We can’t depend on AD’s to even get nomination forms to coaches. I doubt if they would pony-up with any money.
It costs in excess of $10,000 just to house the players.
How much money can you raise? Talk is cheap. Where were all these fund-raising ideas in Feb? Is your check in the mail?
Parents paying the hotel bill could work. Or, kids could raise their own money. But, this could eliminate some from poor families.
We could name a team and send certificates, even t-shirts just to keep the string alive.
Show-up and play is an option. But we have kids every year who don’t show-up after being selected when it is a 3-day event. They can’t be torn away from the beach. Now picture them on the beach at first week. It’s Friday night and they have to decide whether to get up the next day and play a pick-up soccer game as opposed to staying another day on the beach.
And, what if the weather looks bad where you are staying and you decide you don’t feel like making the drive. So, 18 players show up. What do we do? Play 9 v 9?
A multi-day event comes with a built in commitment. We know on Thursday if Beach Billy didn’t come. And, we can get a replacement in. If the weather is bad Saturday, the players are already here. They can wait it out. Or, at the very least, they have already been recognized and given their awards.
Many of you while showing concern for the game are not on the inside of what this involves. Your love for the game is strong. But, real ideas and real money were needed in March when the problem was first posted by my friend Kevin.
I personally offered an idea last summer that could have perhaps been the answer to the problem before the problem existed. I took steps to broker the deal with little support from some of those at the top of the food chain of the N/S. The ball was dropped. Hindsight is 20-20. We move on.
