The Pride of NEFC

[Unregistered]

Club is a Joke...

Violation after violation......... Let's play follow the leader down a slippery slope...

Dumb post after dumb post.... Let's exaggerate and distort facts down a slippery slope......

All in the vain hope that we are helping to makeour kid's club better.

Who's the joke?

[Unregistered]

Word is just making its way around so this isn't widely known but Chris Hamblin has been named Coach of the Year by Mass Youth Soccer.

What a clown, I mean elf!

[Unregistered]

Didn't some franklin town coach win that award last year, I think he coaches at same club.

They do have top coaches, many college coaches, that some how manage to coach their college team in the fall and the club team without missing any sessions.

[Unregistered]

Didn't some franklin town coach win that award last year, I think he coaches at same club.

They do have top coaches, many college coaches, that some how manage to coach their college team in the fall and the club team without missing any sessions.

I supposed you would prefer a disgraced ex-cop instead?

[Unregistered]

yeah, NEFC isn't very good.

But I guess if you looked at the MAPLE website you'd probably see a different picture, at least on the girls side.

They'll have two blue division teams at U11, one of which is the prohibitive favorite
They'll have three blue division teams at U12, and one former who will finish .500, and also the top U12 team
They'll have two division 1 U13 teams, right now NEFC H is on the top of the table and has already beaten the next best two teams
They'll have two division 1 U14 teams, and NEFC B is on the top of the table

Seems like a club whose leadership is pointing someone in the right direction.

This is what I, as an interested observer, find most enigmatic about NEFC. It's clear from the above post that they have assembled some very good teams across the MAPLE age groups. I also believe that the soccer instruction these kids are getting from NEFC staff is of good quality, having seen a couple of these teams play this fall.

What I can't seem to square amidst all the accusations and counter accusations that appear on this forum is what I'll simply call the "integrity factor." I don't know BB and PM except for what I've read and heard, and while the nature of their transgressions has been covered elsewhere ad nauseum, it seems to me those incidents are also behind them and they are back in good standing with MAPLE. I have met CH a couple of times (my kids went to the BC summer sessions a few years ago) and I always found him to be very personable.

So my question is pretty straight forward; why is it that the simple mention of NEFC seems to stir up so much feeling in MA soccer circles? Is it the relative success of their teams that is seen as threatening to the other big clubs? Is there something endemic to NEFC as a club that goes to the "integrity factor" and that I'm somehow missing? Do NEFC parents just seem to rub others the wrong way? Is it some combination of the above?

Hope a balanced discussion might ensue?

[Unregistered]

Your hope of a balanced discussion is probably misguided, but I'd also like to understand why so many seem to be threatened by NEFC.

My son tried out for their U-13 teams last year and made the Div. 2 team that is moving up to Div. 1 in the spring. He was one of three players from his club that was immediately offered spots on the squad. He opted to stick with his current club (as did the other two players) and has not regretted it, but I thought the tryouts were handled professionally.

The NEFC teams, from what I've observed, are well coached and they have talent. What is it about the organization that seems to generate so much angst?

- Odie

[Unregistered]

Your hope of a balanced discussion is probably misguided, but I'd also like to understand why so many seem to be threatened by NEFC.

My son tried out for their U-13 teams last year and made the Div. 2 team that is moving up to Div. 1 in the spring. He was one of three players from his club that was immediately offered spots on the squad. He opted to stick with his current club (as did the other two players) and has not regretted it, but I thought the tryouts were handled professionally.

The NEFC teams, from what I've observed, are well coached and they have talent. What is it about the organization that seems to generate so much angst?

- Odie

Unsure. There are two sides to every issue. My daughter played the U11G BB team. We were beaten pretty soundly. Parents were very respectful as was the coach. Maybe I don't see the bad stuff but no problem here.

[Unregistered]

What is it about the organization that seems to generate so much angst?

IMO, the reason for these posts are:
1. Child was cut from the NEFC team they tried out for
2. Child was offered a spot on the D2 team, when the parents wanted the child on the D1 team
3. Child is not getting the playing itme the parents feel they should be getting

Otherwise, why bother posting if you have no grudge?

[Unregistered]

Okay so throw out the under 10 teams with no score reporting..

26 teams left some real strong units based on a numbers game..

9 teams have won less than 4 games.... approx 150 kids teams get beaten week in and week out.

I think the animosity comes from those player and from coaching claims that are false.
Many of the coaches are not available because either they coach at college and in the fall it is just not possible to coach competitive soccer in college and to attend practices.
(IE they say EK is the coach but you get some guy from Franklin, whose kid is on the team coaching the team at STATE CUP.)

The many kids playing on the teams that have a good record, have kids from Africa that might be 3-4 years older than team they play on as they have no birth certificate.

The issue with recruiting from the FOREKICKS centers in the winter, picking and recruiting the kids, then checking rosters for contact info.

Pre Season Tournament where if you enter your team, you are giving up all the names and numbers of your players to a club whose president was involved in the biggest recruiting scandal in MAPLE history. Only 1 of 2 coaches involved got suspended for 6 months from coaching in MAPLE. Remember that the story line included BM, the club president meet these two and orchestrated the purchasing of throw away phones to be used to recruit players prior to state cup.

This is what I gather from prior posting, but I do not want to pass judgement on things that have been posted here in this forum

[Unregistered]

We played BB team, solid coaching, athletic kids, understood the game, very well could be best in the state at their age.. Nice guy too !!

[Unregistered]

Okay so throw out the under 10 teams with no score reporting..

26 teams left some real strong units based on a numbers game..

9 teams have won less than 4 games.... approx 150 kids teams get beaten week in and week out.

I think the animosity comes from those player and from coaching claims that are false.
Many of the coaches are not available because either they coach at college and in the fall it is just not possible to coach competitive soccer in college and to attend practices.
(IE they say EK is the coach but you get some guy from Franklin, whose kid is on the team coaching the team at STATE CUP.)

The many kids playing on the teams that have a good record, have kids from Africa that might be 3-4 years older than team they play on as they have no birth certificate.

The issue with recruiting from the FOREKICKS centers in the winter, picking and recruiting the kids, then checking rosters for contact info.

Pre Season Tournament where if you enter your team, you are giving up all the names and numbers of your players to a club whose president was involved in the biggest recruiting scandal in MAPLE history. Only 1 of 2 coaches involved got suspended for 6 months from coaching in MAPLE. Remember that the story line included BM, the club president meet these two and orchestrated the purchasing of throw away phones to be used to recruit players prior to state cup.

This is what I gather from prior posting, but I do not want to pass judgement on things that have been posted here in this forum

But you were willing to make stuff up to support your point. Good job.

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=Unregistered;436769]We played BB team, solid coaching, athletic kids, understood the game, very well could be best in the state at their age.. Nice guy too !![/QUote Is this team still playing 8 on8.

[Unregistered]

Okay so throw out the under 10 teams with no score reporting..

26 teams left some real strong units based on a numbers game..

9 teams have won less than 4 games.... approx 150 kids teams get beaten week in and week out.

I think the animosity comes from those player and from coaching claims that are false.
Many of the coaches are not available because either they coach at college and in the fall it is just not possible to coach competitive soccer in college and to attend practices.
(IE they say EK is the coach but you get some guy from Franklin, whose kid is on the team coaching the team at STATE CUP.)

The many kids playing on the teams that have a good record, have kids from Africa that might be 3-4 years older than team they play on as they have no birth certificate.

The issue with recruiting from the FOREKICKS centers in the winter, picking and recruiting the kids, then checking rosters for contact info.

Pre Season Tournament where if you enter your team, you are giving up all the names and numbers of your players to a club whose president was involved in the biggest recruiting scandal in MAPLE history. Only 1 of 2 coaches involved got suspended for 6 months from coaching in MAPLE. Remember that the story line included BM, the club president meet these two and orchestrated the purchasing of throw away phones to be used to recruit players prior to state cup.

This is what I gather from prior posting, but I do not want to pass judgement on things that have been posted here in this forum

So, all this is from prior posting, and not personal experience?? Well, if it was posted here, it must be true. NOT

[beentheredonethat]

Okay so throw out the under 10 teams with no score reporting..

26 teams left some real strong units based on a numbers game..

9 teams have won less than 4 games.... approx 150 kids teams get beaten week in and week out.

I think the animosity comes from those player and from coaching claims that are false.
Many of the coaches are not available because either they coach at college and in the fall it is just not possible to coach competitive soccer in college and to attend practices.
(IE they say EK is the coach but you get some guy from Franklin, whose kid is on the team coaching the team at STATE CUP.)

The many kids playing on the teams that have a good record, have kids from Africa that might be 3-4 years older than team they play on as they have no birth certificate.

The issue with recruiting from the FOREKICKS centers in the winter, picking and recruiting the kids, then checking rosters for contact info.

Pre Season Tournament where if you enter your team, you are giving up all the names and numbers of your players to a club whose president was involved in the biggest recruiting scandal in MAPLE history. Only 1 of 2 coaches involved got suspended for 6 months from coaching in MAPLE. Remember that the story line included BM, the club president meet these two and orchestrated the purchasing of throw away phones to be used to recruit players prior to state cup.

This is what I gather from prior posting, but I do not want to pass judgement on things that have been posted here in this forum

Here are some things to ponder.

Using win/loss records to determine the quality of a club is really a slippery slope. Winning in this environment is not really a function of how well you develop talent but rather how well you recruit it. If we want to go down into the lower age groups where the development is taking place and put an emphasis the team's win/loss records that will completely destroy any hope of development in this environment. If parents think things are cut throat now, wait and see what happens if we go that route. All big clubs have their teams that struggle. It stands to reason that the more teams a club has the more likely it is that some of them won't meet expectations. This is actually where the peddle hits the metal in club soccer. We should measure quality on the basis of meeting expectations. What everyone needs to recognize though is that there are different expectations at different age levels and divisions. We all probably recognize that what is important to a U10 team is not the same as what is important for a U16 team. We also need to recognize that there are much different expectations for a team at the top of the top division compared to one lower down and still greater differences for one in a lower division. Ultimately looking strictly at a clubs overall record means nothing and if you do that you may end up to make some poor choices.

Recruiting is very much part of everything and where they find players is irrelevant. I once watched a Stars coach recruit a girl right off my daughter's team after a MAPLE game with them. Walked right up to the father and offered the girl's father a free ride to switch clubs. The girl started practicing with his the next week before the season even ended. Recruiting is nothing new and every successful club engages in it. The poaching is what it is and you really can't pick and choose which form of it is more acceptable than the others or who is more politically correct while doing it. Once you have been around for a while you will know that what happened last winter was the pot calling the kettle black and whole lot of back room politics.

The old "Coach Switch-A-Roo" thing is a problem with the big clubs who have coaches coaching more than one team. If anyone thinks that NEFC is unusual they should talk some MPS parents. Usually the coaches have a designated partner that they work coverage with and there really isn't as much disruption as people want to pretend. It can be annoying though. If this type of thing bothers you, you should learn to ask questions before joining a team. The Ed Kelly type thing is a little different. When you join a team whose coach is also a college coach you should realize the college job is going to take priority and shame on anyone who doesn't. This clearly is a con for playing on such a team but if a parent didn't think things through enough to ask questions about how it worked they are as much to blame for their unhappiness.

The anonymous nature of this forum really hides a whole lot of that is actually happening here. This forum was originally started as part of the MAPLE website and called the Touchline. Back then you had to be registered to post and it was pretty clear who the personalities where. One of the things you realized on that forum is that a fair number of club coaches and administrators took part in the discussions. When you fast forward to the present, everyone should realize that these same people are here, only they are no longer easily identifiable. A lot of the bashing that goes on here is related to clubs trying manage public perception and their market share. What many may not realize is that a lot of these anonymous posters actually know who the other anonymous posters are by their writing style and which issues they attack. Sometimes it is actually more interesting to see which idea's are getting killed than the ones that are being discussed. My advice is to keep your head on swivel and pay attention to such things if you plan to stay around for a while.

[Unregistered]

Okay so throw out the under 10 teams with no score reporting..

26 teams left some real strong units based on a numbers game..

9 teams have won less than 4 games.... approx 150 kids teams get beaten week in and week out.

I think the animosity comes from those player and from coaching claims that are false.
Many of the coaches are not available because either they coach at college and in the fall it is just not possible to coach competitive soccer in college and to attend practices.
(IE they say EK is the coach but you get some guy from Franklin, whose kid is on the team coaching the team at STATE CUP.)

The many kids playing on the teams that have a good record, have kids from Africa that might be 3-4 years older than team they play on as they have no birth certificate.

The issue with recruiting from the FOREKICKS centers in the winter, picking and recruiting the kids, then checking rosters for contact info.

Pre Season Tournament where if you enter your team, you are giving up all the names and numbers of your players to a club whose president was involved in the biggest recruiting scandal in MAPLE history. Only 1 of 2 coaches involved got suspended for 6 months from coaching in MAPLE. Remember that the story line included BM, the club president meet these two and orchestrated the purchasing of throw away phones to be used to recruit players prior to state cup.

This is what I gather from prior posting, but I do not want to pass judgement on things that have been posted here in this forum

I really don't care about any of this mud slinging directed at NEFC on this Forum and have not felt the need to respond on this thread before now. However, anyone who thinks Brian Mazar secretly masterminded some huge recruiting scandal that involved the purchase of special throw away cell phones is seriously delusional and has never met the man.

Although he no longer coaches my daughter, I have known him for several years and can say without reservation that he is highly ethical, very civic minded and a caring and compassionate family man (he is the kind of guy who was worrying about his carbon footprint before I had even had heard of the term). He also had a very successful business career that allowed him to retire at a relatively young age and spend some of his time on providing strategic leadership for the club - a role I think he is well suited for. He is not in this for the money or to stroke his ego (he typically stops coaching his teams at the older age levels because he recognizes there are other coaches at the club like CH who are better suited for that role) and he has many interests outside of soccer.

I think some of the animosity on this Forum is nothing more than what we have seen before with other large clubs that achieve some success (and NEFC's success is still modest, but the club does seem to be trending in the right direction).

In all fairness, I have no issues with the Scorpions or FM either. The club has obviously been very successful and the FM coached teams I have seen all play a very attractive style of soccer and always exhibit good sportsmanship. I have had some limited interaction with FM and have found him to be cordial, respectful and forthright. I also don’t think anyone from NEFC should be attacking him personally on this Forum, particularly if they don't know him or have never had any dealings with him.