SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Classic @ $150 - Too good to be true? NO!

Foothills Soccer Club of Greer is adding a new U-18 Girls Classic team this Fall. Cost for registration and uniform (2 jerseys, shorts, socks)will not exceed $150 because I'm not coaching for money but for the love of the game. Other qualifications? Yes: USSF "C"-license, NSCAA "National Diploma with distinction" and NSCAA Goalkeeping Diploma. Training will take place Mon, Tue, Thu on the fields of Shannon Forest Christian School. Try-Outs: June 1 + 2, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 pm.
Questions? E-mail me through this board.

Wait a minute.....didn't you forget a zero???? ;>)

Ouch! Nay, the cost is per player, not per team

Imagine that...Someone doing it for the love of the game and giving back to the sport..God bless you..Hey parents!!! What are your coaching fees this year?

too much, and on top of that, the travel expense! Hats off to alemannia! Create some clones!

I see your qualifications but no name............

You get what you pay for...

But the question is how much are you willing to pay? Is there a limit? Remember it is youth soccer in South Carolina. Before to long you will have to start paying mileage for coaches for season games.Could be an interesting thread to start..Maybe something like What's your limit?

Charlotte Soccer Club U-15G is $1,500 for one fall season. Doesn't include tournaments.

Good point GVL, Alemannia is promoting this as a classic team, not challenge or premier. If he has a "C" license and his heart is in the right place.......I wish him well. Sounds like for $150, there might be some value there.

Upstatemom: I coached the CCES girls into the SCHSL 1A state final last year and have taken over the soccer program at Shannon Forest since then (MS and Varsity Boys and Girls). The MS girls just narrowly lost their CMSC final and the varsity girls went to NCISAA state playoffs for the first time in 5 years. Also coached a U-19 Girls Rec team to a State Championship last fall although that is less important than the progress the girls made and fun they had.
GVLSoccerDad: I trust you get good quality coaching for your money, but 10x better... Is it Juergen Klinsmann?

There is a cheaper club than that...Lower Lexington.

GVL...I agree with you

Cheaper is not what players/parents want. Less expensive, yes.

Just want to make it clear that I do not intend to pull any players from their current team / coach. I only want to give everybody else interested in playing on the SCYSA Classic level (not Premier, not Challenge)a chance to do that without spending a fortune.

People do not want the cheapest deal in town..It's not like going to Wal Mart.They want to get the most for the money they spend on training...As far as You get what you pay for..Well, sometimes you don't

No its not about the Cheapest , but i can not see why these MEGA clubs expect Classic parents to pay equal to what the Challenge and Premier Level teams pay and then stick the Classic players with a Coach that could not develop a player to save his or her life. Classic Level should be where the Most development of players comes from and not Just a revenue source for these "Mega Clubs"

Jimmy: Which of the "Mega Clubs" charge the parents an equal amount to play Premier/Challenge and Classic?

Alemannia I wasn't questioning your qualifications, I was wondering what your name is.....

I honestly don't know how price sensitive the market is for classic play; however, I applaud Foothills Premier for attempting to differentiate its offerings and market them. One of the things I really like about this is that you have clubs attempting to offer choice in terms of the services delivered rather than having a bunch of clubs saying that they do the same thing.

I have found most clubs charge different rates depending on level of play..I can see clubs charging more for challenge than classic but I do not understand why clubs charge more for premier play..Aren't these challenge teams that has placed first or second in state?Does the training really change? Why pay more for challenge teams playing at the premier level.

agree with coldhard, many don't get what they pay for! take a long, serious, hard look in value received.

Upstatemom: The answer to your question is in today's topic: "Shannon Forest Christian Soccer Camps" from Kevin Heise

>>[coldhardtruth] I can see clubs charging more for challenge than classic but I do not understand why clubs charge more for premier play..Aren't these challenge teams that has placed first or second in state?<<

I can only respond with respect to CESA since that's the only club with premier and challenge teams with which I am familiar.

At CESA, a Premier team is not a Challenge team that placed first or second in the state. A Premier team is the most competitive team in an age bracket and gender. A Challenge team is the second most competitive. I've seen the case where Challenge teams play in premier league (RIIIPL-East) as well as the Premier team.

>>Does the training really change?<<

I know that Premier players are expected to train at minimum three times per week while Challenge players are expected to train at minimum twice a week. I believe that at least part of the pricing differential is based on the cost of training.

But...one of the things I think is great about CESA is that they have an open training environment -- you can train as much as you like with any team that you like over and above your team training.

>>Why pay more for challenge teams playing at the premier level.<<

Again -- with regard to CESA club-related fees, Challenge teams playing in RIIIPL-East don't pay more.

Chico,
I like the open training enviroment..I think all clubs could benefit from doing this.So the way I understand this is CESA has four levels of play..
Premier,Challenge,Classic and Rec?What I have seen is once the Challenge teams qualify for RIIIPL the cost for training is increased and these teams are considered Premier because of the league they play in.What I am saying is the clubs do not have a Premier level but instead have a challenge level with teams in the Premier league

>>[coldhardtruth] I like the open training enviroment<<

Yes; I absolutely think it's one of the best things about CESA. Of course, I know that others have done it as well -- Justin Rhodes was great about it with his Aiken Fire team.

>>CESA has four levels of play..Premier,Challenge,Classic and Rec?<<

I think it's five levels now: Premier, Challenge, Classic, High School Prep, and Recreation.

>>What I am saying is the clubs do not have a Premier level but instead have a challenge level with teams in the Premier league<<

I understand...I didn't know some clubs did this.

I would think that most clubs would allow additional training. However at times it's complicated if the training costs are per team instead of per player. The dreaded parent trap then gets going and "why is little Johnnie training with our team, he hasn't paid part of our training fees."

As for the semantics of the "Premier" team. Again some of the parent trap. What defines a premier team? As Chico said it's the most competitive team. As for the parent trap part, why call it Premier if it's playing in the same league with the Challenge teams? Some parents like to see more concrete examples, therefore it's somewhat driven by the league. Regardless, I think every club has what they consider the most competitive team in the age group.

Some clubs really struggle with the multiple teams in an age group. I mean, after all, how could little Johnnie not be on the 1st, A, Purple, Black, Premier, or whatever the club calls the most competitive team. You know that parents are the most objective evaluators of talent when it comes to the age group their child participates in.

The beauty of all this, our society is based on choice. If you don't like your situation, you have the choice to move on to one where you think you will be happy. Of course, some people are never satisfied.

I think most DOC's see the benefit of an "A" team and a "B" team when you have two teams in the same age bracket.

What about first time out of the blocks though? Say your club starts at U-11, do you balance the teams this first year and give them comparable support (coaching)? Let "social Darwinism" run its course. Or, do you divide them from the start A & B?

I do not belive any parent is satisfied unless their son or daughter is a starter on the best championship team.As far as mutiple teams at the same playing level...there is the first or Premier team and then there's the pool team in case some players show talent to move up or if injuries occur..Most are not trying out for the second team so I would bet to say that the player and parent are not satisfied..As far as choice goes..I think this is going to play a bigger role in the future with the costs for training.Parents are going to have to look at what their child is getting for their dollar.Most expensive is not always best for every player

Hurst...interesting question.

My opinion....it depends. If you have enough like players then certainly make 2 teams that are equal.

If you do not, then you should have an A and B. I equate this with school where the advanced kids take advanced classes. This way you do not lose time trying to teach (or coach) down.

However, as with school, the B team should be given the training necessary to eventually be an A.

Therefore in my book, you separate until those that can catch up... do.

Easier said than done....

Futbol: That was my point from earlier If players are not given the opportunity to develop with the coaching that the club assisns then what is the point of Classic, Challenge, or even Premier? or A,B,C. we had Classic kids that played both Fall and Spring @ CESA and were told not to waste there time even trying out for Challenge. 2 of which were former Challenge(B) team players. of a 16 player roster only 2 kids were instructed to "try-out" for the next level.

OPEN practices but RESTRICTED tryouts....doesn't sound right to me. I imagine the kids were "advised" not to try out, not "prevented" from trying out, right?

Not prevented but our coach went to the Kids and Parents and told them that the Coach of the next level only wanted to look at them(2).

James... unlike Chico I liked Rollerball...

I cannot answer fo CESA, I know that for clubs to have 2 teams playing in the same league (i.e. challenge) you must expect that the teams will perform at the appropriate level and not need to moved down a level. I know of only one CESA Challenge team in classic level (I do not remember the age and I do not know if they did not have the numbers)

I also know within Bridge and CESA (which are basically the only clubs to have this arrangement at older ages) the so called B team has beaten the A team.

So in my mind the talent is somewhat equal. Now you get into the way a particular coach sees the game. This is entirely missed by many. Since not all of us see the same things the same way, it would be logical that coaches see things differently. Style of play and current players dictate what you need to do.

Long story short, all players should have been assessed equally and then the selection should have been done with the requirements of the assigned coach.

Allowing a player the opportunity to showcase should not be predetermined (although we all have our bias), who knows...you may find out you are wrong.

It has happened before.

Good Luck.

futbol(soccer): I questioned Jimmy's work in "Las Vegas"; I would never, ever question that paragon of gratuitous violence that was "Rollerball."

>>[James Caan] we had Classic kids that played both Fall and Spring @ CESA and were told not to waste there time even trying out for Challenge. 2 of which were former Challenge(B) team players. of a 16 player roster only 2 kids were instructed to "try-out" for the next level.<<

>>Not prevented but our coach went to the Kids and Parents and told them that the Coach of the next level only wanted to look at them(2).<<

Okay...I think I'm getting the picture. Let me recap: the challenge and classic coach get together and do a review of players, that the coaches only identified two players on classic that they thought would have a good chance of making challenge and then let those two players know their opinion. That part seems okay, right? I know that it's a policy to make sure that coaches don't try to make their teams better by preventing kids from moving to more competitive teams and coaches at different levels are supposed to talk to each other about kids they think have a good possibility of moving to different teams.

The problem as I'm reading your note is the possible exclusion of the other kids on the classic team. The crux of this is whether the other kids were told "...we don't want you to go to challenge tryouts..." I would think it's okay not to give the other kids some type of false encouragement (which would be dishonest and lack integrity), but it's not okay to tell them that they can't go to tryouts or even shouldn't go to tryouts. Now...if a kid walks up to the coach and asks for the coach's opinion, then the coach should give an honest assessment. But if the coach is telling the other players they don't have a chance and shouldn't tryout then that's crossing a very big line.

If the kids were told they couln't go to tryouts, that seems like it would be absolutely wrong and whatever coach told them that should be reported to the executive directors via e-mail or telephone or in person. If that's what occurred, I'd encourage you to report the coach. If you want to remain anonymous and don't have a mechanism to report them, then PM me with the information from your anonymous screen name and I'll report them for you.

chico...much better than the new version...

I've been involved with St. Giles, St. Giles United and now CESA and I would be VERY surprised if a player was told not to try out...this sounds like something that was taken out of context. I can believe that if a parent approached a childs coach that the coach would give them an honest opinion about that childs level of play...from that coaches opinion...but I highly doubt they would tell them not to try out...just my opinion from my experience.

swanseawinger20...the initial fee is only the slightest tip of the iceberg if you are looking at the real cost of travel soccer. Unless they are playing in t-shirts and gym shorts and never travel out of town...telling them that the cost is $ 125 just doesn't cover all of the costs...not even close.

it did for the boys team but we were demoted to a recreational team. reason being why we ended the season 8-0-1

the girls were actually a real classic team and they did travel. correction i was wrong

I'd be interested to know the fees for the upcoming classic fall season for the different clubs. What are they?