Are clubs being run by the right people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm kind of curious what people think about the leadership and management staff of clubs around NOVA from the perspective of running a customer focused business. Perhaps this is stereotyping, but clubs seem to be populated by people who have profiles of being ex-athletes who often played soccer at a higher that average level and then pursued coaching credentials out the wazuu to position themselves in places of management. I don't see a lot of people running the show who possess basic competencies or experience in communications or business skills.

How often are your club's communications confusing (frequently, infrequently, never)? Are people particularly content with the role and performance of their team managers? Does your team consistently provide game footage (e.g., VEO)? What does your travel experience look like in terms of hotel arrangements and team building activities when you are traveling to competitions? What types of investments does your club make in college recruiting? What platform does you team rely on for calendaring practices and games - does it function flawlessly or change regularly? Does your club pursue corporate sponsorships? When was the last time your club sent out a survey to learn about its core constituents' needs? Are you aware of whether your club does basic business analysis on business activities and investments (e.g., advertising, equipment, coaching performance)?

We have kids at Vienna. I know many board members, including the President, and they are all very nice people who are successful in their professional lives and are doing this in a volunteer capacity. As a parent whose kid benefits from their work, I appreciate their service.

That said, the majority of communications come from the paid club staff (Directors of coaching), and both the frequency and quality varies wildly. I do think the club needs work here, but that’s probably easier said than done.

We do usually get Veo footage for the older kids, but should use it more for the younger kids, IMO.

I’m a team manager, and so are several of my friends. I lead a 3,000 person organization in my professional life, and know another team manager who is C-suite at a local company. It seems often the busiest and most professionally successful parents are the ones who volunteer for the role. I can tell you from experience 90% of parents will not volunteer for anything related to youth soccer no matter how many times they are asked.

Generally, the team managers have been great, and the communications opportunities have been from the club centrally, or from the Coaching Directors or individual coaches.

In terms of the rest (sponsorships, running the club as a business), I primarily care about fields (we have them), coaching (mixed bag), and competitive playing opportunities for the kids (very mixed bag). But I do appreciate everything they are doing to maintain ECNL.

If you think central communications are bad at Vienna, you clearly haven’t been involved with any other clubs before. Vienna actually does the best they can in communicating. Coaches vary but that’s to be expected.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of parents are afraid to do much if they aren't popular, very knowledgeable in soccer, have a lot of time or don't have a strong player. In the baseball little league world everyone is a volunteer and it's easier to step up. In travel programs there is an expectation that it should be run completely as a business even if you are a volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of parents are afraid to do much if they aren't popular, very knowledgeable in soccer, have a lot of time or don't have a strong player. In the baseball little league world everyone is a volunteer and it's easier to step up. In travel programs there is an expectation that it should be run completely as a business even if you are a volunteer.

To be a parent volunteer for a team staff you need zero and I mean zero knowledge of soccer. So, this excuse is 100% BS. You're just being lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Terrible people running these soccer clubs.

Most parents aren't helpful, positive or add value to assist the organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm kind of curious what people think about the leadership and management staff of clubs around NOVA from the perspective of running a customer focused business. Perhaps this is stereotyping, but clubs seem to be populated by people who have profiles of being ex-athletes who often played soccer at a higher that average level and then pursued coaching credentials out the wazuu to position themselves in places of management. I don't see a lot of people running the show who possess basic competencies or experience in communications or business skills.

How often are your club's communications confusing (frequently, infrequently, never)? Are people particularly content with the role and performance of their team managers? Does your team consistently provide game footage (e.g., VEO)? What does your travel experience look like in terms of hotel arrangements and team building activities when you are traveling to competitions? What types of investments does your club make in college recruiting? What platform does you team rely on for calendaring practices and games - does it function flawlessly or change regularly? Does your club pursue corporate sponsorships? When was the last time your club sent out a survey to learn about its core constituents' needs? Are you aware of whether your club does basic business analysis on business activities and investments (e.g., advertising, equipment, coaching performance)?

We have kids at Vienna. I know many board members, including the President, and they are all very nice people who are successful in their professional lives and are doing this in a volunteer capacity. As a parent whose kid benefits from their work, I appreciate their service.

That said, the majority of communications come from the paid club staff (Directors of coaching), and both the frequency and quality varies wildly. I do think the club needs work here, but that’s probably easier said than done.

We do usually get Veo footage for the older kids, but should use it more for the younger kids, IMO.

I’m a team manager, and so are several of my friends. I lead a 3,000 person organization in my professional life, and know another team manager who is C-suite at a local company. It seems often the busiest and most professionally successful parents are the ones who volunteer for the role. I can tell you from experience 90% of parents will not volunteer for anything related to youth soccer no matter how many times they are asked.

Generally, the team managers have been great, and the communications opportunities have been from the club centrally, or from the Coaching Directors or individual coaches.

In terms of the rest (sponsorships, running the club as a business), I primarily care about fields (we have them), coaching (mixed bag), and competitive playing opportunities for the kids (very mixed bag). But I do appreciate everything they are doing to maintain ECNL.

You could not be more correct. I'm a team treasurer and assistant team manager. I operate three businesses with 80+ employees. Last thing I need are additional tasks. When the emails were sent for parents to fill these positions it was crickets. I finally volunteered so the season could begin. Later, I found on one of my kid's teams there are three parents who are accountants and none of them volunteers to be treasurer. There are also plenty of stay at home mothers with only 1-2 kids already in school. None volunteered. Between two teams the team staff is made up of 90% full time working professionals.

Clubs don’t have the money to hire people to do all these jobs so they rely on the kindness of volunteers. Name a well run business that uses volunteers to do the work. You get what you pay for. Think it costs a lot now for soccer? Imagine if the club had to hire people to do all these volunteer jobs how much the cost would go up.

You completely miss my point. I am referring to the OP complaining about team managers and team staff which are 100% parent volunteer. If OP wants to cry over their performance then step up and do a better job. As another poster said, the majority of these volunteer positions have to be taken up by business parents because the parents with free time to are too lazy to help out. It's an issue with lack of parent's giving a crap, yet they want to cry and complain.

[Anonymous]

I am tam manager for my son’s travel team and I have been for 5 years. I had zero soccer knowledge when I started and I didn’t need any. I have learned a lot over the years and enjoy it very much. I have a full time professional job and do this all on a volunteer basis. Our club admins and very responsive to any questions I send their way and send out team information on a regular basis to the managers. Overall I feel our club does a pretty good job of running things. It helps that they have hired staff that covers different aspects of management jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of parents are afraid to do much if they aren't popular, very knowledgeable in soccer, have a lot of time or don't have a strong player. In the baseball little league world everyone is a volunteer and it's easier to step up. In travel programs there is an expectation that it should be run completely as a business even if you are a volunteer.

To be a parent volunteer for a team staff you need zero and I mean zero knowledge of soccer. So, this excuse is 100% BS. You're just being lazy.

I work full time and don’t want to spend what little free time I have dealing with pita parents. I’d much rather pay someone else to do it even if it means paying more. It’s the same reason I don’t clean my own house, have my groceries delivered and have a landscaping service.

[Anonymous]

Team manager here at one of the clubs posted about frequently here. The lack of support for managers is unbelievable. Went to a tournament in FL. Heard nothing from the club in terms of how to plan for it, where to book travel, what the games would be like. Thousands of dollars and no communication from the club to assist with anything. I spent so many hours on soccer. And I have a high-level gov't job. I don't have that time. Last year doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm kind of curious what people think about the leadership and management staff of clubs around NOVA from the perspective of running a customer focused business. Perhaps this is stereotyping, but clubs seem to be populated by people who have profiles of being ex-athletes who often played soccer at a higher that average level and then pursued coaching credentials out the wazuu to position themselves in places of management. I don't see a lot of people running the show who possess basic competencies or experience in communications or business skills.

How often are your club's communications confusing (frequently, infrequently, never)? Are people particularly content with the role and performance of their team managers? Does your team consistently provide game footage (e.g., VEO)? What does your travel experience look like in terms of hotel arrangements and team building activities when you are traveling to competitions? What types of investments does your club make in college recruiting? What platform does you team rely on for calendaring practices and games - does it function flawlessly or change regularly? Does your club pursue corporate sponsorships? When was the last time your club sent out a survey to learn about its core constituents' needs? Are you aware of whether your club does basic business analysis on business activities and investments (e.g., advertising, equipment, coaching performance)?

We have kids at Vienna. I know many board members, including the President, and they are all very nice people who are successful in their professional lives and are doing this in a volunteer capacity. As a parent whose kid benefits from their work, I appreciate their service.

That said, the majority of communications come from the paid club staff (Directors of coaching), and both the frequency and quality varies wildly. I do think the club needs work here, but that’s probably easier said than done.

We do usually get Veo footage for the older kids, but should use it more for the younger kids, IMO.

I’m a team manager, and so are several of my friends. I lead a 3,000 person organization in my professional life, and know another team manager who is C-suite at a local company. It seems often the busiest and most professionally successful parents are the ones who volunteer for the role. I can tell you from experience 90% of parents will not volunteer for anything related to youth soccer no matter how many times they are asked.

Generally, the team managers have been great, and the communications opportunities have been from the club centrally, or from the Coaching Directors or individual coaches.

In terms of the rest (sponsorships, running the club as a business), I primarily care about fields (we have them), coaching (mixed bag), and competitive playing opportunities for the kids (very mixed bag). But I do appreciate everything they are doing to maintain ECNL.

You could not be more correct. I'm a team treasurer and assistant team manager. I operate three businesses with 80+ employees. Last thing I need are additional tasks. When the emails were sent for parents to fill these positions it was crickets. I finally volunteered so the season could begin. Later, I found on one of my kid's teams there are three parents who are accountants and none of them volunteers to be treasurer. There are also plenty of stay at home mothers with only 1-2 kids already in school. None volunteered. Between two teams the team staff is made up of 90% full time working professionals.

I don’t think you can generalize in terms of who volunteers. Let’s not revive the mommy wars. I’m not a current soccer volunteer because we are new to our club mid-year. However, if someone asked me to help, I’d always say yes. I was a team manager on almost every sports team my sons played on. Travel soccer has been the exception due to there always having been one in place when we joined but I do help the manager in any way I can whether collecting paperwork or filling in when they are away. I know it’s a tremendously difficult job. I was a registrar for the Potomac Memorial Day tournament too back in the day. In addition, I was a long-term Girl Scout volunteer in multiple roles and also a school volunteer and PTA volunteer at every school my kids attended. I am also a SAHM. There aren’t many SAHMs here but they sure do show up when asked. I have been in the role of recruiting volunteers in every capacity. What I have found is that in each organization there are a handful of people volunteering for the majority of roles - some working and some not. It’s not unusual to see one person take on 3 roles. I’ve had plenty of corporate moms and attorney moms tell me they can’t volunteer because they work. I’ve had SAHMs say no because they had too many volunteer roles or a family member in need. That doesn’t mean they all say no but trust me I am used to being told no. And this is why I stepped back from volunteering. I was burned out.

Now to get to the main question, when at Potomac Soccer it seemed very organized and well run. We left so I can’t speak to now. We were at MSI for a while. Now that was a dumpster fire though I hear they have a new TD. We were at a small club for a time that was well run but also not a non-profit. Our issue with that club was that it was clearly a complete money grab. It was run like a business. Trust me you don’t want your club run like a business with little soccer IQ. Now we are back at a big club but outside the immediate DMV area. It’s too early to know how it’s run.

[Anonymous]

Rec leagues can't get people to volunteer when they are only paying $75 a season. I'm surprised anyone volunteers for these jobs when you are paying 4k.

[Anonymous]

Clubs are run by people willing to run clubs. For every club where there is drama to get on a board, there are others who will take anyone willing to put in the time and effort. Anyone who doesn't like club governance is free to step up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of parents are afraid to do much if they aren't popular, very knowledgeable in soccer, have a lot of time or don't have a strong player. In the baseball little league world everyone is a volunteer and it's easier to step up. In travel programs there is an expectation that it should be run completely as a business even if you are a volunteer.

To be a parent volunteer for a team staff you need zero and I mean zero knowledge of soccer. So, this excuse is 100% BS. You're just being lazy.

I work full time and don’t want to spend what little free time I have dealing with pita parents. I’d much rather pay someone else to do it even if it means paying more. It’s the same reason I don’t clean my own house, have my groceries delivered and have a landscaping service.

So you're lazy 😂🤣😆

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of parents are afraid to do much if they aren't popular, very knowledgeable in soccer, have a lot of time or don't have a strong player. In the baseball little league world everyone is a volunteer and it's easier to step up. In travel programs there is an expectation that it should be run completely as a business even if you are a volunteer.

To be a parent volunteer for a team staff you need zero and I mean zero knowledge of soccer. So, this excuse is 100% BS. You're just being lazy.

I work full time and don’t want to spend what little free time I have dealing with pita parents. I’d much rather pay someone else to do it even if it means paying more. It’s the same reason I don’t clean my own house, have my groceries delivered and have a landscaping service.

Then you pay for someone to be your kid's team manager, tournament coordinator, and treasurer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of parents are afraid to do much if they aren't popular, very knowledgeable in soccer, have a lot of time or don't have a strong player. In the baseball little league world everyone is a volunteer and it's easier to step up. In travel programs there is an expectation that it should be run completely as a business even if you are a volunteer.

To be a parent volunteer for a team staff you need zero and I mean zero knowledge of soccer. So, this excuse is 100% BS. You're just being lazy.

I work full time and don’t want to spend what little free time I have dealing with pita parents. I’d much rather pay someone else to do it even if it means paying more. It’s the same reason I don’t clean my own house, have my groceries delivered and have a landscaping service.

The underlying issue you completely missed is this isn't a chore. This is about your children. You are so lazy you won't even be more involved with your children. That's the sad part. Do you hire someone to drop them off and pick them up too? Do you hire someone to cheer for them during games as well?

Imagine a parent comparing being involved in their kid's sport's activity to cleaning the house or shopping for food. WTF is wrong with you lazy people. Feel sorry for your kid for having such a horrible parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of parents are afraid to do much if they aren't popular, very knowledgeable in soccer, have a lot of time or don't have a strong player. In the baseball little league world everyone is a volunteer and it's easier to step up. In travel programs there is an expectation that it should be run completely as a business even if you are a volunteer.

To be a parent volunteer for a team staff you need zero and I mean zero knowledge of soccer. So, this excuse is 100% BS. You're just being lazy.

I work full time and don’t want to spend what little free time I have dealing with pita parents. I’d much rather pay someone else to do it even if it means paying more. It’s the same reason I don’t clean my own house, have my groceries delivered and have a landscaping service.

The underlying issue you completely missed is this isn't a chore. This is about your children. You are so lazy you won't even be more involved with your children. That's the sad part. Do you hire someone to drop them off and pick them up too? Do you hire someone to cheer for them during games as well?

Imagine a parent comparing being involved in their kid's sport's activity to cleaning the house or shopping for food. WTF is wrong with you lazy people. Feel sorry for your kid for having such a horrible parent.

You know dinner in that house is always announced by a knock on the door