Is your Soccer League at Risk?

The Central Missouri Soccer League has been disbanded after financial irregularities were uncovered. The Board decided to crater the league as its financial position was too unsound due to the misappropriation of funds by it’s Treasurer. While no criminal charges have been filed as of yet, the treasurer has begun making restitution payments to the league. Let’s just say it’s a good indication he did something wrong.

This is a tragic end for the league, which has operated for fifteen years and serves over seventy-five teams. Since the league folded so close to the Spring season, the teams are left with no gaming option to sanction their matches. As a result, they will organize themselves into “friendly” matches instead of a full-fledged competitive season.

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that this is seemingly becoming more common. This is the third case I can recall in the last year: one in Florida, one in California and one Vancouver, Canada. The fruad triangle occurs when opportunity (no checks and balances) meets up with rationalization (I’m working too hard to do this for free) and pressure (lifestyle, layoff, greed). Volunteers are participating, begin to feel entitlement for their volunteer efforts and start to make “justified” – yet unauthorized – payments to themselves. Unfortunately, the club becomes their own little piggy bank.

Coaching Point

Despite leagues being (mostly) non-profit organizations operated by volunteers, there must be certain internal controls in place to prevent the temptation of fraud or to catch the fraud before it spirals out of control. An excellent resource is the fraud prevention checklist provided by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

• What does your league or club do to protect itself?

Source: An excellent presentation regarding fraud is available on the US Soccer website and information from that presentation has been incorporated into this post.

Coaching Point

As soccer coaches and parents, we have to remember that the players are kids – not little adults. Finding the right mix of “age appropriate” soccer development and competition is key to enjoyment and fun in the sport. My favorite part of the video is hearing the parents laugh – not scream – at the incredible soccer goal.

“People are angry.  Around here there is no World Cup…we just hear from the news there is a World Cup…for these boys there is no World Cup…there is no connection at all.”

Coaching Takeaways

• What, if any, bridges are reasonable to expect FIFA and the World Cup organizers to build with the local community? I just wonder that if we aren’t building these bridges with the local soccer communities to promote the game and lift opportunities, then aren’t we missing a bit of the social responsibility that should go along with massive investment in hosting the World Cup?

Michelle Obama Teaches Soccer

First lady Michelle Obama took part in a soccer clinic in Washington, DC this weekend. The program funded by US Soccer Foundation and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health was designed to help combat childhood obesity. This program also supports her “Let’s Move” campaign designed to get children active for at least sixty minutes per day. It’s great to see participation from the White House on this important initiative. This clinic was the start to a twenty-five city tour promoting soccer and healthy living.

One thing I’ve noticed over the course of the last decade is the expansion of technology into the lives of young children. Now, this has a profound effect on my soccer coaching. How? While kids are generally more cognizant of the world around them – simply from surfing the web – they have become more sedentary. From Nindendo to xBox to the web to text messaging, there are far more competing factors that lead kids to stay inside and away from active lifestyles. If it isn’t “programmed” into their schedule of weekly activities, then it isn’t likely that they’re just going outside to play basketball, stick ball, tennis or soccer.

Coaching Point

One thing I’ve done to try and help stimulate activity for my players outside of practice times is to challenge them with “Soccer Homework.” This could be as simple as “try to get ten juggles” to “practice your stepover move.” The key is to ask them upon their arrival how they did on their homework and see them do it.

• As a coach (and probably a parent) how can we help improve healthy living outside of practice?

Being from New Jersey, a hotbed of soccer activity, it is hard to imagine that a state – any state – still hadn’t sanctioned high school soccer. I can distinctly remember my town beginning to offer girls soccer as a new sport…in the early/mid-1980′s. As a competitive youth player, we would often scrimmage the high school girls at the end of their practice and the beginning of ours. For young kids, we were thrilled and had a great time with it. State Championships started being awarded in 1946 in New Jersey. For further perspective, it’s been twenty years (ouch) since I took the field for Haddonfield in the state final.

For someone that has been around the game nearly all my life, it is moments like this that give me continued encouragement for US Soccer. Sometimes, we’re (I’m) so close to the game that we see the game as “fully developed.” And then, all of the sudden you get slapped straight across the face and realize that not every state even has the game at the high school level! So, welcome South Dakota. I’m glad the soccer bug finally got you.

Coaching Takeaways

South Dakota soccer coaches looking for special deals, please contact me. We know how tight budgets are these days and we’d love to support the growth of the game. Let’s get the kids on the fields and see how we can help you out.

During my almost fifteen years coaching youth soccer, I’ve often wondered why some parents chose to have kids. Coaching multiple competitive travel teams has put me on the fields – at times – upwards of twenty hours per week. Now, mind you, I don’t have any kids. I coach (and have served on the Board) because I have a passion for the sport, and, being from a divorced home, sports were always an escape route for me. I do it because other people did it for me – and it was important to me and my development.

Don’t have time?

Now, the reason why I wondered why people had kids was because I never met them. I don’t expect parents to come an visit with me each practice, in fact, I’d rather they didn’t. But, over the course of multiple practices and games each week for multiple seasons, you just “get to know” who shows up and who doesn’t. I’ve stood around with many “forgotten players” at the fields and its never any coincidence. It’s always heartbreaking to me to see that lack of parental involvement. And through no scientific study on my part, but rather by simple observation, the behavioral and self-esteem issues those players seemingly faced.

I’ve developed a relationship with one customer that is President at a major entertainment group in New York City. Despite running a six billion dollar business, he still “has time” to volunteer in his soccer club. In fact, he’s President. We’ve discussed it many times before and he’s always said, “How we spend our time is a reflection of our values. Being involved with my kids is important to me, so that’s how I spend my time.” We further joke about parents he approaches to help volunteer that claim to be “just too busy.” He muses back that he hopes he lands that “big job some day” that he’ll just be “too busy” to volunteer and help out. Six Billion Dollar Business…right!

My parents – despite their issues – always showed up to everything. They made it a priority to do so. I can’t imagine as a son or daughter never looking up to see my parents in the crowd cheering and supporting me. While I would have provide constructive criticism in other areas, I can never wonder if my parents cared or were interested. Showing up…it’s the least you can do as a parent for your kids…even if you “don’t have time” or sports “aren’t your thing.”

Coaching Takeaways

As adults, we’re always doing the assessing. Do you have the confidence to flip the tables?

• What would your kids say about you if you asked them to review you as a parent?
• How would your players review you as a coach?

Trust your soccer coach?

Soccer has always been a microcosm of life, so I guess this story shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nonetheless, I was shocked. As if it isn’t disheartening enough to see coaches ranting and raving on the sidelines, we now have lunatics approved as coaches that are having improper sexual relationships with underage players. A recent story in the Arizona Daily Star:

The state youth soccer authority has banned two former Tucson soccer coaches after investigating allegations of sexual impropriety with underage female players.

A third coach also was accused and suspended, but the Arizona Youth Soccer Association hearing panel found insufficient evidence and allowed him to return to coaching.

No criminal charges have been filed against the banned coaches, Chris Fernandez and Chris Hospedales, though a police report was made. Fernandez, who now lives in California, denied the accusations and his lawyer said he will appeal the ban.

While this is certainly a maddening anomaly, we, as coaches and administrators, have to be aware of risk management issues to ensure we aren’t ever put in awkward positions. I began coaching competitive youth soccer directly out of college and I was acutely aware of my actions as a coach were under a microscope. I was more high strung that I am now as I’ve learned along the way to channel my efforts towards player development – and away from wins and losses. Despite some admitted yelling from the sidelines in my younger days (that I’ve since ceased), one area I made sure that never occurred was fraternizing with the players. I was the coach and they were the players. Period. Sure, we had fun and laughed and joked, but – whether it was my boys teams or my girls teams – I went out of my way to ensure nothing could ever be perceived as improper. This was especially true when we traveled to tournaments. This included:

• Asking other parents to stay with me when pickups were late
• Even in joy was there never a hug or an innocent “atta boy” pat on the rear. Keep it to high fives
• Multiple coaches at practice – or at least practice with multiple teams on the same field

As a coaching lesson, you should never be on the fields with players by yourself. Not only is this good coaching, it is good risk management. This is why it is important to recruit multiple assistant coaches, so you are never out there by yourself. Here is the USYS section on soccer coaching risk management practices.

• What do you do to minimize risk management with your players?

Concerned about a Coach in Your Club?

You can verify if a coach or administrator has been suspended from USYS. I was surprised that the list is fifty-four pages long.

Coaching Takeaways

An aspect of the article intrigued me. Obviously, people in the community and the parents are going to gossip and spread half-truths. The club is in the precarious position of having to investigate an accusation without creating a defamation of character lawsuit and balancing this situation against protecting the players and notifying the parents.

• What are the responsibilities of the club to inform parents?

• What are the right ways to go about it?

A Happy Soccer Team

Custom soccer uniforms can really make a team stand out on the field. There is nothing like creating your own uniforms to wear and the pride that goes into it. Sometimes teams, full of excitement, dive right into buying custom uniforms and don’t think about the long-term implications. Since most soccer teams want to use their uniforms for at least two years (an in this economic environment, even longer), it is important that you think ahead. On the soccer field, we call it “having vision.” Here are some things you may not think about when considering your uniform purchase:

• Can I buy more?

While some companies are glad to accept your initial order, they’re not so keen about taking your re-order. Some companies won’t even allow you to order more. This means that a player that grows out of a jersey – or more likely – loses a jersey outright will cause your entire team to purchase new uniforms.

• What are the costs to get more?

If you can buy more, what are the additional costs to get them. While it is understandable that there would be small surcharges on smaller orders, it shouldn’t get out of control. You might expect a surcharge on production of the custom jerseys, printing and, of course, shipping. It is important to know what these are before you get sticker shock on the back end when you are already committed to the purchase.

• How long does a re-order take?

Finally, after you know that you can get more and you know the costs to purchase team uniforms, you have to know how long it takes to receive a re-order. Since some companies are doing this as a “favor to the team” and fitting it into production, it may take an unusually long time – at least compared to what you might expect. As long as you know ahead of time how long it is going to take, you can plan ahead.

By asking these questions up-front, you can evaluate the option of custom soccer team uniforms and if it is right for your team.