SYC is getting rid of all sports and only focusing on soccer.
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Anonymous
Curious, what sport brings the most money at SYC? |
Anonymous
Here's the other perspective via an email sent from other SYC sport commissioners: SYC Flag Parents, Some of you may have heard things that have been going on within SYC……well us Commissioners have come together and we are all sending the email below. Please read!!! It is very imperative, if you can, to please attend the board meeting this Friday, August 22nd!! SYC IS YOUR CLUB!!! We need to vote in board members that will represent ALL SPORTS! We are asking to also have your players wear their sport uniforms to show representation and if you are a coach for your sport to please wear your coaches shirt. SYC Families, It is time to take action! The Annual Board Meeting will be held on Friday, August 22nd at 7:30 at 8704 Morrissette Drive, Springfield, VA 22152! Doors lock at 7:30 PM, so don't be late. Currently, 8 out of the 9 board members are affiliated with Travel Soccer, which has contributed to decisions that do not fully reflect the interests of all sports. The board’s transparency has been questioned due to the removal of meeting minutes and limited communication with commissioners. In addition, there have been concerns regarding staffing and business choices, including significant financial losses, storage space, field space/usage, use of the Morrissette facility that you are already paying for in your fees, the loss of tax-exempt status, and the direct hiring of a current board member, which do not align with the best interests of your players. It is imperative that ALL SPORTS have a strong representation of the Board and that we attend this meeting as there we will be voting for five new Board members. For those who cannot attend, there will be an email sent around 7:30, and you will have a limited time to vote. Below are the recommended candidates that represent sports other than travel soccer, as well as the other candidates (travel soccer) that were recently added to the original list that should have been voted on in May. It is evident that the Board would benefit from diverse and equitable representation across all SYC sports, as well as increased transparency for the membership. Accordingly, we recommend that members consider supporting the following candidates, each of whom brings valuable experience, knowledge, and a range of expertise to ensure that all sports are fairly represented. Cordially, The SYC Commissioners of underrepresented sports Mike Waskewich - With four kids active in SYC sports—football, cheer, rugby, and volleyball, his family is deeply involved in the community, and he is passionate about helping SYC continue to grow and thrive. As an Army veteran and current small business owner, Mike brings leadership, operational experience, and a strong commitment to youth development. He has coached for two seasons with SYC and volunteered across other youth programs, including Boy Scouts. He has seen firsthand the impact that great coaches, tough competition, and team culture can have on a young person’s confidence, resilience, and character. He wants to make sure that all of our athletes—no matter what sport they play—continue to have access to those life-changing experiences. Matt Waggoner – Retired Air Force Officer and local business owner. He has served as the director of communications, registrar, fall commissioner, vice president, and president of West Springfield Little League, and he has been deputy commissioner of tackle football for 2 years now. In his professional capacity, he has almost 30 years of budget, accounting, acquisitions, and program management experience. SYC should be a place where all athletes can come to develop not only sport skills but also life skills that will carry the beyond the field of play. Nick Kourtesis - Would like to be involved with the growth of the multiple programs at SYC. He has coached county basketball, travel soccer, as well as baseball over the past 30 years in Vienna. He is also a business owner involved in the sports industry and believes his experience will help to grow SYC even stronger. Nick has been involved as a college placement director for the past few years. As well, he has been with the Virginian soccer tournament for the past 3 years. He has also refereed club soccer and officiated SYC games hundreds of times. Ralph Sullivan - Ralph has been with SYC for about 20 years. He has volunteered and coached in many different programs. He is here for the kids. He would love to help in any way he can, to make the club excel and make sure kids have what they need within the different activities. Andrew Green - Andrew would like to further the goals of SYC and to provide the best possible development for young athletes in the Springfield area. He has coached soccer and been a rec league director. |
Anonymous
So wait, there's a guy with travel soccer (even if not current) experience soccer is not recommending, but also one that everyone agrees on? Man - high drama! |
Anonymous
| Not even an syc parent and I am going to dial in for this drama! |
Anonymous
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Dear SYC Commissioners of Underrepresented Sports,
Please do not stop there. You need to demand 100pct transparency into the voting process. The current election committee consists of all members of the board. Unfortunately that means that they will be the ones counting the votes. While voting in the past has been done a certain way, a large number of the SYC membership no longer trusts the board due to many of the reasons stated in the email above. With that said, what is SYC going to do to ensure the paying membership that the votes will be counted fairly? How about having all of the commissioners including travel soccer count the votes together? How will the virtual votes be counted? In more professionally ran non profit environments, the clubs use voting systems with audit logs. Does the current SYC voting application have this capability? Will the board, whether they achieve their desired results or not make these results publicly available? And during all this the Club President can sit in the corner and just watch. |
Anonymous
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Here is another version!
SYC Parents, By now, you’ve likely seen the announcement about the upcoming Annual Board Meeting on Friday, August 22nd at 7:30, where we will be voting for four/five new Board members. It is imperative that ALL SPORTS have a strong representation on the Board and that we attend this meeting. A recent email from SYC referenced collaboration between Commissioners and the Board. Unfortunately, despite a scheduled meeting with Commissioners that took over a month to organize, only one Board member attended in person. To us Commissioners, that sends a clear message about the current level of interest in working with Commissioners and the broader membership. The only way we can ensure ALL SPORTS are heard, valued, and supported moving forward is by attending the Board meeting on Friday August 22 and voting in new Board members who are committed to representing all the underrepresented sports, which at this time would be cheer, flag football, tackle football, lacrosse, rugby, softball, volleyball, recreational soccer, and Unlimited Potential. We are asking each of you to please attend the Board meeting in person and make your vote count. We are also asking that you wear your sports spirit wear to the meeting as a show of unity and visibility — let’s demonstrate our commitment to the underrepresented sports and make sure we are seen and heard. For those who cannot attend, there will be an email sent around 7:30, and you will have a limited time to vote. It is very clear that the Board would benefit from more diverse and equitable representation from all the SYC sports, and that more transparency to the membership is necessary. As such, we recommend the membership vote for the following candidates who have the background, knowledge, and diversity of expertise to make sure all sports have a voice. Mike Waskewich - With four kids active in SYC sports—football, cheer, rugby, and volleyball, his family is deeply involved in the community, and he is passionate about helping SYC continue to grow and thrive. As an Army veteran and current small business owner, Mike brings leadership, operational experience, and a strong commitment to youth development. He has coached for two seasons with SYC and volunteered across other youth programs, including Boy Scouts. He has seen firsthand the impact that great coaches, tough competition, and team culture can have on a young person’s confidence, resilience, and character. He wants to make sure that all of our athletes—no matter what sport they play—continue to have access to those life-changing experiences. Here is Mike’s candidate letter: SYC Cheer Families, I’ve decided to run for a seat on the Springfield/South County Youth Club (SYC) Board of Directors. With four kids active in SYC sports—football, cheer, rugby, and volleyball—my family is deeply involved in this community, and I’m passionate about helping SYC continue to grow and thrive. As a Army veteran and current small business owner, I bring leadership, operational experience, and a strong commitment to youth development. I’ve coached for two seasons with SYC and volunteered across other youth programs, including Boy Scouts. I’ve seen firsthand the impact that great coaches, tough competition, and team culture can have on a young person’s confidence, resilience, and character. I want to make sure that all of our athletes—no matter what sport they play—continue to have access to those life-changing experiences. This is a great opportunity to represent the interests of families like ours and support the wide variety of programs SYC offers. The Annual Membership Meeting (and election) will be held on Friday, August 22nd, 2025 at 7:30 PM at the SYC Performance Facility (8704 Morrissette Dr, Springfield, VA). SYC Families are welcome to attend in person or tune in via Facebook Live. If you're able to vote—either at the meeting or electronically—I’d be truly grateful for your support. Thanks for all you do to make our sports community strong, Mike Waskewich Matt Waggoner - Promises to get everyone an equal voice and to be transparent. He has served as the director of communications, registrar, fall commissioner, vice president, and president of West Springfield Little League, and he has been deputy commissioner of tackle football for 2 years now. In his professional capacity, he is a retired Air Force officer with almost 30 years of budget, accounting, acquisitions, and program management experience. Nick Kourtesis - Would like to be involved with the growth of the multiple programs at SYC. He has coached county basketball, travel soccer, as well as baseball over the past 30 years in Vienna. He is also a business owner involved in the sports industry and believes his experience will help to grow SYC even stronger. Nick has been involved as a college placement director for the past few years. As well, he has been with the Virginian soccer tournament for the past 3 years. He has also refereed club soccer and officiated SYC games hundreds of times. Ralph Sullivan - Ralph has been with SYC for about 20 years. He has volunteered and coached in many different programs. He is here for the kids. He would love to help in any way he can, to make the club excel and make sure kids have what they need within the different activities. If you would like to read more about these candidates and other please visit https://www.sycva.com/bios BOD Candidate/Incumbent Bios - sycva.com Elections will be held on August 23rd, 2024. Please read over the candidate and incumbent biographies and be prepared to vote at the meeting in August! www.sycva.com Again, let’s stand up and vote and give our underrepresented sports a say in how our club runs! We look forward to seeing you Friday Night at 8704 Morrissette Drive, Springfield, VA 22152! Doors close at 7:30 PM, so don't be late. Cordially, The SYC Commissioners of underrepresented sports |
Anonymous
This is not the text of the email I got. It’s modified. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Someone it trying to wage their own Information Operations campaign. The above poster is right, my e-mail is different than the one posted above. |
Anonymous
Well, the email posted was literally copy and paste and that version whatever it is went out to rec soccer families. Sent by the travel TD. |
Anonymous
Travel Soccer already has all the board positions but one. If they add more it's going to be the downfall for the rest if the sports. |
Anonymous
| This thread is the first I’d heard that they no longer had nonprofit status, but the last 990 on file is from 2022. |
Anonymous
I heard this whole thread was started by a former employee and that wasn't able to keep up. Seems like a lot of effort spent on social media...wonder why. Has anyone actually seen anything about getting rid of all sports? |
Anonymous
| Considering all sports are run by their own commissioners not sure how these elections are going to be the downfall of other sports if soccer people are already on the board and the sports have been functioning just fine. Sounds like a lot of deflecting and not telling the truth from many of these posters. I'll continue to watch from the peanut gallery and laugh which is what all the other clubs in the area are doing as you keep airing your not so dirty laundry. |
Anonymous
| How can they not be a non-profit? Rec sports are always non-profits. Moreover, how the County doles out the field space, they wouldn't get any fields if they were for-profit. |