:(

[Unregistered]

trust me theres politics everywhere. Look at CFC, politics start in England when little johnny is a baby. Then he grows up and he's competing with other little johnnies to come to the US and coach at CFC. Then little johnny has to out scream and have a thicker English accent in order to get a job at the 15 different CFC teams spread throughout CT. Its a tough world.

[Unregistered]

trust me theres politics everywhere. Look at CFC, politics start in England when little johnny is a baby. Then he grows up and he's competing with other little johnnies to come to the US and coach at CFC. Then little johnny has to out scream and have a thicker English accent in order to get a job at the 15 different CFC teams spread throughout CT. Its a tough world.

CFC is also into politics for cheating. Unreal......

[Unregistered]

Did I ever tell you that joke about how many cfc dads are needed to change a soccer field light bulb?

[Unregistered]

U poor thing, how r u ever going to survive? Nxt time, scope out what position the coach's kids play, and if your kid likes those positions, try out for another club. It's not rocket science.

I would never bother having my kid tryout for a pay to play club with a mommy or daddy coach. Saw it a few times at my kids clubs on other teams .... parents on those teams were always pretty miffed. Also, it does not matter what position the coaches kid plays, they will be allowed every opportunity to shine with no repercussions for poor play and they mostly play far more than they should at positions they should not .... which kills the whole team concept thing.

[Unregistered]

I don't buy the money story, at least in terms of established clubs.

I agree. It's still about pushy parents, the ones that schmooze with the coaches or DOC, play head games with other parents etc. That's hard to avoid all together, but at a well run club it usually doesn't get you very far. In town soccer it can, as can a board or group of volunteer coaches who have their own agendas. They care more about their kids and maybe a few of their friends vs doing what's best for entire teams or the whole program.

Some towns do have well run programs. Good for them, I wish there were more. But that said if your kid wants to challenge themselves and raise their game at some point they will need to get out of town soccer. It can hold its own for awhile, but by U12-13 starts to completely fall apart. Mine also got very frustrated by the lack of commitment by many town players.

[Unregistered]

I would never bother having my kid tryout for a pay to play club with a mommy or daddy coach. Saw it a few times at my kids clubs on other teams .... parents on those teams were always pretty miffed. Also, it does not matter what position the coaches kid plays, they will be allowed every opportunity to shine with no repercussions for poor play and they mostly play far more than they should at positions they should not .... which kills the whole team concept thing.

The only time a parent should be coaching is if

a) they were just as qualified as any other coach for the position

b) they don't coach their own kid. If they don't like that, then they really weren't about coaching after all. They just wanted to help their kid and that's not what you want at a club.

[Unregistered]

I would never bother having my kid tryout for a pay to play club with a mommy or daddy coach. Saw it a few times at my kids clubs on other teams .... parents on those teams were always pretty miffed. Also, it does not matter what position the coaches kid plays, they will be allowed every opportunity to shine with no repercussions for poor play and they mostly play far more than they should at positions they should not .... which kills the whole team concept thing.

Not always the case.

[Unregistered]

The only time a parent should be coaching is if

a) they were just as qualified as any other coach for the position

b) they don't coach their own kid. If they don't like that, then they really weren't about coaching after all. They just wanted to help their kid and that's not what you want at a club.

c) Because we are a good coach, played as an adult as well as in college, and when our kids rock and deserve all the playing time I give them.

[Unregistered]

Not always the case.

Probably true, but I would bet more often than not .... I do not want to waste the money or season in the likelihood of being wrong. It's just a huge conflict of interest and very easy to fix. If the club does not know that, there is a bigger issue. None of our local clubs have the proverbial Mourinho or Fergusons coaching at them that might be worthwhile to take a chance on.

[Unregistered]

c) Because we are a good coach, played as an adult as well as in college, and when our kids rock and deserve all the playing time I give them.

Signed, an OW daddy coach

[Unregistered]

Daddy Coach

Every other sport has almost all parent coaches and many do as well or a better job than a random foreign plug in coaches who don't know the kids at all. I have coached high level travel soccer and basketball for many years and I was way tougher on my owns kids when I had them. Most coaches are aware of how it will look and do not overplay their own kids.

Soccer has this weird theory that paying a random unlicensed coach with an accent is actually an improvement.

[Unregistered]

Every other sport has almost all parent coaches and many do as well or a better job than a random foreign plug in coaches who don't know the kids at all. I have coached high level travel soccer and basketball for many years and I was way tougher on my owns kids when I had them. Most coaches are aware of how it will look and do not overplay their own kids.

Soccer has this weird theory that paying a random unlicensed coach with an accent is actually an improvement.

There aren't nearly as many parents who played soccer as there are the other big US sports. Licensure should be demanded if you're paying any decent amount of money. It's not always a guarantee of quality but at least you know they've put some effort into their career. Accent is optional but not always easy to avoid when there aren't enough trained coaches here

[Unregistered]

There aren't nearly as many parents who played soccer as there are the other big US sports. Licensure should be demanded if you're paying any decent amount of money. It's not always a guarantee of quality but at least you know they've put some effort into their career. Accent is optional but not always easy to avoid when there aren't enough trained coaches here

Signed, CFC dad

[Unregistered]

Signed, CFC dad

Signed Koolaid drinking OW dad.

[Unregistered]

Don't knock OW. I get paid. My kid gets to play free. I give her all the playing time she and I want. And, you get to "hang out" with Jenny's mom (nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more, say NO more). It's all good.