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Reign Letter to WYS/RCL Part 1

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    Reign Letter to WYS/RCL Part 1

    Pasted this from an email attachment that was forwarded to me. The original email was sent to a big distribution of all of WYS leadership and all RCL club directors.

    Have to post in 2 parts since it is so long.

    Grabbing my popcorn because this discussion should be fun to watch.


    ------------------------------------------


    May 9, 2019

    Terry Fisher, CEO Dan Popp, President of the Board of Directors Washington Youth Soccer

    CC: WYS Board Members; Leadership of RCL member clubs

    Terry and Dan-

    We are writing to address the allegations levied against Reign Academy in your letter of May 1, 2019 and your subsequent email communication to our organization. In addition, we have shared our thoughts on the actions Washington Youth Soccer and some of its member clubs have taken against our organization since we first received your letter.

    We would first like to express our respect and admiration for the efforts made by the many clubs in Washington State – including their coaches and leadership – who have taken on significant risk and invested incredible amounts of time and energy to build their organizations and to help develop a robust soccer community in our state. We believe that most individuals in these clubs are good people that are motivated by a genuine desire to foster the growth of youth soccer players. We welcome collaboration with these groups and individuals, and remain open to building strong, mutually-beneficial relationships with any like-minded club that may have interest.

    As relative newcomers to the soccer community we can appreciate that there may be a lack of understanding about Reign Academy by WYS and its member clubs. To help you understand the motivation that drives the development of our organization, we have below shared some of our observations about the youth soccer community in our region, as those observations directly informed our vision, mission and approach. We believe our recent entry into this arena afforded us with a unique opportunity look at the youth soccer complex with fresh eyes.

    And what do we see?

    We see a lack of female coaches and female leadership.

    We see female coaches who are paid less and receive fewer opportunities than male coaches.

    We see environments where female coaches must often endure inappropriate comments and behavior to do the jobs they love.

    We see environments, attitudes, and approaches designed for boys that have not been sufficiently adapted to meet the needs of female players.

    We see administrators and coaches who treat players and parents as their property, and who believe fear and intimidation is an effective way to retain their customers.

    We see arrogance and entitlement that stems from a marketplace engineered to stifle competition, that insufficiently rewards innovation, and that unreasonably restricts the movement of players.



    We see an opportunity to make things better for female players and their families.

    Reign Academy is run by women for the benefit of youth female players. Our organization features the highest percentage of female coaches of any club in the country. We serve girls and young women at all levels of talent and experience. It is our hope that Reign Academy’s female-forward approach will inspire other organizations to recognize the benefits of equal opportunity and equal treatment for their players and their employees.

    We elected to move forward as members of U.S. Club Soccer, the U.S. Girls’ Development Academy, and PSPL because we believe these organizations value our approach while providing the best platforms upon which we can serve our players. We will work with these entities and their member clubs to do whatever possible to improve and expand our collective interests, and we will always adhere to the rules and regulations of those entities.

    We know that building our club will be a challenging endeavor, and that the marketplace will ultimately decide if our organization adds value to the youth soccer community. We welcome competition with other clubs, as we believe that such competition will drive us all to innovate, to improve our offerings, and to deliver the best possible experience and value to youth players and their families.

    ---------------------

    Continued in next post------

    #2
    Part 2

    ---

    In addressing the vague allocations of wrongdoing in your May 1, 2019 letter, as well as the subsequent May 4, 2019 email from Dan Popp, we would first like to share that we find it ironic that the clubs making the disingenuous, self-serving allegations about Reign Academy are the same organizations that unilaterally decided to pull their best players from RCL and move them to ECNL, a decision that massively reduced the quality of RCL at the direct expense of the other clubs in the league. The hypocrisy of these clubs undermines their defense of the RCL: they complain not because they truly care about the RCL or their partners in the league, but instead because we threaten the established order and they fear their power to assert control over the marketplace will be diminished.

    We will remind you that we have no affiliation with Washington Youth Soccer nor are we members of RCL. As such, it is unreasonable for WYS or its member clubs to expect that we would adhere to rules governing a league in which we are not a member.

    WYS acknowledged this fact in its May 1 letter by stating that, “WYS recognizes that you are a US Club organization and USSDA member that restricts our ability to manage this situation.” With the knowledge that you have no standing to compel us to comply with RCL rules, you instead requested that we submit to your request as a “professional courtesy”.

    We find this a curious request, given that the actions of WYS and many of its member clubs have thus far been neither professional nor courteous. Further, we are again struck by the irony that WYS and a small number of its member clubs are accusing Reign Academy of activities that are, “detrimental to best practices that demonstrate anti-collegial collaborative behavior and lack of respect…”, when, in fact, it has been these same clubs that have been engaged in unethical behavior designed to intimidate our employees, spread inaccurate information, and bully players and their families.






    Here are a few specific, verifiable examples of bad faith acts committed by coaches and administrators at a few of your member clubs when engaging with players and families wishing to learn more about Reign Academy and/or join our organization:

    1) Players and their families have been told that they should not join Reign Academy because we are going out of business; 2) Players and their families have been told that they should not join Reign Academy because Reign FC/the NWSL is ceasing operations; 3) Players and their families have been told that they should not join Reign Academy because we are moving the Academy training sessions to the South Sound; 4) Players and their families have been told that our recruiting practices are “inappropriate”; 5) Players and their families have been told that the U.S. Soccer Girls’ Development Academy is shutting down immediately/next season/in three years and therefore they should not join Reign Academy; 6) Coaches from your member clubs have made uninvited appearances at our discovery sessions. This was understandably interpreted by players and families as a not-so-subtle form of intimidation; 7) Players and their families have been informed via email that attending a Reign Academy discovery session will result in their expulsion from their current club; 8) Players have been removed from their current teams for attending a Reign Academy discovery session.

    While we originally believed the incidents noted above were simply the actions of a few bad actors within the youth soccer community, it now appears that those actions were part of a broader effort orchestrated by Washington Youth Soccer and many of its member clubs to engage in collusive, anti-competitive actions designed to preserve and protect the dominant position in the marketplace held by several of your member clubs.

    As with the actions of some of your member clubs noted above, the actions taken by WYS over the past week appear to have been designed to intimidate our organization and our employees into compliance with rules that are inherently anti-competitive.

    For instance, in his email of May 4, 2019, Seattle United coach Rich Reece made the following statement when replying to WYS and a group of RCL coaches and administrators:

    “At some stage do we recommend our members don’t support their pro team until they show they are a club that wants to work in the community and work alongside other clubs in Washington to better the youth landscape.”

    Subsequent to this suggestion from Mr. Reece, Paul Bayly forwarded a note to from Terry Fisher to its member clubs that stated:

    “Good afternoon. Earlier today I instructed staff to remove all reference to Reign FC from our website. No logo, no ticket sales, no promotion. This suspension shall remain in effect until further notice.”

    Additionally, on May 8, 2019, Reign Academy head coach Matt Dorman, who was also employed by Washington Youth Soccer as a head coach in its EPD program, was terminated by Bastien Catrin of Washington Youth Soccer. Mr. Catrin’s explanation for dismissing Mr. Dorman (which was documented by Mr. Dorman during the call), was that RCL club directors had called for his removal because he also worked for Reign Academy.





    When Mr. Dorman inquired to Mr. Fisher about why he was fired despite five years of positive results coaching in the EPD program, Mr. Fisher responded via email:

    Perception is in fact reality in youth soccer. You make difficult choices as do we. The conduct of the Reign Academy covers you as their staff member with the same broad brush. There was never anyone at this office that wanted this to happen to you personally. Take that for whatever it is worth and move on. Replacing you is complicated timing and of course not preferred but necessary.

    So we are all clear on what happened: you fired a coach who had served your organization with distinction for five years, who by all accounts is an excellent coach, who was not accused of any personal wrongdoing, merely because he also works for Reign Academy.

    This is a petulant, shameful act of an organization that has lost sight of its mission and leadership that has failed its members.

    When examining the actions of WYS and its member clubs, any reasonable individual could only conclude that WYS and several of its member clubs are acting in concert with the intent of diminishing the ability of Reign Academy to compete in free and fair manner, and that those actions are designed to help some of your member clubs maintain their dominant position in the marketplace at the expense of players of our region.

    ---

    To specifically address the request in your letter of May 1: we will not submit to your request that we alter our recruiting and operating practices, as our actions have been and will continue to be lawful, appropriate, and wholly consistent with a competitive marketplace that serves the best interests of players and their families.

    We demand that you immediately re-hire Matt Dorman or otherwise reach an equitable settlement with him for his wrongful termination, and that you work with your member clubs to ensure that they immediately cease and desist from making any further inaccurate or defamatory statements about our organization.

    And we strongly recommend that you examine your practices and rules regarding player movement amongst the clubs you oversee. Your current rules and practices are fundamentally anti-competitive in nature and are being abused by some clubs to intimidate players and parents. The geographic division of RCL is a literal division of the marketplace, which is a questionable practice that is exacerbated by rules that prevent clubs from soliciting players in other clubs. These rules have distorted the marketplace by limiting competition, it has reduced incentives for your member clubs to improve their services, and it has likely led to increased costs for consumers.

    In the absence of a satisfactory response from you we will take whatever action we deem necessary to ensure that Reign Academy – along with all clubs in Washington State – are able to compete in a free and fair marketplace.

    Best Regards,

    Teresa Predmore President Reign Academy

    Comment


      #3
      That is fantastic. I wish Reign could lower their prices, but understand that an NWSL team can’t subsidize DA like the male side can. The amount of qualified women on their staff is impressive.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        That is fantastic. I wish Reign could lower their prices, but understand that an NWSL team can’t subsidize DA like the male side can. The amount of qualified women on their staff is impressive.
        Why would you want to support a professional team that uses its status as a professional team to recruit players from your club??

        I get other clubs are trying to recruit our players, but then again we are not promoting those clubs either.

        Reign have to understand that they don't get both.

        Comment


          #5
          It's seriously amazing to see Reign Academy brand itself as a pro-female organization. While many of the criticisms made against other clubs are true about needing more female coaches, the "female led" line from Reign seems to be a fresh PR/branding initiative. My daughter played for Reign for 2 seasons and didn't have a female coach other than part-time training with Reign players. The head coach her second season who is still with the organization, is not a good match for teenage girls, since he often uses name calling, storms off the field if they lose at a showcase etc. It will be wonderful if the club culture eventually falls in line with the branding and it truly becomes a pro-female organization. They've hired some great female coaches for next season, so that's a great start.

          Matt Dornan seems to be a good coach and I'm sorry this happened to him if he hasn't poached any players. At the older age group, the U16/17, if appears that at least 4 girls bolted from Crossfire DA to Reign mid-season this year. Maybe Crossfire needs to work harder to keep players, but it doesn't seem like it does anyone any good to have so many players moving around midseason. The whole system is f-ed up and almost none of it is about the kids. We are very happy to be with ECNL at this point.

          Comment


            #6
            Sounds like the RCL/WYS types are getting nervous...

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              Why would you want to support a professional team that uses its status as a professional team to recruit players from your club??

              I get other clubs are trying to recruit our players, but then again we are not promoting those clubs either.

              Reign have to understand that they don't get both.
              Ummmmmmm.......Because it's the only professional women's soccer team in the state. And theoretically is a sport our girls are playing. And theoretically is something our girls aspire to.

              Regardless of youth club politics (which they are numerous and I am not picking a side in this argument of behaviors). All sports have a professional system to aspire to. In this case they have an academy as well which girls will want to wear the badge when they see Rapinoe score a goal in a stadium. But there is also an entrenched system trying to protect its trenches and player fees. It will be a dogfight of words for many years.

              A similar example would be in the hyper competitive SoCal scene:

              Here is a link to the Galaxy funding for girls:

              https://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2016/1...-academy-teams

              Maybe the Sounders should have stepped up to the plate and helped fund the girls DA in Washington but they didn't.

              Here is a link to LA Galaxy fees as well:

              https://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2016/1...-academy-teams

              So it looks like pro teams also charge for their B, C teams as well to generate fees. (Older articles but I do have a day job and can't search the internet all day)

              I do agree with you though. Pac/EFC/XF/etc.. probably shouldn't directly promote a competitor but banning/attacking them would be bad form for a sport our girls love. Does anyone know if all SoCal clubs ban their teams from going to the LA Galaxy games since they have a girls academy.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                It's seriously amazing to see Reign Academy brand itself as a pro-female organization. While many of the criticisms made against other clubs are true about needing more female coaches, the "female led" line from Reign seems to be a fresh PR/branding initiative. My daughter played for Reign for 2 seasons and didn't have a female coach other than part-time training with Reign players. The head coach her second season who is still with the organization, is not a good match for teenage girls, since he often uses name calling, storms off the field if they lose at a showcase etc. It will be wonderful if the club culture eventually falls in line with the branding and it truly becomes a pro-female organization. They've hired some great female coaches for next season, so that's a great start.

                Matt Dornan seems to be a good coach and I'm sorry this happened to him if he hasn't poached any players. At the older age group, the U16/17, if appears that at least 4 girls bolted from Crossfire DA to Reign mid-season this year. Maybe Crossfire needs to work harder to keep players, but it doesn't seem like it does anyone any good to have so many players moving around midseason. The whole system is f-ed up and almost none of it is about the kids. We are very happy to be with ECNL at this point.
                XF DA 16/17 is one of the best teams in the country. With free fees and travel, why did those 4 players leave?

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  XF DA 16/17 is one of the best teams in the country. With free fees and travel, why did those 4 players leave?
                  Does that team have a coach?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    none

                    Someone please post the May 1 letter.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Someone please post the May 1 letter.
                      Seconded. Many fake internet points await...

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        XF DA 16/17 is one of the best teams in the country. With free fees and travel, why did those 4 players leave?
                        Crossfire no longer has DA for girls. They left because they want to still continue to play on DA and not play on ECNL for 2019/2020.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          Seconded. Many fake internet points await...

                          Lol. I bet you have never been to Europe so you think the world is flat. :)

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            Crossfire no longer has DA for girls. They left because they want to still continue to play on DA and not play on ECNL for 2019/2020.
                            They left mid-season, leaving behind their coach who will continue to be the ECNL coach.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Being the bully as usual Terry Fischer and WYS.

                              Comment

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