Lets Build Serious Clubs

Interesting read from 3Four3

http://blog.3four3.com/2012/07/03/building-serious-soccer-clubs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+3Four3+%283four3%29[/url]

Meaning, go well beyond being an organization that just houses soccer teams. Compliment that by offering a membership with real benefits.
Here’s some things to consider:
Voting rights
Club hosted parties and activities
A gym
Field access
Multiple sports
Real city / neighborhood connection / outreach / integration
Real business partnerships and integration
Real school connections and integration
We should have a culture formed around being a club member. It should mean something to be part of Barcelona-USA, or Real So Cal, or Weston FC, or Galaxy. Right now, it means absolutely nothing!
When someone says they’re from Compton or Beverly Hills, something comes to mind right?
Republican vs Democrat?
East Coast vs West Coast?
You don’t have to necessarily differentiate across the typical geographic, political, economic, ethnic, or religious lines. Or you can (see the USL’s Charlotte Eagles or PDL’s Seahorses).
Or consider what comes to mind with:
A Trader Joe’s employee vs a Walmart employee.
We need something similar happening at the club level.
Some thoughts on how …
First
Create regular activities / parties of various types for the membership to stimulate relationships across and between:
* the entire membership
* local government
* school officials and teachers
* businesses
Second
Let’s create tangible perks and benefits around being a club member. And open membership up (not just for parents with kids on a team).
I should be able to join (hence support) Acme Club with a monthly or yearly membership fee. In exchange, I might receive some use of their fields, discounts to all kinds of business partners, invitations to their parties, relationship opportunities with city and school officials, low-friction networking opportunities, voting rights, …
You get the idea.
All this can generate so many things! Here’s just five:
Expansion and more money for the club.
Development of club culture.
Differentiation.
Loyalty.
Sense of – and real – ownership.
Imagine you’re a member of Real So Cal. You present your card to AAA, and you get 10% off your car insurance. Do the same at the Marriot or Olive Garden or Southwest Airlines. Is this outrageous? Am I thinking too big?
How about walking into your local supporting soccer shop and getting hooked up? Or getting a great deal at 24-hour fitness? How about free college, USL, NASL game admission? MLS game discout? Want to play some pick up games … maybe the club has some open field access available for members. How about discounted private math tutoring? So on and so forth. The possibilities are endless.
The details and business model up to the club.
Over time a niche culture that tightly bounds the membership can form. Different clubs can really come to be known for something. And real, not manufactured, rivalries can form.
Now being part of a club really means something! Can you see it?
That’s a money-generating, culture-enriching solution for the game in our country

would they play in D1 and do I get a car sticker?

I want a blazer with fancy embroidered crest. And a club tie. You know, like they've got at Bushwood. Otherwise, no deal.

Ill take a plaid one!

I have seen something similar to that before. It is a "sports club" I don't know what type of other benefits they get from being in the club. It could just be that the club offers multiple sports. So you aren't the only one that is thinking along those lines.

http://go.mightybluebirds.com/

This would be more to like it.

http://www.nyac.org/default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=236289&ssid=89817&vnf=1

I thought you were thinking more along the lines of youth sports. NYAC is focused on adult sports. I wouldn't mind seeing youth sports clubs with multiple sports. While your child may not play all but the opportunity to play more than one would be cool IMO.

Start with youth and move into adult.

Clubs are very serious if your son or DD can play! Money seems to be available for the top teams and players.

Androfan wrote:Here’s some things to consider:
Voting rights
Club hosted parties and activities
A gym
Field access
Multiple sports
Real city / neighborhood connection / outreach / integration
Real business partnerships and integration
Real school connections and integration
We should have a culture formed around being a club member. It should mean something to be part of Barcelona-USA, or Real So Cal, or Weston FC, or Galaxy. Right now, it means absolutely nothing!
When someone says they’re from Compton or Beverly Hills, something comes to mind right?
Republican vs Democrat?
East Coast vs West Coast?

The top section of the post (shown above with a couple strikes) caught my eye. A lot of those ideas could be achieved if we "rezoned" how our clubs interact with the Rec associations. The Rec associations are already set up in this arrangement. They are already assigned to school districts and geographical demographics.

I know this is a long post but stick with me here, please.

Right now the Rec associations are compelled to assign kids to teams randomly. That makes the chances of being assigned to a good coach a lottery. What if we changed that rule? What if teams were initially formed based on their school. All the kids from Elementary School 'X' play together on one team. All the kids in Elementary School 'Y' play together on another team. By doing this, you will immediately establish a "Real school connections and integration" for the kids.

Now to the clubs... What if the Select and Academy clubs in North Texas stopped being randomly scattered? What if each of them were associated DIRECTLY to a local Rec association? This will benefit the clubs because they will ALWAYS have a pipeline of new players. This will benefit the Rec associations because the level of coaching will immediately improve.

The Select and Academy Clubs will be given a limit, based on their associations' registration numbers, for the number of teams they are allowed to have for each age group. The club coaches will pick the kids they want from their pool of Rec players. The number of players the coaches can take from the Rec pool will be limited though based on this system. By doing this, this will make a “select” soccer team REALLY select. This will immediately create a "Real city / neighborhood connection / outreach / integration" system for the players. Kids will have pride when they are selected ahead of their ‘school’ teammates for the ‘city’ team. While the Rec teams are on the school level, the Academy and Select teams will be on the city level.

It should be noted that your local Rec associations also already provide: Voting rights, Field access, and Multiple sports. Many probably already provide: Club hosted parties and activities, and a gym (via a local recreation center). It would also be relatively quick work to set up: Real business partnerships and integration.

Assigning the existing clubs to the proper associations would be tricky (and political) but it can be managed. (Texans to Plano? FC Dallas to Frisco? Solar to Lewisville? Liverpool to Denton? Andromeda to Richardson? TFC to Allen? Mutiny to Wylie? Etc.)

The Rec associations could also provide a liaison (or liaisons) on the club's board to help oversee the operations of their club so $800K doesn't accidently walk out the door ever again. It will also put controls back into the system so the clubs can’t run amuck unchecked.

It's just an idea but what do you think? (Please, PLEASE, PLEASE don't reply back with "We can't do it that way because this is the way we've always done it." Or "That won't work... just because.")

We already have this. It's called High School soccer.

Androfan wrote:This would be more to like it.

We belonged to a club like you describe where I grew up. They sponsored youth teams in basketball, baseball, Irish and American football. There was no youth soccer around in those days, but the Italian-American club across town sponsored a men's soccer team. We had clambakes on Memorial Day and the 4th. Distributed coats and toys to the poor at Christmas and turkeys on Thanksgiving. Mostly, though, I think it was a place for the dad's to go drink beer and tell lies...

Isn't this already happening with FC Dallas? They just have ALL the cities feeding them..."...

Gunner9 wrote:

Androfan wrote:This would be more to like it.

We belonged to a club like you describe where I grew up. They sponsored youth teams in basketball, baseball, Irish and American football. There was no youth soccer around in those days, but the Italian-American club across town sponsored a men's soccer team. We had clambakes on Memorial Day and the 4th. Distributed coats and toys to the poor at Christmas and turkeys on Thanksgiving. Mostly, though, I think it was a place for the dad's to go drink beer and tell lies...

We can still tell lies, but drinking and posting on here can be dangerous.

Ain't no building serious clubs bubba. There's two places where champions learn to ball and that's the street and pro team academies. Clubs is just scam artists man!