Anonymous wrote:The fact that a pro team is hiring FCV coaches should give you a clue as to the level of the coaches in FCV but, hey Loudoun parents, keep dreaming up scenarios that make you feel better. I'm sure at least half a dozen Loudoun coaches turned down the Spirit HC job before they had to settle for Richie Burke.

Anonymous wrote:The fact that a pro team is hiring FCV coaches should give you a clue as to the level of the coaches in FCV but, hey Loudoun parents, keep dreaming up scenarios that make you feel better. I'm sure at least half a dozen Loudoun coaches turned down the Spirit HC job before they had to settle for Richie Burke.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people cannot see what's in plain sight. It's like putting hands over your ears while shouting "la la la la la". Just because you dont want to hear it or believe it doesnt mean it's not the truth.

Stop overthinking.

Extremely easy scenario to comprehend: The current Spirit VA is completely dissolved. Spirit MD stay intact as Spirits true academy.

FCV players put a Spirit Patch and/or advertisement on their jersey and pay the season ticket fees.

Or

Spirit VA and FCV stay independent but FCV also become season ticket holders and get exactly what the Spirit DA kids get.

Easy. Done. Move on.

No one has said they don't want to hear it. I think most of the posters have been open minded to any and all scenarios. But above all else, parents just want to know what is actually going to happen, if anything at all. Even knowing that nothing at all will happen would be appreciated.

So if you are proposing that you know for FACT that the above scenarios outlined by you are indeed the actual scenarios that Spirit and FCV are working out then just say so.

He doesn't. This is wishful thinking from a deluded, soccer results focused FCV parent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people cannot see what's in plain sight. It's like putting hands over your ears while shouting "la la la la la". Just because you dont want to hear it or believe it doesnt mean it's not the truth.

Stop overthinking.

Extremely easy scenario to comprehend: The current Spirit VA is completely dissolved. Spirit MD stay intact as Spirits true academy.

FCV players put a Spirit Patch and/or advertisement on their jersey and pay the season ticket fees.

Or

Spirit VA and FCV stay independent but FCV also become season ticket holders and get exactly what the Spirit DA kids get.

Easy. Done. Move on.

No one has said they don't want to hear it. I think most of the posters have been open minded to any and all scenarios. But above all else, parents just want to know what is actually going to happen, if anything at all. Even knowing that nothing at all will happen would be appreciated.

So if you are proposing that you know for FACT that the above scenarios outlined by you are indeed the actual scenarios that Spirit and FCV are working out then just say so.

Anonymous wrote:Some people cannot see what's in plain sight. It's like putting hands over your ears while shouting "la la la la la". Just because you dont want to hear it or believe it doesnt mean it's not the truth.

Stop overthinking.

Extremely easy scenario to comprehend: The current Spirit VA is completely dissolved. Spirit MD stay intact as Spirits true academy.

FCV players put a Spirit Patch and/or advertisement on their jersey and pay the season ticket fees.

Or

Spirit VA and FCV stay independent but FCV also become season ticket holders and get exactly what the Spirit DA kids get.

Easy. Done. Move on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great post. I appreciate this is a bit off topic, but (a) what in your mind does Loudoun do differently than FCV and WS that makes Loudoun so well run and (b) what in your mind are the "best-run" youth programs in VA and MD. You seem like a reasonable and well-informed poster, and I'm curious to hear your opinions. I appreciate that others will have different opinions, and I hope nobody turns this into a club-bashing thread. That is really not my intent with my questions.

In general soccer clubs are run by soccer coaches on shoestring budgets with volunteers for staff. A large, profitable club like Loudoun can actually afford pay staffed in critical areas to keep the club running smoothly and organized.

Frankly that's all there is to it. Some club TDs are simply more organized than others but most of these clubs are non-profits simply doing their best.

Loudoun also owns their own fields and therefore has the advantage of not paying for field time. In fact they make money from their facilities and are spending a lot of money to improve them including adding indoor facilities. Their deep pockets and non-profit status are big advantages and allows them to invest in programming, staff and coaching.

You just nailed why Loudoun is a much more successful business than FCV. Better strategic planning, in selecting their non-profit status, facility procurement and planning, organization of their rec and travel programs, etc. They field five teams routinely in age groups FCV struggles to field one. It's no secret that many families join FCV because they are bitter about their treatment at Loudoun. I'd question how profitable FCV actually is as a for profit business and how much the club is actually worth. It may be that these guys are running with open arms into Spirit/Baldwin's open arms. In fact, that's the most likely scenario of the bunch, not a Richmond United scenario.

FCV has a non-profit arm. Loudoun Soccer owes $4M on it's park, it doesn't own it free and clear.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great post. I appreciate this is a bit off topic, but (a) what in your mind does Loudoun do differently than FCV and WS that makes Loudoun so well run and (b) what in your mind are the "best-run" youth programs in VA and MD. You seem like a reasonable and well-informed poster, and I'm curious to hear your opinions. I appreciate that others will have different opinions, and I hope nobody turns this into a club-bashing thread. That is really not my intent with my questions.

In general soccer clubs are run by soccer coaches on shoestring budgets with volunteers for staff. A large, profitable club like Loudoun can actually afford pay staffed in critical areas to keep the club running smoothly and organized.

Frankly that's all there is to it. Some club TDs are simply more organized than others but most of these clubs are non-profits simply doing their best.

Loudoun also owns their own fields and therefore has the advantage of not paying for field time. In fact they make money from their facilities and are spending a lot of money to improve them including adding indoor facilities. Their deep pockets and non-profit status are big advantages and allows them to invest in programming, staff and coaching.

You just nailed why Loudoun is a much more successful business than FCV. Better strategic planning, in selecting their non-profit status, facility procurement and planning, organization of their rec and travel programs, etc. They field five teams routinely in age groups FCV struggles to field one. It's no secret that many families join FCV because they are bitter about their treatment at Loudoun. I'd question how profitable FCV actually is as a for profit business and how much the club is actually worth. It may be that these guys are running with open arms into Spirit/Baldwin's open arms. In fact, that's the most likely scenario of the bunch, not a Richmond United scenario.

Anonymous wrote:So the Washington Spirit hired its Head Coach in order to make a DA merger work? Sure, makes total sense!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That would not be a merger, that would be a purchase. So you are saying that Spirit would buy FCV?

Different poster, but a merger is, by definition, a purchase. In a merger (regardless of whether one is talking about non-profits or for-profits), one entity merges with, and into, another entity. Only one entity survives the merger.

Of course, this is just the legal consequence of a merger between two entities. From a business perspective, the outside world (e.g., customers) may have no idea which entity merged into the other (as a legal matter), as one can set up the operations of the combined businesses to appear as if there are still two different entities. For example, when Apple acquired Beats by merger in 2014, Apple "shut down" Beats Music and launched "Apple Music," but Apple continued to use the Beats brand on certain headphones (and other products) and the Apple brand on other headphones, earbuds, etc.

I have no idea whether Spirit and FCV are merging their two business entities, but if they did, it would certainly be an acquisition by Spirit of FCV given the size of the respective businesses. With that said, it is entirely possible that Spirit may continue to use the FCV "brand" in its youth operations.

That is exactly the point. The value in FCV is the brand of FCV. Purchasing that brand and having it go away serves little to no purpose. The FCV coaches and players are not the property of FCV so there is no value there either because there is no certainty of retaining the players. FCV does not own fields so there is no property value or equity.

If Spirit could not retain the coaches or the players then what would be the point of the expense of purchasing a club. There are no assets beyond a trademark and legacy.

I have no information about either of these clubs, and, from reading these posts, I understand that any Spirit-FCV merger is purely hypothetical, and a number of prior posters have already gone through the pros and cons of any such hypothetical merger.

With that said, I would agree with you that, if there is value in the FCV brand, then it might be silly from a business perspective to discontinue the brand. One could make a business case for Spirit to acquire FCV and continue the FCV brand throughout its youth operations from U19 on down to the U littles. In this scenario, nothing would change in DA, and Spirit would now field 3 DA teams under the "Spirit MD," "Spirit VA" and "FCV" brands. After all, as you alluded to in your post, why give up the revenue from 20 or so paying DA customers in Virginia by combining the Spirit VA and FCV DA teams into 1 team? Of course, on the other hand, there could be various business reasons why it makes sense to combine those DA teams, which some prior posters have mentioned in this thread.

As for your comment about the FCV coaches, you are absolutely correct that FCV does not "own" them and cannot force them to work for Spirit (just as they cannot force them to stay at FCV). However, in any acquisition in which the "seller" has key employees, the "buyer" will want to make sure that those employees will continue their employment after the merger is consummated. This is accomplished in a variety of ways, most typically though an employment agreement that gives the employee increased compensation and, sometimes, a better job description or title. And this is where some prior posters are seeing evidence of a potential merger, with Burke, Cziommer, etc. joining Spirit.

Lastly, as for your comment about the FCV players, you are also correct that FCV does not "own" the players, and, if Spirit acquired FCV in this hypothetical merger, then you can bet that they have a plan in place to try to retain the players for next season (that is, if the revenue generated by their parents was a business reason for the merger). And let's be honest, in a scenario in which the "FCV" brand is still used for those DA and other youth teams and those teams are still coached by the same FCV coaches, then are the players really going to leave en masse?

These issues that you properly highlight are true for any business acquisition, especially with businesses that are "asset light" like these two soccer clubs. However, people that do business acquisitions for a living know how to address and solve these issues, and I can guaranty you that Spirit and FCV would be getting advice from such professionals if any hypothetical merger was in the works.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That would not be a merger, that would be a purchase. So you are saying that Spirit would buy FCV?

Different poster, but a merger is, by definition, a purchase. In a merger (regardless of whether one is talking about non-profits or for-profits), one entity merges with, and into, another entity. Only one entity survives the merger.

Of course, this is just the legal consequence of a merger between two entities. From a business perspective, the outside world (e.g., customers) may have no idea which entity merged into the other (as a legal matter), as one can set up the operations of the combined businesses to appear as if there are still two different entities. For example, when Apple acquired Beats by merger in 2014, Apple "shut down" Beats Music and launched "Apple Music," but Apple continued to use the Beats brand on certain headphones (and other products) and the Apple brand on other headphones, earbuds, etc.

I have no idea whether Spirit and FCV are merging their two business entities, but if they did, it would certainly be an acquisition by Spirit of FCV given the size of the respective businesses. With that said, it is entirely possible that Spirit may continue to use the FCV "brand" in its youth operations.

That is exactly the point. The value in FCV is the brand of FCV. Purchasing that brand and having it go away serves little to no purpose. The FCV coaches and players are not the property of FCV so there is no value there either because there is no certainty of retaining the players. FCV does not own fields so there is no property value or equity.

If Spirit could not retain the coaches or the players then what would be the point of the expense of purchasing a club. There are no assets beyond a trademark and legacy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great post. I appreciate this is a bit off topic, but (a) what in your mind does Loudoun do differently than FCV and WS that makes Loudoun so well run and (b) what in your mind are the "best-run" youth programs in VA and MD. You seem like a reasonable and well-informed poster, and I'm curious to hear your opinions. I appreciate that others will have different opinions, and I hope nobody turns this into a club-bashing thread. That is really not my intent with my questions.

In general soccer clubs are run by soccer coaches on shoestring budgets with volunteers for staff. A large, profitable club like Loudoun can actually afford pay staffed in critical areas to keep the club running smoothly and organized.

Frankly that's all there is to it. Some club TDs are simply more organized than others but most of these clubs are non-profits simply doing their best.

Loudoun also owns their own fields and therefore has the advantage of not paying for field time. In fact they make money from their facilities and are spending a lot of money to improve them including adding indoor facilities. Their deep pockets and non-profit status are big advantages and allows them to invest in programming, staff and coaching.

You just nailed why Loudoun is a much more successful business than FCV. Better strategic planning, in selecting their non-profit status, facility procurement and planning, organization of their rec and travel programs, etc. They field five teams routinely in age groups FCV struggles to field one. It's no secret that many families join FCV because they are bitter about their treatment at Loudoun. I'd question how profitable FCV actually is as a for profit business and how much the club is actually worth. It may be that these guys are running with open arms into Spirit/Baldwin's open arms. In fact, that's the most likely scenario of the bunch, not a Richmond United scenario.

All of that was great and all but it never mentioned the money making luxury of Loudoun is field ownership. Spirit still lacks their own facilities. And it still doesn't answer what is in it for Spirit to buy FCV?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great post. I appreciate this is a bit off topic, but (a) what in your mind does Loudoun do differently than FCV and WS that makes Loudoun so well run and (b) what in your mind are the "best-run" youth programs in VA and MD. You seem like a reasonable and well-informed poster, and I'm curious to hear your opinions. I appreciate that others will have different opinions, and I hope nobody turns this into a club-bashing thread. That is really not my intent with my questions.

In general soccer clubs are run by soccer coaches on shoestring budgets with volunteers for staff. A large, profitable club like Loudoun can actually afford pay staffed in critical areas to keep the club running smoothly and organized.

Frankly that's all there is to it. Some club TDs are simply more organized than others but most of these clubs are non-profits simply doing their best.

Loudoun also owns their own fields and therefore has the advantage of not paying for field time. In fact they make money from their facilities and are spending a lot of money to improve them including adding indoor facilities. Their deep pockets and non-profit status are big advantages and allows them to invest in programming, staff and coaching.

You just nailed why Loudoun is a much more successful business than FCV. Better strategic planning, in selecting their non-profit status, facility procurement and planning, organization of their rec and travel programs, etc. They field five teams routinely in age groups FCV struggles to field one. It's no secret that many families join FCV because they are bitter about their treatment at Loudoun. I'd question how profitable FCV actually is as a for profit business and how much the club is actually worth. It may be that these guys are running with open arms into Spirit/Baldwin's open arms. In fact, that's the most likely scenario of the bunch, not a Richmond United scenario.