Solar 04 - An insider's opinion

I have tried to avoid the forums as much as possible because they tend to be a bit stressful - and with 2 kids I have all the stress I need. Unfortunately, a team that I am very proud to be a part of has been the subject of much discussion, some a little alarming. And I know that no one is trying to attack our team or girls, maybe just our coach...but sometimes things get said that cause unrest and we have such a great group of girls and parents, I just don't want to see that happen.

Money:
Someone from one of our teams asked a legitimate question about money and I think got a little bit more than they bargained for in response :0. So I'll address that first:
*we pay 60/month in coaching fees (older groups a little more) - that is collected by our coach and includes 2 practices and coaching for 1 league game
*we pay our league fees separately which I think is a little different than most clubs
*we keep a small roster to increase playing time on both of our teams, so it's a little more per person for the leagues
*with 1 SDL league + coaching fees we pay approximately $68/month
*we have opportunities for additional skills and shooting classes but those are 100% optional

Before my older daughter went select on her FCD team (so u9 and u10) we paid $87.50/month. Granted, PHP has their own lights but the light thing is new this year. $15/quarter - directly to Solar.

The second league was proposed to our teams by the coach and the additional fee of $10/game (x 8 games for a 9 person roster)was disclosed prior to anyone agreeing to play. There are several kids only playing 1 league and they are not punished or frowned upon for this. It is purely optional and most of us just opt to play. Personally, I don't have a problem with a coach asking to be paid for extra time that's not part of the original fee plan.

Out of town tournaments:
Yes, for the second time in a year, we are doing this. Why - it's fun and the girls love it. Is it required, no. Not all of our players are going. Their choice and certainly no punishment. Why Oklahoma? I ask myself that all the time - those that know who is writing this know I would NEVER voluntarily go to Oklahoma, especially not after last week's anhialation of my beloved Horns...Seriously though, our coach is from there. He knows the area and has respect for the soccer program up there. He asked, we said yes. It was our choice as parents and kids. Last time we went, the parents and kids agreed it was a ton of fun and that had nothing to do with the soccer. Just the bonding and hanging out. Could we have done that here? Yes, but really - would we make the time with our busy lives?

Running:
the "30 lap issue" was actually with an older team but we had something similar. As a parent, I am always looking for ways to motivate my kids. Sometimes, I find things that work, some times I say really stupid stuff and then hope to goodness I don't have to follow through. Sometimes, I just make bad decisions. I'm guessing most of you could say the same. The whole thing started as an attempt to motivate them - and for the most part, any laps that we earned through play was actually less than our normal conditioning we did prior to practice (which know some of you are opposed - but personally I'm ok with). So ultimately, the girls ended up running less. Then we faced two awesome teams in one weekend and ended up with having 30 laps to run. Our coach made changes on the fly to lessen this, knowing he'd ended up with a result he never intended but also facing a consequence he'd laid out for the girls. As parents, you know how hard that is to face - if I don't follow through I do harm, if I do follow through I do harm. For our team, he changed the result on the spot and made it 30 short sprints which the girls actually had fun with. For the older group, from what I've heard from the parents still around, they did not have to run those laps at practice.

Losing teams:
I can't really comment on this. I know that a coach has to run the team. I don't think any parent out there wants to pay good money to have decisions made by other parents and not the coach. And part of that includes letting him/her coach they way they coach - which may differ game to game. I remember hearing once that soccer is one of the only sports where the athlete is the one making all of the decisions at the time, not having plays called or being told what to do. To develop that, it may mean a coach doesn't "scream" the entire game, but at times sits quietly to see how players will react. Some people view that as "giving up" in a game, for a season, on a team. I know exactly how 2 coaches approach that, and both have the same approach. You have to let the kids think for themselves sometimes.

I do know this about our team and our coach. We all want to win but we want to see our kids have fun, develop and be happy. When we have seen otherwise, we have talked about it and corrected as a team - coach and all. I have to respect being given the opportunity to be heard and have a say in how we approach seasons and games. I hope all of our parents feel that way. We get to play against great competition and we win some and lose some and that's all part of if. As long as the kids are happy playing, that's all that matters. And from what I see, they are.

That was very nicely put.....and spot on.... I do hope this clarifies a lot of misunderstandings and down right false information that was wayyyyyy over exaggerated and blown out of proportion... He is an excellent coach that a lot of parents really like....And even more important the girls and boys that he coaches love him and respond... That's what this is all really about.... The kids.........
Thanks for clarifying all this.....
Ineedmorehoursintheday....
If I find a genie lamp your wish will be granted!!!!!

Not a misunderstanding, that is that parents thoughts on what happened. Right or wrong, that is what that parent left with.

If you are good with it and your DD is getting better who cares what other people think.

I will say this most be your first kid if you are traveling at 04.