Wouldn't it be nice...

[Unregistered]

If everyone would just chill. There is so much anger and frustration and silliness, what if everyone just took a deep breath and relaxed. So people at OPL don't like OYSA, Rec players don't want to pay for ODP, competitive players don't want to pay for ODP, ODP players don't want to pay for ODP. Everyone is so focused in there own small interest that they don't realize Oregon Soccer is an organism that needs all parts to be healthy.

Enough complaining, youth soccer needs to be about the youth, not the whiny adults.

[Unregistered]

One word Answer............................................ ..............NO!

[Unregistered]

Where else do we have to whine? If we do it in person everyone will know who we are!!!!

[Unregistered]

Every time I scroll down to see the thread names this thread makes me bust out into Beach Boys tune.

[Unregistered]

Every time I scroll down to see the thread names this thread makes me bust out into Beach Boys tune.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older,
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long......
And wouldn't it be nice to live together,
In the kind of world where we belong

[littlebit]

Where else do we have to whine? If we do it in person everyone will know who we are!!!!

LOL

Now that is a good point.

Seriously, the whole idea behind blogs that allow anonymous posting is to let people blow off some steam and get things off their chests that's bugging them without retribution, or worse, without their kids getting punished.

Don't even bother denying that coaches and clubs don't do it. They do. If a parent does have a concern or just want to talk to a coach or director, or even ask a reasonable question, they are treated, at first, fairly and with respect but then things change. We pay thousands of dollars for club soccer but are treated like stupid, uneducated idiots and are expected to be quietly subservient and not even ask general questions. Some coaches will retaliate by playing the kid less, being more critical, etc., all because the parent had the audacity to have a thought or opinion. It sometimes feels like we're in a weird communist club where free speech is punishable by banishment. (And they wonder how so many coaches get away with molestation...hmm).

But I digress. Yeah, so we need somewhere where we can shout out a little of our thoughts, opinions, frustrations, etc., because we are, in fact, adults who have been able to do so our whole lives until our kids belonged to this crazy thing called "club soccer." At least here, the worst that can happen is another anonymous parent can get all nasty and yell-type back at you but they can't black-list you or your kid and well, if you don't want to read it, you just don't have to.

So to the people who hate this site and the whining. You know what to do. Go away. Nobody made you come to this site, after all.

[Unregistered]

Don't even bother denying that coaches and clubs don't do it. They do. If a parent does have a concern or just want to talk to a coach or director, or even ask a reasonable question, they are treated, at first, fairly and with respect but then things change. We pay thousands of dollars for club soccer but are treated like stupid, uneducated idiots and are expected to be quietly subservient and not even ask general questions. Some coaches will retaliate by playing the kid less, being more critical, etc., all because the parent had the audacity to have a thought or opinion. It sometimes feels like we're in a weird communist club where free speech is punishable by banishment. (And they wonder how so many coaches get away with molestation...hmm).

I so agree with this. I never realized it was that way because I never took issue with the club until one day I did. I had already spoken with the coach and he was a great guy with no power at all. I then wrote a email to the club asking about opportunity. Silence. They didn't even write back. Then we found our own opportunity, were open and up front about it (guest playing with another team) and had no intention of leaving the team that we had been with for 4 years when the bottom fell out. They basically gave my child an ultimatum on the spot at a game without parental presence and my child quit on the spot. It was never what we intended. I then attempted to mend the situation by going to speak with the demigod oh, .. I mean DOC and the guy basically told us that our child would never amount to anything, was a traitor and had bad character. I was truly afraid my significant other would deck him. We left and never turned back. This is where I learned the lesson about your child first and always. The club while a great environment and sort of a extended family can be vindictive and retaliatory. So, here I am .... whew... I feel better.

[Unregistered]

I so agree with this. I never realized it was that way because I never took issue with the club until one day I did. I had already spoken with the coach and he was a great guy with no power at all. I then wrote a email to the club asking about opportunity. Silence. They didn't even write back. Then we found our own opportunity, were open and up front about it (guest playing with another team) and had no intention of leaving the team that we had been with for 4 years when the bottom fell out. They basically gave my child an ultimatum on the spot at a game without parental presence and my child quit on the spot. It was never what we intended. I then attempted to mend the situation by going to speak with the demigod oh, .. I mean DOC and the guy basically told us that our child would never amount to anything, was a traitor and had bad character. I was truly afraid my significant other would deck him. We left and never turned back. This is where I learned the lesson about your child first and always. The club while a great environment and sort of a extended family can be vindictive and retaliatory. So, here I am .... whew... I feel better.

This sounds like 90% of the peoples experience with Salmon Creek in the last few years. I might even be erroring on the low side.

[littlebit]

This sounds like 90% of the peoples experience with Salmon Creek in the last few years. I might even be erroring on the low side.

It sounds like EVERY club around here. I personally don't live in Washington but after being in the soccer community for several years and getting to know people from all the different clubs, I have found that there are politics everywhere. Some are worse than others, some more blatantly obvious, while others are sneakier and more manipulative.

The thing with the ultimatums and power plays and scare tactics -- that's like a required m.o. for most DOCs. It's in the egomaniacal self appointed soccer god handbook.

[Unregistered]

It sounds like EVERY club around here. I personally don't live in Washington but after being in the soccer community for several years and getting to know people from all the different clubs, I have found that there are politics everywhere. Some are worse than others, some more blatantly obvious, while others are sneakier and more manipulative.

The thing with the ultimatums and power plays and scare tactics -- that's like a required m.o. for most DOCs. It's in the egomaniacal self appointed soccer god handbook.

I have not had that experience at our club. The coach and DOC are always very friendly and nice. They quickly respond to any question asked and have been more than helpful with any concerns. They have given my daughter numerous chances to guest play and have never denied her an opportunity to do so.

[Unregistered]

Well that explains a lot

It sounds like EVERY club around here. I personally don't live in Washington but after being in the soccer community for several years and getting to know people from all the different clubs, I have found that there are politics everywhere. Some are worse than others, some more blatantly obvious, while others are sneakier and more manipulative.

The thing with the ultimatums and power plays and scare tactics -- that's like a required m.o. for most DOCs. It's in the egomaniacal self appointed soccer god handbook.

I always thought they were reading from the same book on how to be an ***hole dictator while smiling to my face

[Unregistered]

I can tell you that we never had a problem either until we did. I always thought that club participants were the problem. We knew people who would leave rather suddenly and we always believed that they had done something that was out of line or dishonest. When this occurred with us we were shell shocked. We were always loyal members of the club and really thought very highly of our club.

As for the guest playing it wasn't a tournament situation. The guest playing that I am speaking to came into play as a result of the OYSA / OPL split and the ability to play two different teams without a conflict. So in this instance we had the ability to play OPL with our primary team and then FWR with the secondary team. While I can understand some discomfort on the part of the coach due to playing with another team the irony was that the our (primary) team had a reverse situation with another team member. So it was alright for our team to roster a player from another team since the leagues were not at the same time..... it just wasn't alright for us to do the same thing. It was a major double standard. To make matters worse they took it out on my kid instead of me.

Amazingly, I still didn't totally get it and thought that I could visit with the doc and all would be good. Instead we were relegated to scum of the earth and basically told that they did not want players like my child. At the end of the day it all worked out for the best and we have no regrets other than we would not have stayed based on loyalty alone. In all honesty we saw the writing on the wall but didn't want to believe it because of our love for the coach and the other players. We believed that the mass exodus from the team was temporary and that it would get better. No good deed goes unpunished!

[Unregistered]

I have not had that experience at our club. The coach and DOC are always very friendly and nice. They quickly respond to any question asked and have been more than helpful with any concerns. They have given my daughter numerous chances to guest play and have never denied her an opportunity to do so.

What Club?

[littlebit]

So it was alright for our team to roster a player from another team since the leagues were not at the same time..... it just wasn't alright for us to do the same thing. It was a major double standard. To make matters worse they took it out on my kid instead of me.

Double standards are reserved only for those with personal connections to coaches, directors or board members. Favorites are allowed one thing while the rest of the peons get punished for the same. Don't even bother calling them on it because they'll have a million and one excuses OR refuse to talk to you about it at all -- They do what they want.

And here is the kicker. What you said. They took it out on your kid instead. Not you.
They can't take it out on you. There's nothing they *can* do to you. You were following their own damn rules in the first place. But you are an adult and can think and stand up for yourself and they can't bully you. They CAN scare and bully a child. Your child is your achilles heel and that is how they'll hurt you. Indirectly. And they call themselves youth organization interested in developing youth and teaching life lessons through soccer. Well, yeah. This is definitely a life lesson of a sort but just not the kind most people had in mind when forking out thousands of dollars to have their kids mentored in a sport that's supposed to be fun.
Simply put, DOC power trips make the beautiful game kind of ugly.

[Unregistered]

Double standards are reserved only for those with personal connections to coaches, directors or board members. Favorites are allowed one thing while the rest of the peons get punished for the same. Don't even bother calling them on it because they'll have a million and one excuses OR refuse to talk to you about it at all -- They do what they want.

And here is the kicker. What you said. They took it out on your kid instead. Not you.
They can't take it out on you. There's nothing they *can* do to you. You were following their own damn rules in the first place. But you are an adult and can think and stand up for yourself and they can't bully you. They CAN scare and bully a child. Your child is your achilles heel and that is how they'll hurt you. Indirectly. And they call themselves youth organization interested in developing youth and teaching life lessons through soccer. Well, yeah. This is definitely a life lesson of a sort but just not the kind most people had in mind when forking out thousands of dollars to have their kids mentored in a sport that's supposed to be fun.
Simply put, DOC power trips make the beautiful game kind of ugly.

Amen.

The power trip trait is likely the same attribute that makes these individuals charismatic leaders. They are in fact simply human and exercise poor judgement and make bad choices just like any person. The key is that a good DOC will learn from these instances while the majority simply think nothing of it. It does in fact pollute an otherwise wonderful game.