In the spring of 2003, Jim Niemann (current coach of the BTFC 92/93 Blue boys team and so to be integral figure in the start up of the Woodbury Soccer Academy) and I started brainstorming about a new player development initiative in the east metro area.  I had met Jim through ODP, and he had worked with an older "superteam" in St Croix that had been made up of a number of players that I had initially brought together for a tournament in Kansas City in 2000.  We had visions of creating a model that would involve a cooperative effort among area community clubs that should eventually result in an overall raising of the level of play in our district. 

The idea was to approach three or four east-metro clubs to join the new South Washington County (SoWashCo) Alliance.  The program laid out as follows.

Fall 2003

• Alliance clubs would pull their U11 teams out of MYSA's fall league in 2003
• These U11 teams would be trained two times per week by professional soccer trainers (myself, Jim Niemann, and Dickie Vilme) and then participate in Festivals on the weekends
• Festival sites would be rotated among Alliance clubs' home fields
• No club jerseys would be worn.  All players would get a light and dark SoWashCo t-shirts (de-emphasizing club affiliation)
• No referees, scores, standings, or playoffs... emphasizing development over competition
• Trainers would be on the field for Festival games, reffing, coaching (in real time situations), and playing with the players (demonstrating proper technique in game situations)

Winter 2003/2004

• Training once per week at the St Croix Valley Rec Center (Stillwater) or at Bielenberg Sports Center (Woodbury)
• Development league play in Jan/Feb at Bielenberg

Summer 2004

• Team play under their own club banner

Fall 2004

• Same as 2003, adding in the new U11 group - so we would now be working with the U11s and U12s from Alliance clubs

Winter 2004/2005

• Same as 2003/2004, but with two age groups

Summer 2005

• Same as Summer of 2004

Fall of 2005

• Determine which club had the strongest U12 Classic 1 team at the end of the 2005 summer season
• That team would hold open tryouts in early August and the best players from all Alliance clubs would look to attend.  The goal was to form one regionally competitive team made up primarily of Alliance club players
• This team would play under the banner of the strongest U12 teams club, but take the name SoWashCo Alliance and be governed by the Alliance board of professional coaches

Benefits to the program as we saw it...

• Alliance member clubs would share resources; dome space, coaching education clinics, referees, development ideas, etc.
• There would be no player movement until the U13 age group
• Clubs were losing their players anyway to stronger clubs/teams, so why not work together so that the feeling of losing a player would be minimized because now the club that "loses" a player loses them to something that that club is affiliated with (an Alliance elite team)
• Even though an elite team was formed at the U13 age group, the entire level of soccer would be raised based on the structured training that all players were exposed to at the critical development U11 and U12 years

Our thought was that if we could make this model work in the east, we would be able to approach other districts with the success.  If each district had an Alliance group, at U13 Minnesota would have formed 4 elite teams (North, South, East, and West) who would likely be able to compete at the regional level.  Moreover, the entire level of soccer across the state would improve with the focus on the U11 and U12 age groups.

I sat down with the Woodbury decision makers at Sunsets Restaurant in Woodbury to pull teeth for three hours just to get the OK to approach other clubs with the idea.  This was a new concept to the Woodbury board, and at that time and many board members were resistant to change.  One of the biggest naysayers to this change kept asking the same stupid question, "Why do we have to be the ones to try something new?"  Regardless, I finally got the OK to approach other clubs and we were off and crawling.

I should have realized then the amount of work it would take to get other clubs on board.  I could barely get my own club to buy into the idea of venturing down a new road, how was I going to come in cold turkey to other club boards and sell the idea?  I met with the Mahtomedi Soccer Club board to pitch the idea, then met with the Cottage Grove Soccer Club decision makers.  We then got these two clubs together with the Woodbury and St Croix Soccer Club decision makers, and after much debate, people voted to give it a try.  These were the four major east based community clubs and I think getting them to even consider trying this venture was a feat in an of itself. 

The fall training in 2003 went great.  It was a lot of work for Jim, Dickie, and I who were driving all over the east metro to handle the training of all the teams.  We lucked out with great weather for the weekend Festivals, and I think the players all learned a lot and had a positive experience.  My only real big mistake was making the SoWashCo t-shirts blue and white (Woodbury colors)... oops.

In November, my club wanted out.  They saw all the work that Jim, Dickie, and I were putting forth, and because we were all Woodbury coaches, the board's thinking was why we just couldn't do everything ourselves in Woodbury.  I continued to plead my case with the board but they held firm.  Other Alliance club boards could go either way, but with Woodbury off board, interest in the Alliance fizzled out. 

Many times decision makers do not have their finger on the pulse of participating families and players.  In this case, there were families and players who loved their experience with us that fall and who would end up seeking out the development opportunities that we led in the years to follow as SoWashCo players would make up the core group of the talented Bangu Tsunami Renegades (U12 girls) and Bangu Tsunami 92/93 Blue (current U14 boys) teams. 

In the end, I believe this concept of inter club cooperation is ahead of its time here in Minnesota.  Maybe it's all one big pipe dream, maybe it's the best way to develop regionally and nationally competitive players.  We gave it a try, but there were too many selfish egos, too much club pride, and not enough coaching resources and support to pull it off.