SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Parents hamstring clubs and now 1 is For Sale

The problems of Summerville Soccer Club like other clubs are the parents. The problems stem from some meddling parents who wreaked havoc, and will to come. As a result, Summerville Soccer Club has suffered a loss of depth in its programs.

In golf, college coaches don't pay as much attention to the spring prep campaign. They focus on the junior golf tournaments after school lets out. The same can be said for club soccer vs. high school soccer or YMCA soccer.

Unfortunately, it sounds like SSC program has taken another wrong turn under the leadership of the parent run board. Now on it’s third DOC in 10 months. The new DOC, Gail Osborne of Pinewood Prep. Who has a coaching résumé including nothing but being a High School coach. Oh, yes give her credited she was Coach of the year for Prep Schools, but has NO A, B or even C license. She is a PE teacher and high school coach and yes a parent coach, but nothing more.

Osborne has now decided to replace many coaches with Dad’s of players and High school JV coaches from the area. This club should not be Summerville Soccer club but Pinewood Prep. or FDHS &SHS Jr. The board and now DOC are from Pinewood Prep. A nice school, but not know for developing great soccer talent. This last spring break SSC did not have a camp instead it advertised for a camp at Pinewood to help raise money for their kids to take a trip to Europe. The board went to parents who Ran local Business to get help running the club. What they should have done is just put a For Sale sign up. I believe you can say the Club was bought by the parents with money and who think money can solve problems. Along with the hope of increasing the enrolment for Pinewood and helping its soccer teams get better.

The club is in shambles because of mismanagement of the past few years. Basically, the inmates were running the asylum — self-serving, confrontational parents have made it unbearable for coaches and players alike. The complaint from the parent run board was the coaches had too much control. Well of course they did. The coaches cared about 1 thing, DEVELOPING PLAYERS not 1 kid or their own child like the parents do now on the board.

The club is in a very bad state in many ways. I think there is a lot of talent at SSC. I get to see this on a regular basis and for those players who want to develop they should look else where. I don’t think it matters where at this point any place would be better next year. I believe(SSC) has just been stuck in old ways for too many years, while clubs from different areas around the state have continued to devolop and grow. SSC has seen tremendous amounts of talented athletes; leave for better coaching or to follow the better coaches to other club. At one point SSC was on track, they created the BRIDGE FC and then all has slowly gone down hill.

The new hired staff of coaches from high schools will not help the programs and is only the next step in a downward spiral for SSC. Before long the place to play will be the YMCA. There is one significant hurdle, the parochial attitude of soccer parents at SSC. The attitude that parents should have control over the club is wrong. If I buy Exxon gas should I be president. If I like to eat should I be head Chief or open a restaurant. NO, you hire people who know the business of running a soccer club. You hire Soccer People, not home town friends. If you played in High school or have a kid that plays does not mean you should run a club. Alas, it sounds as if the term "Little League parents" doesn't apply to just baseball.

The political part of parents that has interfered in the past is what we needs to be over. You should want every good coach in the area to become involved and help area soccer players regardless of where they are from. How cares if there not form Summerville or grew up in Summerville. All that should matter is if they make the kids better. If parents all sit around and let egos interfere, the kids will continue to underachieve as a whole.

In terms of parent interference, I do believe it has hurt in the past. Parents want what is best for their child, and I think if they would step back and look at better clubs with less parent involvement they see quality coaches and training. They would see the strongest clubs have no parent input. Less and less of parents equals more and more success. It in turn means more and more of the kids enjoying the game and the training they are getting. If the club does its job and does things right and develops of the kids, parents will would not and should not interfere. One thing is true, parents can’t fix the problems. It take a person who knows the game and will put the club and kids first at all the time, not when it doesn’t interfere with their other job or school. The club can't come second ever. Too bad this is not the direction SSC is going.

Can you ever get parents out of club soccer? How do other clubs? Bridge,CESA does it take a strong DOC or Tyrant?

Interesting analysis; I'm not in a position to debate its accuracy.

Since it seems, though, that it is your contention that it is a license, not common sense, experience, and knowledge of the game that makes someone worth listening to...may we see your credentials as an analyst? Do you hold an A, B, or even C license in club management? I only ask because "parent coaches" aren't only found on the sidelines trying to teach young people to play soccer; sometimes they're trying to coach management policy as well. It stands to reason that if you believe that certification is directly proportion to qualification, then if someone without "proper" credentials can do a fine job of figuring out how a club should be run, then it's possible that someone without a "proper" license could do an equally good job of understanding and teaching the game--and vice versa.

For the record, I completely agree that a successful coach of successful players will be someone who puts the development of the players first and foremost.

Priorites need to be put in the right order..That being players first.
While they have approved a new logo and have a new supplier for uniforms I can't help but ask where are the priorites when I look out over the eight fields of crabgrass and clover

APE,
Parents are the customers when it comes to club soocer..No parents..No club soccer!! Parents just need to be put in supporting roles and not making major decisions that affect the club.

Soccer clubs are not so different from schools; parents are stakeholders in the system, along with players, coaches, administration, and community. As the primary investors, I can understand parents wanting to have some input; after all, they are not just investing money--they are investing the well-being of their children when they choose who to trust with their development. In the school system, we have multiple people with various degrees who are trained, experienced, and specialize in helping students succeed in different areas--but without the support and cooperation of parents, we are not nearly as effective. Soccer is not so different.

The key is balance--and distinguishing input from control. Parents need to know that they are being heard, and that their child is getting something positive from their investment--but they also need to be confident that the people running the day-to-day activities are in control, knowledgeable, and confident in their own decisions, which they make after gathering all the relevant information. Most parents I know want someone to listen to their input, but at the same time would have little respect for someone who can be steamrolled into making changes every time someone pushes a little.

Before I got into coaching the club side of soccer, I had heard all the stereotypical stories about parents, and I was braced for it...what I found instead was a group of involved, positive parents who simply wanted to know that their young people were getting the best experience possible. In most cases, I've found that the parents I've dealt with don't try to change or "run" things unless there is already what they see as a serious problem with their child's quality of experience, and whether that experience--in development, attitude, character, and opportunity--is positive or negative means a lot more to most than the alphabet behind a person's name.

Maybe I've just been lucky with the best group of parents in club soccer...but there it is.

coldhardtruth,
I agree you need and want parents. You want them supporting the kids and the club (cheering, volunteering, and supporting the teams). The problem seems to be many clubs get parent boards that think they know what's best. I think MPSC is have the same or close to the same problem between it's parent board and the Rec. Dept. lets hope we don't see another divide. Can you keep the wants best for my child people of the boards? Can you have parent boards without causing havoc for you club? SSC needs Grass, Weed Killer, Nets, not logos and uniforms from puma. To bad that's what the board put first this year and looks to for the coming year. Parents don't put the Club first or soccer development first. Sad to say but Gail and Eddie will do no better. Their other jobs will come first.

Coach Chass,
I think in general most people are fine or great club parents. The problem is the 10% who get on boards because that want a specific change for there child. I know one coach is not returning to SSC because a Pinewood parent talked to Gail. He is a big person at pinewood and because his daughter did get enough playing time or was on the weaker team he got the coach let go. That is the type of parent I have a problem with. This guy is on the baseball youth board and now wants on the soccer board all for his kids not everyone. Can you have a test to weed this people out?

Coach,
You've just been lucky!!

APE,
Businessmen and women who have time to volunteer to their community should hold board positions and the club should be run like a business..No ties to the club other than helping to make it successful..Parents? Supporting positions than do not factor in to any major decision making for the club..That's my club board..