Sereno Soccer Classic - Day 1

Up early to head to the airport for my 9:00AM flight to Phoenix.  Wouldn't have been too early save for the fact that I never can get to packing until the morning of for some reason.  Drives my wife crazy... she was packed in October for our mid-November trip to Disney World with Emmri (our to year old). 

Most of the team was flying our on a 7:30AM flight, with a handful of others coming in throughout the rest of the day. 

I cruised through ticketing and security, hit the newsstand for the latest issue of Entrepreneur magazine, grabbed a Carmel High Rise from Caribou and headed to the gate. 

According to the numerous PA announcements, our flight was full.  Wonder why?  Maybe something to do with our balmy MN weather.  I hovered around the gate entrance, hoping to get onto the plane and get settled early.  First Class boarding commenced, then pre-boarding for families needing more time to get infants and toddlers in their seats.  Never saw the for that gratuitous extra time until last November. 

A man stepped up next to me, apparently also intent on getting on the plane early.

As the gate attendant reached for her PA handset, I readied by boarding pass to make my way down the jet way and took a few steps towards the desk to hand my pass to the attendant.  "Now boarding all Delta Elite passengers," came the announcement.  "Delta Elite passengers only please." 

I stopped in mid-stride at the unexpected announcement.  What?  What did the woman say?

"She said Delta Elite passengers only," came the voice of the man who had come up to wait next to me earlier.  He glided past me with a smug smile, boarding pass extended. 

I was caught aback.  First, not knowing I had uttered my quandary out loud, and second at the complete prick attitude the man exuded behind his elite brand. 

When general boarding was announced, I joined throng that had bottlenecked at the counter.  "I guess we're the non-Elite," an elderly woman commented to her husband with a tight laugh.  "Yep!  Guess we're just the secondary-Elite!" he tried to joked back.  But I knew they both felt like I did.  Preferential treatment for the so-called elite.  First class I could live with because I knew it was a matter of choosing to pay more money for a ticket.  Delta Elite I had no idea what it was about and thus felt some ill-will towards all the people who had been in that line... and I didn't know one of them from Adam.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Much of the anti-MTA sentiment that is out there in the MN soccer community must come from non-MTA parents, coaches, and club administrators who look at our program and think "What makes them so elite?"  It's easy to feel animosity towards the so-called elite when 1) they may appear to get preferential treatment, and 2) you don't know much about the group in question.

As far as our Elite Academy goes, I fully realize that we do not have all the MN talent gathered in one place on all the teams in our program.  In fact, we might have 1 team in the entire club that can boast that it has all the top players at one particular age group on their roster.  I look at my old team, now U15s, and all the success that group has had.  And there are at least two players who would be in that group's top 5 who are not in the club.  And I don't think anyone would currently consider a MTA White player "elite" on a national scale as not many Blue players fit into that category.

We have an Elite Academy and an Elite Development Program in that Academy as one of our club goals is to hopefully bring together the state's top players under one development umbrella.  That is what we strive for because we believe that top talent develops best when surrounded by other top talent and under the guidance of quality coaching.

Elite is such a relative term, but for the non-elite players in our club (the majority of players), most are not with us because they are delusional that they are elite players.  I believe families are looking for the development structure we provide, as well as for the opportunity to be connected with the state's professional team and all the benefits that are associated with that connection, regardless of current playing level.

I guess I shouldn't be saying "we" a lot as I don't speak for other MTA Directors.  I'm just relaying my own thoughts and hope others who work with me feel the same.

Regardless, the morning was a bit of an eye-opener for me.

* * * * *

With all but 2 of the girls in town by mid-afternoon, we headed out to a field to do some light training.  I wanted the girls to be able to run around a bit and get used to the dormant grass surface we'd be playing on. 

Some 5v2 possession games and light shooting, and that was that. Some of the girls were complaining about the heat.  COMPLAINING!  Well, it was 100 degrees warmer (near 80 this afternoon and I left when it was -20.  Ah, I think I'll take it.

Back to the hotel to freshen up, then a team dinner down the road.  I had to skip out on the team dinner to head 40 miles to the other side of Phoenix to check the girls in.  Got back to the hotel 2.5 hours later to find that the girls were still at dinner and there was some big fiasco about paying the bill. 

They all got back just before the 9PM curfew and settled in for the night.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.