contracts explained

Pretty slow on the boards this week...so I thought I would bring up the contract discussion for those of you who are new to this.

What you will find when you read the contract will scare your pants off.  The contract appears to be heavily weighted in favor of the club - almost unfairly so.  And....it is....but Do Not Panic!

• Money - yes, its a fair amount of money, and some clubs want the whole year up front.  Most will do a payment plan, but you are on the hook for the contracted amount.  That said, its kinda like a 1 year gym contract.  It appears iron-clad, and legally it pretty much is.
  
• No Guaranteed playing time - there are no guarantees about playing time.
  
• No Guaranteed league - On the fact sheet, they are required to give a reasonable expectation regarding what league, but there is no guarantee.  
  
• No Guaranteed coach - There is no guarantee about the coach either.
  
• No Guaranteed Practice location - the club will provide practice facilities, but there will again be no guarantee where they will be.
  
• Tournaments - some clubs will require certain tournament fees in the contract.  This will be on the fact sheet, and will have things like LHGCL qualifying, state cup, etc.  Generally, the ones on the fact sheet and in the contract are the ones where guesting is not allowed.  This is to keep you from trying to back out of a tournament where they cannot replace your player with a guest.
  

Have I scared you yet?

Now...its not so bad.  The value of this contract is minimal, and clubs do not have expensive lawyers at the ready to haul every jilted family into court.  Even if the club has a payment plan, they usually get at least half up front, so it's just not worth the money to go through a bunch of effort suing you.  This contract is more about establishing an advantage for a negotiation than anything.  If you work with your coach/club/manager, most, if not all of the above scary points can be worked out if you approach it calmly.  You are starting off at a disadvantage, so you will never get a refund...but an average negotiator can easily facilitate a move to a different situation.

• Money (a) - if you want to quit because you are unhappy...most coaches don't like having toxic parents/players on their teams.  If you want to leave, talk to the coach.  Most will give you a release, and not stress about the money.  That allows them to pick up a new player and offer them a "discount", aka the money you already paid to that point.  (don't ask for your money back...you won't get it)
  
• Money (b) - if you end up in a family financial hardship, there may be "scholarship" opportunities within the club especially if your player is a key contributor.  They may ask for some volunteer time or something in return, but if you are in a financial jam, its worth it.
  
• Playing Time - If you want to leave due to lack of playing time, you can.  If you have a d-bag coach that makes your kid ride the bench, and refuses to give you a club release (not a rec release) for being unhappy, you can appeal to NTX, and if you can "prove" that your kid does not play more than a certain amount of time (I think its like 10% or something), then they will over-ride the coach/club and give you a total release.
  
• League - This one you are pretty much stuck on.  A team qualifies where it does, and that cannot be changed.  But if you are only on the team because of the league you were hoping your kid plays in....well...see "toxic" parent above.
  
• Coach - Coaching changes happen for many reasons.  Coaches are generally under a "contract" as well, and it makes it probably more difficult for them to leave their existing clubs until the end of the season.  Unless your coach is moving away because their spouse is the breadwinner, they usually stick around given that option.  Some clubs on the other hand, like to play musical chairs with coaches, and will give you the switcheroo either just before contract or just after.  Sometimes its a good thing, sometimes not.  If your kid does not get along with the new coach, the coach probably doesn't like your kid either - makes for a long year, and the coach will probably be happy to replace them.  Again, see toxic player above, but for different reasons...
  
• Practice Location - if the club switches your practice location, they probably won't grant you a release for that...but...most of the bigger clubs (the ones that actually have multiple practice locations) would probably be open to letting you transfer teams within the club if its that big of a deal for you.
  

Releases - Over my 12 years or so in club soccer, I have very rarely seen a coach attempt to deny a release to a player (except Hasan).  Generally speaking, they are happy to get rid of kids that don't want to be there...the only real reason they might not grant a release immediately, is that they may end up dropping below the minimum roster size.  If you are in communication with your coach, they will grant you a release right after they find a replacement for your kid.  If your kid is a stud in a D1 situation, and your current coach does not want them as an opponent in a tight battle for 1st place...it doesn't matter how unhappy you are, Hasan will not release you.  So...that leads us to the rec release..
Rec releases get you off the team, but it also means that you can't play in the league for another club team.  BUT...you can guest play all you want in tournaments and practices.  Its much easier if you can get the outright release by coming to a settlement with your current coach than the rec release route.

Great information for us newbies to select soccer!

Weighted heavily?????  By sounds of it, its ENTIRELY WEIGHTED in the clubs favor. 

Kinda sounds like our Government.....Indivually....were screwed.  Can't fight the system...the cards are not in our favor.

Here's a thought.....How about giving the CLUB our own contract with its own set of rules???   heheheheheh

Thanks for posting that. Very informative and a key purpose for this forum.

Does anybody know if there is info on here regarding the fees for the various clubs? I would think we could all benefit from that type of info.

Thanks 10's. This should be required reading for all parents entering the wonderful world of Select soccer for the 1st time. I would say most newbies will not understand some of the invaluable information you provided until they experience the particular situation for themselves. When that happens, the light bulb will go off.  

This must be what Ukrainian government feel like when dealing with Putin.

We need to "pin" this or whatever that is so it stays at the top until....at least 7/2.

Great info.

It is information but lets be careful we don't go down the path of "club verse me". Otherwise why are we (I) doing any of this... because we want to ! I for one with my DD love our coach and frankly he has chosen the club (or they chose him) and we like the club. When I fly I don't get to chose the pilot, in club soccer I get to chose the coach; once that choice is made I have no issue committing to a length of time and amount of money... in turn for my commitment to them I expect a commitment back and have no issue signing an agreement that spells it out and it should favor them, its there club and I am joining it. If we don't like we leave in a year. This makes it sound like a "us against them" mentality... I hate it in DC and I don't want it in my soccer.

I want to expand a little bit on 10sdad's info and clarify that there are really 2 separate documents/agreements that are signed.  They have different purposes, and are technically independent of one another.

The first document is the NTSSA Competitive Player Registration Form.  This is what is typically referred to as "the contract" by most people.  This is the form that says that your DD is going to play for Club Y/Team X for the upcoming soccer year.  Once the team manager/coach takes this form, and files it in association with Club Y/Team X's roster paperwork with the appropriate NTSSA playing association (PYSA, GLASA, etc...), your DD is now "tied" to that roster for the upcoming soccer year, and is subject to NTSSA rules regarding transfers, releases, guest play, etc...

The second document is the "Payment Agreement" that you sign with the club.  The payment agreement is between you and club only.  It basically states that you agree to pay Club Y, Z $$$ for the upcoming year for the fees associated with being a member of one of their teams (coaching fees, admin fees, field usage fees, league fees, etc.).  It may or may not contain payment plan terms, each club handles things slightly different.  The key thing to note here is that this agreement is completely separate from the competitive registration, and nothing related to this agreement has any bearing on the status of the competitive registration as far as NTSSA is concerned.  What does this mean?  A few things:

1) If you request a competitive release mid-season, a club/coach may make payment of full yearly fees, a condition of signing a competitive release.  HOWEVER, even if your yearly fees are already paid in full, a club/coach is NOT required to agree to a competitive release.

2) If you get a mid-season release, even if you go straight to NTSSA and get a release to rec instead of a competitive release, you are still legally bound via the payment agreement to pay the club the full fees agreed upon back in July.  Now, most clubs aren't going to go through the time and effort to drag you into small claims court to recoup a few hundred/thousand dollars, but you need to be aware that it is a possibility if you simply get fed up and walk on the club mid-year.

3) If it comes down to an NTSSA hearing over whether or not to grant a competitive release, NTSSA will give zero consideration to the status of any financial agreement between you and the club, when making their decision.  NTSSA considers that to be completely between you and the club, and they will not get in the middle of that.

Now, again, this makes it sound more serious that it really is.  In most cases, all of this is resolved between club/coach/parents via a simple conversation or phone call.  However, if the situation does get messy, it's in your best interest to know what the differences are, and what you are legally bound to when signing these documents.

BW is right on the details.

Many parents read the contracts and freak out. Going from rec or academy where you hold all the cards over your dd's playing situation to one where you are required to spend thousands of dollars and in return have essentially no control is very unsettling.
I remember the first time I had a contract put in front of me...I about walked away...the terms were crazy! But...my bb wanted to play, and I gave it a shot. It wasn't until I saw some of these situations play out that I became more comfortable with it.

The clubs are businesses and have costs - they need to get paid. And the reason they have these contracts are because of nightmare parents. Beyond that, if you are reasonable, there isn't much that can't be worked out.

My point: The terms are absolutely horrible in these contracts, but DO NOT let these contracts stand between your princess and an opportunity to play competitive soccer. If there is a problem, it can usually be taken care of with a phone call. If not, check to see if you are being realistic in your demands.

Hopefully, BW and I have been able to give you the heads up so that you won't be surprised when you see the contracts. My hope is that when you get the contract, you say "yeah...kinda expected that...", then you sign it and have an awesome rest of your signing party.

soccer4fun wrote:It is information but lets be careful we don't go down the path of "club verse me". Otherwise why are we (I) doing any of this... because we want to ! I for one with my DD love our coach and frankly he has chosen the club (or they chose him) and we like the club. When I fly I don't get to chose the pilot, in club soccer I get to chose the coach; once that choice is made I have no issue committing to a length of time and amount of money... in turn for my commitment to them I expect a commitment back and have no issue signing an agreement that spells it out and it should favor them, its there club and I am joining it. If we don't like we leave in a year. This makes it sound like a "us against them" mentality... I hate it in DC and I don't want it in my soccer.

Agreed it should not be portrayed as "club vs. me". However, as you also stated most of us choose a coach who just happens to be at club x. We were victims of a club bait-and-switch one time in the kid's crucial u17 year. After all the signatures were gotten and verbal promises about the coach made, they replaced him. The ONLY reason my dd and many others were there was him. It made for a miserable year.

We were unable to leave as a team since 1 family (out of 18) refused to sign to switch clubs. In our eyes, this whole mess was an obvious breach of contract, yet the actual documents are heavily in favor of the club.

That's the main thing that bugs me. The club can replace the coach after signing and it doesn't sound like there is anything that can be done about it.