Reply to Richmond Strikers and Kickers Merging

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I can only speak for Strikers, but they have consistently resisted bumping their clubs up a level for years, even when certain age groups are strong. They’d rather have their teams be in 1st in weaker leagues for the chance at a national title than grow these kids by having them play tough competition week in and week out, even if it means they lose some games. I’m not saying this because I think Strikers is the end all be all, but highlighting that Strikers puts their egos and priorities ahead of the kids they say they want to develop. Maybe combining Kickers and Strikers for more teams helps ensure success at that next level, but at what cost?  I’m with Strikers because it’s in my backyard. I have no interest in driving 40 minutes to practice 3 days a week because someone decided combining travel was a good idea.

Also, all of this assumes that the Richmond United model is a good one. The RU families I know can’t stand the organization. I’ve seen a number of kids leave the club for other non-affiliated teams and others quit the sport all together because of how toxic it is. I hate the thought of someone thinking that making everything RU is a good thing.

If they do combine travel, I think this helps all of these smaller clubs that are continuing to attract players from Strikers/Kickers/FCR. Kids move because they don’t feel they are getting a fair shake with a certain club, so if everything is just one club, then the only options are these newer clubs like Grove and Velocity. [/quote]

Interesting thoughts about Strikers and their priorities - that's kinda why the merger of the clubs is surprising since there seems to be a pretty big gulf in the development philosophies of Kickers, Strikers and FCR.  It will be interesting to see where things end up shaking out.  It would make sense to try to keep some sort of North Side / South Side model for the rec / classic level teams but move to a more metro area wide model for the ECNL and even the -RL teams.  As far as RU goes, I think everyone's experience is different and kinda what you make of it.  Thinking of it, it's really not that big overall with just have single age group NL teams and really not carrying a ton of staff outside of the coaches and tech director level.

Seems to be quite a few newer options on the Boys side with the addition of Grove and Velocity, but on the girls side, really the high level option in town is RU unless you want to start driving North...
 [/quote]

Interesting, my DD has played them multiple times for her age group and it’s a good game. What do you mean bumping them up the next level? We go to a lot of similar tournaments (WAGS, NCFC, Jeff Cup) and they tend to be higher than us. What would be the next level?[/quote]

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