Riverbend FC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:does anyone else think its strange there was a public meeting but no information came out of it? they keep posting on social media but they aren't posting any actual information.

Presumably if they had compelling answers on fields, coaches, and leagues, they’d want to get that out there to sell the club so the only inference I can draw from the silence is that they do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:does anyone else think its strange there was a public meeting but no information came out of it? they keep posting on social media but they aren't posting any actual information.

Presumably if they had compelling answers on fields, coaches, and leagues, they’d want to get that out there to sell the club so the only inference I can draw from the silence is that they do not.

You mean you can't figure that all out from this?

Two forces collide.
Water and flame.
Calm and intensity.
Flow and power.
From the collision, the phoenix rises.
Not reborn by chance.
Built with intention.
This is RBFC.
Spring 2026.

[Anonymous]

It is deeply disappointing when a board member entrusted with the stewardship of a nonprofit youth soccer club chooses to disregard the very bylaws and governance structures designed to protect that organization and the community it serves. Attempting to consolidate power by ignoring established rules, acting unilaterally, and removing staff without proper authority undermines the mission of a nonprofit and erodes trust among volunteers, families, and players.

When those actions are followed by an effort to form a competing organization, it reinforces the perception that personal ambition was placed above the best interests of the club and its youth athletes. Nonprofit leadership requires transparency, collaboration, and respect for process—especially in organizations built on volunteerism and community goodwill.

These choices leave a lasting negative impression. The community remembers instability, broken trust, and disruption far longer than any short-term gains. Youth sports thrive on consistency, integrity, and shared purpose, and when those values are compromised, the damage extends well beyond one season or one organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is deeply disappointing when a board member entrusted with the stewardship of a nonprofit youth soccer club chooses to disregard the very bylaws and governance structures designed to protect that organization and the community it serves. Attempting to consolidate power by ignoring established rules, acting unilaterally, and removing staff without proper authority undermines the mission of a nonprofit and erodes trust among volunteers, families, and players.

When those actions are followed by an effort to form a competing organization, it reinforces the perception that personal ambition was placed above the best interests of the club and its youth athletes. Nonprofit leadership requires transparency, collaboration, and respect for process—especially in organizations built on volunteerism and community goodwill.

These choices leave a lasting negative impression. The community remembers instability, broken trust, and disruption far longer than any short-term gains. Youth sports thrive on consistency, integrity, and shared purpose, and when those values are compromised, the damage extends well beyond one season or one organization.

I completely agree with this. As a parent of a child who was directly affected, the whole situation was incredibly disappointing and unsettling. We trust nonprofit youth clubs to be stable, transparent, and focused on the kids, and watching leadership ignore the rules and create chaos was frustrating and confusing for families. I understand that maybe RS caused some of this with his actions or lack thereof but the way this was handled by ML and the 2 board members he recruited to be his accomplices is unforgiveable from our perspective.

The sudden changes, lack of communication, and fallout made it hard to feel confident that decisions were being made with the players’ best interests in mind. When it became clear that personal agendas were involved, it only deepened that sense of lost trust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:does anyone else think its strange there was a public meeting but no information came out of it? they keep posting on social media but they aren't posting any actual information.

Presumably if they had compelling answers on fields, coaches, and leagues, they’d want to get that out there to sell the club so the only inference I can draw from the silence is that they do not.

You mean you can't figure that all out from this?

Two forces collide.
Water and flame.
Calm and intensity.
Flow and power.
From the collision, the phoenix rises.
Not reborn by chance.
Built with intention.
This is RBFC.
Spring 2026.

Totally aside from everything else, this gets the mythology of the phoenix completely wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is deeply disappointing when a board member entrusted with the stewardship of a nonprofit youth soccer club chooses to disregard the very bylaws and governance structures designed to protect that organization and the community it serves. Attempting to consolidate power by ignoring established rules, acting unilaterally, and removing staff without proper authority undermines the mission of a nonprofit and erodes trust among volunteers, families, and players.

When those actions are followed by an effort to form a competing organization, it reinforces the perception that personal ambition was placed above the best interests of the club and its youth athletes. Nonprofit leadership requires transparency, collaboration, and respect for process—especially in organizations built on volunteerism and community goodwill.

These choices leave a lasting negative impression. The community remembers instability, broken trust, and disruption far longer than any short-term gains. Youth sports thrive on consistency, integrity, and shared purpose, and when those values are compromised, the damage extends well beyond one season or one organization.

I completely agree with this. As a parent of a child who was directly affected, the whole situation was incredibly disappointing and unsettling. We trust nonprofit youth clubs to be stable, transparent, and focused on the kids, and watching leadership ignore the rules and create chaos was frustrating and confusing for families. I understand that maybe RS caused some of this with his actions or lack thereof but the way this was handled by ML and the 2 board members he recruited to be his accomplices is unforgiveable from our perspective.

The sudden changes, lack of communication, and fallout made it hard to feel confident that decisions were being made with the players’ best interests in mind. When it became clear that personal agendas were involved, it only deepened that sense of lost trust.

+1000 from another parent of an affected child. Very happy the board has since righted the ship. Excited about the path GFR is now on.

Hard to see how this new vanity project is in the best interests of the kids, but respect other parents to decide for themselves & DCs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is deeply disappointing when a board member entrusted with the stewardship of a nonprofit youth soccer club chooses to disregard the very bylaws and governance structures designed to protect that organization and the community it serves. Attempting to consolidate power by ignoring established rules, acting unilaterally, and removing staff without proper authority undermines the mission of a nonprofit and erodes trust among volunteers, families, and players.

When those actions are followed by an effort to form a competing organization, it reinforces the perception that personal ambition was placed above the best interests of the club and its youth athletes. Nonprofit leadership requires transparency, collaboration, and respect for process—especially in organizations built on volunteerism and community goodwill.

These choices leave a lasting negative impression. The community remembers instability, broken trust, and disruption far longer than any short-term gains. Youth sports thrive on consistency, integrity, and shared purpose, and when those values are compromised, the damage extends well beyond one season or one organization.

+1

I really hope that everyone that considers R(b)FC thinks about exactly what ML and his crew did. The coup timing was terrible and turned off families right at try-out time, costing GFR several teams worth of players. He either didn't read the bylaws or thought no one would dare challenge him (probably the latter). He promoted guys like HM to run things. He screwed up tryouts. The list goes on and on. Then he sued the club and got his butt handed to him, so clearly had no case. I mean, what else could this be than personal ambition? Why would anyone possibly think it is good so sign on with anything he runs soccer-wise? I only hope parents are not duped by coaches and TMs trying to force a move and see out the process with PA now at the helm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is deeply disappointing when a board member entrusted with the stewardship of a nonprofit youth soccer club chooses to disregard the very bylaws and governance structures designed to protect that organization and the community it serves. Attempting to consolidate power by ignoring established rules, acting unilaterally, and removing staff without proper authority undermines the mission of a nonprofit and erodes trust among volunteers, families, and players.

When those actions are followed by an effort to form a competing organization, it reinforces the perception that personal ambition was placed above the best interests of the club and its youth athletes. Nonprofit leadership requires transparency, collaboration, and respect for process—especially in organizations built on volunteerism and community goodwill.

These choices leave a lasting negative impression. The community remembers instability, broken trust, and disruption far longer than any short-term gains. Youth sports thrive on consistency, integrity, and shared purpose, and when those values are compromised, the damage extends well beyond one season or one organization.

+1

I really hope that everyone that considers R(b)FC thinks about exactly what ML and his crew did. The coup timing was terrible and turned off families right at try-out time, costing GFR several teams worth of players. He either didn't read the bylaws or thought no one would dare challenge him (probably the latter). He promoted guys like HM to run things. He screwed up tryouts. The list goes on and on. Then he sued the club and got his butt handed to him, so clearly had no case. I mean, what else could this be than personal ambition? Why would anyone possibly think it is good so sign on with anything he runs soccer-wise? I only hope parents are not duped by coaches and TMs trying to force a move and see out the process with PA now at the helm.

As someone who's DDs have played many years at several different clubs, switching clubs to follow a coach is rarely in your kid's best interest. It is in the coach's best interest, however.

[Anonymous]

How did he screw up the tryouts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did he screw up the tryouts?

Others may have additions to this list but

—poorly run
—announced late
—coaching slate not set (eg TBD as coach for some teams)
—offers issued to wrong people to wrong teams bc coaches didn’t know player names (not wrong in my opinion, but like they confused two people named Sam and switched the offers)

[Anonymous]

To be clear, “Sam” is exemplary and not actual kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did he screw up the tryouts?

Others may have additions to this list but

—poorly run
—announced late
—coaching slate not set (eg TBD as coach for some teams)
—offers issued to wrong people to wrong teams bc coaches didn’t know player names (not wrong in my opinion, but like they confused two people named Sam and switched the offers)

Had HM coaching 4 teams lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did he screw up the tryouts?

Others may have additions to this list but

—poorly run
—announced late
—coaching slate not set (eg TBD as coach for some teams)
—offers issued to wrong people to wrong teams bc coaches didn’t know player names (not wrong in my opinion, but like they confused two people named Sam and switched the offers)

Timeline (definitely more impact on the girls side):

3 and 4 April - interim board (ML) fires ED and several coaches and promises a coaching plan. Families sent several emails over the course of the next few days. Every email was met with a bounce back that promised a reply. No one ever replied. At this point, tryouts were already set for late April.

A week or two follows with little transparency or clarity. Still no replies to emails. Consider the effect on then-current GFR families and those exploring GFR as an option? Why would any new families have taken that risk? What option did some families have but to take safer options? Consider too that coaches were still fired and in no position to recruit and build teams.

Late April - Interim coaches who had worked with the kids for all of 2-3 weeks chose teams at tryouts. There weren't enough coaches to cover concurrent tryouts. The coaches who had worked with them all year had no say.

Definitely an interesting leadership approach. Was that approach a net gain for the club AND THE KIDS and the families?

[Anonymous]

Man, the GFR brass seems terrified, spamming the hell out of this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man, the GFR brass seems terrified, spamming the hell out of this thread.

Terrified of what? No one even knows. As a parent I’m worried what will happen to my kids team if our coach jumps ship but I doubt anyone on the GFR staff is terribly concerned with this. GF people remember how hard it was to have competitive teams before the merger so no reason for anyone to be worried about what great falls 2.0 might be going to do.