CYA and SYA merger?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no skin in this game, but I am curious... why so much hate and bashing for CYA?

I think it's emblematic of an organization which has treated employees poorly in the past. This has been at the expense of a lot of coaches, mostly the top coaches, and directors who had a lot of pull with families. This lead to multiple mass exodus of players only to see the organization reduced to a joke from where it was 5 years ago, when they were fielding teams capable of winning state championships or after when they were sending tons of players to VDA. You now had 3 years of leadership by Dylan which saw the club shrink, become less competitive, had more coaches leave, and just generally do a bad job. They were forced to combine with SYA, which is something MA had said, 3 years ago in an email to the membership, that wasn't needed and wasn't going to happen. He even went as far as to say that the directors leaving at the time were doing so because the merger wasn't happening.

All in all, this club had fought back from the SPI days to become relevant only to go back to the bottom within a few years. Now they'll partner with another club who's been struggling, but since the merger doesn't address the fact that they're not connected to any of the "elite" levels of soccer locally, they'll continue to lose players to those programs.

All non-elite clubs lose players to clubs in "elite" leagues. But not all players are elite and therefor there is a lot of room to offer a competitive and developmental experience to those who are not seeking out or capable of "elite" soccer. THere is nothing wrong with being a club that targets the local community, offers a affordable program with quality coaching. Not everything needs to chase elite to be enjoyable and useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no skin in this game, but I am curious... why so much hate and bashing for CYA?

I think it's emblematic of an organization which has treated employees poorly in the past. This has been at the expense of a lot of coaches, mostly the top coaches, and directors who had a lot of pull with families. This lead to multiple mass exodus of players only to see the organization reduced to a joke from where it was 5 years ago, when they were fielding teams capable of winning state championships or after when they were sending tons of players to VDA. You now had 3 years of leadership by Dylan which saw the club shrink, become less competitive, had more coaches leave, and just generally do a bad job. They were forced to combine with SYA, which is something MA had said, 3 years ago in an email to the membership, that wasn't needed and wasn't going to happen. He even went as far as to say that the directors leaving at the time were doing so because the merger wasn't happening.

All in all, this club had fought back from the SPI days to become relevant only to go back to the bottom within a few years. Now they'll partner with another club who's been struggling, but since the merger doesn't address the fact that they're not connected to any of the "elite" levels of soccer locally, they'll continue to lose players to those programs.

All non-elite clubs lose players to clubs in "elite" leagues. But not all players are elite and therefor there is a lot of room to offer a competitive and developmental experience to those who are not seeking out or capable of "elite" soccer. THere is nothing wrong with being a club that targets the local community, offers a affordable program with quality coaching. Not everything needs to chase elite to be enjoyable and useful.

Fine, but CYA offered neither an affordable program (they charge just as much as everyone else) or quality coaching. This is a line that Dylan has been using for a while now and it's just there to mask for a lack of substance.

[Anonymous]

Fine, but CYA offered neither an affordable program (they charge just as much as everyone else) or quality coaching. This is a line that Dylan has been using for a while now and it's just there to mask for a lack of substance.

+100 it was more expensive than the elite programs. Also the CYA teams still tried to compete in ECNL-R after the decision to be more community based, but they would get destroyed. If they were community based why not field NCSL or ODSL type teams and have that be your niche? It was a terrible experience/combination for our family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Fine, but CYA offered neither an affordable program (they charge just as much as everyone else) or quality coaching. This is a line that Dylan has been using for a while now and it's just there to mask for a lack of substance.

+100 it was more expensive than the elite programs. Also the CYA teams still tried to compete in ECNL-R after the decision to be more community based, but they would get destroyed. If they were community based why not field NCSL or ODSL type teams and have that be your niche? It was a terrible experience/combination for our family

The going rate is the going rate. CYA is not more expensive than ECNL or other elite clubs. Affordable does not mean it has to be the cheapest either.

You don't have to play there and considering the target demographic the club is obviously shooting for it seems an odd choice to carry such a grudge against.

There are many options for players who want more than CYA and you are free to explore them but every club does not need to be all soccer things to all. Does FCV offer a large rec program? No, because they are focused on elite teams. They let other clubs handle the Rec side. Trying to be "everything to everyone" can be very distracting as a club when perhaps some would actually do better to find a particular niche and cater to that.

[Anonymous]

Who has a competitive Rec Program? ^^

[Anonymous]

I am one of the PP. I do not hold a grudge against CYA. I wish them all of the best in fact. Some the coaches are great, others not so much - that’s at every club though. We were actually CYA’s target customer. Child not interested in elite level due to interests in other sports, but still loved playing soccer. Having a so-so coach and being so uncompetitive made it a bad experience that we left cya. And yes, cya was more expensive than our ECNL playing child’s expenses where they received a longer season, more training sessions per week, etc. If CYA wants to get paid the “going rate”, then they need to provide the same level of services as their competitors- eg more training sessions, longer seasons, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am one of the PP. I do not hold a grudge against CYA. I wish them all of the best in fact. Some the coaches are great, others not so much - that’s at every club though. We were actually CYA’s target customer. Child not interested in elite level due to interests in other sports, but still loved playing soccer. Having a so-so coach and being so uncompetitive made it a bad experience that we left cya. And yes, cya was more expensive than our ECNL playing child’s expenses where they received a longer season, more training sessions per week, etc. If CYA wants to get paid the “going rate”, then they need to provide the same level of services as their competitors- eg more training sessions, longer seasons, etc

LOL, more expensive than ECNL. Stop. Two weekend trips to North Carolina would cost what CYA costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am one of the PP. I do not hold a grudge against CYA. I wish them all of the best in fact. Some the coaches are great, others not so much - that’s at every club though. We were actually CYA’s target customer. Child not interested in elite level due to interests in other sports, but still loved playing soccer. Having a so-so coach and being so uncompetitive made it a bad experience that we left cya. And yes, cya was more expensive than our ECNL playing child’s expenses where they received a longer season, more training sessions per week, etc. If CYA wants to get paid the “going rate”, then they need to provide the same level of services as their competitors- eg more training sessions, longer seasons, etc

The most expensive team at Valor is $2150
The cheapest Loudoun team is $2125, Loudoun Red can cost $2490
Loudoun ECNL charges $3500-$3800 before travel expenses, which will be similar to VDA's below.
VDA Before travel prices cost $2625, Every plane trip is $1000, every bus trip is $250-$450

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Fine, but CYA offered neither an affordable program (they charge just as much as everyone else) or quality coaching. This is a line that Dylan has been using for a while now and it's just there to mask for a lack of substance.

+100 it was more expensive than the elite programs. Also the CYA teams still tried to compete in ECNL-R after the decision to be more community based, but they would get destroyed. If they were community based why not field NCSL or ODSL type teams and have that be your niche? It was a terrible experience/combination for our family


Maybe your kid just sucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am one of the PP. I do not hold a grudge against CYA. I wish them all of the best in fact. Some the coaches are great, others not so much - that’s at every club though. We were actually CYA’s target customer. Child not interested in elite level due to interests in other sports, but still loved playing soccer. Having a so-so coach and being so uncompetitive made it a bad experience that we left cya. And yes, cya was more expensive than our ECNL playing child’s expenses where they received a longer season, more training sessions per week, etc. If CYA wants to get paid the “going rate”, then they need to provide the same level of services as their competitors- eg more training sessions, longer seasons, etc

The most expensive team at Valor is $2150
The cheapest Loudoun team is $2125, Loudoun Red can cost $2490
Loudoun ECNL charges $3500-$3800 before travel expenses, which will be similar to VDA's below.
VDA Before travel prices cost $2625, Every plane trip is $1000, every bus trip is $250-$450

Fixed this for you:

The most expensive team at Valor, before travel expenses, is $2150; the cheapest is $2050
The cheapest Loudoun team, before travel expenses is $1625; the most expensive Loudoun Red team, before travel expenses, can cost $2490
Loudoun ECNL charges $2500 before travel expenses, which will be similar to VDA's below.
VDA, before travel expenses, costs $2500; every plane trip is $?*, every bus trip is $?*

*you made these up because costs plane/bus trips, if they occur, vary based on destination

[Anonymous]

Oh but you haven't added in private training, camps, group lessons, equipment, all of that stuff! Got to sign up for weekly private lessons or individual training to stay ahead of the curve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh but you haven't added in private training, camps, group lessons, equipment, all of that stuff! Got to sign up for weekly private lessons or individual training to stay ahead of the curve.

Nonsense. There are plenty of kids in ECNL programs who don't do any of this.

The big problem with CYA is poor leadership and organization, which has resulted in most of the better coaches leaving. The remaining coaching is on the whole poor, which leads to uncompetitive teams and kids leaving which rapidly becomes / became a vicious circle.

A merger with another club with similar issues is not a solution. It's just a temporarily bigger club which no longer even offers the advantage of truly being local to anyone. It will bleed players even faster than the old ones did separately.

[Anonymous]

I guess the last few posts were DP-sixed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess the last few posts were DP-sixed.

Look who’s back! What happened, your mother kick you out of the shack again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess the last few posts were DP-sixed.

Look who’s back! What happened, your mother kick you out of the shack again?

did yours after DP DP’d her?