By Charlie Slagle
What are the keys to a club providing an optimal experience for the different levels of teams under its umbrella: from comp to rec?
Full-servicesoccer clubs have some advantages and some challenges that competitive-only or recreation-only clubs do not have. Full-service clubs need to balance the entire program in terms of coaching, resourcesand satisfaction.
The administrators and coaching staff need to provide a full-service business plan and curriculum that meets the needs of all levels. A successfully run club will then reapthe benefits of having well-trained players continue in their program, thus reducing the need for recruiting a large number of high level players, year in and year out.
Clubs that provide thefull gamut of playing levels need to understand that families (their customembers) within their club will always want to feel comfortable that what they are paying to play is commensurate towhat they are receiving. Clubs need to make this a priority and let their families know that this is a priority. This strengthens the commitment between the families and the club.
It is partof human nature to think that if an entity does multiple things that one is getting more attention than the other.
Back in the 1980s, Anson Dorrance was coaching both the men’s andwomen’s teams at the University of North Carolina. The women were at the beginning of their dynasty and the men were one of the top teams in the country, every year. I would hear people say thatAnson concentrated more on the women’s program than the men’s. Knowing Anson, I know that it couldn’t be further from the truth. He has a competitive passion for everything he doesand gave both programs the same passion. Therefore, if people can grumble about one of the greatest coaches of our time, no full-service soccer club is going to be immune from scrutiny.
Clubsneed to constantly review what they are doing at all levels. This review is not only needed between recreation soccer and competitive soccer within the club, but also between the top teams in an agelevel and the other competitive teams in that age bracket.
This review should include looking at the fees that the families pay and what they receive for those fees. Coaching education at alllevels needs to be a priority.
Full-service clubs have an advantage over recreational-only clubs in that they have a coaching staff that can train parent-coaches and give player clinics at therecreation level. Clubs should, also, highlight the path(s) to get to the next competitive level. This could include providing pertinent information, but also sponsoring all-star type games at therecreation level coached by the professional staff against each other or against a lower level competitive team.
• At the competitive level, clubs need to highlight the path from alower-tier team to the higher-level teams. The tryout process needs to be fair with opportunities for all players within the club’s system.
• Players at the lower level teams in theage bracket need to be seen and coached by the coaches of the higher level teams in that age bracket on a regular basis. It needs to be obvious that the club wants to train players to their potentialand that there is a pathway to the next level.
When a full-service club is run well, it can benefit from its size and breadth in many ways. Families acquire an affinity for the club and areless likely to shop their child’s services elsewhere.
The coaching staff can develop a full-service curriculum that will reap benefits. All this provides better-trained players,satisfied families and a better club!
(Charlie Slagle, whoserved as CEO of North Carolina’s Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) for more than 12 years, is the owner of Charlie Slagle SportConsulting LLC, specializing in working with soccer clubs to help them reach their potential — with emphasis on working with clubs’ professional staff and board of directors. Slagle, the NationalSoccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Vice President of Education, was Davidson College head men’s coach in 1980-2000 andtournament organizer of 14 NCAA Division I College Cups.)
Further Reading:
Charlie Slagle’s pevious articles on club soccer arearchived HERE:
I am sorry but this is not what our kids need. We need a REVOLUTION in the US. We need 300,000 futsal courts in our inner cities and another 300,000 in our suburbs. Coaching is totally over rated. The pay to play model is not the solution. We need to get away from a coaching environment and create a playing environment where kids starting at age 5 can play for free, 3 to 5 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and with no adult interference. Our kids need a sanctuary and place that they can call theirs. We need radical change. NO more $300 cleats, coaching dvds, fancy uniforms, other gimmicks and smoke n mirrors. REVOLUTION = FUTSAL
Well said,it would really be a revolution here in America,but this is the way it is in South American countries,kids have the freedom to play where ever there is an open field,(with grass if possible).There they have no high paid coaches that a times makes things more complicated to the kids.And they play until they can not see the ball any more.
Well put Cony. Now the question is who will lead the revolution and get the futsal ball rolling, court by court, city by city?!
The development process is dysfunctional and needs a total overhaul. When youth soccer clubs stop to concentrate on results and place the priorities on development, we will see better players and better results combined.
Sorry…REVOLUTION does not equal Futsal. Futsal just isn’t that fun. Who wants to spend all that time indoors when the weather is nice outside? Who wants to play on a hard surface when you can play on grass? Would be great to see more pickup in the parks. Like the idea of playing for free…..we do it almost 5 days a week here in the Outer Banks….problem is as with most of suburban USA you have to have a car.