I find these kind of conversations to be incredibly fascinating...more for what isn't said than what is said. Since I don't know what is meant here, I thought I'd just write a short opinion piece...
I'm honestly not sure what "looking out for #1" means in terms of perceptions and opinions of people. However, if what is being discussed is the "selfish gene" kind of argument, where putting your children ahead of yourself is the ultimate act of "looking out for #1" because of your inherent desire to perpetuate your gene pool -- or the Ayn Rand kind of argument where altruism is simply a desire to gratify oneself rather than some type of "selfless impulse" -- then I agree -- especially CESA.
Why? Because CESA is run more like a business than a social network of parents. I can absolutely tell you as a founding board member of CESA that there was an incredible desire that the "social" soccer found at many clubs wasn't going to be indulged at CESA.
I've seen board member's children put on challenge and classic teams and leave the club. I've seen parents try to exert undue influence through gifts and effort and walk away in anger when they couldn't use that influence to get what they wanted for their child. I've seen coaches tell parents and players they'd be better off in another club when they talked about "keeping the team together" out of loyalty (to whom?) or for "social" reasons -- and these are coaches with every incentive to try to grow the number of kids in the club.
So -- thank goodness (from my perspective) -- especially CESA.
Or as I tell my kid every year since she began playing for GFC (pre-CESA) -- if you want to make the team, make sure you're the best player out there trying out for that team.
