pa west august 2004 - PA West Soccer Association

August 2004 Page 19
WE’RE ALL IN THIS
TOGETHER
There’s a brochure available from US Youth Soccer
titled “We’re All In This Together” and it highlights the fact
that players, parents, coaches and referees must all work
together to provide our kids with a game. The brochure
emphasizes providing our players with a good playing
experience.
But “we’re all in this together” goes beyond coaches,
Tim
McCoy
Director of
Member
Services
parents and referees working together with good sideline behavior, quality refereeing,
first-rate coaching and all the other trappings of playing the game. The administrators
and governing organizations from the various realms of the game are “in
it together” as well.
At the conclusion of the second weekend of the Chevy Open I was talking to a
long-time soccer enthusiast who’s been involved in the game for years. His experience
has been at levels from youth to the pros and everything in between.
During our conversation, he offered a bit of insight that was telling and crucial
to soccer’s growth and at some levels existence. He shared that soccer is too fragmented
in western Pennsylvania, not to mention the United States. There are too
many levels and organizations looking out for themselves and not the game. He
cited opportunities missed because those involved were more worried about their
own organization than the bigger picture.
Ego plays a big part in these missed opportunities; personal beliefs and goals
have clouded viewpoints. But there are other reasons for the fragmentation,
including poor leadership, lack of vision, and failure to plan. And the document
that governs the United States plays more than a small role in our fragmentation.
Before all you patriots get too upset, I’ll explain how our Constitution plays a
role here. Through our country’s governance, the US Soccer Federation isn’t the
end-all, be-all of soccer that it would be in other countries. Unlike England, where
the FA decides all things soccer, US Soccer cannot govern with the single purpose
of what’s best for the sport, but must accommodate any organization interested in
affiliating or associating with it. USSF answers to the US Olympic Committee in
accordance with their guidelines and the US Constitution.
Giving everyone equal rights is great when it comes to jobs, voting, serving in
the military and the essentials of living our lives, but when we’re talking about a
game, having to accommodate too many special interests makes it very difficult to
focus on game.
All too often, I get phone calls or emails from a person or group interested in
forming a club. The purpose for forming the club isn’t because there’s a need, so
much as it’s a desire. The person or persons involved usually has a level of dissatisfaction
with their current club. Fortunately, our regular clubs must have geographic
boundaries and our Constitution and Bylaws currently prohibits more than
one club in the same geographic boundary. But in the case of classic organizations,
because we can’t discriminate, a newly formed club that meets our criteria for
membership, should be accepted. In the “old” days, dissatisfaction among the
membership would have prompted changes in leadership, but today, it’s easier to
leave and form a new club. This “waters down” the teams and league competition.
This same dance occurs at the Federation. A group of individuals or clubs can
decide to form a new organization… their goals might be diametrically opposed to
the mission of USSF, but if they meet the membership requirement they have to be
accepted. Even if they’re only forming their organization for the purpose of cashing
in on the boom in youth sports their affiliation must be accepted.
So where do we start? We have to look toward building bridges and fostering
good relationships. From the local level of clubs working together, to the state
level with those at odds with one another deciding to work together instead of
against one another. We also have to work more closely with our pro teams and
our national organizations.
Locally, I think we have to realistically look at our current structure and decide
whether it is in need of an overhaul or minor changes. Our Restructuring and
Reorganization Committee is currently working on this project and the results
should be out soon.
Youth sports have evolved into big business and our association has to recognize
this, not just those individuals sitting on the various boards and committees, but
also our club leaders. What does this mean? We have to understand that kids and
their parents are no longer just looking for a place to play; they’re buying a service
and they expect it to meet their expectations. They have greater expectations,
more sophisticated needs; they want to belong to a club that provides not just a
game, but a learning environment that goes beyond just kicking a ball.
This could mean a competitive environment for the clubs. The clubs with the
best training programs attract more players, better players, and continue to grow.
Those clubs resting on their laurels or unwilling to work to meet the demands of
the soccer marketplace will be left behind. It might mean clubs working together
to offer teams for Division 1, while keeping their own Division 2 or 3 team(s). It
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might also mean smaller clubs merging to create bigger
clubs that will have a membership enabling the club to create
teams in more than one level per age group.
I’ve written before about clubs helping each other and
how each level can only be as good as the level below
them. At the club levels this would be a great way to start.
Imagine neighboring clubs putting aside their school or
geographic rivalry to help each improve, one’s referee
numbers and quality increases while the other learns more
about volunteer recruitment. Maybe a classic club would
help improve the coaching and player development programs in a regular club.
This cooperation helps grow the game.
The growth is beyond the basic elements that each helps the other address.
There’s a relationship built that can be drawn upon in the future. Maybe a joint
effort on fields or a combined purchasing agreement will be the next collective
effort. It also helps each club increase its potential for fulfilling the needs and
expectations of their members.
My friend also shared that due to ego, protecting turf, or just an unwillingness
or inability to see beyond the needs of the organization, soccer as a whole suffers
because cooperation doesn’t exist as it should.
I attended a coaching seminar conducted by US Youth Soccer Assistant Director
of Coaching Sam Snow and he offered that change can be done from within or
without a club. Usually, change from within is more effective and less upsetting,
while change from the outside is destructive and usually means the benefits won’t
be good, especially in the short term.
I think it was about this time last year I pointed out that PA West Soccer was
beginning to make nice strides forward! We had dramatically increased the number
of players involved in the Region 1 ODP pools to 16.
I opined that it was because of the efforts our Coaching and Player Development
programs were making. We had started a number of programs offered by PA West
Soccer and encouraged our clubs to become more involved in developing players
and coaches. In reflecting upon that article, I realize now what I failed to recognize
then, that while PA West Soccer was showing improvement, other portions of
our game weren’t benefiting from our good fortune.
While we were beginning to show growth, the Riverhounds were on final
approach for a move down from the A-League. The team was achieving great success
on the field under Ricardo Irribarren but attendance figures didn’t reflect the
on-field success and couldn’t support a budget for the A-League, so this year
they’ve moved down to the Pro Soccer League. The two organizations failed to
develop a plan to help each other grow the game. We needed to develop a plan
beyond trying to entice fans to attend a game or two, but something meaningful
that would prove we’re in it together.
You’ve heard the mantra, “a successful pro team gives kids role models to imitate
and team for which a child can strive to play.” But having pro soccer in your
community goes beyond an occasional night out, it indicates the sport has some
legs in your area. The media and government has to pay attention to what the soccer
community is doing. It also gives the game a multi-pronged attack when seeking
support for programs and projects. There’s strength in numbers, especially
when dealing with politicians.
It’s not an accident that the Pittsburgh Penguins are having more trouble getting
public money for a new arena than the Pirates or Steelers did. How many kids play
hockey compared to baseball or football? While the public coffers are empty, if
roles had been reversed and either the Pirates or Steelers were currently looking for
support for a new facility every politician would be looking for proverbial nickels
in their office couch because the numbers have it. Soccer needs to use its strength
of numbers to its advantage.
Only basketball ranks ahead of soccer among participation for team sports
according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association. This gives our sport
tremendous strength whether your club is negotiating field time with a school or
trying to get a grant for field improvement or development from politicians. But
if our pro team goes away the sport’s presence is diminished.
At the national level there’s also problems because USSF has been unable to get
all its affiliates to “buy into” its plan for the game. Those involved each believe
they have a better plan to achieve the same goal. There’s usually more than one
way to do a job, but when all parts are pulling in different directions the job won’t
be finished as effectively or efficiently.
If we’re fractionalized…we’re not as strong. We can’t develop players or teams
like we should; the entire sport suffers. We can’t help the game achieve the status
it should. We must find ways to set our differences aside and pull together. We
have to ask questions of our leaders, from club to USSF, how do we all get on the
same page? What are our needs and how do we address them? Is any one program
more important than another? What’s our plan for our club, for our state, for our
national organizations and do these plans all have common goals? Everyone working
for the same goal is the only option because we’re all in this together.