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[Link, Fort Mill Times, Thursday, May 19, 2005]

New soccer club starting in Tega Cay

By Mac Banks Fort Mill Times
(Published May 19, 2005)

TEGA CAY -- A new soccer club is developing in Tega Cay to add to the growing sport.
The Tega Cay Soccer Club, a challenge soccer program, is being offered by the Tega Cay Parks and Recreation.

The program is a step up from the recreational level and will offered to players aged 11-18.

"We are bringing into the community two different levels of soccer," said Charlie Funderburk, director of Tega Cay Parks and Recreation.

Funderburk said he is trying to give players an opportunity to stay and play for local club teams, instead of going to Charlotte.

Jim Finnerty, Fort Mill High's girls soccer coach, will be the director of coaching for the organization. Finnerty helped guide the girls team to a 26-2 record this season and an appearance in the state championship game last week.

Finnerty has been an assistant coach at the college level and has worked with youth soccer players for 10 years. He is a USSF D licensed coach, and also has his NSCAA advance regional license.

Finnerty has played at the professional level. He is a two-time All-American, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in West Seneca, his home town, and at Fredonia State where he played college soccer. During his two years at Fredonia, the team was 35-6-1, ranked number one in the nation for 24 weeks.

Finnerty said he would like an eight-team league to start with and eventually have around 14 teams.

Finnerty said he hopes the success of Fort Mill High's soccer program will help promote the new league.

"If the program gets going, that type of reputation will help out," he said.

Finnerty said he already has five coaches committed to helping in the league and he has another 13 interested.

The season would run August through November and February through May.

[Link, Tega Cay Parks and Recreation Web Site]

Tega Cay Parks & Recreation is proud to announce that in addition to recreation soccer,we will now be offering a challenge soccer program. The recreational program will now have experienced, licensed coaches working with area players, coaches, and parents. When recreational players move on to the next level, they can stay in their own community. The challenge program will be under the same umbrella and will have a mission the community will be comfortable with. Families will not have to travel outside of the community to find the competitive soccer that will prepare their children for all levels (high school, college, etc.). Jim Finnerty will be the Director of Coaching for the Tega Cay Soccer Club. He is currently the head Varsity Girls’ coach at Ft. Mill High School. He is a USSF D licensed coach, and also has his NSCAA Advanced Regional License and NSCAA Regional License. During his three years at Ft. Mill High School, the girls have posted a 50-13-1 record. Jim has played at the professional level and has received every individual award a college player can receive. He was a two time All-American. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame at Fredonia State where he played his college ball and while he was there, Fredonia State was 35-6-1 and ranked #1 for 24 weeks. He brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding to not only the Tega Cay Soccer Club, but the recreational program as well. The aim of the Tega Cay Soccer club is to promote an appreciation for the sport by providing progressively higher levels of competition within a safe, supportive, and fun teaching environment. At the recreational level, our purpose is to instill in our youth players a sense of enthusiasm, self-confidence, and teamwork by emphasizing the game’s basic fundamentals. At the more competitive community league levels, our purpose is the further develop our players as “students of the game”, reinforcing the more advanced coaching. The newly developed Tega Cay Soccer Club will hold tryouts on May 23 from 7:15-8:30 PM for U11-U14 girls. On May 24 from 7:15-8:30 PM there will be tryouts for the U11-U14 boys. On May 25, we will hold tryouts for U15-U18 girls from 7:15 PM-8:30 PM and U15-U18 boys from 8 PM-9:30 PM. All tryouts will be at Turner Field in Tega Cay. If you should have any questions regarding tryouts or the Tega Cay Soccer Club, please contact Jim Finnerty at jim101719@yahoo.com.

[Link, Northside Soccer Club, Letter from President]

A Letter From the President

Greetings Northside Members,

As you are aware Northside has been working through some challenges in preparing for the 2005 - 2006 season. Every year there have been challenges we have had to face, but this year has been especially difficult due to the fact that members and friends have had to make tough decisions regarding their affiliation with this club. Even though this is not an unusual event in the life of most clubs, it is something we wanted to avoid. One thing we have in common is a love for the game and a desire to see kids learn to love the game as we do and to play it better than we did.

So where do we go from here? That has been the question the leadership of Northside has been dealing with over the last several weeks. As we evaluated where Northside has come from in a little over 4 years it was obvious that many things had been done well to have grown from 4 teams to 20 teams. We have gone from no tournament championships to over 12 this year, from no impact on the state level to having a State Championship team and several quarter and semi-finalists. There is no doubt in my mind that Northside has contributed to the current success of the Fort Mill and Northwestern high school soccer programs when you consider that 6 Northside coaches are involved and a large number of the players are Northside "kids". The Tega Cay recreational program has had 2 Northside coaches, the Steele Creek recreational program had Northside coaches, and coaches have been available to other local rec programs. This success was in no small part due to the hard and often thankless work of many who have served as coaches, board members, and team managers.

On the other side, with growth comes growing pains, and in the process of trying to handle this rapid growth organizationally we had to focus on growing coaching staff and operational staff. In the process we made mistakes and we lost some focus. We stopped seeing the trees for the forest. In other words, in focusing on handling the growth of the club we in some ways neglected our customers and coaches. We allowed decisions and practices that did not fit with our mission and in the process created some confusion and frustration.

As a result the board has made decisions that will impact how we will operate as a club going forward. In brief summary here are some of the decisions.
1) John Agnew was elected in by the Board with Bill Tooley's resignation in April. It was John and the Board's understanding that he would not only finish Bill's term but continue with the new term in June. Due to personal reasons, as stated in his e-mail he has decided not to start the new term. He will instead work with the club in helping with our budgeting and finances, areas in which he is talented and has already contributed greatly.
2) With the opening of the President's position I was asked to step in. In April I had already let the board know that I was not going to seek another term as VP. Four years was long enough. In light of that Efrain Tirado was elected in April to be the VP starting June 1. After prayerful consideration, discussion with board members and a few Northside parents I have accepted the role of President. This was not something I had anticipated and this is a challenging task at this point in the life of the club. However, I believe in the mission of this club and firmly believe Northside was, is and can continue to be a positive influence not only to soccer in this area but, in the lives of hundreds of kids. I have had a child play on Charlotte Eagles, Charlotte United, Discoveries and Northside, and I am confident that Northside Soccer Club has offered the best value in the area. No club overall has had better coaches and trainers than Northside.
3) Refocus. One of my first statements to the board was that we had to refocus to gain back those things that we lost. You will hear more about this in the weeks and months to come but I will summarize the main points:
a) Focus on our vision and mission and assure that all club and coaching level decisions are consistent with our mission.
b) Focus on our customers - the parents. Refocus on the "trees in the forest" by;
§ Communicating our vision/mission and the resulting practices and procedures
§ Understand our families needs and expectations and work hard to consistently meet and exceed them
§ Seek and solicit input from parents on what we are doing well and what we need to do better at
§ Gain a wider base of parental involvement in the club
§ Work closely with our team managers to solicit feedback and to use them as the conduit for club information, mission, and policies
c) Our coaches are "our face" to our customers; therefore, we will work diligently to find good coaches, to communicate with them, seek their input, and treat them with equity. We will work to constructively assist them in becoming better at coaching and being examples of our club's values.

I could go on, but if you are still reading you are probably a minority. So where do we go from here? Well… here is where I need your help if you believe this club has something to offer.
1) Leadership Involvement: We need people who are willing to invest significant and critical time by being on the Board. These positions are critical and provide opportunity for you to be at the forefront of guiding this club. Due to terms expiring we have the following openings - Treasurer, Secretary, and Registrar.
2) Task Involvement: I need people who will step-up in other critical positions in the club such as Team Manager, Fund raising for scholarships, Newsletter editor and team results writer, uniform and club apparel coordinator, and field coordinator.
3) Feedback: On our website www.northsidesoccer.net under Forms is a "Parental Feedback" form. If you would take the time to fill this out it would be extremely helpful to the leadership team.
4) Tryouts: Our ability to fill teams will be very much dependant on getting your kids and your friends kids to tryouts during the week of May 23rd. See our www.northsidesoccer.net for particulars. Please register online before tryouts. Look under "Forms" for "Online Registration". Also equally important, we need volunteers to assist at the tryouts with welcoming, bringing your laptop to help register players, set-up and take-down, etc… We will need the same type of help for the team meetings the following week.
5) Coaches: Lou is working hard at lining up good coaches and so far it is looking very promising. We will let you know more as contracts are signed.
6) Fields: Probably one of our biggest challenges is practice fields in Fort Mill area. We have a couple options we are looking at but nothing has been locked up yet. We will have several fields in Rock Hill to use for practice and games.

That is enough for now. If you have any questions, feel free to email me a president@northsidesoccer.net. I am looking forward with great anticipation as we take this next chapter in the life of NSC. Your involvement and input would be greatly appreciated.

See you at the fields,


Bob Blaschke

If I'm not mistaken, Hurst66 [a famous Fort Mill/Tega Cay[*] poster] is a former president of a club in this area, so I understand his silence. But does anyone else have any insight into this incredible fragmentation of this area's soccer clubs, and any speculation on what it might do to either club or other teams in the future?

[* Despite propaganda, Tega Cay does not mean “Beautiful Peninsula” but rather "You Can't Afford to Live Here".]

I would hazzard a guess that area is not big enough for three clubs. (DSC, Northside and Tega Cay).

whast the scoop Hurst?

I spent enough energy over the past 12 months trying to get the leaders of these three fine clubs to work together.

I wish Discoveries, Northside and Tega Cay all the best.

Is the area big enough for three clubs?....I think all three can survive. Each will probably produce one or two very competitive teams that will make some noise come state cup time. The area is growing and York County will have six schools in 4A in 2006 - 2007 (Fort Mill, Northwestern, Rock Hill, South Pointe, Clover and York). Indian Land is growing rapidly and Fort Mill will have a second high school by 2008.

I used to live in the Rock Hill area for many years. The are is not big enough right now for three clubs. It could work if they would all work together. I can tell the Northside people can spin it anyway they want, but they need new leadership. Thier DOC Lou Pantuasco has screwed things up is concerned about everything but the development of the kids. People do not trust him. I also understand that Northside wants desperatly to merge with the Discoveries Club. In fact I was told Lou went to the President of Discoveries and talked about merging. A merger will never happen as long as this Lou guy is in charge. If there was a change in the DOC, there would be more positive talks. Their has been many players, parents, and coaches leave Northside because of the leadership or lack of recently. One coach is Jim Finnerty. He left and will do an outstanding job with this new club. He is in it for all the right reasons. He is also a class guy. Northside people, get off the ship it is sinking. You can't spin things much longer.

So what's happening in Hartsville now? That is certainly a bastion of "good soccer".

Cola Fan,
Only reporting what was told to me by a reliable source close to this. I have no interest one way or the other. Sorry if you took it the wrong way.

scsoccerman: What "Cola Fan" did to you was what is called an unreasoned attack. This is closely related to the old yet reliable "your momma" style of attack. The hallmarks of such an attack are that they have nothing to do with what you say, but instead focus on some inane feature of your post. In this case it was your location tag of "Hartsville." Of course, the locale from which you are posting has nothing to do with the validity of your message -- you could be Anson Dorrance or Bruce Arena summering in Hartsville for all we know.

Other angles of attack, given features of your message, might include:

• Look you johnny-come-lately "3359", you obviously haven't been on this message board long enough to understand anything...
• How typical of a 19th post; I find your ignorance amazing...
• Your use of "man" in your screenname shows you to be a typical ethnocentric chauvinistic anglo-saxon male...
• ...and so on...

Okay, more seriously.

I would think that Jim Finnerty would be a huge loss for Northside given his accomplishments with the U16G Blast and of course the Fort Mill girls high school program.

scsoccerman

you say that you have no interest, yet I remember you continually putting down the Northwestern boys soccer program. Now you are attacking a DOC of a club that you say you have no interest in. What gives?

scsoccermann,

The personal attack on Lou Pantuosco is not necessary and not warranted. As I reminded you on a prior post, Lou, along with myself and Bob Blaschke (see above), started a club from scratch five years ago and quickly built it into a contender. Northside has been able to field competitive teams in many age brackets. A large part of the success of the Fort Mill boys (#6), Fort Mill girls (#2) and Northwestern boys (#3) programs can be attributed to the foundation that was laid by Lou Pantuosco. Lou also played an active role in recruiting the Northwestern boys varsity and Northwestern boys JV coaches to relocate to this area.

In addition, the Fort Mill girls varsity coach, the Northwestern girls varsity coach and the Fort Mill boys varsity assistant coach have all been on the Northside staff.

What's happening now is much like the break up of a marriage. People change, people get other ideas, people want to move in other directions. There are no villains in this and your attempt to label Lou Pantuosco as the primary cause is wrong.

Let's hope this divorce doesn't get too messy and let's put this issue to rest. No more commentary from Hartsville please, you're out of the loop.

scsoccerman: These last two posts are "reasoned arguments"; you're on your own, dude!

Hurst66: Is there any reasonable way to encapsulate the philosophical differences among these three clubs? I understand that there might not be, or that you might not feel comfortable talking about it -- I just wondered.

Why am I asking? Honestly, it's pure interest regarding merger and spin-off activities of youth soccer clubs. It seems to me that there are good reasons for mergers/alliances, and good reasons for spin-off's, and then there are some questionable reasons. A clear difference in vision/philosophy would seem to be a really good reason for a spin-off/new club.

I really thought SCYSA was discouraging the spin-off of club teams. Back many years ago, it was a very popular idea to just create your own club. I remember their being several 2 and 1 team soccer clubs because of this. I guess it is just a cycle...

Any updates on coaches for Tega Cay or Northside? Also, the last I heard neither team was certain there would be enough players for some teams. Any news?

scsoccerman

The person informing you is not feeding you the correct information. The merger meetings started even before I came up here. They were not initiated by Lou or DSC, but rather by the Rock Hill Rec Dept. They have been trying to get the clubs to merge so that there will be one club when the new Manchester Soccer Complex is completed.


Secondly, the new club in town was started for selfish reasons, not what was best for the kids. I will not tell their reasonings public, but if you wish to know, you can private message me and we will talk. As far as parents and players leaving, how do you argue your point when the club in the last 5 years has grown from nothing to 19 teams this past year (more than DSC)?

You are correct that the club situation is not the best in this area. However, placing all the blame on Lou is neither correct nor fair.

The Tega Cay club leadership has not commented. Their press releases say what they are doing, but not why. It seems appropriate for them to step forward with SOME statement.

Davis in all due respect, unless you are on the board of Northside, I don't think you really know what is going on in the community. RHPRT did have discussions about merging, but Lou also had discussions beyond those. I will not say publicly, but everyone involved in soccer in the Rock Hill area knows what the problem is. By the way I have been gone the past few days moving back to Rock Hill. Perhaps I can be more active now.

Board - no. Trainer - yes. still dont think I know whats going on? I know exactly what the problem is. This area can not support 3 clubs. But please enlighten me as to the problem that you precieve. I noticed that DSC just hired a new DOC. I never saw that job listed publicly. Did the board make this hire?

Yes the position was listed in the NCAA News, NSCAA and SA. I heard they had 85 applications. The position is a dual position as Discoveries DOC and GK Coach at Winthrop. This is needed to make it a full time position, plus it is easier to get a quality DOC if he also has the opportunith to coach at the college level. This has been a very healthy relationship for both Winthrop and Discoveries. There is a fee paid to Winthrop for use of fields (Under construction) very nice office, phone, computer, club meeting space, etc. The club also has the consulting of the Winthrop coaching staff whenever needed. Also many of the coaches are Winthrop graduates who have played at the Div. I level for four years. Only coaches recommended by the Withrop coaches are selected. So this is win-win situation for everyone.

The new Doc is from Creighton University, who was their captain and played in two final fours and a national championship. Very well quilified as was the last four DOC's Discoveries has had.

A healthy relationship? maybe. Whats best for the players? not necessarily. It becomes a revolving door with the DOC leaving every 2-3 years. How can the club vision remain the same? Everyone always has different ideas of how to run things.
So you are telling me that the Board has no real power. They only hire coaches who Posapinko tells them too. So what you are telling me is that Posapinko and the other WU coaches hold the power. The DOC was going to be the person that was best for Winthrop not neccessarily Discoveries.

How many other clubs in the state are directly tied to a college?

Davis,

What does DSC have to do with the original post? It seems they just mind their own business.

Read the posts. scsoccerman wants to place all the blame for the club situation in Rock Hill on Lou P. That just is not the case.

Did I hit alittle too close to home with some of my comments?

Davis,

Are you the pot or the kettle? Instead of defending Lou P., you drag DSC and Winthrop U. through the mud. Play nice!

Davis - are you the asst. coach at NW?

Talon,
Who's boss are you? Don't respond if you are not a boss at a D-1 school.

Somebody help me out here. Just moving to the area I would like somebody to shot straight from the hip and tell us all what the TRUTH is before I commit my kids.

Import....been here just enough longer to figure out probably the best course is focus on the coach's credentials, philosophies and style. Having 3 clubs DOES dilute both the player and coach talent pool. I doubt if you get the complete, accurate "story".

FMDad, I believe and trust JF in the short time I have been exposed to the local soccer team. At same time want to make sure it is a win-win situation for both family and club. Maybe that is Utopia but it would be nice!

If we are to follow FM dads suggestion, from the outside looking in, it looks like Pantuosco is the best option. He is A licensed and has the more impessive playing career, for what that means. I don't know much about Jim other than what was posted on this website, but his playing resume and licensing is not really close to what Pantuosco offers.

Do note Jim is the director, and may /may not coach your child's team. I'd go with him, also, but the person hands-on with the kids is the one who counts.

In regards to DSC, yes we do have a healthy relationship with WU, but they do not factor into who we hire as coaches or any other decisions we make. It is to our advantage to have former WU player's as coaches, but we also have other coaches from the community. We are not directly affiliated with WU and are not bound to any of their suggestions. We have an active board that makes decisions like any other soccer board on who to hire. Discoveries has been around for many, many years and it's goal is not to have 20 or 30 teams. We are a non profit organization and our mission is to serve the boys and girls in our area. If you check our fees against NS or TC we are the lowest because we are not here to supply high paying jobs to trainers or coaches, but to provide kids a place to play soccer at the next level. We field competitive challenge and classic teams for that reason and we have had our share of successes and failures like any other club.
I agree with the statements that the area may not be able to support 3 clubs and the talent pool is diluted, but it is also true that the area is growing. We have tried to keep our distance with NS and continued to do what we have been doing sucessfully for years. Clubs shouldn't be so concerned with what their neighbor is doing, but what it do better. We have been concentrating on that and have built up the club to our heighest membership level ever.
To add to the posts about Northwestern and Fort Mill HS, don't forget, these kids got their start here at DSC, and we always have most of the Northwestern varsity boys, like we do this year.
All three clubs have talented DOC's and coaches; one doesn't have a monopoly over the other. However, a parent's decision on which club to take his player to can be based on the club's philosophy, which can vary from club to club. We are about development, and want to bring the player to the highest level he can achieve through hard work and committment, not about having the biggest club in the area.

Very well written and informative. Problem we are facing is getting some unbiased feedback and maybe what you would do being new to an area. Overall we have been very impressed with our welcoming and inputs given. It would be nice to hear direct comments from parents and players.

The new club being started for selfish reasons? I think not. Let me enlighted you. It is a Board that is taking NO compensation and a DOC that will get a minimal check for his services if there is money left in the budget. Sound selfish? Lets compare that to a DOC that always get a check, turns in all and any receipts and tries to have a Mandatory team camp. Oh by the way make your check out to him because it is his personal soccer camp.

The new club was started so players would have a place to play in their community and stay in SC. They have top knotch coaches and a Board that cares - nothing more.

Import - if you moved to Tega Cay the one thing that must have impress you was the commmunity. It is a great community with a lot to offer.

Nobody caers. Well, amlost nobody caers.

pilgrim

I was just on the Northside web site and see where the DOC wants kids in his club to attend camp run by him. It sounds as though he makes his camp mandatory. We are just lining his pockets even more. I plan on addressing this practice in the next few weeks. I have a real problem with this. I just can't believe that we pay these people to coach or be a trainer during the year and then pay them again for the same coaching. It just doesn't make sense to me. In my opinion it is more valuable to get other coaching whenever possible. I am sure the coaching level is much higher at Clemson, Winthrop, South Carolina, etc. soccer camps. I am a strong believer in supporting our local college's soccer camps and soccer program. Both my son's have gone to the Winthrop and Clemson camps in the past and they were both excellent. We will be doing the same again this summer as well as trying the Northside camp.

Be wary of self-promoters. Be very wary. We had to deal with that here as well and it got ugly.

Jones, that has been one of the biggest complaints. What is it that they can teach them at camp that they can't teach them thru the season? I realize that it is a lot of practices in one week that is great for the team but it is also great for a player to get different aspects of the game from different coaches.

DSC every DOC is a PAID WU asst!!! Come on don't lie

I'd be interested to know how many clubs in the state pay their DOC. Also, how many clubs pay their staff coaches? How much. Seems to be pretty big business in some circles. I know that MPSC has alot of resources, but not sure of pay scales and such. Anyone have any info?

The only club that doesn't to my knowledge (via internet) is Congaree Rapids. CESA,CSC,Carolina FC, DSC,NSC,BFA,NECSA,MtP,Coastal ALL pay DOC. Shame actually seems by looking at it that Hesise does more than everyone but CESA.

Shearer -- I often overlook or ignore your rampant posts, but felt like I should weigh in on this one.

First off, it's the CONGAREE RAPID -- not plural with an "S". We're not in Colorado.

The Director of Coaches position at CRSA is not a paid position and therefore the DOC is able to sit on the Board of Directors, where quite honestly I'd rather be to offer more influence in the direction of the club. If the DOC position was paid, I'd not be able to serve on the Board in this particular capacity.

Our club is set up a little differently than most and our mission is not to be the largest club or even play at the "premier" level. We simply want to offer classic league soccer with solid coaching for kids that want to play from our area (Downtown Columbia and Cayce/West Columbia).

I am looking forward to our upcoming season however as we have a quality coaching staff and a good pool of teams to work with this year.

What is a "Rapid"?

Shearer, I had the same question when reading Heise's reply. I didn't realize that it was singular. I looked it up and here is what it says, although I'm not sure which one they (CRSA) emphasizes:

(1) a part of a river where the current is very fast

(2) characterized by speed; moving with or capable of moving with high speed; "a rapid movment"; "a speedy car"; "a speedy errand boy"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn2.1

(3) A rapid is a section of a river where it loses elevation over a relatively short distance (that is, the stream gradient is locally steepened), causing an increase in water flow and (usually) turbulence. A rapid is a hydrological feature between a run and a cascade. A rapid is recognized by the river becoming shallower and having rocks exposed above of the flow surface. As flowing water splashes over and around the rocks, air bubbles become mixed in with it and the water takes on a white colour,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid

Are there any other DOCs that don't receive pay or clubs that don't pay their coaches?

I do love the Tega Cay community and everybody that I have had the pleasure of meeting. Never have seen or heard so many folks with a passion for the game and care like they do! One clue is look at the club fees and you will get a feel who gets paid and how much. To bad the adults can't put their own feelings aside and do what is best in the long term, big picture. Always trouble when power, egos, and money get involved. Need to get back to basics and think about what is best for players, families, and development. And, by the way, I still don't have a warm or fuzzy feeling on what is best of my children!

Import - Don't forget what is inculded in the fees such as, field lining, goals and nets, ref fees, registration fees to the state, coaching, training, equipment, tournament fees, (Tega Cay Soccer Club is including two tournaments and the uniform in their fees). There are a lot expenses in putting together a team and club.

Good luck in figuring it all out!

What happened to Davis? Watch out, here come the Hammer!!!