SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP CESA Press Release: Establishing a Columbia Program

Sorry Midlands:

quote:

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How could he go directly against something he had so adamantly preached to all of us? I almost feel like he abandoned us. And to reiterate a point Dhunter made; Eddie promises a lot, but produces a little.

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I think this is a question a lot of folks are asking today. Perhaps only a reply from Eddie himself will allow us to know his true intentions.

>>[futbol(soccer)] Diluted talent is bad, concentrated talent means no visibility (politics, wink-wink, nudge-nudge). [...] <<

Concentrated talent means no visibility? First, if you're committed to being the "biggest fish in a small pond" and you have sufficient talent, there's nothing to stop you from playing recreation or classic and being a hero. In fact, there's nothing to stop you from playing on a non-competitive challenge team...although getting visibility might be more difficult. But more importantly, I believe that the premise is flawed. Concentrated talent increases visibility, if that concentrated talent is coached to play together as a team and has success.

Secondly, I understand the fear of politics. A personal anecdote. When I was asked to volunteer with CESA, my first question was whether they could give me a promise that it wouldn't hurt my kid who plays there. I knew that they take a pretty hard line on politics -- and I wanted to make sure that the directors or coaches would try to prove a point through me or my kid.

I fundamentally believe that politics occur in youth soccer clubs primarily when boards get involved in day-to-day soccer operations. Boards have absolute responsibilites regarding strategy, financials, values, policy, and the like. But when you have a board of parents making decisions such as which players play on which teams, or which tournaments will be attended, or which coaches will coach which teams -- it's a recipe for the "good ol' boy network" and politics at its worst. It's great for a board to set coaching selection strategy (i.e., we want to make sure that we provide great coaching for challenge and classic and not just premier teams); it's another for a board to get actively involved in deciding the specific coach that will coach the U11B team. Because once that occurs, you're only a tiny bit away from "Board member and donor Mr. Smith wants Coach John to coach the U11B team because Mr. Smith's son loves Coach John."

I'm not sure that this is well understood, particularly in places in which politics have run rampant.

>> [benp] Why not do away will all clubs in the state, and just have CESA bases in the midlands, piedmont, and lowerstate.<<

What you are implying here is a logic fallacy known as the slippery slope fallacy. However, I'll answer it affirmatively in any case, i.e., why there should be more than one club per MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area).

As I noted in another post, I believe that the upstate has as much or more choice than the midstate has had to date...and I posted my rationale and the clubs involved.

The reason that there should be more than one club per MSA is that there are always going to be players and parents that want something other than what CESA offers. For example, there are going to be players that want to play challenge but not practice very much. There are going to be parents that want to be more "in control" and get to dictate which tournaments the team attends. And so on.

That's all well and good. However, there's a much more insiduous "choice" that people sometimes want to be able to make. It's the one where as a player you tell the club that you to be on a regionally/nationally competitive team, compete and win in RIIIPL, and so on -- but you want the team to stay together regardless of tryouts because they're all friends, you don't want to practice 3 (or whatever) times a week, you don't want to practice 20 (or whatever) miles away, you don't want to travel to tournaments, etc.

Jack Welch, former CEO at General Electric, had a great saying: "Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it would be." It's pretty applicable here. Make a choice of club and team, but don't lie to yourself about the reasons for your choice or the probable outcome of your choice.

Chico--do you ever work?

Not much right now. After my first several operations as an amateur brain surgeon (see my profile), there has been little in the way of repeat business.

However, if you have any hints on either the dollar/Euro exchange rate futures [.853 right now, who woulda thunk?], or what Bernanke will really do [as a fellow South Carolinian, don't you think he owes us a few under the table previews?], please let me know.

Unfortunately, I must confess to this forum, that I was one of Chico's few early patients. That is why I now dream so much.

Dang it... I thought I was the only patient......

Who jumped first?

Was EC going to get fired by the CSC Board? Did he catch wind of that move and bolt for CESA?

Did CESA approach EC and in turn he leaves CSC high and dry?

Has TM been waiting in the wings for these chips to fall?

Where does this leave DC?

Does this signal the end of the PS era at Irmo?

"It's a riddle trapped inside an enigma!"

riddle me this......

Cokefan,
If all your questions were to be appropriately addressed, what would it matter?