FCGB Names New Director of Girls Programs

[Unregistered]

Spoken like a true parent. This goes along with the other parental evaluation criterion of nice uniforms and coach's with accents.

Yes but these coaches with an accent are good coaches and have coaching licenses

[Unregistered]

"I never consider website content when the bill comes. Sorry to disappoint."

Look at it this way. You are hiring an employee. Two candidates come in looking for a job who are equally qualified. Do you hire the one who walks in with a business suit or do you hire the one who comes in wearing jeans, sneakers and a nose ring? Remember, they are equally qualified. Oh, yeah, and the guy with the nose ring wants to be paid more than the guy in the suit. Who do you hire?

Easy question to answer, but truth be told, most parents don't interview, so it really doesn't matter for the majority, but for a few it does and for those few, they'll be taking their daughters somewhere else, which doesn't help improve the girls side of the Bolts.

Look at it this way. I'm hiring someone to coach my kid. Do I want the coach who is a great teacher of the game, a great role model for my kid, and someone that treats my daughter well and fairly, who coaches for a club that is website-challenged...

Or do I want the coach who has the look, talks the talk, coaches for a club with a website that is always updated...oh yeah, and also is a raving lunatic on the sidelines and is good cop when the team is winning, bad cop when they lose. Always the team's fault, always time for open tryouts no matter how successful the team is, always has his players wondering if a physical mistake is going to lead to a total dressing down in front of teammates. Oh yeah, and the best players on this team leave because they are simply not progressing with this coach, since tactical coaching beyond the age of U14 seems beyond his grasp.

The thing many people on this board don't seem to understand is that there are good and bad, very negative, coaches in a lot of the clubs in Massachusetts. We left one of those clubs that has a great website but doesn't address issues like above. We don't name the club or bash them because we did what we could to fix it - leave. We don't wish that club an early demise, but we left. I don't understand why so many people who clearly do not play for the Bolts (or Scorps or Stars or take your pick) can't help but bash bash bash.

[Unregistered]

Spoken like a true parent. This goes along with the other parental evaluation criterion of nice uniforms and coach's with accents.

New England has an accent too.

[Unregistered]

"Yes but these coaches with an accent are good coaches and have coaching licenses"

Reality folks Coaches with accent or not, the reality is that if they are coming from another country there is really no way of providing prof that the are licensed. There are many different licenses in coaching. They can tell you the have all these national licenses from another country but can it be proven? As we see everyday that like any other organizations out there alot of the soccer coaching licenses are very shady, people they know and they get a ride through all these mandatory coaching courses right to the top licenses. Sad to say but truth and reality.
So just because someone has an accent does not mean they are a good coach. Same goes with if you don't have an accent, does not mean that they can not be a good coach.

[Unregistered]

It’s good to hear that the Bolts are now including things in the general fee, like the striker clinics, that they used to charge for separately. When you're not even number two anymore, you have to try a lot harder.

Yes, the Bolts probably have a lot better amenities than other girls clubs do--they ought to, considering the price. And if Bolts players and parents don't care whether former teams are still featured on the Web site, who am I to criticize?

I suppose if I ran the Bolts, I'd have more pressing things to worry about than updating the Web site--such as the fact that the girls teams have steadily declined in competitiveness over the past few years.

[Unregistered]

Look at it this way. I'm hiring someone to coach my kid. Do I want the coach who is a great teacher of the game, a great role model for my kid, and someone that treats my daughter well and fairly, who coaches for a club that is website-challenged...

Or do I want the coach who has the look, talks the talk, coaches for a club with a website that is always updated...oh yeah, and also is a raving lunatic on the sidelines and is good cop when the team is winning, bad cop when they lose. Always the team's fault, always time for open tryouts no matter how successful the team is, always has his players wondering if a physical mistake is going to lead to a total dressing down in front of teammates. Oh yeah, and the best players on this team leave because they are simply not progressing with this coach, since tactical coaching beyond the age of U14 seems beyond his grasp.

The thing many people on this board don't seem to understand is that there are good and bad, very negative, coaches in a lot of the clubs in Massachusetts. We left one of those clubs that has a great website but doesn't address issues like above. We don't name the club or bash them because we did what we could to fix it - leave. We don't wish that club an early demise, but we left. I don't understand why so many people who clearly do not play for the Bolts (or Scorps or Stars or take your pick) can't help but bash bash bash.

Gee, until the last sentence I thought you might be referring to a certain coach at one of those clubs. I won't name names either.

[Unregistered]

It’s good to hear that the Bolts are now including things in the general fee, like the striker clinics, that they used to charge for separately. When you're not even number two anymore, you have to try a lot harder.

Yes, the Bolts probably have a lot better amenities than other girls clubs do--they ought to, considering the price. And if Bolts players and parents don't care whether former teams are still featured on the Web site, who am I to criticize?

I suppose if I ran the Bolts, I'd have more pressing things to worry about than updating the Web site--such as the fact that the girls teams have steadily declined in competitiveness over the past few years.

There is a bright side to the decline--seriously. Just as stocks are cheaper now for first-time buyers, it's easier to join the Bolts these days. And there's no reason why you can't run a successful, quality club that consists mostly of Division 2 or Maple-D teams. Not every player or parent is looking to join a world-beater--in fact most are not--and club soccer still beats town soccer 90 percent of the time.

[Unregistered]

There is a bright side to the decline--seriously. Just as stocks are cheaper now for first-time buyers, it's easier to join the Bolts these days. And there's no reason why you can't run a successful, quality club that consists mostly of Division 2 or Maple-D teams. Not every player or parent is looking to join a world-beater--in fact most are not--and club soccer still beats town soccer 90 percent of the time.

D2 or Maple D and pay $2300????

[Unregistered]

D2 or Maple D and pay $2300????

Sure, if you can afford it, why not? Not every player is the next Mia or Marta.

[Unregistered]

Sure, if you can afford it, why not? Not every player is the next Mia or Marta.

Yeah, but if you could pay less and see your daughter play at the same level, wouldn't that make more sense? I don't see what the Bolts are offering on the girls side that warrants that kind of fee.

[Unregistered]

Yeah, but if you could pay less and see your daughter play at the same level, wouldn't that make more sense? I don't see what the Bolts are offering on the girls side that warrants that kind of fee.

The girls are supporting the boys side. That's what warrants that kind of fee.

[Unregistered]

The girls are supporting the boys side. That's what warrants that kind of fee.

This has been true for years.

[Unregistered]

Look at it this way. I'm hiring someone to coach my kid. Do I want the coach who is a great teacher of the game, a great role model for my kid, and someone that treats my daughter well and fairly, who coaches for a club that is website-challenged...

That's quite a rosy hypothetical. Have the Bolts in fact been stocked with such coaches? If so why have the girls' teams in practically every age group declined or even disappeared in recent years?

If I were running a business--excuse me, a soccer club with thriving, competitive teams, I'd make sure the world knew about it. I'd keep my Web site up to date, like other successful businesses do, and not let a team page lie fallow for two years. That's bad advertising for the business.

[Unregistered]

That's quite a rosy hypothetical. Have the Bolts in fact been stocked with such coaches? If so why have the girls' teams in practically every age group declined or even disappeared in recent years?

If I were running a business--excuse me, a soccer club with thriving, competitive teams, I'd make sure the world knew about it. I'd keep my Web site up to date, like other successful businesses do, and not let a team page lie fallow for two years. That's bad advertising for the business.

It's not a hypothetical. I'm not sure the club is stocked with such coaches, but my daughter happens to play for one. Again, I hate to be selfish or ignorant but I don't care so much about the overall reputation or status of the club. I care about what my daughter is getting out of the experience, and so far all of the good trumps any issues with the website.

Our previous club did a fantastic job of letting the world know about their success, or at least the success of some of their teams or individual players. The problem is much of it was propaganda, self-promotion, and a bate and switch set up for what the actual coaching was.

Is it possible for people to say "I'm happy with the Bolts based on MY experience" and not get questioned or have people try to talk them out of it?

[Unregistered]

I wrote the post, nimrod, not FSM. She wouldn't write a post like that, she signs her posts, and she is far more polite on these forums than I am.

Thanks Butthead for the clarification!