For the average family they don't even know there has been a shake up. they bring their kid to practice and games and that won't change. The rec league is pretty large and turning a pretty healthy profit. I've looked at the books. The only way to make more money is to extend the hours (they won't), build more fields (they can't), or charge more (they will), expend less (i think that is responsible for the lower quality in refs).

I expect the new guy to start a new club system, but i don't think he'll have enough time to do it before this year's competition starts. The season runs from Aug/Sept through May so he'd have a hard time getting tryout information disseminated fast enough. You never know though.

Our club team will exist as an outdoor entity only now. We already had lease agreements for outdoor fields and we'll keep using those. The club program isn't profitable enough for anyone to make a living on it yet, but it is self sustaining. In the last 24 hours it has been decided to launch spring and fall outdoor rec leagues as well. That should bring us another 500 kids registered during the year. That will bring in more money and grow the club significantly.

I, and a few others, are in the process of signing sponsorship agreements which will help the club with short term finances as well give me a little more business exposure.

Where there is a will there is a way. The phone calls and text messages have changed from panic and confusion to statements that whereever I land, the kids will follow. I've tied my anchor to the program we've built over the last four years. I will continue to coach and participate there. The only thing that is really questionable is if I still have any place at the old complex. We'll see. I don't want to burn bridges because it is the only really good adult program close by.

Dude, You either must really really love coaching and soccer to put up with all that BS or else you are a masochist.

My blood pressure is up just reading that shit.

Met and spoke with most members of our informal core group of supporters last night. The general consensus is that anyone who was tied, even marginally, to the old club program is being ushered out the door, not be the investor/owner, but by the new GM who has dreams of starting a new club program. He obviously didn't believe he could recruit any of us (which is stupid) and wants all new bodies in there to recruit club kids for. Stupid stupid stupid.

Our program officially announced the new rec program which will start in the fall. Our club/competitive program is already in full swing. Non compete agreements prevent the former president from being a part of any new building/complex, but it has no impact on anyone else. Inquiries have come to us about interest as there are two investors who are interested in building a new complex if we will bring it all together. We've decided to investigate that but I won't do too much unless I've got some skin in the game. I will not help build another successful organization and see it yanked away by an investor who stayed at arm's length.

We shall see.

So, just recruit all new people with the snap of his fingers, will he? Hmmm... Seems like there might be a finite number of capable and motivated people within a geographic area?

Not if you stroke the parent's ego and tell them their kid is ready for club level competition. Parents want to believe it so it isn't hard to get them going. He has already shown that the kids aren't his primary concern, so what if they aren't ready as long as he gets $$$?

I meant a whole new staff of coaches etc.

Wouldn't all parties interested in that position, within a given area, already be doing it, i.e. the guys he's firing?

As much as I'd like to believe so, the truth is no. There are a handful of guys that have blown out of there over the last couple of years over differences in philosophy. Some of them have popped back up recently so I would expect them to step in. Some coaches might move over from other clubs. Some dads will step up and coach their kids' teams. He'd be able to get the rec league pulled together very quickly.

The club program is a different case, but it wouldn't be that hard either. He would serve as director and get some of his better rec coaches to work as assistants. A couple coaches that are with our program now might be swayed if they saw better income, responsibility, etc. He'd get college kids as interns to work as trainers. Without judging quality, the actual job of getting people really isn't that hard. Getting loyal people though? Very difficult. You have to remember that for a lot of these men and women coaching is their job not necessarily a passionate hobby.

In all honesty with $3,000,000 in backing (which is what he has right now) I have absolutely no doubt that I could turn our current club into the premier club in the state. He should have no problem putting a new one together that will be competitive within just a couple years.

The whole thing should be strictly non-profit, volunteer work. Involving children in a business that way seems obscene. The word exploitation comes to mind.

I don't mind it being a for profit organization (although ours is a non-profit) if the kids are put first. Professional coaching can be viewed as a product if it isn't your passion.

Most rec programs are volunteer. Some are done well, some aren't. Quality control can be maintained better if the coaches are paid though. Not that they are paid much, just that they get something. Strangely enough, it is easier to dismiss someone you are paying than it is to dismiss a volunteer.

If someone is looking to "make money" I think that this is the wrong business for them. Of course, it's a product that people want, so it's inevitable that the market will treat it as a way to make money.

I'll disagree there. I have a career that takes care of my needs. While it's a job I enjoy, it doesn't fill me with passion. I'm cool with that because I'm a work to play kind of guy. Some people need to be passionate about their jobs and they are willing to earn less money in exchange for that. Coaching club soccer will make no one rich. Most of the coaches make less than $2000/year. A couple make $5-10,000. When the club is successful in full swing the top guys might make $50-70K but that is about it. Unless they are coaching for a large school or university it isn't a path to riches. But some coaches put a lot of time and effort into the job and they should be compensated otherwise they may not be able to do so.

example: I don't accept pay because of my licenses, but the coaches who coach at the level I do at the lowest base pay earn $250-400 every 10 weeks for that. 5 sessions per year = $2000 at the high end. If they coach 5 teams at a time that is $10,000/year. If they do private coach at $30/hr they might pull in a couple thousand more, but they certainly aren't getting rich. Most guys who are trying to live off it are either full time staff at a large club or work for a school as well. These guys are doing it for love of the game and kids.

Let's look at a breakdown of the costs:

A kid who is on the club team from Aug until May will pay $825 in training fees. That will give them 3.5 hours practice per week and at least one game every weekend. They will also pay $400 for state registration and uniform costs (no profit there). They will also pay tournament costs (divided amongst players with no padding for profit).

On a team with 10 kids count on at least one of them receiving a fee scholarship, so let's count just 9 paying kids to bring us to $7,425. If the club has 20 teams in operaton then you've got $148,500 in training fee income during the year. Sounds great.

Then you subtract:
Field rental agreements. Last night we had 6 teams practicing on one field for 2 hours at $130/hour. That means to practice all 20 teams for 3.5 hours each week we need 10.5 hours of field time for a weekly cost of $1365. Figure 40 weeks for a total of $54K+

League fees: They have games each week where you have to pay the refs $10 x 2, plus the league for the field and admin average of $40 per game. So $60 x 20 games = $1200 per week x 40 weeks = $48,000

Equipment costs: Balls = avg $4.50, Nets $50, cones $10 for 10, etc. So if we say $15 in equipment for each kid during the year that is another $3000 conservatively.

Just those areas run out to a little over $100K before we get to advertising, insurance, wages, etc.

It really isn't going to make anyone rich in the short term. A club director could do well if committed and willing to work hard enough to build a club of 50-70 teams but that really is a lot of work that takes them away from the kids so most guys never go that far.

Just a little peak behind the curtain.

When I said "make money" I didn't mean $2000.

I meant, dream about huge piles of cash that you will be making by firing everybody that actually cares about doing something right, then hiring a bunch of career douchebags, and scamming unsuspecting parents into signing up; so that the kids (the reason for the whole thing?) get a raw deal--a coach that doesn't give a rat's ass about them.

I gotta say though, $1500-$7000 per year per kid? That blows my mind. The little local soccer team my friend's kid did was like $60, and that included the uniform and a cheesy little trophy for everyone at the end of the season.

That's a rec program clodfobble. Our rec program was $89 but it was on an indoor a/c field so worth the extra cost to most parents. That's what 90% of the kids who play will do and that's as it should be. Learn the basics, play some games, have some fun, get a trophy and on to the next round.

Club soccer is whole step up. Kids who go through the club system usually end up with college scholarships and some move on to the pros.

Think about the difference between all the little girls who went to gymnastics practice every week and learned to do some flips, vs the girls we'll be watching at the olympics in a couple weeks. They went to a gymnastics club program and spent a lot more time, money, and effort to get there.

Oh okay, I thought you were saying your rec program was the $1500 end of that spectrum, while the club was the $7000.

No, all in -5 ten week sessions of rec - would be under $450 annually.

The range given for the club programs are a range for different programs. We're at the lower end of average because we've been able to keep our field costs down up to this point and because of a couple well timed sponsorship agreements. A cross town club which has been around for abour 10-12 years longer advertises their professional coaching staff resumes with some... padding shall we say? They guarantee that any player who goes all the way through will get a college scholarship or a pro offer or they'll return their tuition. It is a pretty empty promise considering just about anyone who goes through 10-12 years of club training would be getting offers anyway, but that type of thing allows them to charge in that upper range. They probably have 700 kids running through their program each year at an average of $4000 so they have a pretty healthy profit margin in there.

Blimey O'Reilly!
I know parents who are serious about their children's sporting prowess spend money on it, but £2000 a year?! Whew! I thought only the horsing set had to spend above £1000 (and they spend well above!)

Still, money well spent compared to TVs in rooms, McDonalds, designer outfits etc...

The difference between the US and European soccer club organization is that your clubs don't really charge the kids to make money. They train kids in development or elite programs. The kids play and some go on to be great. They either work their way up to the first team or are sold to another team generating a tidy sum for the club to keep on doing business with.

In the US clubs don't own player rights in any way. Parents pay for training, players come and go as they please. If they become great they go play for whoever wants them with no compensation to the club.

Kids' sports cost a lot over here Sundae. But they're also much more a way of life. Soccer is one of the cheap ones.

As is swimming.

But a low-level non-profit swim team will still cost at least $800/child/year and that doesn't include equipment and competition fees. Equipment's not bad compared to other sports (but more than you'd think...) and comp fees are $3/race, maybe 5 races per meet, meets maybe twice a month. And then hotel bills for state comps....

Now if you want to get expensive, try travel hockey (Ice hockey). And Figure skating. Ouch.

Forgot to update after last week.

I was handed two new kids 5 minutes before the game because my team has been short players ever since the session started. Apparently it irritated someone that I was using a "ringer" from another team so we'd have enough to play. Nevermind that the ringer is the 5 year old cousin (with very limited skills)
of one of my players.

Anyway, we played the game. It was pretty uneventful. The teamwork has really broken down because we don't have the same players from week to week but they're still having fun. Except for Lil Lookout. He asked before the game how well he has to do so he can move up to the next age group after this session. I told him that he had to play like he belonged with the older kids and work hard even when he wasn't in the mood.

He scored a first half hattrick for his club team. Then he turned around and scored a hattrick for another club team that was short players right after his game. Then he turned around scored 6 in his rec league game. So 12 points scored in almost 3 hours of soccer in one morning. It looked like he was having fun.

The best moment of the whole morning wasn't a goal, but an awesome passing move he and J pulled off. LL was playing out on the left wing when he received the ball about 10 yards from the goal. He had already scored twice from there so the defenders charged at him and the keeper moved to that side of the box. Lil Lookout started to dribble really slow but wasn't doing much. At the same time J started sprinting down the right side where noone was paying any attention to him. LL stayed calm and let the defenders get right to him before he split the two defenders with a perfectly weighted pass that caught J in stride. J just stuck his foot out and let the ball bounce into the far side of the net before the keeper even realized what was happening. Awesome awesome play.

And those are the moments that make football as good as it is.
Well done LL, and well done you.

When I started this thread I chose the title as a nod to star wars, episode three as this was my third soccer thread. it turns out the name was appropriate.

Today I officially announced that I will not be coaching rec league after this session is over. We have three more weeks left and then, fini.

When I saw the lineup for last saturday's game I knew it would be a cakewalk for my kids. I had all my kids back from vacation and the team we were playing had only scored 4 points in 6 games. They had a points for/against differential of 68. Their coach changed 2 weeks into the session and their strongest player hasn't been back since. My concern going into the game was how to keep my kids challenged and having fun without running all over the other team.

When we arrived and started warming up I realized they only had four players to my ten (I picked up a player's younger cousin somewhere along the line). Easy solution to the day's worries. I talked to the other coach who was really stressed out. The new director had jumped her butt about the importance of her team winning today. She's a good young coach and really cares about the kids. She knew it was an impossible task and pushing the kids harder wouldn't make them more likely to win, but it would certainly make the loss harder on their feelings. She asked me not to run up the score, something I had no intention of doing anyway. I offered her 3 of my players to even the teams out and she gladly accepted. I have learned not to lend Lil Lookout to other teams or our relationship is strained for the next several days and B, his friend and second best player on the team beat the crap out of eachother if they play against the other. So I gave her my 3 next best players and we started the game.

The game was never in doubt because my kids really do work well as a unit, but the game was fun and relatively close until the end. We were winning 5-3 with about 5 minutes left when something changed in the other team and my kids just started splitting them open with passes and tapping the ball in the goal. LL and B each had 2 left foot tapins and an assist in the last 5 minutes. S and S, two kids that rarely score got one each. All said and done the score was 11-4. Their kids were happy because they scored. Our kids were happy because they played and won. The other coach was happy because her players didn't give up before the game was over like they had in previous weeks. I was happy because, although the score jumped at the end, we didn't run all over them for an hour straight.

The director, of course, wasn't happy and he made some snide remarks about overly competitive coaches winning at all costs. He went on to explain that the complex will lose money because parents will not keep paying for their kids to play on losing teams. My first thought was, "you know only half the teams can be winning teams each week, right?" Grrr.

Last night was practice as usual. I was the only one of 4 coaches who showed up for a variety of reasons, so I coached all 4 teams. It was pretty frustrating because there were kids who literally didn't know which part of the foot to hit the ball with. I'm not talking about poor execution due to differences in coordination and skill level, I'm talking about they had never been told the right way to hit the ball. That's wrong. After 8 weeks of practice and 7 games there is no excuse for any of the kids to have not been properly instructed on the basics. I know all kids learn at different rates, but you have to tell them and show them if you want them to learn. They have to learn if you want them to win. They have to win some if you want them to enjoy the game. They have to enjoy the game if you want them to come back. They have to come back if you want more money. Does no one understand this very simple relationship between cause and effect? If the main concern for the director is money, he'd better figure out the steps to get that money. Even if the kids are (wrongly, IMO) not the primary focus the steps are still the same.

I got a phone call this morning asking what the devil I did that caused a number of parents to call the director demanding their kids be moved to my team. Uhhhhh, I coached them in a way that let them have fun, learn, and still let us all go home with smiles on our faces??? *BUZZZZ* Wrong! I obviously did something to convince the best players' parents to move to my team. I sat quietly listening as the director questioned my motives. Then my ethics. I unwisely laughed when he pointed out that my teams only win because I get the best players to move over. Then he questioned my commitment to the club. I calmly and quite reasonably, IMO, informed him that my loyalties are to people not buildings. I let him know that my loyalty and commitment is to the kids, not to his ego, his job, his paycheck. The fact that I can contribute to each of those at the same time is great but not really my concern. I reminded him that just two weeks ago he hosed over 120 kids in a one-sided feud with the former director and my kid and his friends were amongst those 120, so he shouldn't start talking to me about loyalty at this point. He backed off.

Then he called back to let me know he was faxing over my new coaching curriculum. I got it and it is such basic, pointless crap that I would have a hard time keeping my kids awake let alone interested. I was teaching this stuff to 4 year olds a few years ago. He pointed out that he was licensed higher than I am so he obviously knows far more than I do. His methods would bring the scorelines closer together on saturdays. He didn't have an answer when I asked if it would be bringing every team's score up, or just mine down. Fair enough.

In the end I let him know I'd finish out this session, but it was time for me to quit coaching in that program. He got the final word in by telling me he was going to be letting me go after the session ended anyway. :rolleyes:

So after this session I will no longer be coaching rec at all. I will be coaching the club program though so I'll still get my fix. I will, however, miss teaching new kids about the game.

SO sorry Lookout.
Arseholes.

"Follow your bliss." If it means starting your own rec program, launch yourself at that challenge. I'll throw another cliche at you: "If you build it, they will come."

There's going to be a gaping hole in the "market" when that program tanks once parents realize what this idiot has done to that program. If you think you can and want to fulfil that need, good luck to you -I'm sure you can do it, but I'm also sure there will be some nastiness along the way. He doesn't sound like one to admit the error of his ways and mend fences. It will be worth it, though. Good luck with whatever you decide.

It's all good. Our club program is thriving and we already have a rec program in the works. Without a complex we are an outdoor only organization using rented fields. That is what most soccer clubs in the country have so it isn't bad, we were just spoiled. there is already talk of a new indoor complex in the permit phase about ten minutes from the old place, so you just never no.

The new director requires coaches to have parent meetings (as if I didn't talk to my parents anyway) so I'll let them all know that this will be my last session. Most of them know what I'm doing already so word of mouth will do what it does. I expect the fall soccer program at the indoor facility to be pretty sparse. It is every year as parents move their kids outdoor for a taste of something different. The new director hasn't been around long enough to know that we really had to work some magic to keep the fall program going strong... so it should be a lesson for him as all of us that used to keep it going are also moved outside.

whatever, it's just a game.;)

Sounds like a bunch of people playing a number of games. :smack:
Methinks I like yours the bestest.

The season is winding down and the end can't come soon enough. The director decided that one of the glorious changes he was making was to quit throwing money away. Makes sense, right? Except that he views any saturday without games as a $6000 loss. nevermind that the Saturday is smack dab in the middle of a 4 day weekend and we traditionally host a drop in tournament on that day. Pretty much every game in every age group was a forfeit.

Our team had the seven required players so we were good to go. The other team borrowed a couple players and we were off to the races. The coach for the other team was my new BFF, mister "i have a tiny penis so I'll make up for with hypercompetitiveness". The teams were pretty equal for the first 15-20 minutes. Lil Lookout and B were moving and passing well. The defense was solid and the rest existed peacefully unaware of the game around them. We went into the break up by 2 points. Apparently that was completely unacceptable to the other coach because his wife brought his other two sons over. nevermind that they are two and a half years too old for this league and play club ball. Whatever. After five minutes it became pretty clear those two wouldn't pass to anyone but eachother. They're good players and significantly bigger than my average player so they pretty much had the run of the field. By the end of the game LL, B, L, and a few from the other team just stood and watched as the two players dribbled and shot. I asked them why they weren't playing and they all just shrugged and said it was stupid. LL said he wasn't going to get hurt trying to tackle them because the refs weren't calling any fouls. Eh, can't argue with that.

The other team won 8-4 and my kids couldn't have cared less. My BFF walked around with his chest puffed out having avenged his earlier loss in the season. Cool.

Half the coaches in the age group have already announced they aren't coming back. The same happened in the next age group too.

As it stands club practice is 2-3 nights/week in August and early September, but games don't start untiil the end of September. Lil Lookout really doesn't want to go four weeks without a game so it looks like I will be signing him up for another session of indoor even though I won't be coaching it. He played a game with a U10 team this week. He was nervous about it because some of those players are three years older than him but I reminded him that they are the same players he was nervous about when he turned five and they were eight. That settled his nerves a bit and he played pretty well. He scored a couple of real crackers and had one outstanding assist. Looks like it is off to U10 he goes for the next session.

WHAT AN AWESOME THREAD!!!!!

Lookout, one day you should write a book about your experiences here. It would make the New York Times Bestsellers list in an instant.

BTW, it seems to me you should be taking that directors job away from him, but then you would miss the hands on aspects of coaching.

Saturday was a genuinely enjoyable soccer day. Lil Lookout has been frustrated at the idea of only playing one game on Saturday until the outdoor season starts in about two months so I was really hoping that he'd bring some zing back to his game this week.

We played a team coached by one of the hot heads that has been around for awhile. This is a guy who has bitched and moaned about the horribly unfair situation he sees in his team finishing behind mine every session. The guy is an absolute meathead who brutalizes his kid because he isn't as good as Lil Lookout. No seriously, I feel bad for the kid because he is a good player and likes the game... his personality just doesn't suit that of an attacking player. He is outstanding as a holding midfielder, defender, or keeper, but those aren't the glory roles so dad keeps pushing him into something that just isn't meant to be his role. Anyway, ironically as the program has become more and more embroiled in BS, this coach has been buddying up to me because he doesn't really understand what is happening but he has witnessed me come out on top when stupid stuff happened in the past.

Anyway, the game was a blast. The other team has K, L, and S as GOOD players. My two really good players LL and B are better, but when you step over to the rest of the team, the other team has better average skill than mine. I knew we would win IF LL and B both brought their A games and worked hard, but they've both been a bit discouraged lately as the team just doesn't gel well enough to keep a good passing game going. They are both preoccuppied with the Club team and have let their energy slip a bit in rec league. Not this week though.

The teams traded body blows with no score for the first five minutes. It was a pretty hectic pace up and down the field. I held LL and B back as a defensive wall and pushed my two runners without a clue up into forward positions to poke and prod for weaknesses. The other team was passing much better than my kids did so their was a lot of potential to be punished on the counterattack. After ten minutes the game had settled into a decent rhythm of their defense stopping my kids passing the ball up to the wall and their forwards dribbling right through my midfield until LL or B would strip the ball and counter. Our attacks died out because my two forwards weren't skilled enough to receive passes and shoot quickly. I switched the formation to put B as center forward with J (good ideas, but slow reactions) on his left and K(no ideas, no skills but runs around and confuses everyone) on his right. LL was the sole midfielder with orders that if he chose to play lazy and let his team down he would have to play defense the rest of the day. (He's developed the negative tendency to not work much to get the ball back because he's overly confident to outscore anyone when he does have the ball.) I had K and L on defense and S in the goal. That meant a decent back line with a weak keeper and a great offensive midfielder who is hit or miss on defensive duties. Either it would work great or we'd lose really badly. As it happened LL got kicked in the family jewels and it made him mad. From that point on he was possessed. He looked like a man with his hair on fire. I honestly have not seen my kid play that well in at least 6 months.

At halftime he was very discouraged because he had only scored one point. He had knocked the other keeper off his feet twice with blocked shots and had three assists but he still measures his worth in goals scored. I tried to set him straight on that and kept the same formation.

The teams continued to pummel eachother with numerous shots on goal but we were still winning 5-4 with ten minutes left. At that point I became confident that my kids would run away with it. K and L from the other team looked dejected. They had tried everything they knew and just couldn't unlock our defense. LL and B were finally linking up better and LL had regained some confidence in his defensive duties. LL blocked a goal bound shot with his head and then chased it down before dribbling through 5 players, losing the ball twice, getting it back and then crashed a left foot shot in. After actually seeing success after fighting hard the kid was unstoppable. He and B went on an unbroken run in the last five minutes to bring the score to 11-5.

good game based on the scoreline, but great game based on LL actually showing some hunger.

The best moment was when he was surrounded on the left side of goal, trapped at an impossible angle. he pulled off a dragback that was impressive but couldn't open up the angle to shoot. He then pulled it back again (effectively hopping on his left foot while rolling the ball with his right, evading the defenders' reaching feet) then he kicked what looked like a mis-hit. He actually banked it off the wall about 3 feet to the left of the goal and headed in the rebound. Great freaking move. I wish he'd teach me some of his tricks. /proud dad/

Good show, coach. :thumb2:

I love the way you write football, you really bring it alive.
Brilliant.

Excellent point, SG. I've never had much interest in the sport, and didn't understand the fascination people have for it. But this thread has given me a new perspective on the drama unfolding behind the scenes, and on the field.

It also demonstrates the difficulty, and people skills as well as athletic skills, involved in being a competent coach. It's evident that our tutor, Lookout, is a superb coach. :thumb:

:blush: Thanks guys. Off to the second to last game now. We shall see how it goes.

Week 9 has come and gone. When I look at the team sheets for the team we are to play, trying to decide on my starting structure I can only chuckle as I think back to the BS meeting where I was told over and over that my team was too strong and had to be taken down a notch. I lost 3 of my strongest players and then wasn't allowed any imput on their replacements. If a player looked like they could walk and chew gum at the same time they were judged to be too strong for my team and replaced with a... um... well... less skilled candidate. Please don't misunderstand and think that I don't like the kids. I do, very much so. Even the one I have a hard time not strangling and then using his body to beat his parents over the head with... (how do you do that strikeout thing again?) OK, so they're all good kids and we're there to have fun. But when the three players I was given so that I would have enough to field a team were all rejected, I mean selected from other teams because of listening/behavior issues, it does make it a little difficult to get any unit cohesion.

Anyway, I went in to Saturday's game expecting a loss. OK, truthfully I expected to get blown clean out of the water. We were facing another team that magically was able to add more players who requested the coach after the season started. Those players are pretty good, but not spectacular. Except when you realize that because he was a new coach I suggested we put Ba, B, and K on his team to help him get started. Those three are some of our top notch REALLY outstanding players from the club team. The theory was that they'd be his core of stability while he brought his new team together. But when you add those three to a team of pretty good players you now have a juggernaut. Ba is a force to reckon with. He and LL are friends and teammates for the club team but they are both very strong alpha types. Ba is stronger defensively and LL is stronger creatively so when they work together it's great but when they butt heads... well, you know. Add to that B from my team who has really come on as a player as I've been giving him private coaching for the last 8 months preparing him for the club team has suddenly discovered a rockstar aspect to his personality. He has decided passing is for lesser mortals. All things considered I was not betting on our team to win.

The other coach predictably put Ba, B, and K as a three man attack and put strong defenders behind them. What I didn't expect is that he never subbed those three out. He merely rotated the rest of the team through the defensive positions for the whole game. I put my kids on the field with a weak frontline, strong midfield, ok defense, and decent goalie. LL wasn't feeling well so I started with him on the bench. The other team had us pinned back by three points in the opening 5 minutes. Ba was just dribbling circles around my kids. My keeper was upset but I reassured him that he couldn't have stopped those goals unless he suddenly grew, so he should just relax and have fun. I put LL in his midfield anchor role with B and J up front. I was pleased to see that LL had brought his can do attitude and was willing to work for things. He'd fight and recover the ball then pass up to B only for B to refuse to pass back out and lose possession again. Then B quit running back to get the ball, so I benched him. Now I had LL on the field as a top drawer player with J as a good worker but not much of a force going forward. K and L, my girls hadn't seen eachother in two weeks and really wanted to chill on the bench and catch up on whatever it is seven year old girls talk about. So I had C in the midfield (he falls every third step) and S next to him. Fortunately S can make it about eight steps before falling over, but he inevitably knocks one of his teammates over when he falls. LL and J managed to tie the game up before halftime through pure hard work and desire.

I spoke to B and asked if he wanted to be part of the team or if I should just send him out there and let the rest of the team hang out on the bench. He said he understood so I put him back out there. He and LL were upfront with J and K behind them and S and S in defense with C in the goal. LL and B were passing and moving well and B scored a nice shot from the outside corner. Then LL recovered the ball inside the center circle while B was screaming for the ball in front of the goal. LL tried to pass it to him, but couldn't get an open lane as B was staying on the left side of the box. LL started to the left, pulled a dummy move, and cut back to the right which gave him a half second to do something. He still didn't have an angle on B and he had two players charging him so he shot. From inside the center circle, just short of half field. And he hit it right in the top right corner. He just smiled and ran back to high five his teammates when B ran up and started screaming at him for not passing. I was shocked. B was red-faced, spittle flying, screaming just inches from LL's face. LL was just startled and mortified. Then B shoved him. Then LL punched him in the face. Then LL stands over him and yells, "Are you fucking stupid?!?" :eek: At that point B and LL both get blue carded which means I have to take them off the field for two minutes each and the team has to play short. B's dad, who is a friend of mine, was on the bench by the time I got them off the field and led B away. The only thing I heard was him asking "are you hurt? no? Then LL should have hit you harder, you deserved it."

LL sat on the bench without argument and when the game got going again quietly asked, "am I grounded?" :right: I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or yell so I just asked him which infraction was worthy of grounding - punching his teammate or dropping the F bomb. I told him we'd deal with that afterwards and that he could go back in the game after his penalty time ran out. He went back in and played his heart out scoring a couple more times and making a beautiful assist from the left when he made a run down the line, shielding the ball from the defender the whole way. When he was about ten feet from the goal at full speed he stepped up on the ball with his right foot while spinning his body so he did a 360, coming out of his twist now on the inside and about three steps away from the defender. The goalie still had the angle covered so rather than wasting the shot LL passed across the goal mouth to J who tapped it in.

We lost the game by four points and finished without B - parental vicegrips, L - shot blocked with her nose, K - shot blocked with her stomach, and S - split lip on ground when he fell over from a standing position during a water break.

With that we have fallen solidly into second position with a 7-2 record.

B's parents were frustrated with me afterwards when we were all standing around. They ordered B apologize to LL, which he did ith a typical 7 year old's snear. I asked if LL had something to say and he said "no". I reminded him what had happened and he responded with all the sincerety this seven year old could manage, "I'll get in more trouble if I lie so I won't apologize. I'm not sorry I hit B and if he screams and pushes me like that I'll do it again." I honestly couldn't argue with that logic so I told him fair enough and we all dispersed. I, of course, dealt with the hitting and swearing issues at home, but I really couldn't fault him for refusing to give a false apology. I spoke to B's parents later about it so hopefully the air is clear on the adult side. The kids will just have to figure it out on their own.

One more game then this season and my life as a rec league coach at the complex will come to a close.

holy crap! pass the pepto!

Dude, you should get a raise. Or hazard pay at least.

Ah the good ole days. You eloquence far surpasses my ability to recreate the memories I have of my sons and the experiences we had during their soccer playing days, both recreational and travel league.
Thanks for that L123. The diary of the memories you post here will last a lifetime and LL will love reading this and reminiscing about them when he gets older.

I just found out that LL and B spent the day at the water park together so my guess is the feud is over. At least until the next time.

What happens between the lines.....

Kinda like Vegas I guess. :)

Damn, this thread would make a great book.
Required reading for new coaches. :thumb:

I'm not so sure about that. It would be an quick way to make sure we never had any veteran coaches. A new coach would take a quick read and quit the next day.;) but thanks.

Maybe you should write a book showing how to organize programs to minimize nonsense. #1 Parents banned from all games and practices. ;)

If I did it would go something like this:

1) Organize teams so that they have about the same overall skill level BUT do not separate kids from their friends simply to make it more fair by some adult's calculations.

2) Teach the basics in the first week through demonstration and drills. After that week only use drills as a warm up for the real practice, don't waste valuable time telling kids repeatedly to pass with the inside of the foot. Practice mental awareness and thinking on your feet. Kids will use the basics while doing it and be more motivated to practice on their own when they can compare their skills to their peers in friendly competition.

3) Games are for fun, but don't pretend they don't mean anything. I promise you that even if you don't keep score, every kid on the field knows the score. Play to win. Don't ever tell kids not to play hard or not score. Make it harder for them by giving them different challenges if they are exceptional players but don't ever ever tell them not to play hard.

4) First adult who says "it's not fair" gets kicked in the crotch by every player on both teams, then the coaches, then the refs. Life isn't fair. Each team starts every week with zero points. Anything can happen during a game so try hard and accept that you don't win them all. Sports are a good training ground for life skills. Learn to deal with "unfair" obstacles.

5) (a) First parent who pulls a book out of their bag and starts reading it at practice is named the new assistant coach. Show your kids you care about what they are doing. Yes you are busy. Yes it is nice to take a break from parenting. But just take an hour out of life every week to watch the kid interact with his/her peers without being the one to offer corrective input. You might just learn what a great job you're doing parenting. or not.

(b) Every parent of a young soccer player has to play at least one season on an adult rec league team. This will go a long way to solving the problem of parents not understanding what they see and screaming asinine instructions to the kids at games. If they spent an hour running up and down a field getting pushed, shoved, and kicked they might come up with something more intelligent to yell at the kids than "RUN AFTER THE BALL!" Other lessons will include: not everyone is born to be a forward, defenders are just as important as everyone else, and that big kid who knocked your son down is not necessarily a psychopathic axemurderer maliciously hunting your firstborn.

6) Sportsmanship. So that we can make sure it is being instilled at home coaches will watch and listen as the kids shake hands after the game. Any child who refuses to shake hands, spits on his hand, or insults the other players in the line has to go get his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, babysitters, and anyone else who came to watch them. The child will be placed in the center circle, given a big slushy and a bag of skittles to enjoy while they watch their family run, not walk, five complete laps around the field. Encourage the child to point and laugh. After the family is done running make sure the child says, "bad job" or "you suck". I promise that child will never exhibit poor sportsmanship again.

That should be a good starting framework.

Wow! Now I want to learn how to play soccer.

Edit: I was never in to sports growing up, and still am not. But if I had lookout as a coach at the right age I think I'd have a whole different attitude now.

go do it. Today. you're never too old to start.

I dare ya You should be able to find indoor and outdoor rec leagues near where you live.

Bruce, you can start here.

All my physical activity time is taken up by biking, hiking and martial arts (6 classes per week).

The point of my post was that you had to be the coach. Maybe we can start a Cellar virtual soccer team.

I did like this, from your first link:

LOL. I noticed that. We have an indoor facility here that is well known for their bar. That, and the very real possibility of getting shanked in the parking lot if you beat the wrong team. I don't play there.

fixed
 

that's the other facility. i still frequent that one.

My daughter played soccer for the first time this spring. Soccer wasn't an option as a sport to go out for when I was in school, so I knew absolutely nothing about it. One of my gripes about the program was that I had to go check out a few books to teach myself basic soccer, and then I found out that the rules are different for different ages/leagues etc. so I had no idea what the kids were supposed to be doing, or what was allowed when they were playing.

SO,

Might I suggest that the league present each parent with a small booklet of the basics appropriate for their child's level of play. Or at the very least post the rules of the game on the website (I assume they have) so that those of us who DO pay attention, can help teach their own kids on their own time out of practice.

I find it frustrating that I really didn't know a whole lot more about soccer than I did before she ever played.

In our magical league only two things will be different than adult soccer.

1) No offside rule until U12 age group.

2) Adults play on large fields with 11 to a side. Kids play on smaller fields. U6/8/10 play with 6 and a keeper. U12/14 with 8 and a keeper. Above 14 and still playing? Welcome to the adult world.

Zero desire to participate in any group activities. My dossier says, "Does NOT play well with others".:headshake

sweet, you're perfect for a keeper then. they're all a little off in the head but they cover it up by claiming they're just loners.

lol @ lookout - I was thinkin the same thing.

There's no coverup, the two go together. :p

Excellent, Bruce is the starting keeper for Cellar F.C.

So we have a keeper, who else wants to play. I think we'll go with the classic 4-4-2 lineup.
Call your positions people, let's go.

I can move fast, but I don't always pay attention to what's going on in the game (who's pitching? which goal is ours? etc.). I've been improving my accuracy, coordination and balance. I wish to play barefoot.

What position do you recommend?

Quick but sometimes drift off and miss details of the game? You're a forward. Watch your toes. Are you left or right footed?

I'll take def2. I've got a strong right foot and at one time had good anticipation for play development. And I'm kinda mean... inside the white lines.

Good. It's hard to find a good centerback. Most are too frightened to go into the challenges hard. Lots of jumping required. If you use your foil, make sure to hide it with your body so the linesman doesn't see.