| Competitive Clubs - Start US Club Soccer Sanctioned Leagues....Please! |
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| on 20 Oct 2006 | |
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CYSA has provided soccer programs for years. Their are many volunteers who deserve to be recognized for their contributions to the welfare of our youth. However the present leadership in CYSA is seemingly unwilling to progress. For this reason we plead with clubs.... Please form your own leagues.... for soccer's sake! Club Development In Northern CaliforniaWe, at the Far Post Report, have always believed Soccer Clubs provide players the best opportunity to enjoy and develop their ability to play soccer. Soccer Clubs are primarily made up of soccer enthusiasts who enjoy soccer and recognize the many benefits enjoyed by players – youth and adult. Many Club Members would agree that soccer should, when possible, be played more year round, with appropriate breaks, and sometimes when appropriate, often enjoyed on a daily basis. Thanks to US Club Soccer new Clubs are popping up everywhere offering more players the chance to play a higher level soccer. The old model of one competitive Club per league or 18 - 36 competitive team spots per age group regardless of size of Club (5,000 to 500 players) is gone. We know professional Clubs such as Chivas USA, are developing Clubs throughout the State of California. Cruz Azul has programs in the USA, as does Club America. This is good for the future of soccer and they should be encouraged and their teams should have the ability to compete in tournaments, leagues and cups. If their teams are strong all Clubs will benefit and become sharper. We believe the adage “ the rising tide lifts all boats” will apply to California soccer and beyond. While we are excited that new Clubs are being created, some may see new Clubs as a threat. We believe they should not fear competition. As more and more players are offered the chance to have a more year round involvement with soccer, we believe there will be a greater number of players developing a higher level of skills. Not only will this offer a bigger talent base for Clubs, but it will offer many more players a chance to enjoy soccer at a higher level of play far into adulthood.. We believe as more younger players develop a higher level of skills many more will continue to play into their teens, and into their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. This is the world wide model and we will surely follow! Who Should be in charge of “ The Grass Roots” of California Soccer? "Grassroots and voluntary work is absolutely essential for the élite, and sometimes this can be forgotten," he added. "Without the grassroots, the élite would be absolutely nothing. If the work was not done in the grassroots, football would not be the most popular sport in the world." Andy Roxbourgh European Union Coaching Director We at the Far Post Report believe the next step for competitive Soccer Clubs is to move into the younger age groups by providing leagues for players in their area. Although some may argue this could risk splintering soccer into competing leagues we believe Clubs must not only do this - they must do so quickly. “Healthy competition”, on a worldwide scale, has brought imrovement in almost every area of human endeavor. Why would youth soccer in America deviate from this basic truism that is beyond argument? Clubs developing using only US Club Soccer papers can form their own local leagues this Spring and tap into vast number of youngsters waiting for the next Fall season. Perhaps the league would offer a practice a week and a game a week or perhaps only a game a week. Anything is better than what is currently offered to most soccer players. Under the current system, most so called “recreational” players are sentenced to mediocrity as a player because the season(s) of practice and play is so short. How can a young player be expected to become a passionate player and fan when they are expected to ignore the sport for 8 months of the year? . By offering soccer more year round, without many restrictions, Clubs can be flexible in the rules and their league format shaping their programs to match their area. The so called “recreational player” could play enough to sharpen the skills and not stop playing just as they begin to develop competence with the ball. The Clubs will not need to follow the restrictive CYSA rules on Club promotions (flyers, ads, etc.). They will be able to book fields and operate under US Clubs Soccer’s insurance. Can you imagine operating free from most restrictions facing Clubs at the present time? Of course Clubs should cooperate with neighboring Clubs to insure there is a good environment surrounding soccer. Can you imagine how many “recreational players” would become accomplished players if given the structure in which to thrive as player and fan? Who is watering the “Grass Roots” of Northern California Soccer? There are 200,000+ youth players in Northern California. Most are recreational players, many should be, but there are an incredible amount of youngsters who have the ability to be better – much better!. They never realize this potential because in the present soccer structure most young players never play more than 3 months a year – the length of the current recreational season. As crazy as it may seem, many youngsters are never introduced to the idea embraced by the rest of the world - playing soccer throughout the year for about nine months. Most are encouraged to play multiple sports, which may be more reasonable for baseball and football, but soccer, played with the feet, can only be mastered by first spending a significant amount of time, over a period of time, with the ball. Playing multiple sports is not a problem but taking 8 - 9 months off, between seasons, at a young age is a problem. The season should be 9 – 10 months with a 2-3 month break – it is the reverse. This 9 month break does not help develop a players ability, a lack of which, can diminish ones enjoyment of the game. Playing soccer for 3 - 4 months a year sentences kids to mediocrity in a great sport, which should be widely available year round. The short season for the recretional player robs most players, except the very talented athlete, of future competence as a soccer player. If Clubs formed their own leagues through US Club Soccer they could offer more opportunities for young players to play soccer. Imagine if those players registered in your youth Clubs never read the extremely negative articles sent to them monthly in their CYSA magazine ripping competitive soccer. Imagine if your players were encouraged to move up the ladder from recreational soccer to competitive soccer. For these reasons alone, those people most passionate about soccer, the competitive soccer Clubs, should start leagues, first for player’s ages 4 - 10 and eventually for players 4 - 50. By building programs offering soccer more year round to more youngsters in their area of operation surely they can encourage players to have a greater involvement with soccer. Clubs that fail to take advantage of US Club Soccer and its league sanctioning program will fail to offer the opportunity for the world’s greatest game to be enjoyed by many more children. Passing up the opportunity to offer players even a few extra months of soccer will greatly diminish the likelihood that these youngsters will enjoy and continue to play soccer. Having passionate people involved at the base of the pyramid will insure those players are encouraged, by those who love soccer, to reach their potential in soccer. We, at the Far Post Report, believe those most passionate about soccer have a duty to spread the world’s game to more people. There are two primary reasons underlying this belief. The most important reason is the benefits a high level activity provides to the youth involved. Study after study show youth with involvement in a high level activity have better grades, better health, higher self esteem and are less likely to engage in the taking of drugs and alcohol. We believe more of our youth should be encouraged to be involved in a high level activity – any physical activity - and soccer is a great choice, especially, because it promotes and leads to bodily health as well. The second reason passionate soccer people have a duty to spread soccer is their own Club’s progress and health. If you are a board member, coach, manager or a parent you have a duty to help your Club make progress towards a brighter future for more players.. A great way to help your Club make this progress and remain healthy is to invest in your base. Every Club in youth soccer deals with dropout as players, especially recreational players, become older. We believe you cannot count on CYSA to provide a quality program which will properly promote soccer to our recreational youngster players.. If this were ever going to happen, they would have been encouraging more competitive “learning” teams because it is common knowledge that the drop numbers among competitive players is much lower than among the recreational players. If it is to be done, the passionate soccer people and Clubs must nurture and develop their base to include more well trained players. Young people, or older, do not usually drop out of activities they enjoy and in which they are proficient! If a club does not promote a greater involvement with soccer to its base, players ages 4 to 10 – who will? If it is clear that offering soccer for 2-3 months a year sentences kids to a lifetime of mediocrity and promotes drop out, soccer clubs must act. CYSA has provided soccer programs for years. Their are many volunteers who deserve to be recognized for their contributions to the welfare of our youth. However the present culture in CYSA is seemingly unwilling to progress. For this reason we plead with clubs.... Please form your own leagues.... for soccer's sake! Thanks - Benjamin Ziemer - Far Post Report Editor For those interested in beginning a league US Club provides assistance in the form of registration, insurance, bylaw templates and other support. For Uefa's Grassroots information For information about clubs running leagues see the Colorado Rush |
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