You... You... You... Recruiter!!!!!
How I brainwash girls to come join my team
I will preface this section by stating that this discussion revolves around players at the younger age groups (9 to 13 years old). All clubs who have highly competitive teams recruit/identify talent to help strengthen their teams, and there are a number of local soccer associations that have produced some regionally/nationally competitive teams at the older age groups. I'm not here to bash what these clubs are doing. Rather, I'm focusing on the rational for identifying and pooling talent at the younger age levels.
There is a strong negative connotation associated with the word "recruiting" in the current Minnesota soccer climate. I'm sure this negative association with the word in not unique to our state nor only found in our sport, but for the sake of this discussion, that's all I'm really interested in.
Why this animosity? I've been dealing with it for a number of years now and I'm still trying to pinpoint what the issue is. So a young player doesn't choose to stay put in their local soccer association. So what? So a coach in another club approaches one of "your" players and recruits them to another team. So what? Just because a player lives in a certain community, all of a sudden that community club or association is entitled to that player. Where is that law written? I just don't get it.
Well, you say, you're in a club that has not really had to deal with players being recruited away so you don't see the other end of the equation. Maybe, but don't forget that for four years I worked in the community club system with the Woodbury Soccer Club. I remember early on in my time with that club we had a talented player on a U12 girls team. That team was a decent team in its own right, but had a novice parent coach in place and players who did not have any desire to train year round. A Bangu team, the Tsunami Stars, were interested in her, and they approached her about making a move to their team. I talked to this girls family about the opportunity and, with my encouragement and blessing, she transferred clubs to join the high level Stars team the next season.
I took a lot of heat for my involvement here in helping Woodbury "lose" their top player at that particular age group, and some said that I, as the Coaching Director of the club, had a duty to the members on the Woodbury team rather than to just one player. Would it have been better for the Woodbury team if this top player stayed put? Probably? Was it a better move for the top player to look elsewhere? Most definitely. But I felt that there were plenty of people looking out for the 95% of competitive players in our area, and not many looking out for what might be best for the top players. I saw it then as I see it now. Community clubs should be focused on providing a fun and safe playing environment for the hundreds (or thousands) of young players in their communities. For the top young players (remember, I'm talking about the 9 to 13 year olds here) to have the best chance to reach their potential, they need to be in a more professional training environment.
This "more professional training environment" must include the following:
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Knowledgeable coaches and trainers
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Year-round structure in a team context
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A roster of similarly talented players
Some community clubs offer one or two of these, very few offer all three. #1 is definitely a possibility in a community club. I think this is actually the basis for the most criticism against our club as some community soccer associations have very qualified coaching directors and coaches in place at certain age groups. However, this is only one of the needed components.
For #2, many clubs have made the move towards year-round training, but in a clinic or winter academy format. Meaning, that players play with a team in the fall, then players can elect to take part in winter training, then teams are brought back together for the summer. This is great for the game and for the overall level of the sport here in our area, but it is not the same as training with your team for a full year. See Keys to Accelerated Player Development
As for #3, this is where community clubs usually fall short. Smaller clubs can't possibly field the numbers to provide a full team of highly talented players. Once in a blue moon there might be a group of players come up through the ranks that form a solid core group, but it becomes difficult to continue to attract other players to the mix in order to keep the team competitive in later years as roster sizes expand.
In the larger clubs, perceptions of inequity by the masses prevent community club boards from specifically catering to the development of top level younger teams and these teams are not given the resources and treatment they need to best develop the more talented players. Believe me when I say been there, done that.
There are other reasons that community clubs do not like non-community based clubs that recruit. No matter what people say, everyone wants to win games. It has to be tough for clubs to lose a top player to a more select team and then have that team come back and crush the community club team on the field of play. This is why I think play up policy has to change here in MN and certain teams, based on petition, need to be allowed to move up age groups. See Of Wolves and Sheep
Also, community clubs claim that when players leave they disrupt the entire age group and teams need to be reorganized and players need to be shuffled to make up for the lost player. I can understand this issue, but if you volunteer your time in a community club it comes with the territory. I've sat on many community club team formation committees, and there are always player drops and additions for various, non-recruiting related issues. Moreover, and as I stated previously, this reaction by community clubs, while understandable as they are looking out for players in their own club, is in no way looking out for the interest of the top level players who would be better served in an alternate development structure.
The sport of soccer is changing and we are moving into the era of the true soccer club. The club where soccer decisions are made by soccer people, not by parent volunteer boards who may have members who have never even seen a professional soccer game. The masses who lose their possessions to clubs like mine will continue to bombard the powers the be at MYSA and continue to draft policy to try and hinder recruiting. Bless the people at MYSA for the work they do for soccer in this state, but when it comes down to it, not many people there have the experience that I've had, both playing the game and coaching at the younger age levels. I will not let policy stop me from offering up an alternate development option if I think that players, especially talented players, could benefit from it. People are free to make their own choices and you will not find one person out there who I've ever hounded if they told me they were not interested in what we had to offer.
We had a young U11 girl from a local club here in MN want to move to our South Academy program this spring. This club that was losing the player had a lawyer on the board draft up this document for the family, in essence threatening to seriously consider allowing her back into the community club if she would choose to return in later years. Grow up, please. A similar situation happened with the a south metro club this spring when a U13 GK wanted to leave and the coach won't sign the transfer request. Geez, she doesn't want to be there! You would rather force a player to stay in a situation in which she is unhappy instead of letting her move to another team that she wants to move to? C'mon.
People against letting the kids choose alternate options may feel that they are looking out for the best interest of the majority as the players that are left may be negatively impacted. There is also the thought about honoring a commitment made to a team and sometimes sticking it out in a unfavorable situation instead of taking an easy way out and switching clubs. I understand these stances and know that players leaving, especially in the spring time, sometimes leave teams in disarray. This does not change the fact that people should be free to decide what they want to do in youth sports.
To community clubs I say this - focus on the players and families who are content with what you are offering them. If people are considering a different option, let them know if what you are currently offering is planning on changing so that the family is well informed, then let families make decisions on their own. If they choose to stay put, great. If they choose to leave, great. You, like me, should want to focus on the development of players who are interested in what you have to offer. For the young players with true athletic potential and innate feel and instinct for the game, as well as for the players who simply have an above-average interest in the game of soccer and crave more involvement with the sport that is currently provided by local soccer associations, someone needs to offer up a training environment that can cater to this small percentage of young soccer athletes. This is what I'm trying to do. I'm not a better person than any other coach here in this area, just doing something different. Players are not possessions. All clubs need to focus on catering to the families who want to be involved in what the club is offering, and let those who choose to seek alternate development options do so.