from other countries, LIVING in their countries! Off to Costa Rica to LEARN. 

Governing Body or Small Business: Who and What is Maryland State Youth Soccer Association?

I have spent the last three months contemplating whether or not to write this article. Being the director of a new Maryland State Youth Soccer Association (MSYSA) club member, I didn’t want to burn any bridges from the get go especially being the new kid on the block. I thought to myself that my club has the ability to reach the ranks of the Bethesda Soccer Club and the Baltimore Bays of the country, so if we stay persistent, consistent, and get things completed in a timely manner we can get there as well. Then the email came out from MSYSA explaining this new Project 100+ for players U-12 and I started questioning is MSYSA a governing body for the 160 clubs that it represents or is it mainly a small business?

I didn’t care too much for the fact that MSYSA sent an email out to market the new program because they have been sending information out to the soccer community since 1977 to promote the Olympic Development Program. But what I did care about was the fact that the email went directly to the 40+ kids/parents in our tiny little first year club. I found this out after receiving many phone calls from parents in the club asking if it would be a good idea for their children to tryout for the 100+ program. I told them sure just as long as it is free because you pay $13 a year to the state, first year clubs pay $187 times the amount of teams in their clubs and annually each club pays $187 - $250 to renew their membership if they have 0-20 teams. Each parent who inquired about the program made me aware that there was a $45 fee attached to the program and I told them that they should not do it because if the state really wants to showcase the best players then they would make all state managed programs free.

MSYSA was put in place to regulate the nearly 160 clubs in the state of Maryland and to ensure that rules and regulations are enforced to provide equal opportunities for all clubs, not to create business for profits. While several clubs get away with many dictator like rules for players such as not being able to play middle or high school during their club seasons, MSYSA turns a blind eye and focuses more on trying to make a dollar. Now do they have any justification as to why they have started the Project 100+ program? Is this program suppose to identify the best boys and girls players at the U-12 level, or is this just the beginning of addition of the U-12 age group under the already failed ODP system?  

The Association clearly doesn’t need the additional revenue earned from Project 100+. There are 60,000 children registered to play soccer in the state of Maryland of which each child pays $13 a year totaling $780,000 which is more than enough to operate the Association. Factor in the cost of $187 for small-sided U-9/U-12 teams and $250 for teams U-13 and up for any club with (1-20 teams) and the association brings in an estimated additional total of $35,000 a year from club teams and this number is on the low end. Add the $780,000 in player revenue, plus the cost of the Olympic Development Program and other business ventures (Maryland State Cup - which is now ran by the private tournament organization Elite Soccer Tournaments) and the state rakes in close to $1,000,000 of revenue annually to operate an office with 5 paid staff and 20 “volunteers” on the Executive Board.  If you noticed the word volunteers is in parenthesis because I find it interesting how Ray Greenberg, previously a MSYSA board member and now MSYSA President, current National Capital Soccer League (NCSL) President, and Board Member on Virginia Youth Soccer Association (VYSA) can be a volunteer for this many years. His daughter stopped playing youth soccer nearly 20 years ago. The same goes for Mike Baselio whose children also stopped playing soccer many years ago and has held onto the 1 team National Capital Soccer League's Fort Washington Soccer Club located in Prince George's County, MD for over 30 years. The conflicts of interest that many of these so called volunteers are apart of continues to make me believe that yes MSYSA is a small business that caters to the higher revenue earning clubs in the state: Potomac, Baltimore, Bethesda, Freestate, just to name a few. Why does Greenberg have three job titles of which all three are conflicting? How can one person be the President of MSYSA, then operate the most profitable boys soccer league in the area, in addition to being a member of the board of a competitor VYSA? 

Of course, Greenberg and Basileo aren’t the only two persons in the Association double and triple dipping in jobs that possesses state power for their organizations.  Representatives from Freestate, Baltimore, Frederick, and Bethesda all hold positions on the board and are labeled in someway shape or form "State Volunteers". Due to their positions they have and will continue to maintain and gain more power to ensure that their clubs stay on top. Sounds like the current state of the United States of America to me, the smaller clubs may need to consider "Occupy MSYSA".

The State of Maryland is quiet frankly a small business with no plans or expectations to focus on the development of soccer players in the state and this is because in their mind money comes before service. The politics at MSYSA are unbearable and unmanageable and it is a true reflection as to why the state has produced so little talent for the US Youth National teams over the last 12 years. The State started a Director of Coaching league two years ago to make more money for the Association, yet, the State's Technical Director Bill Stara has never visited any of the small grassroots clubs to explain the benefits and opportunities that the state has for the lower budget clubs and development. Still, the Director of Coaching League won't be any different to WAGS, NCSL, or any of the other recreational leagues that have manufactured recreational players over the past 20 years. Yet, the one business venture that is failing and they don't want to spend time fixing is identifying the best players to play in the Olympic Development Program system. ODP charges $1,500 per player for the season (April – June) and this fee does not include the Rider Cup tournament (Where every state meets and competes) or bus expenses. Still, the Association has the nerve to claim on their website that “[ODP] is a national identification and development program for high-level players.” At the cost of $1,500 there is going to be very few if any high level players chosen, and several pretentious and clueless parents who believe that they can pay their child’s way onto the national team. The ODP system promotes socio-economic segregation and US Youth Soccer and MSYSA must abandon it and stop developing business ventures because they aren’t good at it. If you want high level players make the ODP system free and pay a staff of coaches that aren’t affiliated with a club a stipend to handpick players and bring them into the program similar to the way that it is done in Europe. It really only costs $350 per player to operate an ODP season, let the parents pay their way to travel and lodge, each team will have a $7,000 operating budget to work with and no more than 20 of the BEST players in the state of Maryland will be chosen per age group. There shouldn't be an A and B team because the truth is the ODP system shouldn't be a money making venture like MSYSA and USYSA has made it. Only offer U-13, U-15, and U-17 boys and girls making it 6 teams, make it prestigious, and budget $42,000 to operate the program for 120 of the BEST boys and girls players in the state. Also choose the top coaches in the area even if an additional $18,000 must be added to bring the grand total to $60,000. Have each parent pay an additional $2 from the $13 paid annually, implement this plan and the United States would be a better soccer country. Yet, MSYSA isn't concerned with making the U.S. a better country for youth soccer players, rather, they are focused on being the richest Association in the country.

Talented players play for free all over the world except in America “talented ODP players” are asked to pay $1,500. Latin based programs such as Alianza de Futbol has been founded in order to counter the inept ODP system and having played in the system for two years in the 1990s, the MSYSA should be embarrassed. It just doesn’t make any sense to me why the Association continues to act like a business when it has all of the fees in place to operate and focus on the development of soccer players in the state. So my advice to MSYSA: Get the investors out of these new and old programs, stop operating as a business, and do what you are suppose to do as an Association and that is to provide an environment for Maryland based players where the United States is producing the best.

Who is to blame for the Washington DC region’s drought of US Youth National Team Players? The US Developmental Academy System!

“All of the Academy games that I have seen so far since the inception of the program in 2007 are just good NCSL Division 1 games, its really and truly nothing special,” says Myron Garnes, a 18 year youth soccer coach in the Washington, DC Metropolitan region.

In 1998, the class of 2000 which so happens to be the same class that current US Men’s National Team members Oguchi Oneywu and Kyle Beckerman starred, produced many high quality National Capital Soccer League Division 1 players which made the competition extremely competitive.  In the late 1990s, teams such as Gunston Team America, Columbia United, Columbia Santos, Potomac FC, Braddock Road Warhawks, just to name a few produced players that went on to play for the MD State ODP, Region 1, US Men's National Team, and several European Clubs . In addition to Onyewu and Beckerman, the class of 2000 produced Abe Thompson and Alex Yi who also went on to represent Youth National teams. There were other excellent players who came through the DC metropolitan area: Marcus Johnson, Chris Pitt, Louis Lazar, who all played MD ODP (when it meant something) and Region 1.

The development of players in the early to late 1990s were far better than the development of players in the 2000s because regardless of how good a team was, like Potomac FC in 1997, featuring Beckerman, Yi, and Onyewu, they still had to bring their “A” game.  In the 1997 Maryland State Cup, the Columbia Santos beat Potomac Football Club despite FC featuring three U-17 national team members. The skill of the players in the 1990s were a true reflection of the Maryland soccer club system because it was the turn of the century that helped to place counties like Howard and Fairfax on the map for the huge influx of players that they would gain in the early 2000s. But now it’s sad to say that despite the increase of volume in children playing soccer, the quality of skill has diminished and the Academy was put in place to change that, but it hasn’t.

The US Developmental Academy was supposed to develop players from the age of fourteen to play professionally, but that necessarily hasn’t happened. Since the Academy system came into existence nearly 5 years ago, the DC United Academy system has only produced four professional players. Or did they? Well let’s look at the current players on the DC United Professional team, Bill Hamid, Andy Najar, Ethan White, and Connor Shanosky. Hamid spent seven years with the Premier Athletics Club in Virginia since the age 10, Najar played most of his youth career in Honduras, Shanosky is no longer in the MLS, and White played in local Montgomery County clubs before joining DC United’s U-18 Academy and playing 1 year at the University of Maryland. So, in five years, no DC United player has fully come through the system from U-14 to play professionally, but, most importantly, there is no DC United Academy player currently representing any US Youth Nationals teams at U-18 and under.

So what purpose does the Academy serve? The term Academy means “Excellence” and although I have the utmost respect for the DC United Academy coaches I must question whether they are truly nurturing these players for future success since there are currently no Academy players representing the US Youth National team pool under the age of 18?  

In the 1990s there was no Academy Developmental System, yet Beckerman, Onyewu, Thompson, and Yi all shined on the U-17 US Youth National Team, who finished in 4^th place, the best finish for the U.S. in a U-17 World Cup, and for that matter the best finish at any World Cup on any level for the Men’s side. Academies such as Potomac, McLean, Baltimore Bays, and DC United are all suppose to prepare players for professional careers. They are suppose to have the best and most quality coaching staff in place to nurture players, which I may add is a special type of work in which coaches must get through to the players and appeal to each individual player mentally, physically, technically, and tactically. These four pillars are in place to ensure that the player has the confidence and drive to play at the professional level and on the US Men’s National Team. But the Academies have settled for helping players to solely play College Soccer and if this is the case, why does Potomac, McLean, Baltimore, and DC United have academies? The Academies have encouraged players to become disloyal to their clubs, and most academies have discouraged players from playing High School soccer although it clearly states in their US Soccer Academy registration form that, “Development Academy players are not permitted to participate on any teams other than their Academy team during the Academy season. Participation on other club teams, other age groups within the club, ODP, Regional ODP and any other teams is not permitted. The only two exceptions are National Team duty and the players’ High School teams”.

So here is what I believe the Academy system serves: to win games at all cost, parents pay double the cost of club teams, not too much player development, and they look good when 1 out of every 500 players who come through the system makes it as a professional. The crazy thing is pro-Academy critics would plead the case that players shouldn’t be in the developmental stage at U-15, which is total non-sense because players never stop developing even if they are professionals. To be honest, I believe that the Academies were implemented to provide ex-professional players with jobs, yet just because they may have been a good player in Major League Soccer, it doesn’t mean that they can develop players to play professionally in the United States and beyond.  Parents pay even more money than club soccer for their children to become members of the Academy and they spend thousands of dollars annually for victories and false exposure to professional teams with no emphasis on development. Players in the Washington, DC region aren’t being nurtured in the Academy program because there is no coach or trainer in the Academy capable of developing players. Most directors of these Academies have a history of only coaching players 16-18 years old with talent, they use these players to win games, pass them onto college and do the same thing next year. They aren’t developers because they aren’t told that is what their job must be, therefore, they can’t teach the other coaches in their “Academies” how to be developers for the younger ages. DC United now wants to start their “Academy” teams at U-12 and possibly as young as U-9, but, the coaches just aren’t capable of developing players becomes they don't have the ability to bond with a player and nurture them.

The players in the 1990s were nurtured because they were around coaches who played soccer at the highest level. Beckerman, Yi, Thompson, and Oneywu all started out playing soccer with grassroots coaches who developed them, but in the later years the same coaches who are directing these current Academies took all of the credit and used these players to look good. In the 1990s many youth players in the DC area competed at higher levels, they played overseas more often, played for top Division 1 colleges, and for many United Soccer League teams. As of today, there are zero Academy players on the U-18 US Men’s National Team, zero Academy players represented the U-17 team in the World Cup this past summer, and only one player from the area represents the Boys U-15 US Youth National team from the Bethesda Soccer Club, who isn’t an Academy club.

So, is the DC metropolitan region in a drought when coming to producing youth players for the US Youth National teams and who is to blame? The Academy system! In the 1990s there were so many great players who played on the US National team from the DC region by solely playing in grassroots programs. But, the Academies have crushed the grassroots clubs and although it states in their application, “Academy clubs have a responsibility to establish relationships with surrounding clubs at the grass roots level to ensure that the proper environment is created for the maximum number of players at the 6-10 and 10-14 year ages,”  they haven’t done so. I am still yet to see any Academy coach travel and visit my club or any other another club for that matter and present to the players their philosophies and what is being offered at the Academy level. The Academy coaches receive special deeds and special training, yet, US Soccer continues to give coaches in grassroots programs mediocre licensing manuals and tests, that I, having played Division 1 College Soccer can pass with my eyes closed.

As a region, we have a very long way to go if we are going to return to producing the excellent players of 1990s. US Soccer grants Academies programs but there aren’t many requirements needed to join, yet they restrict the DC area to only 5 Academies, so there is one more club out there who can become a member of the gang of 4 and monopolize youth soccer by crushing the grassroots clubs. Sounds like the U.S. Banking system to me. If I had it my way Potomac, Baltimore, and McLean would all be stripped of their Academy status. Why? Because the definition of Academy means excellence and academies (like in Europe) were only meant for clubs with professional teams and last I checked DC United was the only club with a professional team. So, what is the purpose of the other 3 clubs having Academies? Could it be to monopolize youth soccer and siphon all of the better players to the Academies? Well, that seems to be what is happening and if the region continues to travel down this road, players from the smaller clubs won’t have a chance to play soccer at the highest level like Beckerman, Onyewu, Yi, and Thompson. Players won’t even be able to play at a Division 1 University.