A Concerned Soccer Person:                  

CYSA. Whats going on..?

Dear CYSA.

     As I walked around Morgan Hill this past weekend I couldn’t help but notice a lot of discussions (some heated) taking place between coaches and parents from a lot of teams regarding some issues which quite frankly, don’t seem to be in the best interest of the game or good sportsmanship.

What brought my attention to the first issue was a T-shirt, which read:

                                                        ODP, $$$$$$$’s
                                                        PDP, priceless..
   
     When I inquired as to what this meant, I was informed it had to do with some kids not being allowed to play in State Cup for their Club Teams due to the fact that they owed money to the ODP program and CYSA informed those players “Pay Up Or You Don’t Play”; surely this is not true?  If it is, then the structure of ODP surely needs to be addressed, not to mention, why is CYSA not helping these kids through a scholarship program, or better still, why does it cost so much to be involved in the first place, as I couldn’t even begin to guess the amount of kids that have paid to be registered with CYSA throughout Cal North and where all that money goes, as I know from first hand experiences that when CYSA officials are questioned regarding some strange issues, a lot of them reply that they are volunteers and don’t know the answer.

The other question I have is why the PDP program, which is pretty new, does not cost kids anything and they get Overseas Professional Coaches to fly over and conduct their training sessions? Surely CYSA can get together with representatives of PDP and figure out the best and least expensive way for Kids to represent their State and Club teams without being punished by not being able to play the game that they love.

The second issue was actually two T-shirts that I saw (something tells me clubs are working together on this to raise awareness to issues within CYSA):

M.I.A.
                                                                  Placer 92 Boys
State Cup 2008
                                                              
                                                        
                                                                       And

                                                               Got U.S. Club?
 
Was there a U16 Boys team Disqualified from State Cup over a Clerical error and nothing more than that, as from what I gather and was told, a Player never knew he was registered with his old Club, as he left them in June 2007.  His new Club contacted the old Club and was informed of US Club registration only, the new club had asked for their District to check for dual CYSA registration within his old Club’s District, and where informed by them (Who are a CYSA Organization) he wasn’t registered and given a CYSA pass for the season.  What I think makes this even worse is that his old team were the only people to know about all this and waited till the night of State Cup Check in to make it known.  Where is the sportsmanship, sense of fair play, and good of the game in all this, and knowing all this CYSA disqualified a whole team over a rule, “which was never intentionally broken”, and they informed the Player’s new Club of exactly that.

My last issue, which was more hotly discussed than the other two, concerns Clubs in District 5/ Other Districts about their right to enter teams to play in another USSF affiliate league, and the strong arm approach that CYSA is issuing to Clubs if they proceed, “ it’s CYSA or nothing “ replies, holding up clubs’ paperwork so as they cannot apply to tournaments, taking away Club Comp status in their own leagues. Would this have anything to do with the fact that CYSA main committee all live in the 707 area code.

     Surely the biggest question CYSA should be asking themselves and then the Clubs is “Why the need to change and move into other leagues,” but just like the other two issues, CYSA does not consult the real people involved within the game, Club Managers, Coaching Directors, Coaches and Parents as to what’s best for the GOOD OF THE GAME.

     As I sat down to write this I looked over some rules within the CYSA Organization, while there appears to be some missing about right and wrong, the biggest one of all that is missing is COMMON SENSE.

If so many Clubs, Coaches, Parents, and most important of all, Players, are unhappy, then we all need to ask,
                                         
CYSA, WHAT’S GOING ON?

Thanks.

A Concerned Soccer Person.